Leicester Socialist Party Member Debates EU With Labour Parliamentary Candidates

Tom Barker, of Leicester Socialist Party put the case for a socialist Brexit at an EU debate on Thursday, organised by Leicester Young Labour. Blairite MP Liz Kendall and Rory Palmer MEP were due to speak, but unfortunately both backed out at the last minute. However, the Labour Parliamentary candidates for Loughborough and Nuneaton (Stuart Brady and Zoe Mayou) were represented on the panel, as well as Alastair Jones, a politics lecturer from De Montfort University.

Tom was the only speaker to put forward the case for a workers’ Brexit – all the other speakers expressed illusions that the EU helped protect workers’ rights, and put forward a Remain position.

Most tellingly, when asked if they would prefer a Tory victory with Remain, or Brexit with a Labour government, the panellists avoided the question. When it was argued that trade unions were responsible for gains made by workers, rather than these being protected by the EU, the response of Zoe Mayou was to lambast the Tory anti-trade union laws for making it difficult for workers to take strike action. There was no acknowledgement, other than from Tom, of the critical role of the working class, and no idea that workers can fight back, if given a lead. We pointed out, for example, the victory of striking homecare workers and refuse collectors in Birmingham, against a Labour council.

Tom raised the problem of disunity within the Labour Party, and the despicable use of antisemitism used by right wingers in an attempt to discredit supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, such as Chris Williamson and Marc Wadworth. He was sadly met with comments of “shame”, and “anti-semite apologist”, but this was only from a few, more vocal members of the audience. Our socialist arguments got an echo with many of the young people attending.

It is clear, if this meeting represented a microcosm of the Labour Party, that it remains two parties in one. Mandatory reselection of MPs, could clear out those who oppose Corbyn’s anti-austerity programme. We stand in solidarity with the many victims of false antisemitism allegations. A real people’s vote is not a rerun of the EU referendum, but a general election. We need to continue the fight for socialism, through fighting, democratic trade unions, both within and outside of the Labour Party.