Christians on the Left, the new name for the Christian Socialist Movement, was formally
launched in a packed room at the Houses of Parliament on November 5th.
It was quite a night to be in that famous old building. Drawing inspiration from the
most famous anti-parliamentary activism of all time, an anarchist demonstration was
noisily protesting in Whitehall and Parliament Square at
the same time. Numerous
fireworks, aimed in the direction of Parliament,
emerged from the sea of
Guido Fawkes masks and exploded colourfully in the night sky
around Big Ben.
The scenario illustrated the
porary politics of how
widespread disconrepresentative democitself be redeemed?
movement for social jusin the mire of mainstream
challenge for contemit responds to the
tent and anger with
racy. Can politics
Can an inspiring
tice emerge withpolitics?
Christians on the Left will
have a key role in this
debate in the years ahead.
Faith is not going away. We
have seen incredible growth
of Christian social action nationwide
through food banks, night
shelters and community organising. Likewise, it will be faith and spirituality that will provide both the energy and the
moral compass for social justice movements.
Many of these qualities were evident in the launch event of Christians on the Left that
night:
At the launch, Labour’s Policy Coordinator Jon Cruddas MP gave a historical overview
of the importance of Christian influence within the Party. His enthusiasm and knowledge of the rich heritage was inspiring as he illustrated how Christians had influenced
great characters of the party from Keir Hardie, to George Lansbury and Clement Attlee.
Cruddas showed how the new name maintained the link with the rich heritage that
Christians on the Left can always draw on. Truly, the further back we look, the further
forward we can see.
After Cruddas spoke about the past, the infectiously passionate Susie Stride, the
Labour candidate for Harlow, spoke about the future. She shared personally about
how her upbringing in Tower Hamlets fuelled her desire to get involved in changing the
structures of society to create greater fairness and opportunity. After her, the writer
and commentator Vicky Beeching urged everyone to take hold of how social media
can be tool for social justice and encouraged a wave of tweets to be dispatched to
illustrate her point. These younger speakers illustrated the youthful energy within
Christians on the Left and it was reflected by the vibrant mix of MPs, candidates,
church leaders and those who work for international NGOs or UK charities who were in
the room. This was not a bunch of Westminster hacks but a group with the potential
to create a significant movement.