Glasgow vote shows life left in Labour

WHILE a combined "left" vote in the Glasgow East by-election of a little over 1,000 might show a "bedrock" of support for socialist policies (M Star August 4), it does not show a decisive shift towards either the left or the SNP, nor that Labour is in a state of "terminal decline."

An SNP victory with a margin of just 300 votes, even in a "safe Labour seat," is nothing to shout about.

The Glasgow East result did, however, indicate a number of things.

First, the apparent turn towards the main nationalist party was not an endorsement of independence but a vote in favour of the social democratic part of its programme.

Second, the vast majority of working-class people and their communities still regard Labour as "their" party. The spectacle of two left "alternatives" competing for votes was unattractive to them.

Third, Labour remains the main electoral vehicle for the organised working-class movement. Does it or does it not continue to have millions of working people affiliated to it through their trade unions?

The failure of those unions, particularly at leadership level, to exert pressure on the Parliamentary Labour Party is another matter, but it is certainly not sufficient cause to write Labour off or to argue that unions ought to disaffiliate from the party.

The SSP is an established part of the Scottish left, but its insistence on Scottish "independence," while leaving the fundamentals of socioeconomic and political power unchallenged at British level, will complicate its ability to win support for a serious left-wing programme "across the UK."

The labour movement is the organisational expression of class interests. New Labour's anti-working class programme requires a class response at British level.

SIMON STEEL
Glasgow