Jeremy Corbyn

Boycott the Guardian?

Journalist Matt Kennard is one of the figures calling for a boycott of the Guardian. He spoke to Martin Thomas from Solidarity . K: It’s not really a formal campaign, but it was ignited on social media by left activists, journalists, and commentators who support the Corbyn project. Obviously you expect outlets like the Telegraph and the Sun to be on the other side. But in fact the Guardian has morphed into the biggest and most consistent critic of Corbyn, and under an editor, Kath Viner, who was voted in as the left candidate. It’s a nominally left-wing paper which is trying to destroy the...

Fighting capital or just a greedy few?

Published at the close of September, Matt Bolton and Frederick Harry Pitts’ Corbynism — A Critical Approach is not always an easy read. Bolton and Pitts go well beyond the argument that Corbyn does not understand antisemitism, does not really like the European Union, is a bit of a populist, and has a history (and present) of hanging out with some dubious characters. Rather, their book attempts to “elucidate the essential characteristics of Corbynism as a political orientation (and) outline and critique the general worldview which motivates such a platform”. It seeks to do so on the basis of...

Under the Banner of Marxism

The AWL’s new book, In Defence of Bolshevism, will upset many people on the left – and is warmly welcomed for doing so. The bulk of the book consists of texts by the foremost Heterodox Trotskyist, Max Shachtman. In 1949, Shachtman published Under the Banner of Marxism, originally written as an answer to Ernest Erber, a former Third Camp comrade who had just deserted. In this review, however, I want to pay attention to the book’s introduction by Sean Matgamna, tying in the texts with today. The introduction spares no left tendency from withering criticism. The book is an indictment of Corbynism...

Being a revolutionary, not a sceptic

One of the most positively transformative events in my life was joining the AWL in January 2016. Although I had long considered myself a socialist of some form or other, when I first encountered the AWL in the autumn of 2015, my politics were very ill-defined. Years of seeing Labour under Blair, Brown, and Miliband had made me view the left as a lost cause in British politics, to the point that I was sceptical of even attempting activism. This is why, to my shame, I distanced myself at age 18 from the then-ongoing 2010 student protests. I had simply become so resigned to the fact that...

Labour needs a critical left wing

More than 12,000 people attended Labour Party conference 2018, with local parties sending noticeably larger delegations then in previous years. There was less of a focus on Corbyn as “a celebrity”, an improvement, and proceedings involved less political grandstanding. But the level of political debate was still, overall, quite low. We were told that Corbynism has matured into something that is now “mainstream”. The leadership wants Labour to have profile as a serious “party of government” who can capture the “national mood”. Press coverage seems to agree that Corbyn has partially succeeded in...

Democracy review in danger?

As we go to press (17 September) the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party is finalising the Party’s Democracy Review which will be voted on at conference. Both Momentum and the press have jumped on rumours that the unions will attempt a “power grab” for the selection of leader. The five biggest unions have apparently come to a compromise position on the election of Leader in the case of a vacancy. According to the Guardian the change would stop someone from both the far left of the Parliamentary Party and from the right being able to stand. A proposed increase in the...

Stop Brexit! Fight Poverty!

At its conference on 22-26 September Labour has the chance to galvanise its new and enthused activist layer into becoming a serious force against the Tories, their disastrous policies for working-class people pushed through over eight years. To do that Labour needs to overhaul its democracy and commit itself to a radical programme. Top of the kind of political shift Labour needs to make is on Brexit. With over 100 motions submitted by local Labour parties, it is likely that t full debate on Brexit and the demand for another referendum or “People’s Vote” will be aired at the conference...

Labour and Israel-Palestine

Over the past decade the situation for the Palestinians has gone from bad to worse. Continued occupation, continued settlement expansion in the West Bank, no end to the conflict, the US moving their embassy to Jerusalem (undermining the widely held view that Jerusalem should be shared as a city after a settlement between Israelis and Palestinians) and now Trump has pledged to withdraw all US funding for the UN’s refugee agency for Palestinians UNWRA, while also closing down the PLO’s offices in Washington DC. But the election of a Labour government in Britain could be some small boost for the...

Yes "smash Israel" is antisemitic

The Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) has decided to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in full. This is a step forward for Labour but only after weeks of indecision, confusion and lack of leadership in a row which may have caused a great deal of damage. In adopting the IHRA definition, the NEC added a qualifying statement stressing that freedom of speech should be allowed in relation to criticism of the Israeli government. But the IHRA should not be an impediment to free speech unless it is used cynically or...

Meetings on left antisemitism: what it is and how to fight it

Publication here Workers' Liberty is hosting a series of meetings across the country about antisemitism. If you'd like more information about a meeting or would like us to organise a meeting in your area get in touch with office@workersliberty.org . Lewisham Tuesday 18 September, 7.30, 388 New Cross Road, London SE14 6TY Speaker: Daniel Randall, London Underground worker, RMT activist and Workers' Liberty Facebook event Newcastle Tuesday 18 September, 7pm, Room 2, Good Space, Commercial Union House, 39 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle NE1 6QE Speaker: Michael Elms, Workers' Liberty Facebook event...

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