General election: Left Unity calls for a Labour victory
Theresa May has today called a general election for 8th June.
Left Unity calls for a victory for the Labour Party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. The Corbyn-led Labour Party is the only party which has the policies to regenerate the British economy through an investment-led programme, to unite the country in defence of our diverse communities, and to defend and extend the welfare state. A Tory victory will give free rein to extreme neo-liberalism, divide and rule politics, and the implementation of a hard Brexit which will destroy our hard won rights and protections.
Left Unity National Secretary, Felicity Dowling, said:
‘The weakness and instability of May’s Brexit vision has produced this general election. This general election represents an opportunity to defeat the Tory government and their destructive policies – to win with Labour and defend the NHS, the jewel in the crown of the welfare state
‘It offers a chance to campaign for an end to sanctions, to cuts to social security and disabled people’s benefits, and to child poverty. It gives a chance to defend workers’ rights and support our schools, to end the waste of nuclear bombs and to protect free movement of people. Internationally, it offers the chance to oppose the dangerous and divisive politics of Trump and the rise of the far right that he stands for.
‘Left Unity calls on all progressive forces to mobilise in support of a Corbyn-led Labour Party.’
6 comments
6 responses to “General election: Left Unity calls for a Labour victory”
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So are we actively gonna campaign for our local candidates no matter who?
Lets not forget we are not only fighting the Tories ,we are fighting a Tory media ;and it started within minutes of May,s announcement .It is going to be a dirty campaign the Tories have already told us that ,so hold on to your hats this one is going to be a roller coaster ride JC4PM .
Need to be clearer about what mobilise means.
Why I agree with the sentiment (that’s why we are in Left Unity), some clarity around ‘mobilise’ would be useful. I suppose I could contact the Labour Party in Hertfordshire and offer to help them leaflet during the campaign; but beyond that – what are we doing as a party to support the above statement?
For myself, I know that Corbyn will not deliver the socialist republic that I entered left wing politics to achieve – nor is the outcome inevitable (previous labour victories have relied upon the large amount of Scottish seats that are now currently occupied by the SNP – and this situation doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon).
The reason I joined LU is because, fundamentally, I still have not changed my position on the relationship between capitalism and social-democratic parties – no matter how ‘left-wing’ they can appear to be at certain periods in history. But if nothing else – a Corbyn government can help to put Left and Marxist ideas into the cultural and political mainstream.
There is much to agree with here Ken King
We are not Labour; we have different policies and fundamentally different aims. However, at this particular election, we are making a case for supporting Corbyn and his policies and stance.
We are having further discussions on May 6th about this.
But, we will also put our own policies out there.
• An NHS publically owned and publically delivered with no privatisation, like
• Freedom of Movement, support for EU citizens and other migrants living here, suffering hate crimes and uncertainty here,
• An end to Trident and nuclear weapons,
• Like building a million council houses,
• Like an end to sanctions, to austerity, and to the demonization of people who have disabilities,
• Opposition to tuition fees and
• Total opposition to fracking and for a million climate jobs.
• Opposition to war in the middle east
• And much more
The economy is in endless crisis and we advocate ending capitalism. We are internationalists too
We need to be clear on our policies but join in solidarity with all those fighting the Conservatives (and UKIP and the Liberals).
Joining in canvassing in a marginal or where you live, is a good idea as is attending public events We can also support local and national campaigns on the NHS, against sanctions, the benefit cap and evictions. We can be involved in anti-war events, support for migrants anti-racist events, against hard brexit and for international solidarity
Sometimes we could initiate the activity, in other situations, support existing initiatives but we keep our own policies in the public eye if we can. We can liven up the campaign and try and get a youth turnout.
A victory for the Conservatives will be a deeply serious setback and create unnecessary battles, and more of our children will go hungry, racism and xenophobia will grow, the housing crisis will deepen, unions will be even more under attack
Interestingly the French socialists will have a worse task; to vote for a Tony Blair figure to keep out a fascist. Corbyn supports some decent policies and loathes the conservative policies
A conservative victory will strengthen Trump, and Donald and Teresa can hold hands still more and if Le Pen wins they can play ring a Ring of Roses while plotting wars, privatisation, cuts and hate.
Thank you very much indeed, Felicity, for that clarification.
The last time I voted Labour – in any capacity – was in the 1992 General Election – and even then, remembering Kinnock’s betrayal of the miners – I had to virtually force my fingers to drop the voting paper into the ballot box; and adhering to the (what was then) traditional communist line of seeing social democratic parties as potential betrayers of our class, I did not contemplate voting Labour ever again.
While historically not changing that basic position – I do accept that both the national – and international situation has dramatically changed since 1992 – and sadly, for the worst! All over the industrial Western world the right – and far right (in their various levels and guises), are making rapid electoral gains and reactionary views, which would have been viewed as racist and fascist a decade ago – are not just being heard again – but indeed – are entering the political mainstream into (almost) respectability. These are dangerous times for large parts of humanity; to the point where I truly believe that Rosa Luxemburg’s dictum regarding “socialism or barbarism” is already coming true in our lifetime. So with this in mind, and taking on board the comments of comrades above – I will be supporting Corbyn at the general election while hoping that Left Unity make gains in the long run.