Marxism festival 2024 had several meetings discussing where next for the left (Picture: Guy Smallman)
There was lots of enthusiasm for unity between independents who stood against Labour in the general election, during a session on the election at the Marxism festival.
Some speakers called for a regroupment of the left around this new alternative. But the debate over what the point of that alternative should be still needs to be had.
Michael Lavalette, who came second in Preston, made the important point that his success came because his campaign was “organically” connected to the movement over Palestine.
That’s important because it shows where our strength and power lies. It also shows why an electoral project can’t just be based in a movement outside parliament.
Its core, fundamental aim has to be to build and strengthen that external movement too. Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain and to an extent Corbynism—all promised that they would be held in check by movements outside parliament.
But their aims weren’t to build those movements—it was to use those movements to get elected to parliament and form governments. It meant that the demands of parliament pulled them away from those movements to accommodate to the right.
Trying to appear “responsible” to the financial sector and to quell the right of their own parties, they each ended in capitulation, defeat and even betrayal.
If we start again with a new project, it has to be different. It has to be clear that its purpose is to build the movement, fightbacks and campaigns outside parliament.
We need to make this argument now. If we don’t, we can look forward to similar sessions at Marxism in years to come debating what went wrong. Again.
Worse, the energy and power of the Palestine movement could be channelled into elections and parliament, away from where our strength lies. And that would be unforgivable.
Nick Clark
South London
I write this as one student to the rest across Britain. These past few months across the world have seen the drastic changes of what politics means on campus.
With our actions in the encampments, we have defined and raised the political bar for students as we fight against our educational institutions.
The students have the power to make effective and genuine change—principally seeking divestment from Israel and companies complicit with its apartheid. The ruling elite and its institutions are forced to listen to us for its crimes.
We have shown victory at every corner. At the Marxism Festival in London, there was an exciting talk on encampments with students who have been at that forefront fighting for the Palestinians. While we’re now in the summer, the fight is not over.
The fight will continue. It must. So come September, we need to prepare to involve all the students returning and newly arriving, in protest for Palestine.
It will be harsh, risky and long. But if you can’t take risks, you can’t create a different future and as long as we are alive, we have infinite chances to create that future.
Solidarity to you all, bring them hell for now and forever, for Palestine.
Jawad Hussain
Leeds
The anti-Lammy campaign worked well in Tottenham. Independent socialist candidate Nandita Lal carried out our plan really well and we did what we planned to do—reduce his majority.
We got 2,348 votes after a four-week campaign. Lammy’s vote share dropped by 12,555, almost halving his majority and we saved our deposit.
When he is bigging it up around the world as foreign secretary, he should know that he no longer has the support of a significant portion of the people who put him there. Our canvassing found nobody could find a good word to say for him.
This is the man who could say, “It might sometimes be legally justified to bomb a refugee camp.” Tottenham is a poor constituency—the mass of people vote against the Tories.
Unfortunately they had a Labour candidate who describes himself as “conservative with a small c”. No wonder he fits so well into Sir Keir’s “light blue” cabinet that will favour the rich over working class people at every opportunity.
Alan Watts
Haringey Justice for Palestinians in north London
In all the years I have been supporting left wing politics, I have never known of politicians to go from one extreme to another to a vile political stance.
George Galloway of the Workers Party of Britain was an MP that took a strong anti-war stance in 2003 against the invasion of Iraq.
But then I read with horror in Socialist Worker that Galloway had put his weight behind the rising racism that blames migrants (Socialist Worker, 25 June 2024).
He and the Workers Party of Britain have chosen to attack migrants by demanding the Royal Navy sink boats with refugees.
This political rhetoric is music to the ears of the Nazi Tommy Robinson and his ilk. That’s obviously sickening and it’s a good result that the people of Rochdale voted him out on 4 July.
Charlie Dowthwaite
Barrow-in-Furness
Thames Water has just announced everyone’s bills will be ramping up this year. Privatised water doesn’t work because it sucks our money into rich people’s pockets instead of investing it in clean water supplies and proper sewage treatment.
The government should nationalise water now. That way proper investment, funded by taxing the rich can begin without delay.
L Clark
Bristol
Marxism Festival was a great setting to reimagine the world with fellow socialists involved in struggles. I was filled with the dangerous feeling of hope that the capitalist world so often wants to beat out of you. A hope for a better world, being part of the fight for a better future.
Alex Del Rey
Plymouth
Western leaders at the Nato summit openly used the proxy war in Ukraine as a vehicle for widening confrontation with their main rival China. Attacks on China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s invasion headlined the summit.
The United States’ warmongering with China in the Indo-Pacific sea has been backed by Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Rob Ferguson
Dorset
It’s immense to hear that over one million Sri Lankan public sector workers struck last week. Even better—they’ve been joined by 250,000 teachers.
These strikes bring together members of over 200 unions. Now’s the time to build similar crossunion strikes across Britain.
Rubina Vine
Bradford
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