Memory Is Our Strength And Look After Your Mum
On Thursday night I arrived home from yet another excellent Morrissey gig in Glasgow, with enough time to quickly stick on some tea and toast. Then settle down to watch the live vote counting coverage from the Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse by-election.
I was especially interested in this election because I felt that some of the online abuse and criticism directed towards the Labour candidate, arising from his bumpy interview on Scotland Tonight, a few days earlier, was quite outrageous.
Some folks seemed to feel that this was the most offensive thing they'd ever witnessed. Simply because the candidate didn't answer one question especially well, big deal.
All this criticism made me wonder if we really do want ordinary people from the actual community as our elected representatives, who look and sound like us?
I'd assumed we were all sick and tired of professional, career politicians. I thought that's why people had embraced anti-establishment populists like Trump, Farage and Boris Johnson?
The Scottish Labour Party candidate Davy Russell also came in for a ton of stick for refusing to take part in a live TV debate, to focus on door knocking.
The Bella Caledonia media outlet even described the candidate as 'The Man At The End Of The Road', stating 'Poor Davy’s chances of winning the seat back from the SNP were slim'.
As it turned out, 'poor Davy' romped home to victory because it transpires, voters still prefer local candidates dealing with local issue. Apparently, nobody cares about slick, polished performers in front of camera.
Similarly, the Scottish political media outlet Conter, stated that 'Labour’s campaign has been nothing short of shambolic. For most of the contest, their candidate was conspicuously absent'.
This analysis also proved to be incorrect in my opinion. In reality, Labour's campaign was tactically miles ahead - The CLP democratically selected a local candidate, who then campaigned on local issues only, completely ignoring the national context, rightly declining a nationwide TV debate which would have little impact or benefit.
Meanwhile, Robin McAlpine from Commonweal declared that Labour's candidate was chosen for his 'Orange credentials' and SNP will win Hamilton comfortably. Again, both observations turned out to be incorrect.
Many other expert 'commentators' also waxed lyrical on the Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse by-election, pouring out all their analysis without a single reference to the campaign to stop Wishaw Neonatal Unit being downgraded.
Even after Davy Russell won by campaigning mostly on this issue alone, they still didn't seem to get that services, jobs, schools and hospitals are what most people care about. Not the constitutional question, ethnic background or what football team you support or church you happen go to.
Even on the Friday following the election, The National newspaper was still pushing a vaguely sectarian angle, stating that the victorious candidate was 'wining and dining in the Ibrox directors box', in an attempt to discredit the candidate's background.
In reality, Davy Russell is a working class man from the community, he is not and never has been an orangeman or the member of a flute band, as claimed elsewhere on social media.
Rather, he was helped to victory by a number of MSPs, Cllrs and CLP member from a Catholic background.
Perhaps if Davy Russell's critics had
tapped into the same kind of ultra-localism, common good and mutual self interest (which the Lanarkshire labour and trade union movement was originally built upon), then they too could maybe work out how to actually defeat Reform?
For example, the conditions around this Labour candidate's win, weren't too dissimilar to the very earliest days of Lanarkshire politics, when Belfast born Presbyterian Larkhall miners leader Robert Smillie, supported the great Waterford born Lanarkshire Catholic Socialist John Wheatley, at the beginning of the 20th century.
Indeed, working-class unity is the entire point of the labour movement and its also how we will defeat Reform.
Wheatley is a great hero of mine, he was an avowed Christian Socialist who wrote many articles for the Scottish Catholic Observer and supported George Lansbury during the Poplar rent strike.
Interestingly, Robert Smilie is commemorated by Smilie Street in Gibshill, Greenock, right next to Poplar Street and Lansbury Street.
Even so, it is simply astounding listening to some on the Scottish liberal-left pontificating on how to defeat Reform, while simultaneously slagging off the Labour candidate for not being especially articulate. The tone towards the Labour candidate from some of the comments on social media, reek of class hatred and this is exactly why Reform are thriving
I also find it difficult to believe that the constituency of the late Tom McCabe is now somehow completely lost to loyalism.
Or that the Lanarkshire of fine labour movement Catholics like James Dempsey, Sir Tom Clarke (Papal Knight) and the late Baron Michael Martin (Speaker of the House) is now under the control of Orangist entryism.
These roots of solidarity run deep and it seems more likely that outsiders and commentators have looked at town called Larkhall and made lots of simplistic assumptions.
Yet, if Scotland's indy-left political commentariat and liberal-left establishment, are now even more disconnected from the electorate, than the political class they constantly berate for being out of touch. Then what is to be done about the worrying rise of Reform?
Certainly, the answer isn't for us on the Left in this country to carry on with our usual factionalism and faffing about. Indulging in our usual sectarian politics and cliquey nonsense, refusing to enter into a united front with each other, over petty theoretical rubbish and doctrinal purity, while being snooty about standing in elections, waiting for the revolution to happen.
Meanwhile on the right, Reform are increasingly connecting with workers fears and concerns.
Instead, we need to quickly mobilise, as the late great community organiser Neil Jameson used to say, 'if you're not at the table, you're on the menu'.
It is also worth noting that throughout the campaign, the Labour candidate Davy Russell didn't actually seek to replicate Reform's 'Stop The Boats' rhetoric or 'Ban The Burka' polemics. Instead, he criticised them in the harshest possible terms, even at the risk of losing some voters. Russell was correct on this, there's nothing to be gained from copying Reform.
For example, last week the Blue Labour parliamentary group (my former tendency) urged Starmer to ‘root out' diversity, equality and inclusion practices in the workplace, to win over Reform voters.
According to the Guardian, these Blue Labour affiliated MPs are demanding that the government must legislate against DEI in hiring, sentencing and ‘wherever else’.
This demand makes me quite sad, because the workplace is where mistrust, racism, homophobia and bigotry goes to die.
The workplace is where real human relationships flourish, it is where people who'd never meet under any other circumstances...black, white, catholic, protestant, religious, secular, gay, straight...build a common life together. The workplace is where you become best mates with the bloke who supports the team you hate.
Just as Sir Matt Busby once said the only place in Scotland where religious bigotry didn't exist was down the pit, because Catholic miners and Protestant miners need each other to survive each working day.
Just as working class solidarity was established by once bitterly divided working class Scottish, Irish, English, Catholics and Protestants dockers in the 1889 Dock Strike. When William Booth of the Salvation Army and Cardinal Manning marched together in the cause of Dockers and in doing so, established the British labour trade union movement.
Just as the aforementioned John Wheatley and Robert Smilie once came together in Lanarkshire.
The person I learned all this from was Maurice Glasman, the founder of Blue Labour.
As such, I cannot see how this demand can be BL policy, without it being made alongside a reminder, that the workplace is where different people come together to build up the common good. This idea was core to Blue Labour thinking, not lazily aping Trump/Musk polemics and rhetoric like this.
Finally, just before his encore on Thursday evening, Morrissey begged his fans to 'look after your country and look after yourselves'. Moz is not exactly known for having a great track record when it comes to crass rightwing politics but on this occasion he sensitively closed with the words 'memory is our strength, God bless all of us, I love you'.
Then last night in Manchester, Morrissey slightly ammend his message to include a request for us to look after our mums.
In doing so, echoing Blue Labour founder Maurice Glasman's previous annual Christmas message - 'If any of you still have a Mum I urge you to show her special love this Christmas, however she voted. Tenderness and humility should be our starting point. It is us and not them who need to be forgiven.'
A politics which draws its 'strength from the memory' of our early labour movement and also 'looking after our mums', is perhaps not the most intellectual basis to underpin a political ideology, designed to overcome Reform.
But it certainly can't be any worse than some of the existing alternatives being proposed or the status quo.
