Can the Left reclaim Labour?

OVER 90 people attended the "Trade Unionists 4 John" meeting on 30 January as part of John McDonnell's campaign for the Labour Party leadership. His campaign's slogan is "Another World is Possible".

A variety of speakers from the trade union movement highl-ighted the disastrous consequences of New Labour's neo-liberal policies for working-class people.

John McDonnell said that it was imperative, given the crisis facing public services and voters' widespread disgust at the cash for peerages scandal, that the left reclaimed the Labour Party. But despite the meeting's optimism that the 45 nominations from Labour MPs needed to get him on the ballot paper was achievable, there are still considerable obstacles to overcome for his election campaign.

Tony Benn summed up the dilemma of the left trying to reclaim the Labour Party. If John McDonnell did not get onto the ballot paper, "it will be the death of the Labour Party as we know it." This begs the question, what does the campaign do if this happens?

Attacks on workers will continue under a Brown premiership. Won't the John 4 Leader campaign have to take its fight for another world outside the Labour Party?