THE 'GREATEST EXERCISE in party democracy' is a sham. Labour Party members will soon be receiving individual ballot papers asking them to endorse the Party's new manifesto New Labour New Life.
These are being sent out on the last day of conterence - or the assumption the manifesto will have been overwhelmingly needs. endorsed there and that this will create a wave of enthusiasm among the wider membership.
At the moment enthusiasm seems to be in short supply. Very few members have actually seen the manifesto. Before voting they will only be given Most people recognise the flaws in a process which does not even allow the Party conference to amend the manifesto.
The main advantage for the nave been leadership is that with an election possible at any time most members will not want to leave the Party without a manifesto by votthe ballot. ing against it. As with the previous ballot on the new Clause IV members will not have the opportunity of voting for an alternalive. Party officials are however worried about the potential level of reAll the hype about a mass democracy could be undermined if only a minority of Partv members actually vote. Following the Clause IV ballot party officials as his. did their best to ensure details of the turnout never got into the media.
The manifesto portrays as policy all that Blair has achieved' over the last few years. While the working class right." cry out for a Labour government to reverse the damage the fores have done over 17 years, Blair's priorities are different.
At the heart of his approach is manner. an ormodox monetarism, more concerned with restoring the profitability of British capitalism al we expense Or the working class than addressing their real vole cas Anti-union laws will remain in place; the minimum wage will actually seen the manifesto. be set at a level acceptable to the bosses; the attacks on the welfare state will continue.
Some on the left of the party debating now to respond to the manifesto. While supporters. agreeing on the need to vote against it at conference, there are different views on how to vote in Ken Livingstone has argued that much of it is so ambiguous inal is possidie to vote for it - as if the leadership's interpretation left to be non-existent. of its ambiguities were the same Inus despite nis campaigning against the Maastricht against the manifesto. convergence criteria for a single currency, ne is able to say he agrees with the statement that "Britain should enter a single in government. currency if the conditions are Such a stance implies, completely incorrectly, that it would be possible to amend the convergence criteria in a progressive Others, such as those around Workers Liberty while being clear that the content is unacceptable, argue that the left should not isolate itself by calling for a They have convinced the majority of the steering committee of the Socialist Lampaign uroup (sup porters Network) that it should merely call on people 'not to vote for' the manifesto. They argued that a call for a "no' vote would alienate those on the Left who would rather abstain. The end product of their twisted logic is that we can claim we can claim all those who do not vote as The media will however portray abstention as indifference. The task of socialists has to be to convince party members that the only way to send a clear message that the politics of New Labour are unacceptable is to mobilise the largest possible vote If there is a massive disparity between yes and no voles the leadersnip and the media will claim that it shows the The only way for the left to counter this is to organise a serious campaign It is also the only way to prepare the ground for a serious opposition to Blair's programme All the hype about a mass democracy could be undermined if only a minority of Party members actually vote.
The only way for the left to counter is to organise a serious campaign against the manifesto