You could see it coming from a mile off. Yet this caps off another row, this time about Sultana hosting her own rally prior to the founding conference next weekend. Apparently, there was no guarantee that she would address the main gathering and is, therefore, having a pro-democracy meeting to rally left wingers fed up with the Labour-esque control-freakery that has disfigured YP from the beginning. The background to this is the demand with menaces that she hand over the cash from her ill-starred unilateral launch of the YP membership portal, and her being kept away from the conference organising committee. Which, of course, is taking place in utmost secrecy and without any accountability whatsoever. And now there's news Jeremy Corbyn will host his own rally, replete with "special guests". With leading figures like these, it's a wonder the process has got as far as it has.
But back to the resignation. Some will take this as more evidence of the new party's instability and chaotic start. I'm inclined to a more positive view. As argued previously on the relationship between the new left party and the Independent Alliance MPs, this should be one of respect, continued dialogue, and joint actions where appropriate. But because of their politics, they should not have been invited to take leading roles in founding a left alternative to Labour. The rows that have happened are testament to this and, again, do not speak well of Corbyn's acumen. Nevertheless, Mohamed's departure is welcome as it underlines what the party should be - a party of our class in all its diversity.
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It may well be that to have parachuted in, from Jeremy's Commons Tea Room associates, a group of , not socialist, in some cases, small landlord, Muslim MPs , elected overwhelmingly by their mainly Muslim constituents on a Gaza genocide opposing policy platform , was a fundamental starting point error for the YP. An error that tells us a lot about the arrogantly top-down , Parliament focussed, approach of a now surely very discredited Jeremy Corbyn and his coterie.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the Muslim communities in the UK are a very significant mass voting bloc, able to deliver a significant number of seats to a party with a policy bundle with which they can agree , or at least tolerate. Adnan Hussein and Iqbal Mohamed simply could not join YP with its emerging policy on the Trans rights issue , because their "socially conservative" Muslim electorate simply would not tolerate this . This is the current reality for the UK's Muslim community. So in making this a part of the likely core YP policy bundle , in fact a policy that apparently would likely preclude membership for those being "gender critical", this simply will write off the potential seats to be won by a Left wing party like YP in areas of significant Muslim electoral mass. I suspect the overwhelming response of the current YP membership will be "good riddance" , but there is a very significant cost here for the YP's future electoral "reach" .
Mind you , the latest issue of the CPGB Weekly Worker , explains that large numbers of the ultraleft will be present at Liverpool Conference (because ordinary members couldn't afford , or spare the time at short notice to take advantage of the first random "sortition" invite to Conference) . So I expect heavy fighting, verbally or physically, to break out in a total shambles, to the delight of the MSM !
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We may end up with an Official YP and a Provisional YP if trends continue. The whole escapade seems like an illustration of Kornbluh's 'Immediacy' cutting out the task of setting up and establishing a party and going straight to in-fighting, factionalisation and disintegration.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely spot on , McIntosh, this indeed is an example of Anna Kornbluh's Too Late Capitalism book critique of the modern cult of superficial, impatient, "immediacy" in a nutshell ! Good post !
ReplyDeleteCan't complain too much about the trash taking itself out, I suppose?
ReplyDeleteIt's not like it significantly lessens the influence that YP can wield in the next 3.5 years. Nobody seriously expected it to be the party of conservative Muslim landlords, right?
Unfortunately Anonymous 18:59, although YP should of course not be a party for any sort of landlords, Muslim or any other ethnicity - more worrying is whether the more important hope of YP , ie, to build on the Left's solid campaigning on Gaza , and its many solid Left positions on the NHS, Austerity, renationalising, water, energy, rail, etc, etc, to thus win many of those old ex Labour seats with large Muslim populations, is compromised by the adoption of the identity politics parts of its emerging policy bundle , to lose enough of the votes of the "socially conservative" Muslim voting bloc to lose what otherwise might be YP won seats.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't about the four , non socialist, Muslim MPs / chums of Jeremy in the Commons Tea Room, elected on the stop the Gaza Genocide ticket, but a much wider issue of the how YP's policy bundle can win over not only socially conservative Muslim voters, but the wider, much more numerous "Red Wall" non Muslim, socially conservative, but potentially economically radical, working class voters. Write them all off and YP is on a Mission Impossible as a major Left Party.
I sort of agree in that the Greens have now clearly eaten up YPs low hanging fruit in terms of social liberal metropolitan voters so their only role now would be in appealing to areas with high Muslim populations or those in the “red wall” but frankly that just indicates they are probably finished since there’s just not the activist base to win support if you’re going to be socially conservative.
DeleteIsn't saying that there is a monolithic Muslim vote which is solidly socially conservative and which essentially holds one standardised opinion...racist? Do you think all white Brits hold the same opinions too?
ReplyDeleteI'm ok with those for whom socially progressive and/or pro-science stances are red lines, having nobody to vote for.
ReplyDeleteVoters with a primarily conservative mindset will always be tricked into voting for economic regressivism in one guise or another; and social regressivism will always be a red line for large numbers of left-leaning voters. Socially conservative economic radicals, therefore, had better work out which of those things that they care about the most.