Time for a new party – or an electoral pact

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/sep/28/time-for-a-new-party-or-an-electoral-pact

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Your coverage of Tom Watson’s excellent speech (theguardian.com, 27 September) noted that he called on Labour to stop “trashing the record” of the Blair and Brown governments but failed to mention his leading role in the “coup” against Mr Blair in 2006, which hastened his resignation a year later, prompting him to describe Watson’s actions as “disloyal, discourteous and wrong” and a “totally unnecessary attempt to unseat the party leader, less than 15 months after our historic third term victory”.

The Labour party’s “brand” (as Mr Watson puts it) has been in decline ever since Blair stood down as prime minister in 2007. From that moment onwards, the Labour party has chosen to move towards the left despite evidence that this takes them away from the interests of a majority of voters. It is ironic that the hopes of Labour moderates are embodied by someone who helped end the premiership of the most successful Labour leader in the party’s history.

I wish Mr Watson well in speaking up for moderate policies in the Labour party. However, increasing numbers of moderates such as me have concluded that if the PLP will not take action to defend moderation within then it is best to work towards a new centre-left party outside parliament.John Slinger (Labour party member from 1991 to September 2016)Chair of Pragmatic Radicalism

• While Polly Toynbee correctly identifies the mathematical implausibility of Labour winning the next election alone (27 September), that does not mean the Tories cannot be beaten. In 2015, 48 seats would have been taken from the Tories had the combined Labour, Lib Dem, Green and nationalist vote been mobilised in favour of the party most likely to win, enabling the formation of a non-Tory administration.

However, this outcome could never be achieved by tactical voting and would require broadly progressive parties to cooperate to the extent of developing a common minimal programme enabling selected seats to be contested under the banner of a progressive alliance.

Brexit provides perhaps a unique opportunity for these parties to start working together to develop an agreed withdrawal strategy aimed among other things at preserving market access and labour and environmental protections, together with massive public investment and regeneration of the deindustrialised areas which fuelled much of the Brexit vote.

This would both enable real pressure to be applied to a government divided in its approach to Brexit and form the basis for electoral collaboration. The parties would retain their individual identities and distinct policies, simply combining to win the election under the most effective leadership and enact the minimal programme. This might well include a more proportionate voting system which could be introduced for future elections.

Consultation needs to be started urgently, both at a national level and by local parties, to identify the seats most susceptible to an electoral pact, taking boundary changes into account. This will not be easy, given tribal loyalties, but is the only hope for those who wish to see an end to the policies of degradation of the public realm and division of communities pursued by the current government.Dr Anthony IsaacsLondon 

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