18.09.2002

Unity demands single slate

Matthew Caygill is a leading activist in Leeds Socialist Alliance. Ray Gaston talked to him about the Leeds Left Alliance, which has announced its intention to contest the 2004 European elections in Yorkshire and Humberside

What are the roots of the Left Alliance? Leeds Left Alliance came out of the clampdown on internal democracy in the Labour Party in the 1990s - in this case the suspension of the Chapel Allerton ward in Leeds North East, which followed the bureaucratic blocking of Liz Davies as parliamentary candidate. Basically the comrades couldn't stand what was happening to the Labour Party and wanted to stand up for socialist, or at least old Labour, values. Since then they've stood candidates in a variety of local and national elections, and with Garth Frankland have provided one of the most successful leftwing challenges to Labour. They are an important part of the leftwing political scene in Leeds - I'm a member of the Left Alliance and several people in the LA are also in the SA. One of the leading LA comrades is on the national executive of the SA. Their politics goes well beyond elections - at the moment they are strongly involved in a campaign to build friendship links between Leeds and Hebron, which I think has been one the most important non-sectarian attempts to build solidarity with the Palestinians. I do have criticisms, especially of their continuing ban on Socialist Workers Party members, which created a difficult situation of having both the Left Alliance and Socialist Alliance in Leeds - too near the Life of Brian scenario for my tastes and more or less impossible to explain. But we do have regular liaison meetings between the LA, SA and Socialist Party to sort out problems. To what extent is their success based on Garth's own popularity as a former Labour councillor? There is a large local element to it, but it should also be seen in terms of continuity of effort. The SA is relatively new and weak - I would expect us to do better if we attempt to build our own local and peculiar roots. There is a danger of the left having too short-term a perspective, or in just going from campaign to campaign. We need to build up a constituency - the way Garth has. What are your views on their press release concerning the Euro elections? I wasn't surprised - the LA have a clear and strong intention to stand in future elections. I was annoyed though, mostly because the press release spoke about talking to other left groups but they hadn't got round to saying anything about it. I'm sure they would have done so, but the delay was annoying. However, I've got over it now - the Left Alliance are valuable comrades: two of them helped on the Leeds SA anti-war stall at the weekend, and we can look forward to useful, non-sectarian collaboration in the future. If anything, the issue now is about how the Socialist Alliance responds. What should our response be? The first thing is that the SA must try to be as non-sectarian as possible - the SA doesn't represent all socialists to the left of Labour - we've got to work with as many of them as possible, including the Left Alliance, comrades in the Socialist Party and as many others as we can. Secondly there is a weakness in the SA - the Left Alliance are looking for a response that covers the whole of Yorkshire and Humberside, and we have structures that might cover a city like Leeds, or nationally - but not a region like Yorkshire and Humberside. If we are serious about standing in the European elections in 2004 we need to develop such a structure. It shouldn't be too bureaucratic and it might not be the immediate priority, but it needs to be done. Comrades in London might have some experience of this, but it will be harder in a larger area. I raised this at this month's SA national council and I hope for some response via the discussion around Liz Davies's document about perspectives for the next two years. In Leeds we have tried to make a modest start by holding a discussion about the euro and inviting other SAs along - it wasn't huge, but it was a start, I hope. To me it's all part of developing the SA into something more than the relatively limited organisation it is at the moment. How can we achieve a single left slate for the Euro elections? Shouldn't we encourage people to come under the Socialist Alliance banner? It will be back to the Life of Brian if there are different slates for the European elections - stupid, unnecessary and undermining the possibility of the PR system being a vehicle for the huge boost of winning a seat. The lesson to remember is that of Tommy Sheridan and the SSP. So we need to be non-sectarian, continue working with people and continue talking. Personally I would hope for a joint slate of the anti-capitalist left across Europe, but we have to see what emerges. How do you see the Left Alliance developing? I don't know - I would like to see them join and enrich the SA. Their perspective is I think to move towards being more of an 'environmental left' organisation - that is the way they posed their press release for the European elections. Leeds Left Alliance press release, August 10 Happy to accommodate The Left Alliance has agreed to contest the next European elections, at least in the Yorkshire and Humber region. At the same time it is offering cooperation in these elections to other green and left parties. The Left Alliance contested the last European parliamentary elections in Yorkshire and Humber, gaining 10,000 votes. This was well ahead of the BNP and the SLP. The party will contest the next European elections, aiming to build on this result. In those European elections in 1999, only the Left Alliance in Yorkshire, comrades mainly in Coventry and Walsall in the West Midlands, and comrades mainly in Nottingham and Leicester in the East Midlands got it together to stand red/green candidates. The Left Alliance does not wish to see another abdication by the environmentalist left. Equally it wishes to avoid competition between left environmental groups in these next Euro elections. Seeking maximum unity amongst such groups, the Left Alliance would be happy to accommodate other left and environmental groups within its campaign. Speaking for the Left Alliance, Mike Davies said: "We would be willing to offer places on our list to other left and environmental groups; and we would be willing to incorporate other party names within the ballot paper description which we use in Yorkshire and the Humber. "Our commitment is demonstrated by the fact that we have done this before. The Left Alliance ran under a joint name with the East Midlands in the last European elections, and we shared a Westminster by-election campaign with the Socialist Party under a combined name." The Left Alliance is seeking meetings with other parties to discuss their proposal.