Momentum is a new organisation created and strictly controlled by the Corbyn wing of the Labour Party. Rather than organise an open and democratic working class conference to develop a programme of action against austerity and war, Momentum already demonstrates that it is controlled from the top.
Momentum’s perspective is to take those who are against austerity into the Labour Party to control working class struggles from within, thus allowing people merely to vent their anger at the same time steering them away from taking the struggle to the streets.
Many left groups have high hopes of being able to work inside Momentum, this includes Left Unity, SWP, SP, Socialist Resistance and others.
One immediate problem for the left who want to work in Momentum is that Labour councillors who voted for Corbyn’s leadership have been welcomed into the organisation. However, at the same time these councillors continue to vote for the implementation of austerity and cuts as they have for the last five years.
So, why was Momentum created when Corbyn was a founder leader of the People’s Assembly? The People’s Assembly has lost credibility with many activists, because amongst other reasons they would not back calls for a General Strike and failed to engage actively with campaigns fighting council cuts.
Labour Councils plan to make even deeper cuts in the light of continuing austerity from the government, and just accept that most services will be gone, either destroyed or sold off, within two years.
The new Labour leadership has made it possible for their councillors to justify the line, “if we don’t make the cuts then someone else will”, while failing to lead any movement on the streets to fight the government’s harmful and dangerous cuts.
John McDonnell said in a Guardian interview, 25 September, “The situation the councils are now in is if they don’t set a budget, a council officer will do it for them. There is no choice for them anymore.” This was reinforced when quoted in a letter, signed by Corbyn and McDonnell to the leaders of Council Labour Groups on 17 December.
So, the Corbynites think it’s impossible to fight the government over council cuts. They declare themselves an anti-austerity party (in words), but tell councillors to vote for budget cuts (in practice).
Many anti-cuts activists have fought this position for many years – as services and jobs have disappeared without a murmur of resistance from most of Labour Councillors. Is the Party now ordering activists to remain silent?
Momentum and war
Under pressure from the right-wing Momentum is now drawing up a code of conduct so that members of other parties will not be allowed to be part of the leadership and decision-making. In other words Momentum will be run from the top by hand-picked Corbyn loyalists.
This decision came as Britain commenced bombing and Momentum stated that it is “not a threat to MPs who voted for bombing. We have made clear that we will not campaign for the de-selection of any MP and will not permit any local Momentum groups to do so.”
Even the suggestion of de-selection, which is a democratic principle, is being hysterically attacked by right wing MPs and the media. Under pressure and true to form Corbyn abandons the principle.
How can the working class have any trust in a party that is so virulently opposed to democracy?
The building of a movement for socialism by necessity has to involve millions of workers and cannot begin by denying the fundamental principles of workers democracy. Millions of workers will only fight for Socialism if they are convinced that it is controlled from below and based on the democratic control of leaders, which includes the right of de-selection, that is, right of immediate re-call. That is what democracy looks like which cannot be found in parliament.
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Read full article here: http://www.litci.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2856:retreats-by-corbyn-means-workers-will-have-to-fight-labour&catid=32:britain&Itemid=67
Originally published on Socialist Voice 23, Jan 2016
