YOUR FEEDBACK on the Monarchy, Momentum, Starmer and Voting Labour. We publish all feedback unless it is abusive or potentially libellous. If you want to respond to anything published here you can write to me mike.stanton@creatingsocialism.org
Starmer’s Broken Promises <creatingsocialism.org/040523-news-starmer/>
JIM FARRELL – Today was the first time since 1975 that I have gone to vote in a local or national election knowing that I wouldn’t be voting Labour. I have been put in the position of not voting for local Labour councillors who have done their best within the restrictions imposed by how local authorities are set up, governed and run, and the way the Labour Party rules govern what they can do and say. I can’t vote for them because any vote for Labour will be seen as an endorsement for Starmer, his leadership and his policies. So I have been unable to support former comrades and still friends.
This is all down to the serial liar who leads the Party. He told us, back in 2020 when seeking election as Leader, that his 10 Pledges represented his ‘values and principles’. To me, your ‘values and principles’ don’t change because circumstances might change. Your strategy and tactics might change, your timescales might change, your spending plans might change, your priorities might change, your policies might change to take account of the changes in circumstance. But your ‘values and principles’ remain and guide the changes you make. Starmer is another Clegg; prepared to sell everything and everyone just to get his arse on the government benches. Just like Johnson.
Starmer Poll <creatingsocialism.org/140523-news-starmer-poll/>
JEANNE – Thank you for sharing the results of the survey, depressing as they are. One question: Where are Socialists to go?
TARLOCHAN KALIROY – I have never ever considered voting Tory, but I will say one thing and that is that they work for their base (not the delusional working class who think they can benefit from a Tory government) the rich donors, corporations and billionaires (no matter where they reside). Labour on the other hand runs away from their base, considering them as unworthy of any consideration.
If, let’s be honest this is not the Labour Party of Keir Hardie, this is (as Starmer has said) Blair’s new labour on steroids. Blair got rid of clause 4, a pillar of the original Labour Party. What other pillars of that Labour Party will Starmer eradicate to further transform “new labour ” into “new new labour “?
UK Monarchism Debunked <creatingsocialism.org/070523-pdf-monarchy-2/>
LUKE SHILLING – Spot on. The tourism argument grates me. It’s the hard-working people of the tourist industry who sustain the tourist industry, not one privileged family.
X Marks the Spot <creatingsocialism.org/090523-news-voting/>
JAKE HUGHES – Right on its head, you have whacked the nail that should affix the lid on the coffin of Starmer’s Labour Party and assure that is dead and well buried. I left the Labour Party the day my support would enable Sir Starmer to wield his right-wing & treacherous sword. I was chastised by those remaining members that I knew. I was proved right in my decision. The party were still to get my vote, but no longer after reading your articulate and impassioned and intelligent article, Mike. It has awoken a hope and empowerment that I have not felt for over 30 years. Keep posting these pieces mate.
Momentum’s Fantasy Policy Game <https://creatingsocialism.org/110523-news-momentum/>
LINDA FERGUSON – Sad but I think true.
NIGEL THOMAS – I repeated this many times but anyone still in the Labour Party is either a gaslighting bastard or stupid and I know Momentum is not stupid. The Labour Party has put a wish list through conference for its entire existence always to be smashed by a cabal of MPs. Why don’t they wake up??
The reforms they propose aren’t good enough: “free school meals, social care for all who need it, public ownership of the energy sector, a 4-day working week, replacing Universal Credit, 150,000 rented homes a year, increased public investment in the NHS and many more.”
Why not reduce the working week to 20 hours, increase training and education for free, restructure the NHS into community hospitals, end the private GP surgeries, introduce delegate recallable democracy? Stop building houses and use the ones we got; there are lots of empty ones and empty commercial buildings. Why not take from the rich, close banks and financial markets and stock exchange and turn the Bank of England into a massive credit union, make a department for cooperatives and small businesses in every town to support them.
For me their ideas are uninspiring. These people are well organised with lots of clever clogs including Corbyn so why haven’t they taken the 500,000 members they recruited and built a huge party and united front? I guess it can only be that they truly are the lieutenants of the capitalist class.
A. MARCHANT – I agree, the Labour Party is a dead zone for anybody with a socialist conscience. Momentum must get behind a socialist party and at this point in time the Green Party is more in tune with socialist policies and has a national organisation.
DAVE MIDDLETON – I agree that the Greens are to the left of the Labour Party, but their recent decision to endorse NATO is a worrying shift toward chasing votes over principles. If there is a candidate in my ward I’ll vote TUSC. If not I’ll likely have to spoil my paper.
Life long socialist. Now retired, I have been an office junior, a bookseller, a docker and a teacher. I write a lot and read a lot more. Committed member of the Society of Authors, English PEN and the National Education Union. Uncommitted member of the Labour Party. Will they expel me before my direct debit expires?