The Problem With The Labour Party

I think we should all be taking a long, hard look at what is happening in the Labour Party right now and attempting to draw some wisdom from it. Please hear me out...

The Labour Party is a "big tent" party, a party that is supposedly politically diverse and allows a wide range of discussions. In reality, this means that you end up with factions within the party that amount to disagreements over policy and direction, and these factions usually end up vying for supremacy. For example, within the Conservative Party, you have One Nation conservatives and Thatcherites who disagree with each other superficially. One Nation conservatives believe that the wealthy should do all they can to support the poor and lower classes (which coincidentally, does not happen), whereas Thatcherism emphasises individuality and an ethos of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.

But we can learn more by observing what they have in common, which is unwavering support for capitalism; they are unified by ideology. Those two factions I mentioned just disagree on how capitalism should operate, not on capitalism itself which is sacrosanct. The Labour Party, on the other hand, has several factions which are socialist and several which are premised on some form of capitalism such as Blairism (a mix between neoliberalism and social democracy). 

The root of the troubles within Labour always traces back to the fundamental conflict between capitalism and socialism, which are utterly at odds with each other. There are elements within the party that unequivocally back private enterprise over the welfare of the worker. It is strange then that a party would evolve to a point, over time, where the factions within it can no longer work together and in fact actively repel each other. Parties like this only remain as a big-tent due to the tendencies of our First Past The Post electoral system which naturally favours a duopoly.

But my point here is this, and it's a simple one - I think this conflict needs to be resolved by us in some manner because the divisions between the factions are in reality unfathomably deep. If this conflict is not resolved, we'll just be part of the same battle played out over and over again as it always has done. History, as they say, will be doomed to repeat itself. It's a waste of time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere. Not only that, but it is pitching us against those who should, and maybe under other circumstances would be our comrades.

Some of those potential comrades, who curiously defend capitalism in opposition to their own interests, will continue to act hyper-defensively whilst they perceive a direct threat in the form of opposing factions consisting of socialists, and there's nothing quite like the present threat of an ever-present enemy, even if they aren't really an enemy, to compel you to further entrench your worldview. 

Furthermore, there is no shortage of NGOs, think tanks, lobby groups and other privately-funded outfits external to the party that work against the interests of the working class as a whole and which seek to maintain Labour's neoliberal "third-way" politics no matter the cost.

It is precisely because of this that I believe socialists must split away from the party or at least step back and stop fighting for control, as hard as that may be. The soft-left, the centrists and the right-wing of the party must be allowed to see their own folly and experience the inevitable schadenfreude to have any hope of them stepping over to our side; the party machinery will eventually do to them what it has done to us.

Like many have already said, socialists need their own grass-roots party, one where the workers can democratically represent themselves and their communities. The Labour Party politburo has all but made sure that committed socialists and anti-capitalists have no real voice or influence on policy and that's why, in my opinion, the Labour Party needs to be abandoned.

In its place must be a socialist party of the working class that not only engages in parliament and local government elections but where members of the party actively engage with communities; where they build mutual-aid networks, solidarity, democracy and community programs, where they can agitate for socialism at the grass-roots. Workers need to feel empowered, they are practically screaming for some modicum of control over their own affairs and working life, and they must be a central part of any plan to build a better model of political parties. Thankfully, parties like this are already starting to take shape, such as Chris Williamson's Resist movement.

As far as I'm concerned, the Labour Party is a sinking ship with far too many rotten planks, so...

Let it sink. We can build a better ship.