Good time to abandon Labour party

[The Idler]

Should anyone on the left seriously be calling for a Labour vote in 2010? If any parties want to build an alternative then surely while Labour is at its lowest poll rating it is the best time to destroy Labour.

[RedAnarchist]

No, and it will only damage us in the eyes of the working class if we do. In my opinion, Labour are doomed to lose the election, and we'll probably see some sort of coalition government in place (Labour may try to worm their way into that coalition). Noone on the left should be calling for anyone to vote for any of the major parties.

I think the sooner we can end the association between Labour and the left, the better. We don't need that connection.

[Benjamin Hill]

I agree with RedAnarchist in that Labour is set to loose these elections and from this any left alternative will also be squeezed. TUSC is doomed, which will be another major disappointment for the far left which focuses on electoral politics and creating new Old-Labour parties.

[genstrike]

Good time to abandon the Labour Party?

That was a looooong time ago. Even for the most desperate of trot clinger-ons, 20 years ago at the latest.

[(A)narcho-Matt]

It always surprises me when "socialists" call for working-class people to vote labour. From what I can gather its from some completely ridiculous idea that the labour party was once a working class party, and that because it has the support of the unions that it is the party to vote for. The Liberals once had the support of the unions, would these socialists had advocated voting for them? The otherone ive heard is that a labour victory would be better for the working-class than a tory victory, this is also mental as they are both following esentially the same political and economic programme.

Then you have "socialists" who argue that new labour can be defeated from inside the party. Personally i have no time for such people and they can fuck off.

I have slightly more time for socialists who stand in elections and coalitions such as TUSC but only to the extent of explaining to them that electoral politics is pointless, and could be seen as socialists legitamizing bourgeois democracy.