Labour Party

John McDonnell, the left Labour MP who challenged Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership in 2007, has made an appeal for a distinctive left "slate" within the Labour campaign at the coming general election. Writing in the Guardian, McDonnell declared: "The only responsible act in the long term interests of our movement would be to offer a real change in political direction by mounting a challenge to the political leadership of the party and letting the members of the party decide but this route would almost certainly be blocked again by MPs failing to nominate. Then the only alternative is...

The Fire Brigades Union conference in May rejected a motion from Durham for "a study" paving the way for reaffiliation to the Labour Party. The FBU disaffiliated from the Labour Party in 2004, disgusted by the Labour government's attitude in the FBU's 2002-3 pay dispute. At the 2007 FBU conference, the Executive proposed: "Concern has been expressed that disaffiliation has closed a number of doors... It is right that the Union should continue to debate its political direction and this will inevitably include the issue of possible re-affiliation to the Labour Party... The Executive Council will...

A delegate at the CWU conference in Bournemouth reports on the debate (Monday morning, 8 June) on the CWU's political activity. "Scrappy debate. Mainly support for [general secretary] Billy Hayes's approach, i.e. leave it to the leadership to do a deal with the Government. "At the same time Billy Hayes reaffirmed last year's policy of a ballot on support for the Labour Party at the general election [not, as often reported, on affiliation] if privatisation goes through. "Motion 99 [which called for no CWU financial or physical support to Labour MPs who refuse to back the union on Royal Mail...

The fascist BNP has won two Euro-MPs. Labour has hit a record low in the Euro-elections. New Labour is crumbling - to the advantage of the fascist BNP, of the right-wing and xenophobic UKIP, and of the Tories. The affiliated unions should call the Labour Party to order. John McDonnell, who ran as a left candidate against Gordon Brown for leader in 2007, has called for "a recall Labour party conference - one that is properly open to all our members, supporters and progressives - at which we can debate the policies, democratically agree a new way forward and motivate our supporters once again...

Activists from Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP returned to the streets in their campaign against the British National Party. Leafleting door-to-door in the Beeston area of Nottingham, a small group of anti-fascists found themselves on the same front steps as the BNP, who’d covered the area a short time before. The BNP material — a combination of glossy leaflets and a photocopied local newsletter — repeated the fascists core themes for the coming European and local elections: “Say to to EU rule”, “oppose mass immigration”, “house British people first”, “help pensioners not banks”. Wayne Shelbourn...

By 19 May, 200 mainstream Labour Party figures had signed a letter to the National Executive urging it to “support the immediate removal of the whip from individual MPs who have brought the party into disrepute over this issue and allow CLPs [constituency Labour party] to trigger reselection ballots against them”. The National Executive that day decided to set up “a panel of NEC members... to interview any Labour MPs where there appears to be evidence against them. The panel will have the power to recommend to the NEC that MPs are not allowed to stand as Labour candidates at the next General...

In Solidarity 3/151 Sean Matgamna started a discussion on perspectives for the labour movement in the economic crisis. We continue the discussion in Solidarity with a (personal) reply to Sean’s articles by Cathy Nugent and a reply to Cathy by Martin Thomas. The other articles here are “observations” on issues of relevance to the discussion. Sean and other comrades have written other articles on this issue; these, a longer version of Cathy’s article and the policy in support of union disaffiliation from Labour passed by the current AWL National Committee can be found here . The issue will be...

Braving the elements The positive thing to be said for Sean’s articles on the Labour-union link is that he has started a live debate for the AWL. Though comrades should consider Sean's arguments carefully this is not “bold new thinking about the big picture”. Sean has thrown into the discussion just one two-sided idea. His idea — that in the crisis Labour is a little bit likely, quite likely or very likely to revive, and that the political campaign of the non-affiliated unions are very likely to fare badly as a consequence of Labour’s new weight in the labour movement as a whole, or just...

Workers' Liberty 3/23 Debate: Labour and the unions. Why we should not back CWU disaffiliation , by Sean Matgamna; AWL National Committee text on the subject (and online comments) Keeping our options open : article in favour of CWU disaffiliation from Labour by Cathy Nugent, reply by Martin Thomas, plus small items on building a new Socialist Alliance and No2EU The Unions, Labour, AWL, and the Crisis: a Debate , by Sean Matgamna (and online comments) Why we will vote Labour and SSP in the Euro-elections , by Rhodri Evans (and online comments) The Trade Union Movement, New Labour, and Working...

By 19 May, 200 mainstream Labour Party figures had signed a letter to the National Executive urging it to "support the immediate removal of the whip from individual MPs who have brought the party into disrepute over this issue and allow CLPs [constituency Labour party] to trigger reselection ballots against them". The National Executive that day decided to set up "a panel of NEC members... to interview any Labour MPs where there appears to be evidence against them. The panel will have the power to recommend to the NEC that MPs are not allowed to stand as Labour candidates at the next General...