Sheffield Left Unity Launch. Crisis and Austerity – Why we need Left Unity

On 29th June Sheffield Left Unity held a successful launch event in central Sheffield. Patrick Black, a Sheffield LU member, reports on the half-day event, which was attended by 45 people. 

The Launch was opened with a heartfelt speech by Bianca Todd (Left Unity National Coordinating Group and Northampton LU). Bianca spoke with great conviction about her involvement in Left Unity, her own family political history and the need to ‘break’ with the Labour party following Labour’s successive betrayals of it’s working class base. She talked of the crucial need for effective working class political representation and the need for LU to be involved in local communities in particular supporting those most affected by the much hated Bedroom tax.

Ged Colgan (Sheffield LU activist) then followed with a short presentation of the present political and economic crisis of capitalism , the collapse of  social democratic parties as a result of their adoption and implementation of neo-liberal policies, the growth and development of new broad left parties and social movements opposed to cuts and austerity throughout Europe.

We then had a lengthy wide-ranging and engaging discussion from the floor.

Prominent again was the crucial question of working class political representation and the need for Left Unity to be involved in fighting the Bedroom tax. People talked about their experience (both good and bad) of previous left unity projects such as the Socialist Alliance, the question of Socialism, the crisis of the Left, disability issues and much much more.

There then followed a break after which we heard from Stefanos Ioannou from Syriza UK, who spoke about the party’s origins and history, it’s growth and development, it’s composition, politics, short and long term goals within the present crisis in Greece where a General election looms large within the next few months. A lively discussion was had from the floor, which raised many questions about the present on going struggles within Greece (the working occupation by Greek public TV and radio workers, the relationship of Syriza to those struggles , the question of struggle, working class representation and elections, the threat of fascism and what a Left government would look like.