Zoom meeting held at on Monday 21st December 2020
Eight people were present. Seven gave apologies for not attending.
There was no face-to-face meeting due to lockdown regulations, so only a zoom meeting was offered.
Reflecting upon Kier Starmer, we felt that he was seen to be a potential Prime Minister, although we did not necessarily agree with his policies (inasmuch as we were aware of them). There were reports that many have left the Party, but other reports that more had been attracted to the Party. It is likely that the ‘departures’ were from the left and the ‘arrivals’ from the right, indicating an overall move to the right. (Would be good to have more evidence on this.)
It appeared that Labour Prime Ministers tended to be from the centre or right of the party and have a pragmatic, rather than idealistic orientation. Does our present situation require a more pragmatic (efficient, uncorrupt, etc) approach, or does it require a more idealistic vision? Certainly the whole antisemitism saga has been very negative. Starmer has prioritised addressing this, but at some cost to support from the left, it appears. We wondered how much the Israel/Palestine conflict is one which the LP can influence. We considered the failures of the last Corbyn general election campaign. As well as the antisemitism issue, Brexit, we felt, had not been managed well.
Focusing on the present, we returned to the issue of cross party collaboration and the Labour Party’s inability to win an election on its own. Is the issue really about getting the Labour Party into power, willy-nilly, or is it a matter of pursuing progressive policies wherever these are supported? Clive Lewis (from the left of the LP) has argued against the first past the post system and there appears to be a higher level of interest in democratic processes such as collaboration, citizens’ assemblies, etc. While the Covid crisis has emphasised the importance of the State, the danger is that the State has become centralised and less accountable or democratic under the Johnson government. The need for greater localisation (for example in ‘track and ‘trace’) combines with the need for greater democracy. This requirement for localisation and democracy comes together in the Manchester Citizens’ Jury project. Here the jury is made of of a representative sample of the public and is charged to make recommendations to the mayor. Such developments, we felt, could lead to a much needed weakening in tribalism of the LP.
We made final brief comments on the impending Brexit, expecting a last minute deal. But did we even care? It is such a disaster whether or not we have a Tory deal.
The next meeting will be by Zoom on Monday 18th January. There may also be a face-to-face meeting on that day if regulations permit.