Momentum unveils strategy to push 2024 Labour platform leftwards

Left-wing group Momentum has published a strategy to create “broad alliances for socialism” in an effort to “retool” the organisation and “push the Labour Party to contest the 2024 general election with a socialist policy platform”.

The document, ‘Socialist Organising in a New Era‘, argues that the organisation and the broader left have the ideas and energy to help deliver far-reaching change that “the government and political centre will not provide”.

The strategy outlines three key focuses: building left power within the party and achieving the election of socialists; campaigning in communities and supporting working-class struggle; and popularising socialist ideas.

Momentum co-chairs Andrew Scattergood and Gaya Sriskanthan told activists: “The era of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is behind us, and it’s time to move forward. Socialist Organising in a New Era is the beginning of this.”

“We must re-tool Momentum and transform the Labour Party, building on our successes and learning from our defeats,” they wrote, citing “historic gains” achieved by the party under the last leadership in the 2017 general election.

The pair argued that the factors contributing to the subsequent 2019 election defeat were complex, saying: “Support for socialist transformation is not as deeply rooted as it needs to be, either in the Labour Party or in the country.”

Sriskanthan and Scattergood wrote that Momentum and its allies in the labour movement must “convince people that another world is possible and we have to make sure our organisations are capable of delivering this change”.

“To do this we need every Momentum member to get active in our organisation and in Labour, in your trade union and in your community,” they said. “It will not be easy, but we have the vision and commitment to succeed.”

The document outlines a number of longer-term objectives, which aim to:

• Push the Labour leadership to contest the 2024 election on a socialist platform;
• Build the number of socialist representatives within Labour at all levels;
• Campaign for open selection of MPs and democratisation of Labour;
• Embed community organising strategies into the everyday work of the organisation;
• Launch a Momentum trade unionists network;
• Grow and empower Momentum’s network of grassroots local groups;
• Run national campaigns on issues that shape debate – with the first being for a socialist green new deal;
• Engage at least half momentum’s membership in political education programmes; and
• Double the size of Momentum’s digital reach.

The co-chairs also said they would “stand with Labour members that have been unjustly suspended” and “use every tactic available to challenge heavy-handed party management aimed at marginalising the left”.

Local parties have been told that motions relating to the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn or the suspension of the Labour whip from the former leader, or no confidence motions in Keir Starmer or David Evans, are out of order.

Momentum accused the Labour leadership recently of an “authoritarian, factional crackdown” following allegations that the London regional executive committee was prevented from voting on a motion expressing solidarity with Corbyn.

Momentum has been critical of the leadership elected last year. Scattergood said Starmer’s recent speech on the economy “showed no ambition and little substance” and Labour should not want to be “better managers of the same system”.

The co-chair has urged the leadership to back policies including a green new deal and warned ahead of the Budget delivered by Rishi Sunak last week that the Labour Party risks being “outflanked by the Tories” on investment.