Momentum

Forward Momentum — the organisation set up recently to democratise Momentum — will run its “primaries” between 12 and 16 May: a selection contest for the Forward Momentum slate for the elections to the National Coordinating Group of the big Labour left network Momentum. The Momentum election will have nominations open between 28 May and 11 June, and voting 16 to 30 June. It is a whole year overdue. The Forward Momentum primaries are being held in all five Momentum “regions” and the Labour Public Office Holders category. There will be a hustings via Zoom on Thursday 14 May between 6pm and 9pm...

As the Momentum National Coordinating Group (NCG) elections approach , debate is building on the left over the future direction for Momentum. Supporters of the campaign group Labour for a Socialist Europe have put out a platform to set out an idea of how Momentum could change direction. They will be looking to stand and support candidates for the NCG who endorse all or most of this platform. It is based around three themes of democracy, class struggle and internationalism, and its key planks are: • a labour movement response to the Covid-19 crisis; not putting off our activism until things...

Socialists across the country are discussing candidatures for the upcoming elections to the National Coordinating Group of Momentum. The NCG was set up after an office “coup” abolished all previous democratic structures in Momentum. Left slates have run in previous elections, and won good numbers of votes, but generally office-supporting slates have won all or almost all the places, and the NCG has not been lively. Labour for a Socialist Europe is discussing updatings to a platform it adopted in January as a criterion for supporting candidates, and a number of activists have expressed interest...

Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack spoke to Sacha Ismail. How should the labour movement be responding to the Covid-19 crisis? In terms of trade union structures, there are real challenges in re-establishing basic functioning in this situation. We’ve had to play catch up to re-establish core functioning and communication under the lockdown. Certainly in the FBU it’s taken us a couple of weeks to get on top of the basics, even things like how do you take a vote properly in an online meeting. Nevertheless, unions need to have the political will to step up. The FBU has been very...

In his final message as Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn called on Labour Party members to support Momentum. But Momentum, a Labour left network launched in late 2015 as a continuation of the grass-roots organising for Corbyn’s leadership campaign, is in flux. On 7-8 April, almost simultaneously, the Momentum NCG officers made a statement saying Momentum “cannot continue as it has been” and (vaguely) promising more democracy in Momentum; and other Momentum people launched “Forward Momentum” to “refound” and “democratise” Momentum. The driving force in “Forward Momentum” seems to be people in the...

Clive Lewis talked with Sacha Ismail. What Corbynism started to talk about in 2015 was an end to austerity, and trying to return to a sort of 1945 moment, trying to recapture a Keynesian economic approach — redistribution of wealth, trying to use social democracy to move us towards a more socialist economy in stages. But also at the beginning it was about democratising the party, which I think is what attracted so many of us. The idea of democracy and membership engagement and members having a real say over policy really resonated. New Labour came in and put their boot on the throat of the...

Leeds East MP and deputy leadership candidate Richard Burgon’s politics are, in general, close to those of the Stalinist Morning Star. So it is ironic that he has made eloquent arguments for Labour Party democracy that virtually no other prominent figure is making. Interviewed on Novara Media, Burgon argues forcefully that Labour members must make Labour policy – including manifesto policy – through conference. He maintains and develops this argument for about ten minutes, defending it against persistent attempts by Novara interviewers Michael Walker and Aaron Bastani to talk him out of it...

The by-election for three places on Labour’s National Executive Committee is messy, with multiple “left” slates or partial slates in competition. Momentum, the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy, the rump Labour Representation Committee, and the (Chris-Williamson-ite) Labour Left Alliance are supporting different combinations of candidates. • CLPD are backing Lauren Townsend and Cecile Wright for the two CLP places • Momentum, Lauren Townsend and Leigh Drennan, plus Nav Mishra for the BAME place • LRC, Jo Bird and Deborah Hobson, plus Hassan Ahmed for BAME • LLA, Jo Bird and Mohammed Azam...

Right-winger Liam Byrne has been selected as the Labour candidate to unseat Tory West Midlands metro-mayor Andy Street in May. Out of 6,948 votes, Byrne received 3,105 first preferences. There were two left candidates, former Dudley council leader Pete Lowe on 2,034 votes and former Respect activist Salma Yaqoob on 1,809. Yaqoob’s transfers did not go to Lowe, or not much more than they went to no second preference or to Byrne. After transfers Byrne beat Lowe 56.5-43.5%. Byrne has, for obvious reasons, made vague leftish noises, but he was a loyal minister in the Blair-Brown regime, nominated...

Over the next two weeks the left wing Labour group Momentum is holding internal elections in which we are participating and we have already seen agitation focused on damaging candidates who are supporters of the AWL and other candidates with whom we have worked. What's going on? Over the last three to four years, since the Labour Party became a hotbed of factional in-fighting, individuals and small groups of Labour Party members have from intermittently organised social media campaigns of lies and distortions against the AWL. This agitation always coincides with Labour or left elections in...