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Socialist Appeal Editorial Board
March 6, 2000
Ken Livingstone has now declared he will run as an independent candidate for LondonMayor. "I have been forced to choose between the party I love and upholding thedemocratic rights of Londoners", he said.
It is a decision that will divide the Labour movement - especially in London. TheBlairites, true to form, were quick off the mark in announcing Livingstone's expulsionfrom the party.
Originally Livingstone said he would give two weeks before making up his mind. This wasto give time to build up pressure on the Labour leadership to force it to drop Dobson andaccept the democratic will of the rank and file. A head of steam behind Livingstone wasbuilding up in the party. A mass meeting of Labour members was called for Monday 6thMarch. Unfortunately, to the bewilderment of Labour activists, this important meeting wassuddenly cancelled without explanation.
There is without question overwhelming revulsion and anger within the Labour Party andaffiliated trade unions at the blatant stitch-up by the Blairite machine to block KenLivingstone becoming the official Labour candidate, when he had clearly won the support ofthe majority of Labour members in the capital.
Even the capitalist press has been forced to recognise the dishonest actions of therightwing leadership of the party. The Evening Standard described it as "Millbank'soutrageous fix", while the Independent called the selection"gerrymandering". The most recent poll carried out by the Evening Standardshowed that only 15% believed the selection process was fair.
The Blairites have been prepared to stoop into the gutter and resort to any underhandmeans to secure their man - Dobson - as the candidate. A well-orchestrated campaign wasengineered in Millbank, and backed by Downing Street, to discredit Livingstone. Then, whenthey realised they would lose in a one-member, one-vote election, they wheeled out theelectoral college to rig the vote. Pro-Livingstone unions were disbarred, while a handfulof MPs, MEPs and London Assembly candidates were given a third of the votes!
Undemocratic method
While all London trade unions balloted their members over the issue, giving Livingstoneoverwhelming support, the right-wing AEEU leaders refused a ballot, and undemocraticallyput all their votes behind Dobson. Many AEEU members are furious at this manoeuvre, andrecognise the hypocrisy of Ken Jackson, who is fond of lecturing the rest of the Labourmovement about democracy. The spurious reason given was that the union couldn't afford it.The rightwing spends its members' money in far more worthwhile ventures - like holding itsannual conference in Jersey. The same stitch-up was used by the South London Co-op Partyto back Dobson.
Similar methods were used by the Blairites to ensure the defeat of Rhodri Morgan inWales and secure the election of Alun Michael, Blair's chosen candidate, as the leader ofthe Wales Labour Party. This blatant manipulation by the Millbank machine gave rise towidespread disappointment and anger, and the loss of seats to Plaid Cymru in the Assemblyelections. Out of protest, Labour lost the rock-solid strongholds of the Rhondda, Islwynand Llanelli. It was a severe blow against Alun Michael and the Blair leadership. Withinmonths the whole mess began to unwind, and Michael was forced to make way for RhodriMorgan.
The Blairites have falsely accused Livingstone of losing elections at the GLC. Theyhave forgotten that New Labour's policies have been a disaster in Wales. Rock-solid seats,held by Labour for a century, have been lost in the Rhondda, Islwyn and Llanelli. What hashappened in Wales yesterday, can happen in London tomorrow. The Blair clique is leadingthe party to disaster. A recent internal report in Millbank warns that theparty could lose the next general election if one in five of its traditional supportersrefuses to vote. A similar warning was given by right-winger Peter Kilfoyle, who said theparty was alienating its core support. How long do we have to put up with this mess? It istime we called a halt!
Building on their underhand methods in Wales, the ballot-rigging Blairites robbedLivingstone of his victory in London. Without doubt, Livingstone won the overwhelmingsupport of the London Labour movement. Out of the number of votes cast, Livingstone polled74,646, while Dobson managed to pick up 22,275. This constituted a massive rejection ofBlair and his policies. But such niceties could not be allowed to stand in the way.Livingstone had to be stopped at all costs. Blairites cannot tolerate any opposition totheir pro-capitalists policies. Livingstone has taken a firm stand against theprivatisation of the London Underground - a policy supported by the bulk of Labour Partymembers - but anathema to the leadership.
These blatant Tammany Hall methods have also alienated many Blairites. In a letter to TheGuardian, Councillor Simon Stanley, Kensington and Chelsea, protested:
"I voted for Blair as leader, supported him over Clause 4, approved of his rapprochement with Murdoch and the City and, yes, I voted for Frank. I could probably be described as an archetypical New Labour councillor, yet the patience even of loyalists like me has worn ever thinner by the arrogant, ill-advised and politically maladroit antics of Downing Street and Millbank .
And now, try as they might, they cannot deny the dismal result of their handling of the selection process, because their strategies have brought the party to the verge of schism and they have only themselves to blame. I have not seen such crass and monumental incompetence as I have over devolution since the days of John Major's premiership."
(The Guardian, 24 February)
The rank and file of the movement correctly see both Dobson and Alun Michael as stoogesof Blair. They are yes-men. They support all the unpopular policies of privatisation, andthe government's pro-Tory policies on health, education and the economy. The big votes forMorgan and Livingstone were an open expression of opposition to Blairism.
Widespread support for Livingstone
Nevertheless, disgust with Blairite sharp practices is not enough on its own to explainthe widespread support for Livingstone over Dobson. It reflects the growingdisillusionment and disenchantment with the pro-big business policies of the government,also expressed in the low turn-outs in a string of elections. The latest being theCeredigion by-election in January where Plaid Cymru retained its seat and Labour wasbeaten into fourth place behind the Liberals and Tories.
Blair is not trusted by the ranks of his own party. How can it be otherwise when he hasstated openly that it was a mistake to found the Labour Party, and once praisedThatcherism as a "necessary act of modernisation"? The Blairites, surrounded bythe likes of David Sainsbury and Bob Ayling, are Tory/Liberal infiltrators who areattempting to subvert the Labour Party and change it into an openly capitalist party. Thisis the so-called 'Blair Project' which he is trying to foster at every stage.
The vote for Livingstone reflects a groundswell of opposition to this course.
However, the key question is: how can the opposition to Blairism be carried forward?Livingstone was absolutely correct to state that the election was "tainted" anddemand that Dobson stand down. A head of steam was building up. So far, the Blairites werenot prepared to retreat.
Nevertheless, the announcement of Ken Livingstone standing as an independent candidatedoes not solve the problem. However understandable Ken Livingstone's frustration may be,and however much hundreds of thousands of Londoners may relish the idea of giving Blair abloody nose, standing as an independent will not undermine Blairism or challenge therightwing grip at the top of the Labour Party.
Standing as an independent
There was certainly big pressure for Livingstone to stand independently. Polls havesuggested that Livingstone could win in the first round, by picking up Labour, Liberal andTory voters. Even a number of capitalist papers, like the Evening Standard, are keen forhim to go it alone for a number of reasons. But they have their own agenda. Some wantLivingstone to split the Labour vote and allow Norris to win. The rightwing Economistmagazine has raised this scenario. Even if this is an outside chance, such an outcomewould be a crushing blow to Livingstone.
Others, like the London Region of the RMT, were urging Livingstone to stand, given hisopposition to the partial privatisation of the London Underground. But even if Livingstonewins, there is no guarantee of this. The mayor will have few untrammelled powers and willhave to rely upon the Assembly. The only real way to prevent privatisation is for the RMTto prepare the ground for all-out industrial action which will paralyse London, includingthe City.
This "independent" candidature of Livingstone can result in a very messysituation in the Labour movement. It could lead to a splitting away of Labour members withno strategy or perspective, and the isolation of many good activists from the trade unionmovement. That is why the left in the Labour Party are generally opposed to the idea. Hisown Labour Party also came out against it. A 70-strong meeting of the Brent Eastconstituency expressed its "extreme anger" at the way the Labour hierarchyhandled the much-ridiculed selection process. Crucially, the vast majority backed a motioncalling on their MP to "fight his corner inside the Labour Party and not to stand asan independent outside the party." This is undoubtedly the view of the vast majorityof Labour activists. They realise even if Livingstone wins, what happens after 4 May? Howhas this strengthened the struggle against Blairism within the party?
There are big problems and dangers standing as an "independent". With noparty and very little money, Livingstone will have to seek backers. As he explained lastNovember: "I am going to stand as a Labour candidate or not at all. I will not standas an independent. What everybody overlooks is the fact I simply couldn't. Where would Iget the £500,000 I'd need? The only way I could run would be with big backers, and Iwould become the creature of those backers." (Daily Mail, 18 November 1999). What wastrue in November 1999, is true today.
An "independent" Livingstone electoral campaign resting on a "popularfront" of showbiz extras, disgruntled Tories, independent business people, andassorted ultra-lefts, standing against the Labour movement in London in the LondonAssembly elections would not provide the alternative needed.
Even if elected, what could Livingstone do in the context of the big business system.Only a fundamental change in society on socialist lines could offer a real way forward forthe working class of London. This presupposes a struggle within the Labour movement. Avictory for Livingstone on 4th May in and of itself will lead nowhere.
Challenge the right wing leadership
The whole of working class history has shown that the only effective challenge to therightwing leadership is rooted firmly within the working class and its organisations -above all the trade unions and the Labour Party. The attempt by Scargill to form analternative in his Socialist Labour Party has come to absolutely nothing. Even where DenisCanavan stood and won against the Labour Party in Scotland, this has not served tostrengthen the left or weaken the Blairites. If they had remained and fought, they couldhave led the ground-swell of opposition within the party and the trade unions. Blairismcould have already been defeated. We must learn these lessons if we are to build a realsocialist alternative to the rightwing.
Ken Livingstone's decision can lead to disorientation within the ranks of the party.Some will be demoralised; others will drop away in despair. This has to be resisted at allcosts. It will simply fracture the growing opposition to the leadership. Such a situationwill simply play into Blair's hands. This is not to bow down to the Millbank machine or toaccept this fix. On the contrary, it is the only way to effectively defeat Blairism.
One hundred years ago the trade unions created the Labour Party to promote theinterests of the working class. Today, that party has been hijacked by Tory inflitrators.They have a tight grip at the top, but very little support in the rank and file. Policymaking is in the hands of a clique at Downing Street. The bulk of trade unions supportedLivingstone in the selection process. Although some in the RMT and the FBU wanted to pushhim as an independent, the vast majority realised, although the selection was a stitch-up,that it would be a blind ally. However, to register a protest is not enough. Affiliatedunions must face up to their obligations. We urge all trade union members not to contractout, but to contract in.
The trade unions must organise a fightback within the party. A series of meetingsshould be organised in constituencies all around the country to pull that oppositiontogether. Fringe meetings should be organised at every trade union conference beginningwith the AEEU, to struggle for socialist policies and democracy. To walk away now would beto damage that struggle.
Ken Livingstone was correct to say: "I want to make it absolutely clear that I donot want anybody to leave the Labour Party. Members who have been appalled by the conductof Labour's selection must stay and fight to ensure that nothing like it ever happensagain." Ken Livingstone could have provided leadership and a focal point to thisground-swell of opposition within the party. Unfortunately, his "independent"stand for mayor and his consequential expulsion from the party will prevent him from doingso. That is a tragedy.
We urge all Labour Party members and trade unionists, if you agree with what we aresaying, to contact us and help build the opposition to Blairism. The time has come - giventhe massive vote against Blair's candidate Dobson - to take back the Labour Party, clearout the Tory/SDP carpetbaggers, and fight for real socialist policies as the onlyalternative to Blairism and the policies of capitalism.
Write to us or phone us on 0207 251 1094and let us know your reactions to this. You can also print this out and distribute it toyour Labour Party or trade union branch (contact us if you want printed copies to be sentto you).
March 6th, 2000
See also: Livingstone:Stay and Fight!