Beyond the Wall: Reclaiming politics through community

Goox luck to you Beth, what happened to you was unacceptable in any society. This is not the time and place for me to condemn the Labour party. As you are morethan aware , there is a home for you in Plaid Cymru. Most of us share your desires for fair play and justice and the importance of communities. I might be wrong, but didn’t you speak in the Barry rally?, so its possible you believe in independence?

Welcome to Plaid Cymru?

Da iawn Beth (a Leanne). With both in mind, amongst others, every time someone good and FOR the people raise their heads in politics, they are malleted down like whack a mole because the order must be maintained don’t y’know.? This is the time to raise those heads again and have the mallets confiscated from the hands of the current complicit ruling Labour Party and the obvious others who need no introduction.

I can only imagine what you've been through via the "glorious" Wales Labour party, it's endless history parade and it's self declared worthiness, cheerfully manifested in it's toxic and vicious machine politics. It's everyday hypocrisy and careerism, it's lack of any possible vision except "us". Very best for the future & much respect

Good luck, Beth, and don't stop speaking out. What's happened doesn’t surprise me because it’s well documented that Starmer and his Machiavellian Spin doctor do not like opposing views. The book written by two Westminster bubble insiders, called Get In, says so much about these people. As long as they get power, anything goes with Starmer's Labour, including the dark arts. When they get it, they have rapidly shown how to destroy hope. Voters would expect Labour at least to offer better than the Tories. But in many respects, they are worse. The removal of disability benefits, the Winter fuel allowance, and the sudden conversion to building the 3rd Heathrow runway are just some of them. They will, deservedly, get destroyed at the ballot box if they continue with Starmer. Then, we will have the dreaded prospect of Reform.

We'd love to welcome you in Plaid Cymru, Beth, you were always wasted on the Labour Party!

Beth Winter's opinion piece for me recalls an anecdote which a long-standing councillor shared with me back in the 1990s, when I was active in local politics in the north-west of England. When, having been newly elected as one of the rather few Lib Dem members in the town hall, she'd attended her first full council meeting, she was greeted cheerfully by a member of the ruling Labour group. In the course of their friendly conversation, he asked her whether she'd thought of the strategy she might adopt in dealing with her 'enemies' on the council. She replied: 'Well, I hope that I won't have any! I'm hoping to work collaboratively with Labour members as far as I can'. She said that she'd never forgotten his reply. He'd said: 'You misunderstand how this place works. We on the Labour side are your opponents. Your enemies will be some of the people sitting alongside you on your own benches'.

This is inevitable with two party "broad church" politics, on both sides of the political divide. One ideology takes control of the church and is forced to muzzle the other half in order to create the illusion of unity. Eventually that illusion cracks and the other half gets control and does the muzzling. It's a consequence of the voting system. The solution is a fairer voting system so both broad church parties can split into parties with a consistent ideology. Voters not party apparatchiks can then choose between the ideologies of Corbynism, Blairism, Cameronism and Johnsonism. Unfortunately the opportunity for this change came in 2011 and the left-left backed the status quo, so their complaints no longer wash. They are the architects of their own misery.

I am not surprised in the slightest. Labour has long been captured by the UK establishment. It exists to preserve the status quo and not to challenge it. Many good progressives are labouring (excuse the pun) under a misconception. But Beth, there's a deeper truth. The Unionism Labour espouses is in support of the British Empire. Though vast territories have been ceeded, the UK remains constitutionally unchanged and it's economic heart still beats. The administration of Britain, its cultural and educational institutions also remain geared towards empire. It might be on its deathbed but it aint gone yet. Look at the lineage from empire through Enoch Powell to Nigel Farage. We cannot explain modern Britain without accounting for empire. Beth, the answer is to end the empire. Let's discuss with what we replace it.

Sorry to hear of your dreadfull experiences. What struck me most about this is your experience of the lack of support to you from the Labour Party and Parliamentary HR 'internal' processes. If you had worked in a global corporation or big business, as I have, you'd have realised pretty quickly (as I did and was warned about by colleagues) that Personnel depts (HR) are not there to help or support the staff or workers. They're there to ward off complaints, shunt complainents into deadend career progression and find excuses to get rid. Sadly, it's not surprising that political parties and government employ the same tactics. This may sound cynical and depressing but that's the world as it is and it is naive to think otherwise. Good luck with the community building. Amlein.

Beth, a very brave, honest and insightful article. Cleary, you had a dreadful experience that reveals the worst of Labour Party politics. Personally, I often found while trying to initiate social change that such experiences although very painful and stressful at the time, can provide useful insights into ourselves and what we are up against. The roots of the problem are not in us but in the nature of political power and control and how they work to exclude people who challenge the dominant thinking. I am glad to hear that the fog is clearing and that you are gaining strength and support from the wonderful and courageous people of the Cynon Valley. I would agree with you that a new kind of politics is needed in Wales to address the poverty and inequalities that exist. I have been arguing this for some time. In my view this needs to be grounded in the people who have been excluded for far too long. It must be a social movement that is formed outside the mainstream political parties.   However, I would be reluctant to root the notion of change in ‘community’. While such a term can be a unifying force and bring concrete gains to localities, it won’t change the nature of political power that exists.  In my view, any hope for change in areas such as the Valleys will require a bottom-up movement forged in the values of collective self-help, radical education and political resistance.  The question now is whether it is possible to build such a movement for change. It would be a major challenge and would encounter significant resistance from a number of sources.  In my view, this is the first question to be addressed. Most importantly, those who have been excluded for far too long need to be central to this debate.  It will be also necessary to assess what educational and other resources are out there to support such a movement and what can be learned from elsewhere. I wish you well.