On February 12 the national officers of Left Unity issued an unconstitutional ‘Appeal for an alliance against austerity’, which commits LU to “support any candidate, whether they are from the Greens, the Labour left or a smaller party committed to equality, who states clearly that they will never vote for austerity and whose record leads us to believe that they are sincere”.

In this, they have gone far beyond any agreed remit, to the point of open revolt. In fact, the 10 national officers are attempting to foist an altogether rightwing orientation on Left Unity by, in effect, staging a Bonapartist coup.

Left Unity’s last national conference, in November 2014, not only accepted an amendment which, rightly, rejected calls for closer collaboration with the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition, but “overwhelmingly rejected” moves to “extend cooperation to the Greens”. On each occasion the Communist Platform voted as a bloc for the winning side of the argument.  So we remember it well. Quoting the constitution will suffice here; “national conferences of Left Unity are the supreme policy making body” of the organisation (clause 9a).

The Greens say they want to “build a society that works for the common good, not just the privileged few.” All very well and apple pie. But once you accept commodity production, wage slavery and private property it is 1731368029 inevitable that monopoly capital, the overblown state machine and a privileged elite will follow sooner or later. Within every small green capitalist there is a big green capitalist just waiting to emerge. So while the Green’s critique of the environmental crisis, social inequality and zero hours exploitation has some value, the same cannot be said of their plans for the future.

The Communist Platform urges Left Unity committees, regions, branches, caucuses and sections to pass this resolution (unanimously agreed by Lewisham and Greenwich branch on February 12 2015).

This meeting is appalled by the ‘Appeal for an alliance against austerity’ statement from Left Unity national officers, which goes beyond conference and national council decisions. It advocates an electoral arrangement  with parties or groups whose political character, by implication, are not working class. Left Unity should support all working class candidates, including Labour Party candidates, who agree to oppose all cuts to services, and try to ensure that no such candidates stand against each other.

Let us know if your branch has accepted the motion by sending us an email.

Read a longer article on the issues here.