FOUR years after Tony Blair’s government swept to office promising to "make a difference", many of Labour’s core voters are still waiting impatiently for signs of real change. Instead Blair’s team, which came in with such a huge majority in the Commons and such a fund of good will, and which has faced little significant opposition, has failed on almost every front.
New Labour in government has implemented policies that it’s Tory predecessors did not even attempt. It can’t be any surprise then that many Labour voters have stayed at home during recent elections, leading to very low turn outs.
But something has begun to change. Over the last year, the Socialist Alliance has gone through a remarkable growth, particularly after the successful showing in last May’s elections for the Greater London Assembly. Groups have developed in virtually every city and large town in England and Wales. This has reinvigorated the left and laid the basis for a real socialist challenge to new Labour.
In the general election, the Alliance will be mounting the left’s broadest showing for decades. Already people who have been ignored by traditional politicians are enthused by the campaigns being mounted whether in opposition to the sale of council housing or in defence of asylum seekers. A powerful election campaign will allow the Socialist Alliance to reach out still further to those disillusioned with Blair’s record.
The growing anti-globalisation movement is bringing young people in particular into activity. Those who chant "our world is not for sale" will not vote for a government selling off our services. The Socialist Alliance however can show that politics does not have to be the preserve of men in grey suits.
The International Socialist Group, British Section of the Fourth International, has been an active participant in the development of the Socialist Alliance from the start.
We are a group of revolutionary socialists in Britain who are part of an international organisation - with co-thinkers in countries across the world.
Through the work of our comrades abroad, especially in the rest of Europe, we are aware that the development of the Socialist Alliance in Britain is part of a broader process through which the left is reshaping and rebuilding itself.
We think the British left can learn from the successes and frustrations of these organisations in other countries. The ISG would like to see the Socialist Alliance develop into a new party to the left of Labour - on the sort of model being developed by the Scottish Socialist Party.
Getting there will not be a straightforward process, and not everyone in the Socialist Alliance is convinced that it is the right way to go. But as the Socialist Alliance becomes stronger and more established, we think that more people will draw the same conclusions that we have done about the next steps in building an effective opposition to the neo-liberal policies of the government.
This pamphlet is a contribution to the necessary debate about why such a development is needed and on what policies it should be built.