An excellent piece from John McDonnell. He’s right, real change has to happen or it will be total electoral wipeout of tsunami proportions. It’s bleeding obvious but whether Gordon Brown takes heed….well, I won’t hold my breath. I don’t see any evidence of NL rejecting neoliberalism.
John McD says: But what happens if Brown refuses to contemplate real change? If we go beyond November without real change visibly under way, what hope is left of Labour not only remaining in government but also surviving as an effective political force at all?
At that stage the only responsible act in the long-term interests of our movement would be to offer a real change in political direction by mounting a challenge to the political leadership of the party and letting the members of the party decide. Let me give notice now that this is the path I will take.
If this route is blocked again by MPs failing to nominate, then the alternative is Labour MPs making it clear at the next election that they stand on a policy platform of real change as “change candidates”.
Of course, they will be standing as Labour candidates but binding together as a slate of candidates committed within Labour to advocating a change programme, setting out the policy programme they will be advocating as a group and supporting in parliament if elected. Only in this way can we demonstrate to the supporters that want to come home to Labour that there is the hope and prospect of change.
Dave Semple has interesting things to say here about what is to be done.
McD is totally right, we can’t keep this nose peg on forever, real change is the sine qua non of the Labour Party.
Indeed!!