Monday 20th January 2020
11 of us welcomed one new member of the group. 10 people sent their apologies.
The political landscape has changed considerably since our last meeting in November with a new Tory government, Brexit now a certainty and the prospect of Tory policies moving to the right, politically. With all this in mind we each suggested one issue which we felt would be most important to us in this new landscape, thus: Climate Crisis; The Social Media’s possibilities for progressive change; Human Solidarity; Social Care; People Working Together; Decline in Democracy; Finding the Energy to fight back; What is ‘left’ in the Hope Valley; possibilities for a Credible Labour Party. These issues became the threads of our conversation. There was still much bad feeling in the group about the failure of political parties to collaborate, with High Peak Green failing to support a labour candidate in this last election, and a failure of the Labour Party to acknowledge the Green support for Labour in the previous election. This emphasis upon party loyalty above all else will mean we fail to address problems such as the climate crisis, which require much more collaborative political forms. But how much power does lie in political parties, or in government, or at Westminster? This question led to a general discussion about where political power lies. For example, is the Tory Party a source of power, or is it really the vested interests of wealthy corporations that count. Or do the latter inevitably support the former? A class based analysis is now not so straightforward, if indeed relevant. With ‘traditional working class voters’ supporting Tories en masse, how are we to understand the interests of ‘ordinary working people’. There was considerable gloom in the group about the present situation with fears that Johnson is moving ever further to the ‘right’. In this context the question ‘how do I find the energy to fight back’ is very real. The answer to such a personal question involves where we see the possibilities of power and influence to reside. The personal is political. On the other hand if, as appears, Johnson is more concerned to have power than to pursue any particular ideological strategy, might he move towards supporting such progressive causes as climate change if that gives hime more electoral purchase? This may depend upon the success of such pressure groups as XR to effect real changes in public opinion.
The next meeting will be on February 17th.