Mollie Nixon, Carlisle Socialist Party
The annual Durham Miners’ Gala, one of the world’s greatest celebrations of working-class heritage and industrial fightback, took place on 11 July. Socialist Party members mobilised on the day, to share our petitions, sell the Socialist paper and Socialist Party books, and most importantly to meet and converse with fellow workers.
The general secretary of public sector union Unison, Angela Egan, used her speech to denounce politicians “spending money on weapons and foreign wars, rather than investing in our people”.
Starmer
Her comment was directed at Keir Starmer. But new Labour prime minister Andy Burnham has already announced that he would increase military spending at the expense of welfare. Unison continues to give Labour millions.
Socialist Students spent the day gathering pledges from young people to take part in a Europe-wide anti-war youth strike on 20 November. We attracted lots of interest with disillusioned young people based on our slogan: ‘Fight for our futures, not their wars’.
There was a distinct focus on solidarity. The Durham Miners’ Association made sure the local LGBTQ+ Pride could take place this year, after funding was cut by the Reform council.
The right-wing media attacked the presence of a Palestine solidarity bloc at the ‘Big Meeting’, saying it goes against ‘trade union values’. But the trade union movement supports international solidarity.
If any of the gala attendees was against ‘trade union values’, it was Labour politician Angela Rayner. Her Unite the Union membership was suspended last year for her backing of Birmingham Labour council’s strikebreaking.
Labour
Labour’s ongoing attacks on the working class has prompted many workers to question their union’s relationship to the Labour Party. The Labour government is attacking us with the same brutality as the Tories.
If the unions had an actual influence on Labour, general secretary of retail union Usdaw, Joanne Thomas, would not have mentioned in her speech that already union demands are not being fulfilled by the government, despite their manifesto commitment.
Usdaw continues to give Labour £1.9 million a year. Joanne Thomas lamented Reform winning councils around Durham. But Labour continuing austerity opens a vacuum that right populists like Reform are attempting to fill.
Labour MP Andy McDonald called Burnham a “chance for a total reset”. But understanding the motto of this year’s gala – “The past we inherit, the future we build” – means not settling for Blairites in new clothes.
The pro-Burnham speeches didn’t match the mood of attendees. Very few thought that Labour under Burnham would change course away from austerity.
New party
Lots signed the petition calling for trades unions to launch a new party of the working class. 237 people bought a copy of the Socialist.
We gave out leaflets with the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) new ‘action programme’, advertising the NSSN lobby of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton in September. We also handed out Socialism 2026 leaflets, advertising sessions which will discuss the next steps for trade unionism in a new era of capitalist crisis.
The Socialist Party recognises that, for real change, we need an alternative to the pro-austerity Labour Party. We need a new mass workers’ party, with a socialist programme.
