Livingstone for Mayor?

Submitted by Janine on 15 February, 2000 - 12:01

This Workers' Liberty leaflet was given out at Ken Livingstone's public meeting, 15 Feb, Westminster Central Hall:

Issues for the left: Livingstone for Mayor?

Tony Blair is attempting to exclude Ken Livingstone from the selection process which will decide Labour's candidate for London mayor.

This is authoritarian and undemocratic.

There should be a free and fair internal Labour Party election to select Labour's candidate for Mayor.

Blair's actions tell us how far the Labour Party has degenerated under his leadership.

What sort of candidate for mayor do trade unionists and Labour supporters
need? One who will:

  • Use the position to aid resistance to New Labour's continued trashing of the health service, state education, public transport, welfare benefits and trade union rights;
  • Resist cuts imposed by central government;
  • Fight the privileged power of City financiers;
  • Combat Tube privatisation and fight for a cheap, expanded, integrated, publicly-owned system of public transport in London.

Many of us will have welcomed Ken Livingstone's statements against student fees or opposing the bombing of Iraq. Unfortunately there is another side to Ken Livingstone.

In the Guardian (29 January 99), he wrote to Tony Blair:

"Dear Tony...

"if Londoners voted for me to be their first elected mayor, I would work with your government, not against it...

"There is simply no question of my seeking to use the mayorship as a platform to wage political warfare against this government...

"I have never given such a committment and failed to honour it.

"I also accept that if I were to be Labour's mayor then the ticket should be balanced by a deputy mayor more closely associated with the New Labour Project...

"I also accept that control of the campaign should be under the Labour Party's elections unit...

"I have supported the Government in 98% of votes in the House of Commons. I do not find myself in a position of ideological conflict with my Government.

"To deal with the scale of London's problems, the mayor would need to create a London-wide consensus [involving the] leaders of the 32 London Boroughs, but also the City Corporation and business."

Many supporters of Ken Livingstone will respond that Ken is just spinning the Labour leaders along, waiting to get into office where he will quickly reveal himself to be a true socialist.

Some left groups even have leaflets and posters tying Livingstone to a campaign for 'a 35 hour week without loss of pay', and for 'nationalisation to stop job losses'. Some believe the press hype that Livingstone is a
dyed-in-the-wool leftist who led the old GLC, militantly, to rack and ruin.

Others simply believe anyone is better than Blair. They privately despise Livingstone, but grab on to him in hope and with a little desperation. If not Ken, then who?

This begs the question: what should we expect of our political leaders? Workers' Liberty believes we need consistency from our leaders, even if that brings unpopularity at first.

As capitalism dips into crisis, and New Labour steadily breaks all allegiance to the working class, we need organisations, candidates and leaders committed to clear socialist policies.

We believe the labour movement needs and deserves leaders who say what they mean, mean what they say, say what is, and fight for what we need. Ken Livingstone does not measure up to those standards.

Workers' Liberty magazine is available on subscription for £16 per year (£8 to unwaged and students) from AWL, PO Box 823 London SE15 4NA. For a free sample copy write to us at the above address or e-mail us:
office@workersliberty.org. Visit our new web site: www.workersliberty.org

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