THE LOCAL ELECTIONS: DON’T GET DISHEARTENED. GET MAD.

Posted on May 6, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged brighton kemptown, brighton pavilion, conservatives, councils, food banks, general election, get mad, grassroots movement, health service, howard beale, Jeremby Corbyn, Labour, Lib Dems, Liberal Democrats, local activism, local elections, local elections 2017, network, policies, political leaders, political parties, poll, prime minister, progressive alliance, progressive politics, theresa may, Tories.

by Toby Gill

Content warning: article mentions xenophobia and racism

There’s no way of hiding it, Labour took a beating on May 4th. Losing control of 7 councils while the Conservatives gained 11, the Tories now hold 28 councils to Labour’s 9. Overall, the Conservatives gained 563 seats, while Labour lost 382.

The left-of-centre media has been united in their response to these results; the internet is strewn with articles heavy with despair and foreboding. Such was the synchrony and unanimity of this outcry, that our nation’s journalists have almost come to resemble a marching band in procession behind the coffin of progressive politics itself.

Yet this despair is misplaced. For these commentaries seem to treat the Local Elections as little more than another poll for the upcoming General Election. Except this poll is even more significant, because it employs a real electorate.

This belief could not be further from the truth. I am here to tell you that the correct response to the Local Elections is not to get disheartened, it is to get mad. Continue Reading

PETER TATCHELL, LEFT UNITY AND OTHER DINOSAURS

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged censorship, female eunuch, feminism, germaine greer, Islamaphobia, julie bindel, LGBT+, LGBTQIA+, McCarthy, mccarthyism, no platform, Peter Tatchell, prevent, progressive politics, sectarian, spiked, Stonewall, trans.

by Robyn Banks

Once upon a time, there was a period in history when everyone on the left was in agreement. In this time of solidarity many campaigns were fought and won and nobody within the movement felt excluded. The boundaries of race, gender and class were broken down, sectarianism was a distant memory and everybody held hands and formed the party of the glorious left.

THE NEW ‘LEFT-WING’ MCCARTHYISM?

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged activists, alliance, black activists, Bright Green, campaigners, campaigning, criticism, Dennis Carney, far left, Green Party, green valuess, greens, human rights, Humanist, humanitarian, in fighting, left values, left wing, Lenin, LGBT+, liberation, Maryam Namazie, mccarthyism, OutRage!, Peter Tatchell, prejudice, progressive politics, racism, response, Rob Berkeley, Simon Nelson, smears, SMM, socialists, solidarity, Stop Murder Music Campaign, student atheist secular, Ted Walker Brown, unity.

In February The Norwich Radical carried an article by Chris Jarvis entitled ‘How I fell out of love with Peter Tatchell‘. This is Tatchell‘s reply.

by Peter Tatchell

A reply to the sectarian distortions of Chris Jarvis.

The future of progressive politics is under threat, again. But this time from the left. Historically, socialists and greens have made gains by building broad alliances around a common goal, such as the campaigns against the poll tax and the bombing of Syria. We united together diverse people who often disagreed on other issues. Through this unity and solidarity, we won. The government of the day was forced to back down.

Nowadays, we are witnessing a revival of far ‘left’ sectarian politics and it is infecting the Green Party too. Zealous activists, seemingly motivated by a desire to be more ‘left’ and pure than rivals, are putting huge energy into fighting and dragging down other campaigners.Continue Reading

RENT CONTROLS, CHEAPER TRAINS, AND CLEANER AIR: SIAN BERRY’S VISION FOR A RADICAL LONDON

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged austerity, candidate, City, environment, Green Party, housing, london, london mayor, mayorial candidate, politics, pollution, progressive politics, radical, radical london, rent, Sian Berry, transport, vision, vote.

In May 2016, London will go to the polls to decide who will replace Boris Johnson as their new mayor. A number of progressive parties from across the political spectrum are standing candidates in that election. We’ve got in touch with all those who are seeking nomination from their parties, asking why London should elect them, what their key policy priorities are and how London will be changed if they are elected. We’ll be publishing their responses over the next few weeks.

by Sian Berry

Along with a group of truly excellent colleagues, I’ve put myself forward to be the Green Party candidate for Mayor of London in 2016.

I’ve stood before, taking us up to 4^th place in 2008 from 7^th the time before, and in 2012 Jenny Jones took us to 3^rd place. This makes next year a crucial election for Greens in London. It will take a really focused effort to improve on that, and in this encounter, experience will count for more than usual. I have that experience and am very grateful to receive Caroline Lucas’ backing to take the challenge on again.

We really are seeing incredible things across Europe. In Barcelona and Madrid, and most recently and significantly in Greece, the people are overwhelmingly rejecting top-down, imposed and ever-deeper austerity. When you look at what Barcelona’s Mayor is doing to halt evictions since being elected on the crest of a wave of citizen activism, it’s clear that we have accepted a rough deal for too long in London but that we can make different choices.Continue Reading

ANTI-TORY MPS ARE GREATER IN NUMBER NOW THAN BEFORE THE GENERAL ELECTION

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged anti austerity, austerity, backbenchers, clive lewis, edp, elections, ge15, general election, government, Green Party, Labour, norwich, Parliament, political theory, politics, progressive politics, statistics, Tories.

There is no other way of cutting it – this election result is an absolute disaster for Britain. We are set for five years of utter misery, with further cuts to public services and welfare, further privatisation of the NHS and our education system and further attacks on migrants, the unemployed and the disabled. The Tories have won and we are stuck with them.

While it’s important now to get angry, to get agitated and get organised, it’s equally important to look at the future with a degree of optimism to stave off defeatism. There are, through it all, small glimmers of hope. Our Co-Editor Chris Jarvis will, over the next few days be looking at some of them.

by Chris Jarvis

Although the Conservatives narrowly tipped themselves over the line to form a majority once all the seats were counted after polls closed on Thursday, the irony of the election is that the parliamentary arithmetic is actually less in the Tories favour than it was in 2010.

If you add all the MPs together who are likely to vote with the Tories on the majority of their programme, the number now stands at 350 — that is the combined total of UKIP, Liberal Democrat, Democratic Unionist, Ulster Unionist, and Conservative seats. After 2010, it stood at 371. That means that the combined weight of the progressive, or at least anti-Tory parties, are in greater number now than they were after the last election. Between the Greens, Plaid Cymru, the SNP, the SDLP, and Sinn Fein, there are 299 MPs, compared to 276 in 2010.Continue Reading

progressive politics

THE LOCAL ELECTIONS: DON’T GET DISHEARTENED. GET MAD.

PETER TATCHELL, LEFT UNITY AND OTHER DINOSAURS

THE NEW ‘LEFT-WING’ MCCARTHYISM?

RENT CONTROLS, CHEAPER TRAINS, AND CLEANER AIR: SIAN BERRY’S VISION FOR A RADICAL LONDON

ANTI-TORY MPS ARE GREATER IN NUMBER NOW THAN BEFORE THE GENERAL ELECTION

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