the isisssuuee 8 7: :j Munaey- 2ju0l1y7 2017 clarion £1 (unwaged 50p) An unofficial magazine by Labour and Momentum activists A huge chance to revive the labour movement ORGANISE By EM Johns we have a huge chance to revive and rebuild the labour movement. Here are some ideas for where to focus our efforts in this fast-moving situation. Having been written off at the start of the campaign, Labour’s many thou - sands of active members have pulled off a remarkable turnaround, dragged Industrial militancy British politics to the left, and dealt a near fatal blow to Theresa May, who If or when the Corbyn-led Labour Party comes to power, we will meet much was revealed to possess the same personality and political nous as the ears fierce resistance from the big business interests who oppose its programme. of wheat that she once so joyously trampled. The leadership will be put We are in a strong position to win the next election. Even more importantly, under pressure from all sorts of Continued on page 3 quarters to compromise or be Inside: AFTER grenfell • marginals reports • get ready for conference • no more police a tory workers’ party? • working-class candidates • matt wrack on unions and socialism • free movement contradictions • northern ireland • MOMENTUM • STRIKES ISSUE 8 Contents page 3 Despite the momentum of the campaign, we feared we would be Revive the labour movement EM Johns producing this issue of The Clarion as the Labour left fought for its life against a resurgent right pushing to remove Corbyn. page 4 Instead we write in the situation of a potentially resurgent left, but Housing struggles after Grenfell Maurice McLeod a few days after a stark and horrendous reminder of how capitalism page 5 has pushed down the rights and living standards of workers in Britain: the deaths at Grenfell Tower in Kensington. There is no time to lose Marginals Rosie Woods, Helen Gregory, Caroline Henry rebuilding a labour movement that can fight to end such horrors. page 6 Despite our advances, many opportunities have been lost since 2015. Get ready for Labour Party conference We need to refocus on how to transform Labour, revive the labour movement and develop working-class struggles. page 7 Keep out the Labour right Simon Hannah No to more police Rida Vaquas WHERE WE STAND pages 8-9 A Tory workers’ party? Jamie Green The Labour Party and the country are standing at a crossroads. Labour needs worker candidates Kate Harris Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader in 2015 opened a space for socialist politics to re-emerge into the British mainstream. His re- Representing workers Hugh Gaffney MP election in 2016 confirmed that there are at least hundreds of thou - page 10-11 sands in Britain of people who want to see an end to austerity, to The workers’ movement and socialism Matt Wrack neo-liberalism and to the worst misery inflicted by the capitalist sys - page 12 tem. There are hundreds of thousands of people who at least aspire to Free movement Matt Bolton; Lewisham Momentum a better society than capitalism. The socialist left of the labour move - ment has a historic opportunity now – we must seize it. page 13 That means an open discussion on politics and principles, assisting The politics of Labour’s manifesto Sacha Ismail the grassroots of the labour movement to develop our own policies page 14 and programme for a Labour government and for transforming soci - Northern Ireland after the election Phil Kelly ety, building on and critically engaging with policies proposed by the leader’s office, the unions, the constituencies, and other parts of the page 15 movement. Fight the Momentum youth purge It means democratising the Labour Party, preventing further coup Revive Momentum groups Jill Mountford attempts against the leadership, and preventing further unjust purges, Page 16 suspensions, and expulsions. It means facilitating debate on Momen - Picturehouse sackings, Labour and strikes tum, its purpose and its future. The Clarion is a space for and a contribution to those debates. In addition to news and reports from the movement, our coverage will This issue of The Clarion was printed on 22 June 2017 particularly focus on Printed by Mixam, Watford • Debate and discussion on class and class struggle today, and how Email: [email protected] we go beyond “new politics” and “progressive politics” to revive work - Facebook: www.facebook.com/theclarionmag Twitter: www.twitter.com/clarion_mag ing-class politics. Website: theclarionmag.wordpress.com • How we make socialism, a new society based on common owner - Address: BM Box 4628, London, WC1N 3XX ship and need not profit, the basic, unifying goal of the left; and fight for bold socialist policies in the here and now. • Fighting nationalism, building working-class solidarity across bor - Get involved: ders and between workers of different backgrounds and communities. • To take a serious and consistent approach to equality and libera - • I want to contribute content to future editions of tion struggles. • To stand up for rational debate and against nonsense, against the The Clarion culture of clickbait, conspiracy theory, and instant denunciation which • I want to take out a subscription for 6 months for has taken root in some parts of the left. £6 I want to take out a subscription for a year for We welcome involvement from comrades who are in broad agree - £10 ment with these points. We aim to complement rather than compete with existing publications on the Labour left, and to critically engage • I want to be a local distributor. I will take 5 issues with ideas from across the left. for 6 months for £24 . I will take 10 issues for 6 months for £40 . I will take 5 issues for a year for £40 . I will take 10 issues for a year for £70 . editorial board Name: ................................................................ EM Johns, Rida Vaquas, Sacha Ismail, Email: ................................................................. Phone: ................................................................ Simon Hannah, Rhea Wolfson, Jill Address: ............................................................. Mountford, Michael Chessum, Nik Send money via PayPal to the email address Barstow, Dan Jeffery, Sahaya James [email protected] What next? Revive the labour movement Continued from the front cover smashed. The most effective counterweight is a strong organised grass - roots labour movement that extends beyond the ranks of the party. Trade unionists should take heart from the popularity of Labour's manifesto and push their leaders into more aggressive stances on pay, conditions, and funding for services. We need to be in a position to turn Labour's programme into reality on the ground, which will take not only the pass - ing of laws, but the will and participation of millions of workers. Unions and workplace organisation are not in good shape. We have just witnessed the biggest fall in union membership since records began. Yet the political situation gives us an opportunity to revive the labour movement in workplaces and communities as well as in Parliament. There has not yet been a Corbynite radicalisation in the trade unions – we need to make it happen. Party democracy Now that the immediate need to defend the leadership has abated Prepare for another electio n (for the time being), we must take the offensive in democratising the Theresa May's shameful deal with the DUP may not last long. We Labour Party. This means re-establishing local delegate structures where should hammer the Tories for raising the spectre of a Labour-led “coali - they have been moribund, encouraging more union participation at the tion of chaos”, then plunging us all into greater uncertainty. We should grassroots, establishing the clear sovereignty of conference as a policy- hit out against the hypocrisy of attempts to portray Jeremy Corbyn as a making body, and putting mandatory reselection of MPs back on the terrorist sympathiser now that they are being propped up by a party with agenda. historic links to Loyalist paramilitaries. We must press the NEC to lay down a timetable for Parliamentary Corbyn has called for the party to remain in “permanent campaigning selections as early as possible. Members should choose their own candi - mode” and announced he will be touring dozens of marginal seats. This dates, not have them imposed from above. can build our activist base. There are plenty of seats which are winnable next time around. We need to build Labour’s momentum everywhere. Brexit The result was uneven across the country. For example, while we took June’s vote had been bigged up as the “Brexit election”, but Labour Sheffield Hallam — a seat that has never been Labour — from the Lib - performed so well largely because we made it about all sorts of other is - eral Democrats, we almost lost Penistone and Stocksbridge — a con - sues. We should link Brexit wherever possible to wider issues about social stituency with a steel town at its core — just up the road. In Derbyshire issues, the economy and democracy. However, it is likely that the Brexit we took High Peak but lost North East Derbyshire, a coalfield seat held negotiations will still be the dominant issue in British politics over the by Labour for decades where the famous Clay Cross council struggle next couple of years, and Labour needs a clear position. We need to make took place. clear that we are not morally obligated to vote for any final deal that While many of our urban centres are relatively “safe”, there is work to does not safeguard the rights, liberties, and livelihoods of workers, in - be done in the towns and villages, the de-industrialised areas, the so- cluding migrant workers. We need to change course and defend free called “heartlands” (although the actual political history of these places movement.