Two cheers for Democracy

Why not three cheers? Well the obvious missing party in the new coalition government is the Labour Party.

I notice that this month’s History Today magazine (what happened then matters now) leads with an article about the formation of the Coalition Government exactly seventy years ago (May 1940). Winston Churchill led this wartime Government which included significant Labour leaders such as Ernest Bevin and Clement Attlee. Attlee succeeded Churchill in the Labour landslide victory of 1945 going on to form one of the most significant reforming governments in our history.

I mention this here because the Labour Party is still the second largest party in Parliament. More serious for the safety of the Union is the fact that the Tories have little support in Scotland. The failure to secure a progressive coalition with Labour leading the Liberals is the fault of divisions within the Labour leadership itself. I am thinking in particular of David Blunkett’s defeatism on election night, even before most of the seats were declared. We should not forget this the next time he tries to put on his “firm left” face to drum up support. Never thought I’d be agreeing with SNP leader Alex Salmond, but it was the Labour leadership that funked it!
Nevertheless there was great dignity in the way Gordon Brown left office. He did well in the face of a hostile media, which tried to hijack our democracy and turn it into a Weakest Link type game-show.

Yesterday morning when I was out busking on Fargate, I saw some comrades selling the Morning Star. I asked one of the old communists whether he thought we were winning. “We are definitely winning” he said. (Hmmm). Well I think he’s wrong, as are all the other old lefties who think they can now successfully reposition themselves without the encumbrance of office. Labour’s weakness at the polls is a weakness for all progressives. In the difficult times ahead this may prove to be much more serious than a mere tactical retreat.

By contrast David Cameron clearly did not mess about in stealing a march on Labour by offering Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg the post of deputy prime minister. It was a bold and statesman-like move to keep his eye on the main prize and to go for a formal coalition. With this kind of flexibility and imagination he could be quite successful.

As a minor part-time employee at the Home Office, I am quite looking forward to them delivering on at least one election promise – the promise to abolish the nonsense Identity Card scheme. I hope there will be some honest cross- party support for this move.

It should be very interesting.

What a night!

Despite a rotten night for the Labour Government at the polls, there was great joy and jubilation at Ponds Forge with our own Labour Team. Paul Blomfield was elected successfully for the Sheffield Central Constituency. The counting lasted all night, went to two recounts and we scraped in by beating the City Council leader and Liberal Democrat candidate Paul Scriven by less than 200 votes!

EVE OF POLL STATEMENT

Least there be any misunderstanding- my support for electoral reform has nothing whatever to do with any sympathy for the Liberals. The Liberal Democrats are playing the same kind of two-faced opportunist game they always have, ever since the British democracy refused to return them to Government after the Great War.

In terms of sympathy for minority and dissenting voices, mine is more towards the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition sponsored by the Socialist Party and SWP.

But to angry people who still say they’re all rubbish and all the same, (and this includes some on the left) I say there remains something very important that makes the Labour Party different in one important respect:- it remains the traditional party of the trades unions in Britain.

When so many people in the world are having to live on less than a dollar a day, there is no reason why Labour should be a minority party. The cause of Labour is the cause of humanity itself. We need trade unions that will fight for working people and assert the value of the work we do. Without that it will not be power that corrupts the grass roots of our democracy but POWERLESSNESS.

So Vote Labour and support your Trade Union

Lambert says No to another Tory Restoration!

Vote Labour for political reform and the Alternative Voting System

Major General John Lambert 1619-1684

Was arrested exactly 350 years ago after a skirmish outside Daventry on 22 nd April 1660. Having thus failed to rally supporters to The Good Old Cause, he spent the last 24 years of his life in prison. He could be fairly described by History therefore as one of the last of the English Republicans. The Convention Parliament proclaimed Charles ll king in the following month, and we have had a monarchy ever since.

It was John Lambert who can be largely credited with authorship of The Instrument of Government – England’s first written constitution.

The Instrument was adopted by the Council of Officers on 15 December 1653.
Cromwell was installed as Lord Protector the following day and was to be aided by the Council of State consisting of between thirteen and twenty one members.

Parliament was to consist of 400 members representing England and Wales, as well as 30 members from Ireland and 30 members from Scotland.

The First Protectorate Parliament which duly met on 3 rd September 1654 was therefore also the first all-British Parliament, with No House of Lords, No Bishops, and No King!

Letter to Your Say, The Star (Sheffield)
York Street , Sheffield S1 1PU 17 April 2010

Reply to the feature “Can Labour keep hold of the Central Sheffield seat?”

Certainly we can win in Sheffield Central. In Paul Blomfield we have a fine new Labour candidate with a positive outlook for political reform. We know there is a lot of frustration and anger around because of the financial and economic crisis. Naturally the opposition parties will try and turn this anger into votes. But, unfortunately for us all, nothing good ever came out of allowing anger to overrule our better judgement. We need to WORK our way out of the crisis by concentrating on things people really need like Housing, Health and Education - things likely to be put at risk by savage Tory job cuts.

We should also pause to think of some of the hopefully lasting achievements of this Government: - for example, the National Minimum Wage, a settlement for Northern Ireland, the creation of the Scottish and Welsh assemblies. Peace in Europe through positive engagement with the European Union. Reform of the House of Lords and certainly more reform needed.

The way the first-past-the-post system works at present remains frustrating for smaller parties, but if liberals really want reform they should think about this too.

Britain is a good democracy and we should use our heads before we vote on election day, or we could wake up the next morning with a very nasty head-ache.

Mark Lambert (Labour and Paul Blomfield supporter)

VOTE LABOUR

Because we need all the help we can get!

This morning I visited the election headquaters for the Sheffield Labour Party at the Trades and Labour Club on Talbot Street/ Duke Street. I met the election agent Tom Hunt and the new Parlimentary Candidate for Sheffield Central, Paul Blomfield. They are of course keen to welcome supporters to volunteer their help in this campaign. There's plenty to do, leaflets to deliver, street and doorstep canvassing as well as support in the office like stuffing envelopes etc. So why not call into the office and find out what you can do to help?

(This appeal goes out to all Friends of Truth, Justice
and the Struggle Against the Forcesof Darkness.)

Remember we live in a democracy and democracy is not just a spectator sport
- so get involved!

General Election Announced

So the game is now officially on! The General Election is set for Thursday 6th May, as eagerly expected.
It’s up to us of course how we vote but it’s widely expected that the Government’s support is going to collapse. The Tories may have captured the prevailing mood with the slogan “time for a change”. Peter Mandelson is quite right though when he says this slogan is completely vacuous. But who among us did not use precisely this argument against the Tories over fifteen years ago? Those who stand on the spin may yet fall by the spin. And what about Gordon Brown’s now infamous “no more Tory Boom and Bust”? The Prime Minister may be no more to blame for the contradictions inherent in the capitalist system than I am. But that’s the beauty of real life - it’s likely to rise up and sock you under the chin when you least expect it!

Now, after the fuss of the MP’s expenses scandal, a record number of MP’s are leaving the House of Commons at the next election. Cynics, and there are plenty of those among us, will call them rats deserting the sinking ship. But I say good luck to you all, and maybe you can now be free of the party whips and find something better to do. But comrades, don’t despair! New Labour was always a bit of a con-trick, and actually quite a successful one for a while. Those who say they became disillusioned with Blair etc, are mostly just lying to us all over again. The trick is not to have false illusions in what politics can achieve in the first instance and to come to a measured assessment of true perspectives.

So what have been some of the positive achievements of the New Labour Government? Labour Politics Historians will spend years writing books about this one, when they’re at leisure to do so. But here is a quick list to consider:- The constitutional settlement of Northern Ireland – a good thing; the restoration of a Scottish Parliament after hundreds of years – a good thing; a new assembly for Wales – a good thing; other new constitutional arrangements in process, including reform of the House of Lords (a long time coming and more needed), an assembly for London as well as plans for more regional devolution; helping to secure peace (a very good thing) in Europe through positive engagement with the European Union.
And what about the workers? What have New Labour done for the workers who supported them? Well of course in the end we have to make our own lives, but it helps to have labour relations better integrated into the law. The law of the jungle just will not do. Equality legislation, favouring women, outlawing racial discrimination and allowing gay civil partnerships – good things. Class warriors, of course, have always claimed to rely on their own strength through the trade unions, but lawlessness only best favours those who are already strong. The rule of law is indispensible to the weak. This is why the institution of a NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE must be counted as a good thing. Even in the face of rampant globalisation, this basic social democratic type measure would not have been enacted by the Tories. Although many of them now admit it was a reasonable thing to do, it runs counter to their free-market ideology. Since the collapse of Eastern European Socialism, we are all now supposed to be in favour of the free market. But sometimes I think that if Tories, Liberals and their Whig ancestors had had it all their own way, we might still be trading in a free market of slavery!!

So, on balance, I shall once again be voting Labour, partly because I’m stubborn that way, and partly because I think Labour needs all the help it can get!!! Partly also I refuse to accept that the Tories are a shoe-in.

But more seriously is the question, how are we to get out of the recession brought on by the financial crisis? Make no mistake – it’s a very serious crisis and likely to get much worse. Those of us who have tried to live our lives by thrift and hard work, wherever we could get it, have a right to feel aggrieved at the abuse of power by the rich bankers.

My simple answer to this question is that we have to WORK our way out of it.

Of course this opens up the larger question of WHAT WORK?

The devil they say makes work for idle hands, but I choose not to rely on superstition. I believe the Government can do much more to invest in creativity and work of real human value. House-building for example, farming, the medical professions, and football and musical instrument tuition in every school. Please add to this list and think positive.

Who employs whom to do what and under what terms and conditions is both a political question and an overriding moral imperative.

But now all the parties are vying with each-other to make cuts to deal with the budget deficit. Surely many of us could be better and more creatively employed, but the answer to un-employment , de-industrialisation and poverty is not to make more job cuts!

It is not only harsh but also unfair to make the low paid and often overworked staff supporting the civil and public services pay for this crisis.
For this reason I shall also be lending my support to the PCS union to defend jobs, pay, pensions and services.

Through British Labour, organised in the Trade Unions, we still have the spirit to be more truly ourselves.

April 22 nd 1660. The last stand of the republicans and the capture of John Lambert. (350 years ago)

(This account by Bishop Burnet from the Register and Chronicle (quoted by William Harbutt Dawson in his biographical study : “Cromwell’s Understudy: The Life And Times Of General John Lambert And The Rise And Fall Of The Protectorate”. Dawson notes that Burnet knew Ingoldsby and it is probable that he received the details of his story direct from him) :-

“When the two bodies came near, just as Colonel Ingoldsby was going to charge, Colonel Streeter commanded six files of musketeers to advance. One file gave fire and hurt one or two of Lambert’s horse; his drums beat, and in good order he advanced, having given strict command that his musketeers should not fire till they came as near as push of pike. But Lambert’s men held the noses of their pistols towards the ground, and Neltthrop’s [men] came off to Ingoldsby, Haslerig’s troops having deserted him before. For Colonel ingoldsby, sending Captain Elsmore before him with a party as he marched to find Lambert, met Captain Haslerig and took him prisoner, but released him upon his parole to send his whole troop to join with Ingoldsby, which he faithfully performed, sending it to them by his quarter-master, but he retired himself.

“Colonel Ingodsby told Lambert he was his prisoner, whereupon Creed and the rest earnestly entreated him to do what he pleased with them but permit Lambert to escape, acquainting him that his life could be of no advantage to him, which Ingoldsby absolutely refused, telling them that he would not be treacherous to those that had commanded him by such an ungenerous act. Lambert then turned about his horse and attempted to escape, but Ingoldsby pursued him so close that he came quickly up to him and vowed to pistol him if he did not immediately yield. Lambert in great depression of spirit twice prayed him to let him escape, but when he saw he could not prevail submitted, as all the rest did except Okey, Axtel and Cleer [Clare] who escaped.”

John Lambert may have had no more than a few hundred troops with him on this brief encounter which took place just outside Daventry. In the spring of 1660 he was outmanoeuvred by his rival General Monck now in control of the Council of State. Lambert was committed to the Tower in March for failing to produce bail when he refused to retire from London. Monck was careful to not declare his hand too soon. But the recall of the excluded Long Parliament members and the call for new elections pointed in only one direction. Escaping from the Tower on the night of April 10 th he tried to put out a rallying call to the supporters of “the Good Old Cause” to join him at the old battlefield of Edgehill. The Council immediately put out a proclamation for his re-capture. Monk still a little uncertain perhaps of his control to leave London, sent another former comrade (and regicide) – Colonel Richard Ingoldsby. Lambert himself was returned as member for Ripon to the Convention Parliament which met on 25 th April. But he was unable to take his seat being also returned to the Tower facing trial for treason.

Sunday 14 th February 2010 (politics today)

I am very encouraged to hear that the Government is making proposals to introduce a new system of counting constituency votes in elections. Albeit they intend a referendum on the issue, which of course relies on us to return a Labour Government at the soon-to-be-held General Election. Yes of course they might have done it much sooner. Nevertheless it, in my opinion, remains a good reason to support Gordon Brown. Whether people care enough to save this Government remains to be seen.

Being someone always uncomfortable with politicians who progress their careers simply by robotically toeing the party line, I have always instinctively favoured a transferrable or preference voting system. Such a system appears to me to enable voters to express support for minority and dissenting voices without seeming to waste their vote. The clunky first-past-the-post system has served to perpetuate an adversarial two party system. The roots of this can be traced right back to the settlement after the Civil War with the entrenching of the Whig/ Tory split. We’ve come a long way since those bad old days of course, and the cut and thrust of vigorous party struggle still has much to commend it. There have been notable successes for independent voices against the party machines. The initial election of Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London against Tony Blair’s wishes, and the election of George Galloway, an MP critical of the Government’s war policy are notable recent examples.

Maybe I’ve got it wrong and Punch and Judy is what it’s all about. Ask any married couple. (I’m told that “Fight the Good Fight” is still a popular hymn request at Church weddings!) Also without this kind of knock-about, what will all those school teachers and journalists do spinning their lines in Jackanory politics? – you know- Jackanory, Jackanory. Labour, Tory, Labour, Tory – keep it simple for the kiddies!

Or maybe we have matured a bit as a democracy.

My one and only attempt at electoral politics was when I stood for the Council in Beeston Rylands in 1987. Canvassing in the early eighties was good fun – particularly backing the then underdog Labour Party in a Tory constituency. I know I’m not the only one who had this kind of attitude. During the campaign I remember knocking on a door and asking the lady if she was likely to vote Labour. I remember this one because the reply was different. Without cynicism or any trace of sarcasm she simply said – “we don’t vote for parties, we try to vote for good people”. Well I’d never thought of myself as being a particularly bad person, and I think we did have some sort of conversation. She may have been a member of a church group, or when she said “we”, she may have just meant herself and her husband; I still don’t know how she actually voted. But of course it made perfect sense:- A good conservative will try and conserve what is good and try to stop it being replaced with something worse, just as a good radical will try and change something that is bad to replace it with something better.

Britain is a good place to live if you can manage to actually get a life and use the freedom we enjoy to make good choices. My own choice at the time was to take leave of absence from party politics and to spend more time with my interests in Music and pursuing further education and technical training.

But what should a responsible person say about our attitude to the upcoming election?

Here’s one we hear alot:- “Politicians are all self-serving liars”

(Hmmmm.) Well that’s a bit poor isn’t it?
It’s not really a statement you can make with any philosophical integrity.
Why? Because it’s a political statement about politics, and so you’ve just accused yourself of being a self-serving liar! So why should we believe you?
The argument deserves a bit more development.

Well that’s all I’ve got time for at the moment, but hope to be able to carry on this discussion later.
Any takers?