By Brian Savage
The slogan “we need a new left party” was a thread which ran throughout the day during the Revolutionary Ideas festival, held in Liverpool on 9 November. It helped to emphasise why the working class faces an urgent need for a socialist alternative to the current situation within Britain.
From the rising costs of living, the destruction by privatisation of the NHS, to corporations taking the blood, sweat and tears of the working class across the world only to enrich the 1%, the ideas that were put forward at Revolutionary Ideas mapped out how workers can fight for a better future.
The day began with a clear message in the opening rally: that we urgently need a new left party of struggle – one that represents the interests of the majority of society, rather than a clique of capitalists bent on destroying the world in the name of profit. The commission I attended, “How would a socialist economy work?”, went into detail on how a planned economy would be utilised under a socialist system through workers’ democratic control of society.
It also helped to show that even under a capitalist economy, the supposed ‘free market’ is anything but free. We explored how Walmart uses a ‘mini-planned economy’ to plan its distribution process. However, instead of being run by and for the workers of the company, it is run for the benefit of the shareholders. The commission really helped to reinforce that the capitalist system exploits the working class by extracting the surplus value created by our labour, and delivering it in the form of profits for shareholders.
Once the commissions had concluded, the day ended with a closing international rally, titled “Slaughter in Gaza continues: Socialist struggle against war and imperialism”. The international reach of International Socialist Alternative (ISA) and our ideas were on full display. This was best shown by the work of the Nigeria Solidarity Campaign, organised by ISA supporters, which has been set up to campaign for the release of jailed workers and trade unionists in Nigeria, who dared to protest against a rising cost of living. 11 of these, including ISA member Daniel Akande, were arrested and charged with among other offences, treason!
The campaign is fighting hard to beat these charges, and has received support recently from the NEU National Executive. It was great to see a video from activists in the Movement for a Socialist Alternative (ISA in Nigeria) thanking members throughout the world for raising funds to fight the charges, and their commitment to continue the fight for the working class.
As the rallies and key speakers continued, the main message remained the same: capitalism carries no future for humanity, and only getting organised in the fight for a fundamentally different system is needed. One of the key reasons given was by Alison Gaughan, a trade union activist and Socialist Alternative member, who explained that due to the attacks from the new Labour government on the most vulnerable in society, a socialist alternative is needed to stem the rise of the right.
To further reinforce the international nature of ISA, Monja from Sozialistische Alternative (ISA in Germany) spoke on the rise of the far right in the form of the Alternative für Deutschland party. While this news was a worrying development, the member was able to share the tactics used by our sister organisation in Germany in the workers’ movement to combat the far right. It was both educational and inspirational for all those seeking to build an international working-class movement against racism and the far right across the world.
I would highly recommend to all our readers to come to Revolutionary Ideas next year, and to join us in the struggle for a socialist alternative for the benefit of workers and the oppressed.
