Open letter Follow

The desire for unity on the left is driven by the meltdown in Labour’s support, the lengthening dole queues and the election of two fascist British National Party (BNP) candidates to the European parliament.

A lot has happened in the seven weeks since the European election results.

Open letter responses: 'We must link arms in struggle'

Like many people of my age I got involved in politics during the Miners’ Strike of 1984-5 and its bitter aftermath.

Dealing with the Nazis in the BNP It’s time for the left to "get its act together" and stop the petty bickering which has bedevilled us for far too long.

The Socialist Party has always supported genuine left unity, on open, pluralistic terms. An effective challenge in the general election is an urgent task facing the workers’ movement and the left, not least in order to combat the far-right British National Party (BNP).

Michael Rosen’s idea of creating an umbrella organisation or federation of the left is a great idea. However, haven’t we been here before?

This year I stood as an independent left candidate in the local elections in Cambridge. I polled a close third with nearly 18 percent–less than 3 percent behind Labour.

‘I have had a positive reaction to the open letter at work. People are keen to discuss the idea of building a united left electoral alternative and the danger of people seeing the BNP as the voice for working class people if we don’t get our act together.’

‘This is an important opportunity for the left to finally unite around a key battle. Labour’s agenda is now as bankrupt as the economy.

‘After the recent election of the British National Party (BNP) to the European parliament it is imperative that the left unites against the fascists.

‘The collapse of the Labour vote did not come as a surprise to me. Since the start of the war in Iraq, Labour’s popularity has fallen among its traditional voters.

‘Millions of people are out of work, despondent and extremely disgruntled. They are seeking a credible alternative to Labour and we must forge it for the sake of our children and grandchildren.

The Socialist Workers Party produced an open letter to all those on the left in the aftermath of last month’s European elections.

Many hundreds of socialists and left activists in Scotland are still nursing wounds from the catastrophic, and I believe completely unnecessary, schism on the left north of the border in 2006.

The open letter to the left is a good move. We desperately need to make the things that unite us count more than the things that divide us.

Labour’s vote collapsed to a historic low in last week’s elections as the right made gains. The Tories under David Cameron are now set to win the next general election.