Wednesday, May 04, 2005

The NCP’s electoral policy

The NCP’s electoral policy calls on supporters to vote Labour in all elections, while boycotting European elections. This is not because we support the venal right-wing policies of New Labour, Blair and Brown.

This is not because we think a Labour government can solve the problems of working people - that is not possible in a capitalist 'democracy'. It is simply the best possible outcome in the current circumstances.

In our view a Labour government, with the as yet unbroken links the Labour Party, trade unions and the Labour movement, offers the best option for the working class in the era of bourgeois parliamentary democracy.

Alternative electoral policies to achieve a leftist or socialist government are nothing more than a mirage. The only realistic alternative governments -involving Tories or Liberal Democrats - would be worse than a Labour government.

We believe there have been gains since 1997 which would not have happened under the Tories: the peace process in Ireland, improved terms and conditions for workers, reduced child poverty, the restoration of the Greater London Authority, and the GLA’s successes under Ken Livingstone.

But solving the problems of working people, and ending Britain’s imperialist role in the world, can only come about through a socialist revolution and putting the working class in power.