Left Unity is an opportunity too good for Greens to ignore
This is an article by Josiah Mortimer, a Green Party member and Left Unity supporter from York. It was originally posted at brightgreenscotland.org
It’s a question many Greens are asking themselves – whether to put their names to the Left Unity project, the nascent party which has thus far seen nearly 10,000 people sign up in its first few months, a figure not all that far off Green Party 11,000 membership. It’s a choice that’s becoming all the more urgent given that Left Unity’s founding conference is coming up this November.
Although ‘it’s much easier to fill out a short form than it is to hit the streets week in week out campaigning’, as Salman Shaheen from the National Coordinating Group told me, the project’s rapid growth (with around 100 local groups set up already) is nonetheless both impressive and unprecedented in recent years. Yet so far it doesn’t seem like the Green Party has been too keen on engaging with the initiative, bar a few honourable exceptions like Sean Thompson’s and David Smith’s pieces on the Left Unity site. Both are Green Left activists. So where’s the rest of the party?
Some Green responses to the project have been understandably annoyed at the emergence of a new force on the left, adding to the already frustrating alphabet soup that is Britain’s radical smorgasbord. ‘There’s no need for another party of the left. The most pressing need is instead to strengthen the largest left party – the Greens’, writes my University of York Green Party friend and comrade Nick Devlin. The Green Party ‘are showing in words and action that there already is a vibrant, radical force in Britain’. Deputy Leader Will Duckworth made similar remarks commenting on the Left Unity website.
The points are valid. And yet we’ve obviously failed to win the whole left over, as LU’s surprising rise, and the Greens’ still rather small size demonstrate. We don’t have a monopoly on the political truth, and though the largest ‘sect’ (in Thompson’s words) on the left, we have to face the fact that there are 57 other varieties of radical party, many of which are explicitly socialist, who haven’t joined the Greens en masse, and obviously for important reasons of their own – the betrayals of pro-austerity Green Parties in Europe, the perceived failure of the Greens to overtly define as socialist – and most of all perhaps, the Brighton debacle.
Yes, Brighton. The refuse worker dispute earlier this year, and the shambles that was the Green administration’s handling of it, had a fair few considering jumping ship to LU, including at least two members of national Green committees (others such as Young Green executive member Robert Eagleton had already flown the nest for Ken Loach’s project before the dispute broke out).
One of the founders of Left Unity itself is ex-Green James Youd, who quit the party in February 2012 over Brighton & Hove council voting for cuts. Brighton, therefore, is an issue that cannot be ignored, not just to stem the periodic flow of resignations, but because no one else on the left is ignoring it – indeed, the former Socialist Worker journalist Tom Walker chooses it as the core of his article ‘Just How Left Wing is the Green Party’.
But on the whole, within both the Greens and Left Unity, there seems to be growing support for mutual critical engagement. Such cooperation could prevent the ‘rightwards drift’ Green Parties in other countries have seen ‘when the whiff of government entry filled their noses’, one straw-poll respondent noted. ‘I don’t see what we have to lose’ writes Bright Green’s own Adam Ramsay. There’s widespread demand for a Portuguese or French-style electoral bloc, provided the party is firmly environmentalist. ‘Let them contest a few elections and see if they can match our vote in seats’. If they can, and they are willing to work on a friendly basis with the Greens, ‘we can give them valuable election organising help’. Otherwise, ‘I don’t want to risk activism time building a movement that will collapse in a few years when that time could be spent solidifying a local party’, a Young Greens national committee member wrote.
Though paid-up membership figures aren’t yet publicly known, it’s obvious that Left Unity already has ‘a significant number of activists building the soon-to-be party from the bottom up’, including several high profile figures such as RMT President Peter Pinkney. ‘We are committed to founding ourselves as a democratic one member one vote organisation’, says Salman Shaheen. As well as preventing any partisan takeovers, this offers a fresh start for a divided left. Shaheen himself is a former Green, and says there are ‘quite a few’ others like him in Left Unity. ‘For the most part I have only seen friendly words exchanged between Greens and Left Unity people. The Greens and Left Unity have a lot in common’ he tells me.
Let’s be clear. I think the Greens are the best chance those who oppose the current economic system have got, and the best chance for the planet. But with the serious possibly of a sizeable and pluralist eco-socialist party (environmentalism, alongside feminism in the wake of the SWP’s Comrade Delta scandal, has been stressed at every point) breaking through, we have to be a part of it, or at least cooperating with it, not least if we want to avoid having three or four radical candidates – TUSC, Respect, LU, Green and so on – standing against each other in every election. An electoral pact has to be on the cards, with the appropriate safeguards, and Greens need to be talking about this with (and within) Left Unity at both grassroots and executive levels. At the moment this isn’t happening, except for a few in Green Left turning up to the odd meeting.
With the ‘end of the beginning’ on the horizon – the 1,000-strong founding conference in November – it is not yet too late for Greens to engage with Left Unity. And although the party is already in talks with TUSC, no decisions about elections and pacts will be taken until after the November launch. Speaking personally however, Shaheen says he ‘sincerely hopes’ Left Unity and the Greens will be able to come to an electoral arrangement, along the lines of past Green/Respect cooperation – ‘I would not like to see Left Unity standing against Caroline Lucas’ and ‘would be strongly pushing for mutually beneficial electoral pacts as I think the Greens are our natural ally’ he says.
Greens need to engage with Left Unity, sooner rather than later, if we take coherently tackling austerity and free-market capitalism (or indeed capitalism more generally) seriously. This is a rare moment for unity that the left – including and especially the Greens if we are indeed the party of social justice – can’t afford to ignore. Natalie Bennett has spoken a lot about the need for a UK-version of Syriza, Greece’s anti-austerity coalition. Now’s our chance. I’ll be signing up today, as a Green Party member hoping for a united eco-socialist movement in Britain. Go on. Join me. – See more at: http://brightgreenscotland.org/#sthash.q6rP11pc.dpuf
29 comments
29 responses to “Left Unity is an opportunity too good for Greens to ignore”
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Are you saying that 1000 people have booked a place at the Founding Conference already?
No, I told Josiah I hoped to see almost 1,000 people there, I suspect we have a way to go yet.
Greens are anti consumption / production …Socialists are pro consumption / production and never the twain shall meet
That’s not true at all – on both sides in fact!
Yeah. Although there’s something in what you’re saying, it’s a huge oversimplification on both sides.
Personally, I’m not pro or anti consumption, it depends what’s being consumed.
And loads of people are Greens and socialists so they often meet.
The Green Party is a bourgeois middle class Capitalist party and so, unlikely to want to seriously campaign against austerity or to save the NHS or against the bedroom tax etc, et al, one only has to look at their actions whenever they get any power or opportunities to do something radical for working people. So it is correct, Left Unity or anything seriously left and the Green Party will not meet on very many issues. It is worth remembering however, that Marx talked about sustainable production long before there were any Green Parties anywhere to be seen.
Ally
Ally, take a look at the Green Party manifesto, it’s pretty socialist and I think there are significant areas of agreement. Not on all things, I can imagine the LU manifesto that emerges from the policy commissions will be to the left of the Greens, but the Green Party is hardly New Labour. The council didn’t represent themselves well in Brighton it’s true, but Caroline Lucas did. Can you point to anything she’s done as an MP that you think is particularly heinous?
I welcome this article from Josiah Mortimer as it addresses the need to find unity on the left – their are no doubt many (I think the overall actual numbers have been inflated)in Left Unity that share a non sectarian approach, that could, if they won the dominant position within Left Unity could help form a broad based left movement made up of Left Unity, Greens and the Labour Left and also the left Trade Unions, united firstly in struggle and also around secondly and less important – the electoral position of ‘genuine best placed left candidate at elections.
I fear unfortunately the current electoral fixation of the TUSC (us alone) approach may win the day in Left Unity and end up defining the party as being against the Green Party, Labour Left MP’s etc. and not working with other lefts to fight the common enemy.
I suspect if the Left Party Platform – which as far as I’m aware is the largest – wins in November, then there’ll be more scope for cooperation with the Greens and others on the left. I don’t know if the Socialist Platform defines the Greens as one of the capitalist parties it would not enter into a coalition with. I don’t share this view.
I’d think that whether to work with the Greens was a matter for conference or online voting.
I don’t think the adoption of any platform would give a mandate either to work towards that or to rule it out.
I’d say, speaking entirely for myself, that I’d prefer it be on specific issues with the Greens. I’m simply not happy with their economic policy, for instance.
I’m also far from convinced about the more radical side of the Green movement in the UK and their commitment to anything like left-wing policies.
You’re probably right Hoom.
I think that environmental sustainability is at the heart of 21st century socialist economics so the Greens’ (and greens’) interest in Left Unity is welcome and their membership should be celebrated. Eco-socialists’ natural home is in a social democratic welfare party of the left because this future party frees them to be Eco-Socialists proper as opposed to the ‘left Greens’ which is their alloted role in the Green party itself.
The giant unignorable “elephant in the room” for any electoral pacts or alliances between Left Unity and the Green Party has to be the disgraceful collaborationist reality of how the Greens are behaving in Brighton (and Bristol too). This can’t just be “mentioned in passing and dismissed”, as Salman blithely does ; ie:
“The council didn’t represent themselves well in Brighton it’s true, but Caroline Lucas did.”
Sorry, Salman, this blatant evidence of how the Green Party ACTUALLY behaves , the FIRST TIME they actually gain office ,trumps any of their windy radical Manifesto rhetoric ,or the risk-free ability of Caroline Lucas, a single MP , without responsibility, or temptation, to grandstand her “radicalism”. Caroline Lucas’ posturing is worthless “evidence” of any reason for a LU/Green pact. Lucas should have campaigned to get the Green Party’s Brighton Councillors expelled from her party. Then I would have been more impressed.
Suppose we entered a “non aggression pact” with the Greens in local elections, Are we prepared to “stand aside” in Brighton to give the Green Party implementers of the local Austerity agenda get a clear run ? I hope NOT !
Unless or until the Greens clearly demonstrate that behind all their anti capitalist rhetoric they are not actually just another sellout opportunist bourgeois party when in office, we shouldn’t touch an alliance or electoral pact with them with a bargepole. Resolute, uncompromising, opposition to all cuts and the Austerity Offensive will be the absolute bedrock of our Party’s electoral “offer” and campaigning practice – whereas for the Greens “saving the whale” will always trump socialist, growth oriented, job-creating, objectives. The Greens are just ideologically preconditioned to rather like the idea of “end of growth” Austerity I’m afraid – as demonstrated by their actions.
Link up or collaborate with the Greens with their current unprincipled collaborationist political practice, and we will discredit our radical new party by association.
If you’re arguing against electoral pacts with the Green Party I would probably agree- eg. challenging the Greens in Blackpool makes sense, don’t you think?
Do you mean Brighton? I don’t mind challenging the councillors who voted for the cuts, but challenging one of the most left-wing MPs in Parliament and almost certainly making her lose her seat? There have to be better targets.
Spot on sustainability is another word for poverty … Thrres nothing remotely left wing or socialist about the reactionary greens ..they are anti human plain and simple
Joshia’s call for Greens to engage with Left Unity, made as it is just before the Greens’ national conference in two weeks, is timely and positive. Supporters of Green Left, the party’s ecosocialist tendency, have proposed a number of important resolutions, including calling for the negotiation of local non aggression pacts with all left organisations, allowing Greens joint membership with other groups and, of course, condemning the leadership of Brighton’s Green councillors for their catastrophic dispute with with the refuse workers. The outcome of these votes is likely to determine the attitude of many socialists in the Green Party towards their ongoing membership.
A number of points have been raised in response to Joshia’s article; some of which themselves need to be responded to. Micky D’s completely inaccurate point about greens being ‘anti-consumption/production’ and socialists ‘pro-production’ (whatever he thinks that that means) was adequately scotched by Ally MacGregor pointing out the Marx dealt with issues of the environment and sustainable production. Micky may not have noticed, but most important British marxist of the 19th century, William Morris, went on to develop a masterly critique of the environmental and cultural havoc wreaked by capitalism and a strong environmental movement developed in the Soviet Union in the 1920s as one of the outcomes of the revolution of 1917 – until its suppression by Stalin.
Ally says that the Green Party ‘is a bourgeois middle class’ party. At one, very simplistic, level Ally is right, but to conclude that its members are therefore ‘unlikely to want to seriously campaign against austerity or to save the NHS or against the bedroom tax etc’ is dangerously wrong because it writes off a significant section of progressive opinion which has the potential to be won to a mass pluralist socialist party.
Today, the Green Party is, with around 13,500 members, the largest sect on the left. It is implicitly (and to a modestly increasing degree, explicitly) anti-capitalist, but it has no real analysis of the nature of capitalism, the state, or who where or what are the agencies for change, and consequently no overall strategy for how to get from where we are to where we want to be. It is a curious hybrid beast; its politics are syncretic and impressionistic, having largely developed out of, and still marked by, a rather narrow and essentially middle class environmentalism. As a result, to a large degree the Party’s politics are built on sentiment rather than rigorous analysis. Consequently, the self created chaos that the party experienced in Brighton and the farcical response of its national executive to it demonstrate the intrinsic weaknesses and limitations of its politics.
Nonetheless, the Green Party represents a significant grouping on the British left that can’t just be ignored. Over the last four or five years it has succeeded in recruiting several thousand pissed off former Labour Party members (something none of the toy town bolshevik groups has done) as well as having some real success in recruiting young people. Of course the Green Party is incapable of really fighting austerity – any more than it’s capable of fighting the environmental crisis cause by the greed and anarchy of capitalism – but it contains several thousand people of good will who do want to fight and who are our natural allies – and potential recruits. We should be looking for ways to work with them – and to recruit many of them in due course.
All the posts supporting Left Unity essentially doing some sort of electoral “deals” with the Green Party, can tiptoe round the “Brighton Council actual behaviour – elephant in the room” as much as they like. The critical point is that if Left Unity is to have any “unique selling point” as a new radical party to the Left of Labour it will above all, as its foundation stone , be that we stand for an uncompromising , no local exceptions, total opposition, to all the cuts in services, jobs, and conditions, arising from the Austerity Offensive, either at national or local level.
The Greens, regardless of their vague radical, leftish, rhetoric, and the undoubted presence in their ranks of sincere socialists, have immediately compromised completely on any commitment to oppose the bosses’ Austerity Offensive – just as soon as they were in a position (in Brighton – and Bristol) to be tested in action to fight the cuts. In fact that Green-led Council has even organised scabbing to defeat its workers ! Has the Green Party leadership expelled the Brighton Council Green Party Councillors ? No. Therefore we can reasonably assume identical future behaviour wherever the Greens win office – as has of course been the track record everywhere in Europe.
Therefore all the pro Green Party excuses on here are completely worthless . This is not political Party we can afford to do any electoral non-aggression deals with (or the ghastly scoundrel Galloway for that matter) – for our own future credibility. Unless we intend to be an unprincipled , rhetoric-rich, but performance-poor party too ?
I can’t help but agree with this. I just think that there is a difference between all-out electoral pacts, and local agreements and/or common work in campaigns. In any case I can’t help but feel that this discussion is a bit previous. Firstly I’m simply not sure rushing headlong into the next general election is the best idea for the future party. Better I feel to let the party bed down a bit with local and by-elections. And when it comes to attracting radical greens to the new party, what would we offer them that was more attractive than the existing green party, which might be seen as the more undiluted environmentally friendly party.
Yes, that is right Salman – the serious left should choose to support Caroline Lucas as she is clearly the genuine based placed left in Brighton Pavilion and fair few of the other left Green Councillors in Brighton should also be given support at council elections – this position should be taken with the Labour Party as well – John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn spring to mind.
Leanne Wood from Plaid Cymru should also be given support as should George Galloway in Bradford – I am sure their are a good number of others.
The left needs to start pulling together a list of people to support – but this must be based on people who have a genuine base of support in their communities and not led by the fixation for some on the left who inflate their support on the electoral plane to be the big i am.
As I have said Left Unity could move forward and help build a serious left movement in the UK or get into the dead end of exposure politics so loved by the sects.
The greens also have some right wing nuts amongst them ; witness Johnny Porrit and the Optimum Population Trust which pushes adverts on downsizing the human race using photos of black babies
It has been ecosocialists like Ian Angus (climateandcapitalism.com) who have marshalled the most rigorous arguments against such reactionary nonsense Micky – and of course, the Greens are not unique in having loons in their ranks, as we know to our own cost!
Joshia. Welcome to left unity. We are a party that believe all in the left are welcome. Even though some are sceptics I think the more we except and cooperate the more stronger we become long term and short term. We are remember a broad based party of the people and should welcome not ridicule other groups. Time for all to engage gentlemen.
ok is a lot going on here but i think one problem is the lack of a clear understanding on part of the greens by left unity members and maybe vice versa as well. for a start the average green member acording to a survey just done is university educated with a low income. i cant help but think that would sum up what left unitys membership is as well. i prefer to see the greens as leftwing but with there own traditions ie the post 68 social movement new left. seen this way everything greens parties have done fits in to the same sociological behaviour of all other lefts groups. ie for example european left parties attempting to run local admistraions and getting in to difficulties by the limitations of that. or marxists proffesors retreating in to academia, the greens have all these archetypes with some cross over. i still recommend derek walls books the no-nonsense guide to green politics and the rise of the green left both 2010. they will deepen understanding of the greens and give the left unity project ideas that they could pinch.
Roy and Salman
Totally agree, we need to support and give credit where it is due. But criticise stupidity also. I hope Caroline is given credit rather than criticism, as we need to encourage and support more woman encouraged by her and others that strengthen where others weaken, I would like to see us welcome men and woman with strength and determination to build the strong base we need.
Their are some strange sorts on the left as well – anyway the Green Party with 14,000 members always is going to contain a few out of step individuals.
Michael foot was a strange sort whom had many that could not stand him, but also admired him also.
If we’re thinking of the modern left, the uncompromising declaration for a new left PARTY (Left Party platform) in order to be ready for the next General Election seems rigid and premature. Why not a position enabling electoral alliances in 18 months time? And leaving Labour (and Green) Party members free to engage with LU till then?
The Left Party platform statement confines its thinking to the traditional left, ignoring the anti-capitalist movements of Social Forums and Occupy etc. Thus it talks of restoring workers rights (not welfare rights) and redistribution welsh to the working class (not the dispossessed). Including the Green Party would be a vital corrective.