Like a lot of politically minded young people of the seventies it was a fairly easy to drift into the world of far-left and revolutionary politics. There were many like myself who wandered in and out of the Labour Party and got involved ending up in groups like Socialist Action a front for the old International Marxist Group (IMG) whose best known member was Tariq Ali though he had buggered off by then.
Although I never accepted everything about Lenin and Trotsky (for example always believing their actions were wrong on Kronstadt amongst other things) I did think and perhaps hope a little too much as it turned out the comrades had learned their lessons. Watching (and taking part) in the factional infighting that tore the IMG to pieces it became clear that the comrades clearly hadn't.
My attempts to remain on the "left" in one of the splinters combined with the blinkered nonsense the Marxists came up with over the collapse of communism across Europe and the Soviet Union led me to attempt the Greens and saw mainstream environmentalists like Jonathan Porritt leave and the party move to the left. At this point I gave up on political parties and decided to concentrate on my activity as a trade unionist.
Despite my left-wing past it was necessary to be pragmatic when involved in the micro-political activity that is the "bread & butter" of the trade unions. Those that remained involved in the various hard left groups became a clear hindrance and over the years I orientated towards voting for the Labour Pary and encouraged others to do so because at least a Labour Government could help my members.
At this point I was labelled a "right-winger" by the Trots as most of them were in the civil service unions (CPSA/PCS) and watched them use their positions to promote various alternatives to Labour Like respect and the TUSC. I stuck at it but towards the end decided that when I retired I would join Labour and hep people that way in whatever minor capacity was needed.
Then came Corbyn and I had an aneurysm (not blaming him for that obviously!) leading to me retiring much sooner. Most of the people I had fought in the unions suddenly appeared inside Labour along with the rest of the far/hard left and their fellow travellers. The intolerance towards those they disagreed with was so full of spite and hatred it was frankly scary. Then of course came the rise of antisemitism.
Labour was no longer for me. I even stopped voting for the party. Even now I can only bring myself to join the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) to become part of an affiliated organisation allowing me to have a legitimate say in the on-going factional struggle.
However there do remain reasons I remain outside. Despite Keir Starmer's best efforts there remain far too many antisemites and their hard left allies in the party. Several openly entryist groups remain active who should all have been kicked out long ago for breaching the rules. The Corbynite left may have retreated but it's stil there and biding it's time. Already the bid to renew their civil war against the mainstream is beckoning after the election set backs.
Having read Tony Blair's excellent article in The New Statesman I can only agree with his sentiment that:
The Labour Party is now scratching its collective head and wondering why the replacement of an extremist with someone more moderate isn’t achieving the miracle renaissance. It is even asking whether Keir is the right leader.
But the Labour Party won’t revive simply by a change of leader. It needs total deconstruction and reconstruction. Nothing less will do.I have been arguing for a break with the hard-left on various social media discussion groups and believe that Blair's prescription is the right one. But it doesn't stop at there and addresses this notion of "wokeness" that is dominating political discourse at the moment:
On cultural issues, one after another, the Labour Party is being backed into electorally off-putting positions. A progressive party seeking power which looks askance at the likes of Trevor Phillips, Sara Khan or JK Rowling is not going to win. Progressive politics needs to debate these cultural questions urgently and openly. It needs to push back strongly against those who will try to shout down the debate. And to search for a new governing coalition. All the evidence is that it can only do this by building out from the centre ground.
Woke (as a shorthand) has been used by the US based far-left to describe itself for years and has subsequently been adopted as an insult. That said it does have a relevance that goes beyond what some people think this is all about. It's a reference to a movement that actually doesn't demand social justice but insists on your compliance to a very narrow field of ideological thought. it is itself racist, misogynistic and sexist.
It's practitioners talk about "white privilege" ignoring factors such as class, Jewish privilege without mentioning antisemitism, women are to be denied sex-based rights so that male appended trans individuals can invade their spaces, sports, take away the concepts of motherhood, giving birth and even breastfeeding being discriminatory in their view. Lesbians are called transphobes if the refuse to sleep with trans-individuals with penises.
These people no platform speakers whose ideas they disagree with (particularity feminists), ban books, are behind cancel culture and try to stop research that looks into why people regret transitioning. The list is frankly endless.
One can oppose racism, sexism and the rest without being anywhere near "woke". Trouble with the so-called woke is they are frankly a new kind of Stalinist. They hold equality back by turning people against their stance. Such platitudes are dangerous and frankly the self-identified woke ore some of the most intolerant people outside the Marxist left or fascist right you are likely to come across.
My position on this led to a number of Labour Party activists attempting to find out which CLP I belonged to so they could have me "disciplined" and/or expelled as a "transphobe". They were most put out when they discovered I wasn't a member. One friend of mine was a member and did recive a letter from the arty about her pro-women's rights views being subject to a complaint. She simply quit. I do not intend to join and end up in that position after five minutes as a member.
So I remain outside which allows me to speak freely, write what I want and support women's rights. There's also my quite militant atheism which is often attacked as being "Islamophobic. Well yes I do fear Islam but I criticise all religions and have never been attacked as a "Christianophobe even if there is such a word. But that's for another time.
