Editorial - London elections May 4 th -
Keep up the pressure on Chameleon Ken
Despite the fact that recent opinion polls show a drop in Ken Livingstone’s lead, there seems little doubt that he will be elected as Mayor of London on May 4.
Such an outcome should be worked for and welcomed by all socialists despite the many valid criticisms that can justly be made of Livingstone.
The massive press witch hunt over Livingstone’s comment that ‘capitalism kills’ may have had some effect on his showing, but it was always expected that the earlier lead would level out as polling day approached.
Even though Downing Street has issued a statement saying the government will work with whoever is elected, there can be no doubt that a Livingstone victory will be a key defeat for Blairism – the greatest New Labour has so far suffered.
If this is combined by a serious vote for the London Socialist Alliance, whose campaign has been a breath of fresh air in these elections, so much the better.
Despite Livingstone’s suggestions that supporters should back either the new Labour candidates or the Greens for the Assembly, the LSA offers the only consistent challenge to new Labour’s reactionary policies.
The preferred outcome would of course be for the LSA to get at least one supporter elected to the Greater London Assembly – not an impossible target given the electoral system. But LSA supporters should be pleased so long as it establishes itself as the clear fifth force in this election.
At the same time as organising to support Livingstone – a difficult task given his failure to give a lead, or even produce basic campaign material beyond the glossy posters – the left needs to begin to think beyond the election itself.
On the one hand there needs to be a response from supporters to Livingstone’s disgraceful statement that he intends to appoint a representative from each of the four (sic) main parties as his Deputy for a year in turn.
While Livingstone has long made populist noises a clear statement that he will willingly choose Tories and Liberal Democrats as partners goes far beyond anything he has previously said. He must be forced to withdraw it.
On top of that Livingstone has staked out his Mayoral challenge primarily on the question of tube privatisation.
While we have consistently argued that this is only one of many issues on which New Labour is implementing rotten policies, we do not at all down play the significance of tube privatisation itself.
Certainly we also recognise that this is a key basis for Livingstone’s massive support amongst voters.
That is why we are particularly concerned that Livingstone has made noises that suggest he may not mount a full frontal challenge to the government on this matter if they do not back down quietly following his election. Such a strategy would result in Blair snatching victory from the jaws on defeat.
On the contrary, the only way to defend keeping the tube in public hands is to build a huge mass movement to defend it in the wake of Livingstone’s election. He should launch a campaign for a massive demonstration in the autumn – which is now likely to be when the key decisions around tendering are actually made.
However while a demonstration called by Livingstone himself would be guaranteed mass support, the best way of making this happen is to begin to organise now through trade unions for such a demonstration to be called. Such a campaign should be supported by all those who oppose tube privatisation – whatever position they are taking in the London Elections.