Lindsey German on mainstream malaise and why activity is still the key

This has been the worst election campaign I have ever known. It’s true of the similarities between the two parties, the dullness of the two main candidates, but above all the near complete inability of the parties and their friends in the media to discuss any of the major issues facing working class people in Britain.

It’s also true of the general tenor of the politics: the right wing terrain on which both Sunak and Starmer have fought has played into the hands of Nigel Farage’s Reform, which stands to do much better than was predicted only a month ago. Starmer has pitched his appeal to disgruntled Tories, Sunak has tried to mimic Reform, leaving a huge area of electoral space vacant, which all the best efforts of left of centre parties and left independents have been unable to fill.

No wonder discontent and uncertainty rule. This is often called apathy but that is unfair on the electorate, which is simply unable to get excited about the contest between a completely failed Tory government and a Labour ‘opposition’ which appeals almost exclusively to the right and has done everything it can to demonise and destroy its left.

The left inside Labour is weaker than it has ever been, and largely silenced by threats from Starmer.  Outside Labour, the defeat of Corbynism from 2019 has also harmed the left, leaving much of it fragmented and demoralised.

Yet there is much that should encourage us about political attitudes, which are for the most part to the left of the main parties on many subjects. Anecdotal and polling evidence shows that the major concern is the NHS, followed by the cost of living and the housing crisis. When these concerns are occasionally addressed in the media, the constant refrain is that who will pay for it? Will taxes have to go up?

Working class people don’t want to pay more taxes, true, we already pay more than our fair share. But that isn’t true of the rich, the corporations, the landlords, those who inherit millions, the private schools. They can afford much more, and they should be funding health and education.

Then there is foreign policy. Gaza is a big issue politically and a clear majority want ceasefire and to stop arming Israel. Neither party had any interest in making this an election issue and nor did the media. Yet we know it has a real resonance across the country and in many constituencies pro Palestine candidates are putting up a real challenge to Labour.

It’s hard to predict the exact outcome except to say that the Tories will lose heavily and Labour will win probably very comfortably. But how exactly will it pan out in detail and locally. Hopefully Jeremy Corbyn will win Islington North, and that other left independents do well, but few are likely to win. The Greens and Plaid will have at best a handful of seats. Reform will get a sizeable vote, but it matters how that translates into seats, and how many of these rabid right wingers there are in parliament. What will be left of the Tory party and which MPs will be returned to continue the internal fight for the leadership?

What we do know is that the right-wing and racist agenda which marked the election will continue, and has to be fought. We know Labour has little intention of or ability to challenge the priorities of capital, so little is going to change for most working class people.  We know that the far right are waiting in the wings for Labour to disappoint.

We also know that outside of his own coterie Starmer has little popular support, and little political capital to invest.

So what we do in the next months is crucial. We will be back on the streets on Saturday in another mass mobilisation. We will be supporting the strikes like those of the junior doctors. We will be opposing Tommy Robinson when he mobilises on 27th July.

But election day matters. The more votes for the left the better our confidence will be to fight the ruling class attacks. The more we can beat back Farage, the better. We want to get the Tories out but don’t want Starmer behaving like a pale imitation.

So vote for Palestine. Vote for independents’ day. Vote for a left voice. And get ready to fight.

Lindsey German will be speaking at Counterfire’s post-election debrief on Friday 5 July, 12pm at St Anne’s Soho, London, W1D 6AF