A theme of debate in more than one session at our summer school Ideas for Freedom, 10-11 July, was the “Progressive Alliance”.
I debated Frances Foley from Compass on the issue. The key argument for the “alliance”, I think, is that such strategies are needed because the working class and the unions in the UK are so weak.
Allying with other parties is the only way we can get rid of the Tories and get proportional representation.
In reality the “Progressive Alliance” would be less democratic and less pluralistic. In constituencies which Labour had agreed to cede to the Lib-Dems, for example, it would mean people who wanted to vote for a Labour candidate would not be able to. And electoral lash-ups would lead to reduced freedom to have independent working-class policies.
The pessimism expressed by the liberals and reformists we debated is misplaced. It is true that today the working class and unions are weak in the UK. But they are the only class that can deliver socialism. The power they have is a fundamental feature of capitalism. Rather than giving up on the working class and on socialism, socialists need to fight to transform the labour movement.
Angela Driver, London
• More here
