Labour Party

“A fledgling Lib Lab pact is being forged”, declared Mary Riddell in the Daily Telegraph, 17 January. Exaggeration, no doubt. But Ed Miliband is trying to push the Labour Party into accepting a Lib-Lab coalition as its goal. Accepting that goal would mean resisting all moves to swing Labour left, away from neo-liberal policies acceptable to the Lib Dems. It would block off the possibility of a government that will legislate for workers’ rights and reverse what the Tories are doing now, rather than building on it as Blair built on Thatcher. The unions and the Labour left, so far silent about...

I’ve always been fascinated by Peter Mandelson. Those who thought Blair was a decent bloke, good for winning elections, right-wing only because he was led astray by the likes of Mandelson, were wrong. I personally found Blair repellent: shallow, self-obsessed and, actually, not very bright. These are all impressions unintentionally confirmed in this book. Mandelson, on the other hand, always appeared a much more stylish scumbag: intelligent, and with a genuine understanding of the Labour Party and how to move it rightwards. New Labour is his achievement. His autobiography is interesting for...

The summer’s wave of criticism of Tony Blair is impressive in its breadth, from the left represented by Alan Simpson and Ronnie Campbell, through Tribune and centre MPs such as Richard Burden, to the traditional right wing of the party represented by Roy Hattersley. The disquiet voiced by union leaders John Edmonds and Bill Morris is important in demonstrating the depth of concern in the trade unions at what a Blair government has in store. But Blair’s leadership style, his modernising of the Party and his policies are organic to an ideological restructuring of Labourism which has deep roots...

The Labour Democracy Task Force has put out its draft response to the Labour Party's review of structure, arguing that Labour conference must become a place of real debate, rank-and-file input, and decision-making. The Task Force is now offering speakers to constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) and union branches, and appealing for sponsors. The Labour Party's influx of new members since May 2010 has reached 50,000 - more than one-third of the (very low) old membership figure before May. Although, by all reports, not many of the 50,000 are hard left-wingers,. the influx has increased life in many...

Click here to download pdf. Survey section: Historic compromise in South Africa? The 30th anniversary of the introduction of the contraceptive pill Poll tax: 12 million defy the law France's Front National Labour: towards a one-faction party? A tale of two industrial struggles: ambulance workers, and engineering Israel/Palestine: influx and intifada Northern Ireland: Ulster says maybe.

Click here to download pdf. New agendas for the Labour left, discussed by a leading figure among those "Bennites" who stood out against the general absorption of the Labour left by the Kinnock regime.

Before entering Parliament in 1964, Eric Heffer had been a socialist and trade-union activist for almost 30 years. He discussed his experiences and ideas with John Bloxam and John O'Mahony. Click here to download pdf ; and an excerpt is online below. Do you think there is a lack of ethical firmness in the labour movement now? I'm thinking, for example, about leaders who talk publicly about what is good for their careers, even when what is good for them is not what is good for the labour movement - open, obviously unashamed careerists, who scarcely bother even to fake. If you look at the early...

Click here to download pdf . Neil Kinnock's applause for the capitalist market is part of an international trend. In many countries, social democracy has gone 'Thatcherite'.

In 1987 Tony Benn submitted a draft Socialist Manifesto to the Labour Party's National Exacutive Committee with the aim that it be discussed and voted on at the 1987 Conference. We republish that document here .

Ed Miliband has had Labour Party general secretary Ray Collins write to the Committee on Standards in Public Life (a sort of quango, set up in 1994, with members appointed by the Government and the three big parties) to say donations to political parties should be capped at £500. Collins' letter was reported in the press at the end of December, together with speculation about Ed Miliband giving 25% of the vote in future Labour leadership elections to "supporters" who are not Labour Party members (nor, presumably, even levy-paying members of affiliated unions). The 25% scheme was soon disavowed...