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Welsh Labour Plumbs New Depths

[April 1999; Socialist Outlook 24]

The election of Alun Michael as Welsh Labour leader had one immediate and spectacular result - Labour support in the opinion polls dropped by a remarkable 10 per cent.

Peter Hain, Michael's campaign manager, was quick to blame thin on the leadership campaign, claiming that the party had been 'looking inwards ... to an excruciating degree'. 

In reality, it was not the leadership contest that caused the drop in support, but rather the undemocratic way in which it was conducted, and the consequent outcome.

Most of the 10per cent transferred their support to Plaid Cymru, leaving Labour on 51per cent, Plaid on 23per cent and the Tories on 16per cent. The response of the Labour leadership was to launch a vitriolic attack on Plaid, entitled 'The A to Z of Nationalist Madness'. 

This is a truly dreadful document, reminiscent of the worst kind of negative campaigning conducted by the Conservatives and the 'No' campaign during the Assembly referendum.

It attacks Plaid Cymru for many left-wing policies, which socialists in the Labour Party would equally support, such as the abolition of student loans and prescription charges. 

The document reaches the level of farce with the final heading, 'Z is for zealots', where Plaid are attacked for wanting Wales to have its own seat at the UN, under the name Cymru, which the document disparagingly points out would fall between Cuba and Cyprus.

While the 'A to Z' is quick to attack the Welsh nationalism of Plaid Cymru, it makes no mention of the British nationalism of the Labour Party, which is all too ready to cloak itself in the union jack, to talk of 'One Nation Labour', and to parade bulldogs in election broadcasts.

This latest campaign shown clearly what Michael and Hain mean by 'a new, inclusive politics in Wales'. 

According to Hain., 'It marks the death knell of the weary, gladiatorial style of British politics, where petty point scoring invariably triumphs over sensible debate'. 

The 'A-Z' is exactly that kind of petty point-scoring and illustrates what the new 'inclusiveness' really means: inclusive to the right and the Liberal Democrats; abusive to the left, in this case Plaid Cymru

Many Labour supporters in Wales were appalled by the blatant stitch-up of the Labour leadership. They should be equally concerned by the latest turn in the campaign. 

This is no basis on which to campaign for the Assembly, it does nothing to foster the debates needed in Wales or develop policies to answer people's real concerns - on jobs, education and the health service.

The antics Labour's leadership have led many people to consider abandoning the Party in disgust. Socialist Outlook supporters believe that this is premature. Now is not the time to turn away from Labour, when the campaign against the right wing leadership is only just beginning. 

The events surrounding the leadership contest are only a foretaste of much bigger struggles to come. It is vital that the left is fully involved in these debates and does not hand victory to the right simply by walking away from the Party at this stage.

This is why we call for a Labour vote in these elections - with the idea of giving Labour a clear majority to ensure it can be held accountable for its actions in government.

Recent events have led many people to consider voting Plaid as a left-wing alternative to Labour. In response it is not enough attack Plaid Cymru by counterposing socialist internationalism to its Welsh nationalism. Internationalism has too often been used as a cover for the worst kinds of British chauvinism. And the internationalist credentials of the Labour Party are very dubious indeed 

It is necessary to look at both the positive and the negative aspects of Plaid's politics.

The positive aspects are its rejection of the centralist British state, its long-standing anti-militarist and pacifist tradition and its defence of the Welsh language.

More negative is the widely propagated view that policies 'made in Wales' will be inherently better than those 'made in England', and a consistent failure to identify international capitalism as the real culprit in the impoverishment of the people of Wales. Other problems include the extremely heterogeneous nature of the party, particularly at local government level, where it often acts more as an anti-Labour bloc than a socialist opposition. On a European level, Plaid shares with Labour a support for the Maastricht Treaty and the single currency. The contradiction between supporting monetarist policies on a European level and Keynesian policies on a Welsh level are left unresolved. As a' result, there has been no real debate in Wales on the future of the European Union.

There is also a danger that Plaid will not function as an effective opposition in the Assembly, given their stated aim of trying to 'make the Assembly work', in order to establish their own legitimacy among the Welsh people.

The other group standing to the left of Labour in the Assembly elections are the United Socialists, an electoral alliance composed of the Socialist Party (formerly Militant), Cymru Goch and the SWP and various non-aligned socialists. Socialist Outlook does not believe that such a group offers a credible alternative to Labour, not least because the groups involved do not appreciate the centrality and importance of the Labour Party in Welsh politics.

Socialist Outlook supported the establishment of the Welsh Assembly, in part because of its potential to reinvigorate Welsh politics. It has certainly begun to do this, even if this is largely restricted to a party-political level at present. It is also a fact that despite recent reverses, Labour retains the support of 50 per cent of the Welsh electorate. This support. expresses the hopes and aspirations of working class people in Wales for a better society. The, Yes vote for the Assembly was a vote for change and a Labour majority in the Assembly must be forced to deliver that change.

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