19.03.2015

At the hustings

Left Unity candidates give more responses to the Communist Platform's questions

This is the latest batch of answers to the Communist Platform’s seven questions to candidates standing in Left Unity’s internal elections. They include responses from current principal speaker Salman Shaheen, Independent Socialist Network supporter Kathrine Brannan and Steve Freeman, who is irresponsibly standing against an officially supported LU candidate in the general election

1. Do you publicly criticise all calls, manifestos and organisations calling for a British withdrawal from the European Union? Will you publicly advocate the programme of establishing working class power throughout Europe?

2. Do you oppose the idea of forming some kind of bloc within Left Unity that includes the social-imperialist Alliance for Workers’ Liberty? Should those who support the pro-Nato government of Petro Poroshenko, who refuse to condemn the 2003 invasion of Iraq or the possibility of an Israeli nuclear strike against Iran be considered legitimate bloc partners?

3. Do you give priority to Left Unity or the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition? Do you agree that Tusc is a diversionary Labour Party mark II project?

4. Do you support openness and accountability? Do you consider reporting and commenting on Left Unity officers, branches, regions, national council, conferences, etc perfectly normal and acceptable? Will you publicly condemn the suspension of Laurie McCauley? Do you demand his immediate reinstatement?

5. Do you disassociate yourself from those who resort to violence or threats of violence within the left? Will you insist that anyone found guilty of making such threats issue a public apology, no matter how belatedly?

6. Do you think Left Unity should draw a clear red line between the socialist politics of the working class and the petty bourgeois politics of the Green Party?

7. Do you support the call for a Left Unity constitutional conference in 2015?

Salman Shaheen (principal speaker)

1. I am against Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. I would like to see a united Europe and a united world without borders. But we’re a long way from that and the EU we have today, for all its promise, is a neoliberal institution. You only have to look at what they’re doing to the Greek people to see that. I would like to see a Europe refounded on the principles of people, not profit, and run by and for the 99%, not the 1%. In many modern anti-capitalist movements, the language people use and connect with is different from that which Marx might have employed in the 19th century, but the meaning is essentially the same. If you’re not an owner of the means of production and all you have to sell is your labour, as Marx would have said, you’re working class. That’s about 99% of us, I’m sure. That’s who I want running Europe. And I think we need to achieve that by working with our sister parties in other EU countries to make change, not retreating inwards, turning our backs on our brothers and sisters in other countries because they don’t happen to live on our island, or putting up walls to keep immigrants out because we put the interests of working class people in one country above the workers of the world.

2. I’m not all that familiar with the policies of the AWL, to be honest. But, speaking personally, I was drawn into leftwing politics through the anti-war movement over a decade ago. Opposition to imperialist misadventures is at the heart of activism for me. Every fear we had about the Iraq war has turned out to be true - and then some. I don’t think anyone who supported the invasion of Iraq was on the right side of history, frankly.

3. I have been committed to building Left Unity from the outset and am not a member of any of Tusc’s constituent organisations, so I’m firmly in the LU camp as far as priorities are concerned. The fact that you can’t actually join Tusc itself is a problem. I wish candidates standing under the LU-Tusc joint name every success, but with Tusc really existing only at election times, I’m not convinced it’s the right way forward. We need a party that campaigns all year round, that is actively standing with the poorest and most vulnerable people in every one of their struggles, founded on the democratic principle of ‘One member, one vote’. That’s Left Unity. We’re still small and we still have a lot to do, but I think we’ve made a good start.

4. Openness and accountability are important for all democratic organisations. I’m not familiar with the specifics of Laurie’s case and personally I think that’s a healthy state of affairs for a democratic organisation. This is one for the disputes and appeals committee, not a principal speaker.

5. I am, in almost all circumstances, against violence, full stop. And, yes, that means I’m against the proliferation of weapons, be they nuclear or small arms. If that makes me a coward, so be it, Jack Conrad! I’m sticking to my guns, as it were.

6. I find this a curious question. If we start from the idea that everyone except owners of the means of production are essentially working class, how does that make the Green Party petty bourgeois? Unless perhaps they’re a party entirely composed of small shopkeepers. I’m not sure this kind of language is really that relevant to single mothers struggling with the bedroom tax, disabled people who’ve been sanctioned or people trying to make ends meet on the minimum wage. I think we need to work with the Greens and others on the left where we have goals in common. The most obvious starting point in the current climate is opposition to austerity. Where Greens have implemented austerity policies, as in Brighton, we need to criticise them - as indeed their own MP, Caroline Lucas, did. I don’t agree with every single word of the Green Party manifesto, but there’s much to admire in it and much we have in common with them. Far more than we have in common with the Labour Party, even though they still sing the Red Flag at their conferences.

7. Left Unity’s constitution is clearly a work in progress. It’s a very good start for a party built organically from the bottom up, but there’s plenty that no doubt needs amending.

Tony Free (principal speaker and NC)

You have asked seven questions which I will answer honestly and I would ask one question back.

1. Yes, I am opposed to a British withdrawal from the EU. I believe that we should be part of a Left wing group openly within the EU to represent the interests and aspirations of working people all over Europe.

2. I do not support the idea of political blocs within Left Unity. We must develop together not as different factions straining against each other.

3. I support Left Unity. I support LU/Tusc candidates, because that is what conference decided. Given the choice, I would not wish to be in alliances or electoral agreements with any other party.

4. I support openness and accountability at every level within Left Unity. We can certainly do better than we are currently, but we are still in our infancy. With respect to the issue of the suspension of Laurie McCauley, I do not know enough of the facts to make an informed decision. The writings of the press are not sufficiently reliable information.

5. I will never support violence or bullying at any level in the party. In the event that a member is found to be guilty of these things then there should be resulting actions, starting at the least with an apology. In serious cases suspension or expulsion.

6. Left Unity is a party in its own right and should be seen as a totally separate entity to the Green Party (and other parties).

7. I would support a Left Unity conference in 2015 to fully consider the constitution and policy. We need to stand together and create a policy that all members will feel part of. Any constitutional changes should be subject to an all-member vote.

Extra question: Do you think it is healthy to have a political group like the communist group within the party?

Definitely not. Left Unity is evolving into a political party in its own right. The ideals and philosophy will be moulded by the beliefs of the whole membership. We must change our views as a group and not by subversion. To have a faction whose purpose is to drag Left Unity towards a specific philosophy is destructive, as was witnessed in the 1980s with Militant and Labour. Labour then continued on a downward spiral. Caucuses are obviously essential, as they exist to ensure that our policy is fully inclusive and catering for a full range of people.

Kathrine Brannan (NC)

The CPGB’s interrogation of internal election candidates is to be lauded. The selection of the number seven (whose Hebrew root means to ‘be complete’) reveals the sagacity of the interrogators. This is the number of days needed to create the world; the number of days in a week; and, of course, the number of seven deadly things, which all, even children, should remember by heart. Sometimes these are called Capital things - a reference to the original written source of the teachings, yet, as some will argue, we will not find all these seven things in the original manuscript. It is no matter; for these doctrines shall rely on the authority of tradition and on those to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revolution is entrusted.

In this list of seven deadly things we observe that ‘all things great and small’ are covered. We speak of anger and of confession, of truth and dissembling, and of positions proffered by these teaching authorities, against which we must all humbly measure our lesser selves. Even those poor souls, who, for whatever reason, are not as yet baptised in the watery currents of the British left shall not be given indulgence. Those unable to immediately distinguish the good section from the bad section, the treacherous member from the loyal, shall not be outcast, but mercifully excluded or purged from communion with the higher authorities until such time as they, too, can emulate more purified positions.

There is one deadly thing which is not mentioned here by the wholly erudite authorities of the CPGB. That deadly thing is called ‘pride’ or the ‘haughty eyes’. Pride is, of course, the root of all the other deadly things. Haughty eyes look condescendingly on people. They look at others as inferior in an arrogant way and see themselves as superior to all others. As stated earlier, this deadly thing subsumes all other deadly things put forward in the questions, permeates them and, therefore, we must assume, the CPGB does not feel it necessary to mention specifically, as it is already obvious to all.

Steve Freeman (NC)

I am standing in the general election for the Republican Socialists in Bermondsey, and as a member of Left Unity I am standing for the national council. My responses to your questions are as follows:

1. I oppose calling for British withdrawal from the EU now and will say so in my election campaign. I will publicly advocate the full democratisation of the EU by establishing a European federal social republic. I am in favour of working class power throughout the world, including Europe.

2.We can consider ‘blocs’ or alliances on any issue which serves and advances working class interests. Who we can or should form blocs with depends on the issues. I do not rule out a bloc with AWL, but not on the issues you outline. Obviously I won’t join any bloc to invade Iraq or stay there, support the capitalist government in Russia or Ukraine or bomb Iran.

3.I am standing against a Tusc-Left Unity candidate in Bermondsey. So I am giving priority to opposing this bloc publicly. Of course, Labour Party mark I is the main enemy. But it is a complete diversion to set up another bloc or mark II with Labourite politics. Tusc is misleading the working class by promoting economism or ‘trade union socialism’, which Lenin fought tooth and nail to oppose. Left Unity has become the tail wagged by the Tusc dog. In Bermondsey there will be a Labour mark I and mark II. So will the CPGB support one of them or a Republican Socialist?

4.Yes to part 1. Part 2 is really about the Weekly Worker reporting on these things. Yes, it is pretty normal and only to be expected. Is it acceptable? Not if you don’t agree with what is said. Then it might be seen as untruthful, hated and unacceptable. Should Laurie be suspended for writing something others hated? No (qualified, only because I can’t remember the details of Laurie’s case). It seems a long time ago. So justice delayed is justice denied.

5.Of course I am not in favour of the use of violence or threats within the left. But context has to be taken into account. Somebody being bullied or chased by a pack of hounds might threaten to hit back. In general it is good practice to issue an apology. This sounds suspiciously like the case when John Pearson threatened to lampoon the CPGB. To “insist” that John apologise would be meaningless. But it would be a good idea for him to apologise, so we didn’t have to waste time answering this question.

6.I think the line is there. Just point it out. The question is a bit vague.

7.This is not the priority. LU is too inward-looking and has spent massive amounts of time on constitutional issues, including safe spaces. What has never been discussed is the UK constitution, which is far more important for the working class. It is true the LU constitution needs reform, but a special conference on it would kill LU by confirming it was an inward-looking sect.