Discussion & Debate

Why I signed up for socialism Ed Potts   As someone who signed my name to the founding statement of the Socialist Platform, I feel motivated to explain my reasons for doing so and furthermore to encourage others to follow suit. This piece will probably stray into the personal rather than the conventionally “political”, so […] Read more »

A debate has begun inside Left Unity – the project to set up a new party of the left in Britain – about what kind of party it should become. Here Tom Walker argues the case for the Left Party Platform In only a few months, more than 9,000 people have signed up to an […] Read more »

The extent to which we practise transparency and democracy determines whether we can be taken seriously, argues Mike Macnair Read more »

Ben McCall, of Doncaster, argues that Left Unity should develop as a movement for long term change, not a new party.  It should have a set of simple principles, as suggested here.  The Introduction below is an internal explanation of some of the thinking behind this approach and in part uses ‘our’ language – responding […] Read more »

The debate over whether Left Unity should consider itself to be socialist, and name the new party accordingly, continues. Andy Smith  from Leeds Left Unity draws on Hannah Arendt to argue that socialism fails to address individual morality – the different ways in which individuals respond to situations – regardless of economic system. As such, […] Read more »

How should a new mass party of the left define itself? Tim Lessells of Leicester Left Unity argues that it should be an anti-capitalist party, and that we should not be afraid to use the word ‘socialism’. I believe that a new party of the left should, from the very start, stand openly and unashamedly […] Read more »