All Hail the Uniparty
The next general election will happen within the year. That we know. We also know that we are now governed by a Uniparty. At the next election this pro-war, neoliberal austerity Uniparty aims to once again be in government
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| All Hail the Uniparty! |
The Uniparty could carry the name Conservative or Labour (or, to be honest, Liberal Democrat or Reform). It makes no discernible difference. Has there ever been a time when the political class of Great Britain was so united and yet so out of touch with the concerns of people "on the ground"? It would be an interesting question with which to research history, but, to me, looking at it in the first half of 2024, the gap has never appeared to be wider.
What grates, as much as the clear differences between "them" and "us" in how critical issues should be approached and dealt with - is having to put up with tedious, discredited homilies that include phrases such as "we've maxed out our credit card". The fact is that when you look beyond the shallow pantomime that presents itself as party politics in 2024 you see that the political class has seemingly merged into one, while "the common people", hopelessly addicted to arguing on the internet, distracted by the bread and circuses of the mass media, and divided by the rabid press, appear hopelessly atomised.
As the dearly departed George Carlin once opined, "It's a big club, and you ain't in it."
"If a large majority of your population wants to stop genocidal war crimes and yet your government officials double down in doing the opposite, you do not live in a democracy."
Jason Hickel
Can the Uniparty be resisted? Well, possibly. Around the country resistance is finally mobilising.
What Does Resistance Look Like
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| Image taken from the Morning Star |
Whatever you think of George Galloway - and not everyone's a fan - his Rochdale by-election victory was important to those who are horrified at the cosy, genocide enabling consensus which dominates Westminster. It demonstrated there is a hunger for an alternative to the Uniparty. The hysterical reaction from the establishment, which included a ridiculous speech by Rishi Sunak outside No. 10 Downing Street and further draconian measures to "deal with extremism" on the way, care of Michael Gove, showed how angry we make them when we don't play the game by their rules. The resistance has been galvanised, for sure. But what does this resistance broadly look like?
What we see now are many strong independent candidates coming forward, hoping to replicate Galloway's success and shock the Uniparty out of its complacency. We also see The Green Party assert themselves as an alternative force who will stand candidates in every constituency. And there's more.
There are also alternative parties such as George Galloway's Workers Party of Great Britain,Andrew Feinstein's Collective mass movement and the new Never Forget Gaza party. Just Stop Oil have also announced they will field candidates. And there are others such as Transform Politics and Left Unity. And outside England there are parties including SNP, Alba, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein.
However there is a danger here: what if these alternatives start to get in each other's way? The last thing we want is to see the Uniparty triumphing because the resistance were siloed, disorganised and taking votes from one another. We need some form of coordination to fight the genocide consensus.
Many people still hope Jeremy Corbyn will throw his hat into the ring as a leader of a new party, or as a unifying force for this burgeoning anti-establishment movement. But if he is going to do something he's leaving it very late. The fact is that despite everything, there is only one political party in Corbyn's life as far as I can see it, and for better or worse, that party is Labour. The big question after that is can Corbyn, for the sake of his constituents, abandon the party he has dedicated his life to and run as an independent at the next election? Even doing just that would be a shot in the arm for the resistance - and the latest signs look promising for this.
What should the Strategy Look Like
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| Image taken from the Palestine Return Centre |
So what should the strategy be, if and when a general election is called (and time is running down) to maximise the Resistance vote and do as much damage as we possibly can to the Uniparty? How can we maximise the Resistance's potential and give it the best chance we can to be real force for good in the next parliament?
My thought is we need to organise constituency by constituency. And in every consituency you will find different circumstances, conditions and priorities for the voters. In some constituencies there could be a strong independent candidate like Leanne Mohamad in Ilford North. In others like Bristol Central the Green Party's Carla Denyer is best placed to defeat the Uniparty.
So, here's what, maybe, we could do to address this issue:
1. Check which resistance candidates (not Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem or Reform. Sorry Lib Dems but I don't consider you with the good guys) are running in your constituency.
2. Call a public meeting for all resistance candidates and their allies. The first item on the agenda at this meeting would be to to get to know each other and see if we can work together. We don't have to agree on all issues - it would be unusual if we did - but I would suggest we should agree on certain red line principles.
3. Examples of red line principles as things stand now could include, but not be limited to: an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, action on climate breakdown, protecting the NHS, electoral reform and taxing the super rich.
4. As long as we can agree on a set of critical principles such as those stated in point 3, the next critical question to examine would be "which of our resistance candidates stands the best chance of defeating the Uniparty in this constituency?"
5. Answering this question honestly and objectively would make demands of people: for some maybe it would require them to sacrifice their ambition and ego for the greater good.
6. But once the most likely anti-Uniparty candidate has been chosen then everyone can put all their energies behind this candidate.
What about the Green Party's pledge to stand candidates in every constituency? Is it possible this might get in the way with them coordinating with the resistance in some constituencies? Possibly, but I don't think this has to be a barrier to them taking part in this exercise. As ever, local conditions will dictate what actions they, and others wish to take.The strength of the Green Party is that there is a lot of autonomy granted to granted to local parties.
These are my thoughts. I don't claim they are perfect or particularly original. What I do hope is that an urgent conversation is begun between people of different parties and factions. As stated, time IS running short.
