The far left, far right and working class votes
So much for that old labour movement slogan about unity being strength; Marxists of one description or another are contesting seats in the London elections on no fewer than five separate tickets.
The divisions underline a generalised lack of political seriousness, perhaps driven by some sense that the stakes are low. After all, the pumped up borough council that is the Greater Rubberstamp Assembly hardly represents Britain’s most puissant political body, is it? What does it matter that not a single socialist candidate has even a remote chance of success?
Well, it does matter, and this is why. The British National Party is looking good to secure at least one and possibly even two seats. That will confer on it greater legitimacy and a better platform than it has ever previously enjoyed.
The truth is that the BNP has built itself – in the outer eastern suburbs of London, anyway – primarily by articulating real working class grievances. Socialists that still espouse class politics need to ask themselves why the far right is succeeding where the far left has so completely failed.
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Smearing Ken Livingstone
Over at LibDemvoice Peter David has said why he will hold his nose and vote for Livingstone as a second choice, on the back of Boris’s disastrous appearance on Newsnight.
Let me state from the outset I’ve been more a critic of KL than an ardent supporter. But some of these criticisms don’t stand up.
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Immigration is also a feminist issue
Every single candidate for the London mayoral elections in May – even Tory Boris Johnson – supports an amnesty which would allow illegal immigrants living in the UK for four years or more to follow a “path to citizenship”, The Independent reported yesterday.
Last month Mr Livingstone called for a “fresh start”, with a one-off amnesty for migrants without “regular status”, in spite of his party’s stance. “Migrants contribute hugely to the economic, civic and cultural life of London and the UK,” he said. “To have a substantial number of them living here without regular status because of deep-rooted failings in the immigration system, some dating back over a decade, is deeply damaging to London as well as to them.”
This is really good news.
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Mayoral candidates launch election broadcasts
The election broadcasts for all candidates were launched last night.
Ken and Brian have their videos on YouTube while Sian Berry’s website has no such interactivity – a huge shame. And I can’t be bothered to promote Boris. So here they are:
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Which way is progress?
What does that term “progressive” mean? It’s a bit of a composite, one that strives to encompass social liberalism and economic leftism, environmentalism, multiculturalism, feminism and so on – an umbrella term, perhaps, for things that most conservatives dislike. It stands too for resistance to unaccountable and over-concentrated wealth and power, demanding that these things should be shared out and devolved for the benefit of the largest possible numbers of people.
If we accept that as a reasonable rough definition, who is the most progressive candidate for London mayor? The answer is not straightforward. Livingstone, of course, claims the progressive high ground and is calling for Green, Lib Dem and far Left sympathisers to join him there. He does so with some justice. In his GLC past he took the lead in campaigning against racism and for gay rights in the teeth of seething opposition. With public transport he championed and imposed cheap fares “on the rates”, driving his enemies madder still by becoming popular for doing it. Today, the green lobby lauds him as a trail blazer in tackling climate change and seeking to restrain car use.
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I got Ken Livingstone
Unlock Democracy have lauched a new site – VoteMatch – which tells you the candidate best suited to policies you agree or disagree with. It’s a great tool, so do use it. Apparently Ken Livingstone should be my first choice and Sian Berry my second. Find out if you’ll be surprised too and let us know in the comments.
BNP backs Boris, Paddick piles in
Here’s one endorsement he can probably live without.
The British National party has called on its supporters to give their second-preference votes in the London mayoral election to the Conservative candidate, Boris Johnson.In a statement posted on its website today, the far-right party advised people to award its own mayoral candidate, Richard Barnbrook, their first-choice vote, and “the Tory clown Johnson” their second because he was the lesser of two evils.
Libdem candidate Brian Paddick has just released a statement saying:
Clearly the BNP have recognised Boris’s talent for causing offence and creating division. This should be a wake-up call for all decent people who could vote in the Mayoral elections to register their vote. The more votes there are for mainstream parties, the less chance there will be to give racists and extremists a seat.
We need a Mayor who does not make offensive remarks, who does not take sides and who will put all his efforts into uniting all Londoners whatever their background.
Update: A Guardian/ICM poll puts Ken and Boris neck-to-neck.
When Greens go Brown…
What’s in it for them, eh? That must have crossed your mind on reading this chirpy piece from Green London mayoral candidate Siân Berry in the New Statesman hitching her wagon to the Labour party. continue reading… »
Brian Paddicks hires the ‘blogfather’
I was alerted to this blog-post in the morning, saying that Brian Paddick had hired Jerome Armstrong to head up his intenet strategy. Now this is very interesting to a political/technology geek such as yours truly because:
- Armstrong runs MyDD, one of the most influential Democrat blogs;
- He co-wrote the book Crashing the Gate along with Markos of Daily Kos – the book on forging a new progressive alliance in the US;
- He advised Howard Dean for his 2004 presidential race, using the web to great effect.
Now, Mark Pack has confirmed it.
Maybe it’s because I’m not a Londoner…
… that I’d rather not support Ken Livingstone for Mayor? Somehow I just can’t muster any massive enthusiasm for Livingstone, nor do I feel the chilling terror of his major opponent (Tory buffoon Boris Johnson) that the Mayor’s re-election campaign appears to be trying to instil in the electorate. To hear the statements coming from some of Livingstone’s supporters you’d think that this was a race between Che Guevara and some kind of combination of Adolf Hitler and Satan, and I just can’t see what is effectively a council election on steroids in such apocalyptic terms. I also, try as I might, just can’t bring myself to like the oleaginous Livingstone, who is still trying to morph himself from his previous status as a grinning celebrity chat show guest, to having some kind of political gravitas. Ironically of course, Johnson is a product of the same media clowning circuit that Livingstone is. Bojo versus Bozo – what an appetising choice for the people of London. continue reading… »
Vote Green and Ken?
[Note: LC's been had some server issues yesterday. I blame the weather]
The Green Party’s Sian Berry and Ken Livingstone have made a pact to sort-of endorse each other. More than anything, the move says Ken is seriously worried about his re-election chances.
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