28.04.2004

Beat the Tories

Camden Labour councillor Lucy Anderson will be contesting the Tory-held London assembly constituency of Camden and Barnet on June 10. Justifying Respect's decision to stand against her, the SWP's Rob Hoveman called comrade Anderson a "Blairite" (Weekly Worker February 26). Mark Fischer spoke to her

Why should Londoners vote for Labour as opposed to any other party?

If you look at the London assembly Labour group manifesto, it makes very clear the progressive policies we will be standing on. For example, we have pledged free childcare places for the under-fives within 10 years. That sort of thing is not being put forward by the other parties. We are committed to more improvements on the bus network and doing what we can to improve the tube. For Labour - as opposed to other major parties - public transport is always going to be a top priority.

You actually approached the RMT union for support, didn’t you?

Yes, the RMT is officially backing me. I’m totally in support of the four key points it is trying to promote, including for example renationalisation of the rail network as an ultimate goal. Privatisation clearly has not worked and it’s time we reversed it.

But what about the alternatives on the left? These organisations also support policies like renationalisation of rail.

Yes, but the essential argument for voting Labour is that we can make a real difference in London and no one else can. Especially as in the next four years we will have a Labour mayor and a Labour assembly group working closely together.

Yes, but aren’t you being a little one-sided here? After all, in a way, Ken Livingstone himself is viewed as an opponent of New Labour? His re-admittance to the party was widely seen as a blow against Blair. Isn’t he an ‘alternative on the left’ as well?

Certainly, I think George Galloway’s comment that Ken has crawled back into the Labour Party on his belly makes no sense. When Ken was an independent, he basically carried forward what was a Labour agenda …

An old Labour agenda …?

Whatever - I know Frank Dobson talks of a ‘heritage’ Labour agenda. I am not really interested in those sorts of labels. I am interested in peoples’ specific positions on specific issues. It was not in Ken’s interests to be outside the party, it was not in the party’s interests to have him out there either. Talking about ‘New Labour’ or ‘old Labour’ is neither here nor there when we have the job of beating the Tories in front of us.

Are you a Blairite?

No, who on earth called me that? I think you should talk to some of my comrades on Camden council about me being a “Blairite”! I am just not, it’s as simple as that. Look at the current questions I have been campaigning about on the council - against the privatisation of our new sports centre, against changes to the funding of our community nurseries - and the war, of course. That assertion is simply not true.

Where did you actually stand on the Iraq war?

I am on record of having opposed the war. It was unlawful, it was counterproductive and I expressed those opinions openly at the time. Actually, I think that was a key factor in my selection. I made my anti-war position clear in my address to the 3,000 Labour Party members who were eligible to vote in the selection in Barnet and Camden.

Obviously, the war has been a huge problem for a lot of our traditional supporters. It has been a problem for a lot of ethnic minority voters - again traditional Labour supporters. I think we need to do everything we can, as Ken Livingstone has done, to move on from it and address the concrete needs of those communities, as well as the growth of the sense in security, the fear of terrorism, etc.

How is it possible to move on when British troops are still part of an occupying army in Iraq?

Of course, that’s a huge problem. But in terms of being a London assembly member, or even the mayor of London, other than making our opposition quite clear, there is not a great deal we can do. I will continue to support the mayor’s stance on this.

How do you view initiatives like Respect?

It’s a mistake, in my opinion. I believe people should work inside the Labour Party. Of course, I support people’s right to protest in this way, but they are clearly wrong. What are they hoping to achieve in terms of results?

They can’t win. In my constituency, they could possibly get Brian Coleman - the disgusting, rightwing local Tory - back in. That would be a disaster. This is one of the reasons why Ken Livingstone has been making so clear that he supports me all the way - for instance, in his recent articles in the Morning Star and the Camden New Journal. He underlined that everyone should vote for me …

So you’re actually on Ken’s team?

Well, no. I’m part of the Labour team for Barnet and Camden. But I have very close links with Ken’s team and Nicky Gavron’s team. And I am very confident of winning. I would say to Respect that - with the prospect of their intervention allowing a particularly obnoxious Tory in - they should really have a serious think about what type of protest vote they are going for.

I have talked to Respect directly about this - they said they would ‘think about it’. I would challenge Respect to identify anything I stand for that most of their supporters would not support also. I’m doing a number of hustings in the next few weeks and no doubt Liz Wheatley [Respect’s local candidate] and other Respect supporters will be coming along to those meetings. If there are particular issues these people would like to bring up there for clarification, I would welcome the opportunity.