London Socialist Alliance steps up campaign
We've got a city to win!
The London Socialist Alliance is surpassing even the most optimistic predictions of its potential as it gears up for the final push in the run up to election day on May 4.
The level of support on the ground has been demonstrated time and again. At a number of hustings LSA candidates have received significant applause while new Labour candidates have been met with uncomfortable silence.
This is not much surprise when you consider that new Labour candidates, hand-picked by Millbank, include such gems as near-millionairess Nicky Gavron and Lord Toby Harris.
In contradistinction the LSA candidates have a real record of struggle especially in the trade union and anti-racist movements, which means they are tuned into the issues ordinary people see as important.
The LSA has maintained a high profile in a number of political campaigns : on the demonstration against closure of Rover, on pickets against the sacking of Sarah Friday, in opposition to the racist treatment of asylum seekers by the press.
On the road with the LSA battle-bus, the cheers and car horn hooting demonstrate the potential support for socialist policies that is out there – so long as we can get our message out to as widely as possible.
That was certainly the emphasis of the Activists Conference on April 9, where speaker after speaker stressed the need to step up efforts to get our political ideas across.
As Mark Steel commented; "there is not much point in meeting people after the election and discovering they would have voted for us if they had only known about our existence".
At any rate the Alliance seems well on target to distribute two leaflets to 1.5 million households across the city – far more than any of its competitors will do.
This activity is mainly being co-ordinated at ward level, which is squeezing the space for organised political discussion. Despite this it is clear that there is increasing commitment to maintain the Alliance beyond the election itself.
The rally on April 13 was the high point of the campaign so far. More than 1,200 people gathered at Friends Meeting House to listen to an impressive array of speakers.
Not only was this a bigger audience than the previous Central London meeting but was more politically coherent. This was partly because the experience of weeks of joint discussions and activities has begun to give the Alliance its own identity – something that is more than the sum of its parts.
In addition the platform at the rally reached beyond the developments in London itself to discuss similar processes that have been taking place elsewhere.
There were key contributions from MSP Tommy Sheridan of the Scottish Socialist Party, MEP Alain Krivine of the French Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire, and Dave Nellist from the Socialist Alliances at national level.
Context
This provided a political context to explain that what is developing through the LSA is part of a process of recomposition taking place across the whole of Europe. It is a response to the bosses’ neo-liberal offensive which has been backed so slavishly by the traditional parties of the left.
It was also excellent that Sheridan and Nellist, both from the Socialist Party tradition, spoke so positively and called for support – and active support – for the Alliance. Nellist explicitly claimed the Socialist Party mantle, and while he did comment on the fact that it was unfortunate that there was "more than one workers’ list", it was clear who should be supported.
Of course the LSA as a whole agrees that it would have been better if there could have been a common slate – that is why we fought hard to persuade the Campaign against Tube Privatisation to join with us in these elections. But given the previous studied ambiguity of the Socialist Party on these questions, this was a very welcome intervention.
More contributions from candidates and other supporters illustrated the wealth of talent and experience, as well as the diversity of traditions, that have come together to create the LSA as a new and real political force.
While every muscle will be strained to maximise our impact up to polling day, the prospects for maintaining the political dynamic far beyond this seem brighter than could have been hoped but a few short months ago.
Paul Foot, at the head of the LSA list, made an impressive contribution to close the meeting, in which he paid tribute to Tony Cliff, who had died earlier the same week.
Foot argued that while the title of Cliff’s recently completed autobiography – "A world to win" might be a little ambitious as an immediate target, we could certainly make use of it. "A City to win" is not a bad slogan for the remaining weeks of the campaign.