Green Socialist AGS Alliance for Green Socialism Post Election Blues What the election means Media & democracy Spanish elections Greek appeal Argentine Piqueteros Issue No 72 Summer 2015 ISSN 1741-5497 £1.00 Sports Direct Journal of the Alliance for Green Socialism www.greensocialist.org.uk Mental Health Green Socialist is published by the Alliance for Green Socialism Editor John Sillett Editorial correspondence to: The Editor, Green Socialist, NEA 5794, Leeds LS7 3YY email: [email protected] www.greensocialist.org.uk/ . The AGS is a political alliance seeking to build a future based on the twin principles of socialism and environmental sustainability - we see these two things as being inextricably linked, each being impossible without the other. If you share our concerns and our principles, if you care about the survival of our civilization on this planet and about social justice for all who live on it, then why not join us? Membership details are on page 11. Issue No 72 - Summer 2015 This issue naturally covers the general election campaign and outcome. The result In this issue: was a staggering blow to Labour. They should have won easily. How have the Editorial John Sillett 3 Tories won, albeit with a slim parliamentary majority and only 25% of electors? Why did Election Responses Mike Davies 4 the environment barely figure in campaigns? AGS Parliamentary candidate, Juliet Boddington reflects on the role of the Election Analysis Toby Abse 5 media during the election campaign. The other theme of this issue is international Spanish elections Toby Abse 6 affairs. In Spain, by contrast to the UK, with the new leftist force of Podemos, there Greek Appeal Immanuel 8 is something to cheer about. Greece’s left Wallerstein government of Syriza needs solidarity. We print an appeal for support of the Greek Pete Relph Yemen 9 commission on public debt. Yemen, one of the poorest countries on Argentina: Piqueteros Lionel Zivals 10 the planet, and yet some of the most expensive military hardware ever is Media & Democracy Juliet Boddington 11 deployed in this new middle eastern war. In South America commodity exports have fallen in volume and price as a result of Bryn Glover Climate Pointers 12 China’s slowdown. We print a statement from one group of a new movement of grass Letters 13 roots political self help organisations in the Piqueteros tradition. Review: Sports Direct Jim Smith 14 The next issue will look at the reality of climate change effects so far, resisting Capitalism & John Sillett 15 the cuts through five more Tory years; Mental Health and more news from around the world Articles in this journal do not necessarily reflect the policy of the Alliance for Green Socialism unless specifically stated. Green Socialist no 72 Summer 2015 page 2 Editorial John Sillett them enormously. In addi9tion, changes to the Five more hard years. way voters became registered meant several millions were disenfranchised, most likely the The UK general election on May 7 th was a transient poor and young people who should disaster for ordinary people, perpetrated by be the left’s natural supporters. those people. They voted in a Tory government. In Scotland, an SNP presenting itself as anti- Yet the Tories clearly represent the multi- austerity swept the board. millionaires and clearly act against the interests of ordinary people. The Lib Dems got their just reward for selling out to support the Tories. Down from 56 MP’s to Five years of Cameron had also shown clearly just 8 now. that the Tories had no interest in the environ- ment. The contest between stopping climate Electorally, the radical left did badly, but they change and capitalist profit was no contest at were always going to be squeezed as left all under the Tories. Yet this issue hardly figured voters short-sightedly looked for the most likely in the election campaign. candidate “to beat the Tory”. A better guide to the Left’s influence may be the local election The Tory vote was barely up. Only 25% of the results where significant city/conurbation totals total electorate voted for them. Millions were not could be found. even on the register to vote. The so-called Greens will take comfort in a five- At their first cabinet meeting the Tories fold increase in their vote over 2010. The surge promised plenty of work for “hard working didn’t materialise in parliamentary seats but families”. Of course, this will be low paid, large numbers joined them as party members. insecure and part-time - delivering a struggle for existence for the poor but super profits for The Tories are now out to destroy the Trade the wealthy Unions or make them entirely ineffective. They have long recognised that organised labour is Of course, people were let down by a Labour the best defender of all that makes life civilised: Party, limited by its own past actions and a free well-funded public health service, a present policies: embracing capitalism under democratic education system, decent homes, Blair; illegal wars; bailing out a bankrupt finan- good wages and conditions and public services cial system in 2008; and supporting the Tory to meet need. con-trick of austerity for the poor. The Tories want to hand all this over to their rich For this Labour Party the election was a com- friends for them to plunder as much wealth from plete and utter disaster of its own making. it as they can. Scared of their own shadow, Labour totally failed to convince their natural supporters that This election was billed as the most important they would offer them something different to for a generation. Resistance to the Tories’ cuts and austerity. Because, indeed, they were wicked and cruel plans will no doubt intensify. not offering anything different to the Tories. Will the Trade Union leaders be up to the job ? On past evidence, it seems unlikely. Swathes of working class votes went to UKIP as a misguided protest, for lack of anything on offer Some ordinary people will join together to fight from Labour. When Labour did mention freezing their own battles or provide their own services fuel bills, taxing the rich and nationalising the if necessary, like the New Era Estate London railways their poll ratings went up! But overall tenants fighting evictions, anti fracking protest- they had no viable strategy for government. ers, those fighting hospital closures, living wage campaigners, and Claimants’ Unions. Also, the Tories were lucky. The economic cycle and Labour’s inability to strike home on We hope that new layers of activists will find the economy meant that those few thousand a political response. Such new layers may voters in a small number of midlands and south- offer our best hope of rolling back the neoliberal ern seats plumped for the devil they knew. attack and of saving our environment. The first past the post electoral system favoured Green Socialist no 72 Summer 2015 page 3 UK General Election - responses This article is based on responses to the Tory election win discussed at the AGS national committee, North London AGS group and Leeds AGS group. An edited compilation put together by Mike Davies, it tries to represent the range of views expressed. It makes no pretence of completeness. The most fundamental question posed by the election (a la SNP) the GP presented itself as on the left; and result is why so many people (nearly a quarter of the some as a protest against the major parties. GP electorate) voted for a Tory party that is explicitly instructions to their candidates were to avoid anything committed to acting against their interests. At least contentious; they traded on their brand name rather Labour still pretends to be on the side of ordinary than their policies. Similarly GP publicity put little people. Tory policies disadvantage everyone who emphasis on the environmental issue and attempted s not super rich. Most of those who voted Tory are to be generalist and “fluffy” rather than hard-hitting. not super rich. (Of course, one could ask the same Most GP voters were middle class, not working class, question of most elections since the introduction of probably more women than men. universal suffrage.) UKIP got nearly four million votes. Views on their The media, almost universally in the pockets of the leader varied. Who voted for UKIP and why? UKIP Tories or worse, played a huge role. They ran down votes seemed to come equally from Tories and Miliband, talked up the ludicrous idea of an SNP Labour. Many wanted to leave the EU – although that threat, and presented Labour as economically incom- issue was rather downplayed during the campaign. petent. The Labour Party itself continued a disastrous Some were anti-immigrant or plain racist. Many must New Labour approach, while the media pretended have been simply protesting against the big parties; Labour had moved to the left. In fact Labour did not that would be consistent with UKIP doing well in present itself as anything at all. Policies like £6,000 by-elections but less well in the general. Many UKIP fees instead of £9,000 fees, or opening rail franchise voters seemed to be simply nostalgic for a (non- tendering to a state competitor, were neither one existent) golden age an unspecified time ago. thing nor the other. Certainly none of Other left or green groups got compa- this represented a shift to the left. rable votes to the AGS, For example, Labour failed to present itself as any- TUSC did a little better than the AGS thing coherent or credible. in the general and significantly worse The massive swing to SNP illustrates in the locals.