greater the space is for the working class to organise.
This is why until we are able to replace bourgeois democracy by a superiol, socialist, system, we fight for the maximum freedom and democracy under capitalism. This means the right to organise, to strike, and to demonstrate; but it also means that as long as parsmall parties;
parliamentary this in turn mitigates against democracy. 'stable government';
• we would not have had Labour governments under PR:
• PR allows the far right representation which they would not get otherwise;
Stuart Bell, stalwarts of the right. The recent glossy pamphlet from the First Past The Post campaign is sponsored by the AEEU, recently renowned for its heavy funding of the Blairite slate for the NEC elections. It contains supportive quotes from several Tory MPs, including John Major and the Party chair! BOTH Jenkins and Blair are well known for arguing that the split between Labour and the Liberals at the turn of the century was a mistake which they want to rectify.
Jenkins, having failed to break the Labour Party as a class party through forming the SDP has to seek other means. Moving towards a system which might mean Lib-Lab coalitions on a permanent basis and ultimately merger is one way of doing so. But there is more than one way to skin a Feet under the table? GAT Paddy Ashdown has been sitting on a Cabinet committee for the last 18 months and the recent statement from him and Blair shows a deepening of this collaboration. While the content of the statement was fairly hollow, its message was clear -closer co-operation and two fingers to those members of each party who value their independence.
Those who might have objected, like Deputy Prime Minister Prescott, were not even told in advance. The direction is clear: the two parties will stand against each other in elections where appropriate'. Riding on the back of the defeats inflicted on the labour movement by Thatcher, Blair continues to erode labour movement democracy while building on Tory policies. Assisted in this by the willingness of all the major union leaders to absorb everything he throws at them, Blair hopes to see an organisational realignment to set the seal on his political realignment of British politics.
The fight for class independence goes on whether or not Jenkins' plan or any other form of PR is adopted.