Labour Conference: People Power In Politics

We often talk about left and right wings in politics. We usually mean labour on the left and capital on the right. There is another definition and this is very much in play at the moment. It is the people on the left and the establishment on the right. Establishment parties (in the UK this is the Conservative party) are there to protect the interests of those with capital and who, as a life vocation or choice, exercise power. Policy is determined by the leadership, aided by advisers and think tanks, and people vote for it, whether party members or ordinary voters, because they like the menu on offer. It is not democratic in the full sense, but you get to vote as a party member who you want as leader and as a voter on whether you want these people to govern. This notion of power and the desire (some see it as a right) to exercise it permeates a whole section of society, the education system and the top universities. It embraces business and the professions at their apex and has roots in both the judiciary and the Church of England.

This whole mega structure would collapse were it not for the foundation on which it all stands. The foundation is the people. The ordinary people who serve the state and keep it functioning and functional. They do this by their jobs or professions which although they will never become rich through them, are critical to the survival of everything else. They could be working in health, education, power generation, transport, law enforcement, emergency services, industry, retail, fuel, the list is all but endless. In our modern world of social media and information technology they are now engaged and empowered as never before in history. They have access to universal knowledge and universal fellowship, all from the palms of their hands. They want a say in how their lives are run, not just by whom.

It means ordinary people become engaged in the formation of political policy, so that their interests will be promoted in the order of priorities they proclaim. It means power rising from the people to challenge and balance that which cascades down from above. It is why Jeremy Corbyn, who almost alone in the House of Commons understood this and saw how the political weather had changed from the dawn of the Thatcher era, is now a political phenomenon. And why the Labour Party is growing faster then ever.

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