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Drum: DEMOCRACY II
We should not disengage from the political process
but rather engage differently. By itself, not voting
Labour would be an act not of politics but petulance.
We should use every avenue open to us, from letterwriting to call-in programmes, to explain that this is
the last straw. We have marched, petitioned and
lobbied and they never listened. Now we should hit
them where it hurts; in the ballots. They have
shown it’s the only thing they understand.
Tempting as it may be, we should not stay away
from the polls. Across the world black people have
fought hard for the franchise and wherever possible
we should use it. Despite mass opposition to
Labour’s policies, no force has emerged to the left of
it that can replace it or even challenge it nationwide,
so the electoral response will be necessarily local
and piece meal.
“Black people have fought
hard for the franchise and
we should use it.”
There are other parties – the Liberal Democrats, the
Greens, Respect – who have chosen not to exploit
bigotry as a means to an end. There are also Labour
MPs who have made a stand against the war and
racism who deserve our continued support. None of
this is ideal. The Liberal Democrats have a history of
racism when in local councils and support the
occupation of Iraq; the Greens have few black
members and remain for the time-being a mostly
white, middle-class party; Respect, a mixture of
Trotskyists and Muslims, is standing in few seats
and is so far untested; any anti-war Labour MP you
vote for will still be backing Blair.
In each constituency, the best option for both
retreating from Labour while still keeping the Tories
out will be different. In some it will be little more
than a message; in others there will be the real
possibility of breaking the two-party hold on power
or at least weakening it.
There are few things worse than a Tory government.
But one of them must be putting your cross and
conscience next to a party, like Labour, that has
shown open contempt for your existence and your
rights.
If there must be a lynching, let’s not hand them
the rope.
Parts 1 and 2 of our E lection Special can be found on pages 55
and 8 3 respectively.