Post-Compass – where now for Labour’s left?

By Darrell Goodliffe

It is not surprising in the slightest that the decision by Compass to open-out its membership has led to a spate of resignations. The decision and particularly its timing is frankly mind-boggling. As an organisation it was in a reasonable position to help shape the future direction of the Labour Party. Now, it is nowhere. As the ex-leading members of Compass Youth pointed out in their resignation statement Compass is now very much estranged from Labour Party members.

It’s not as if it has particularly learnt anything from the experience either. Neal Lawson’s reply showed that Compass still very much want to have their cake and eat it when it comes to the Labour Party:

“Compass remains committed to transforming Labour and knows that is more likely if we are helping to lead a broader progressive alliance. Furthermore as a result of the recent ballot our commitment to a transformed Labour Party is now enshrined into our constitution and like the unions we have retained the right for Labour members and supporters within our ranks to vote on Labour issues.”

Most comrades reading this are sensible. They are not as pig-headedly ‘tribalist’ as ‘pluralists’ like Lawson insist they are and are perfectly willing in many instances to work with people from outside the confines of the Labour Party in areas of common interest. Sometimes though this is rightly tempered with suspicion; something that – in the case of the Liberal Democrats for example – is advisable. Nonetheless, what people definitively are not willing to cede is influence over the future direction of Labour to people who have no concern or investment in the success or failure of that direction. This is the sentiment that will destroy what influence Compass may have had in Labour.

So, where does this leave comrades who have recently left Compass. The two immediate choices are to A) join an existing organisation or B) create another (assuming they are not entirely drained of the will to be politically active by the whole experience). Option A certainly has plenty of potential. Comrades of a more ‘soft-left’ persuasion could either migrate to Progress or possibly the Fabians. More red-blooded socialistic types have the Labour Representation Committee awaiting them with open arms. The Co-Op Party and other Socialist Societies also exist for those seeking a new home. In terms of Option B) there has been much chatter about what this would involve but my suspicion is that the draining experience of Compass may rule this out for many – at least for the time being.

I would like to offer a third option, certainly not a third way, but something that ensures these comrades are not lost to the cause of reshaping Labour.

We desperately need a realignment of the Labour left that sees a coming together in areas of common interest as well as providing something of a melting pot where we can regroup and reforge our theory. Rather than adding to the membership tally of any of the currently existing organisations I would like to see these comrades personally try to form a body or initiate a publication that brings the left closer together in its common causes within Labour.

I don’t think that is as hard as it first appears.

On Party democracy, for example, we are all agreed on radical change and I can’t imagine it being too hard to agree a platform of common demands. On wider policy areas I think we are all agreed that following the latest crash radical change needs to take place in the economic sphere and that Labour should resist the government’s austerity drive. Of course, there will be disagreement but that is part of the process. I think that the best response to the implosion of Compass may well be to try and fulfil the role Compass now cannot and to take its place in re-shaping the left as well as the wider Labour Party.