In relation to the other nations of the UK, Cymru'n Codi has made this comment on the agenda for the Socialist Federation conference on 28 June:
"Good to see a wide ranging and open debate.
There are some important issues to resolve. One of them is the place of republican and ecosocialists movements in the other countries that compose the current UK: Cymru, the North of Ireland, and Scoland. One proposal refers to the Senedd and Holyrood and independence referenda others refer to UK as a whole without any distinction. It is critical that ecosocialists in the UK recognise the different political dynamic in the countries that make it up and how this has a critical impact on working class and interntional politics.
It also relates to the destructive democratic deficit that is the UK constitution, unwritten and with a focus on the monarch and people as subjects of this system and not citizens. It is this lack of democracy that poses a total road block to an ecosocialist programme. In Cymru over 40% of the electors in the Senedd elections voted for parties that support independence.
Cymru'n Codi is a cross party, republican, interntionalist and ecosocialist political movement that argues the radical left case for independence. Comrades should recognise that building a federation of socialists is an international endeavour and have to accept that comrades in Cymru, the North of Ireland, and Scotland will organise in our own way, and will certainly be prepared to work with any internationalist ecosocialist federation but the starting point has to be a recognition of our independent agency."
On the same day, Burnham's anti-Reform coalition squeezed the Greens to 308 votes in Makerfield, Plaid Cymru won all three Wrexham council by-elections, demonstrating that where a credible formation with deep local roots exists, the tactical squeeze consolidates behind it rather than behind Labour. The lesson for the Socialist Federation is not 'build another Your Party.' It is 'build the local roots that make a formation credible before the squeeze arrives.'
Couldn't agree more - its important to note that the structure composite includes a specific mechanism for the nations to found the federation on an equal footing with autonomous Scottish, Welsh, English and (if desired) Irish National Associations that are co-equal under the general federation, which is already posited in spirit - if not by the exact practical form - as an international structure.
This is not a bad analysis as it stands, but there is one glaring omission. It fails to truly analyse the role of First Past The Post (FPTP) and plan for a future where this antiquated voting system is replaced by a proportional one, like in most advanced democracies, and already implemented in one shape or another in the devolved regions. Anti-Reform voting tactics will of course always play out like this result in Makerfield under FPTP. But Burnham is a fan of PR, where number of votes equals the number of seats (more or less, depending on which variant is chosen). And once we have PR, the game changes completely. The Left will then really have a chance at electoral success. So the strategy now should be building the local base with community organising, proving our concrete worth, and only going for a full-blown electoral strategy under PR. Get all our ducks in a row locally. And bide our time til blast-off, after electoral reform.
That's definitely not the only omission: an even bigger one, for example, is the need for the English left to address the reactionary role of the UK state, and to advocate for England's separation from its reactionary role in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Very important analysis.
In relation to the other nations of the UK, Cymru'n Codi has made this comment on the agenda for the Socialist Federation conference on 28 June:
"Good to see a wide ranging and open debate.
There are some important issues to resolve. One of them is the place of republican and ecosocialists movements in the other countries that compose the current UK: Cymru, the North of Ireland, and Scoland. One proposal refers to the Senedd and Holyrood and independence referenda others refer to UK as a whole without any distinction. It is critical that ecosocialists in the UK recognise the different political dynamic in the countries that make it up and how this has a critical impact on working class and interntional politics.
It also relates to the destructive democratic deficit that is the UK constitution, unwritten and with a focus on the monarch and people as subjects of this system and not citizens. It is this lack of democracy that poses a total road block to an ecosocialist programme. In Cymru over 40% of the electors in the Senedd elections voted for parties that support independence.
Cymru'n Codi is a cross party, republican, interntionalist and ecosocialist political movement that argues the radical left case for independence. Comrades should recognise that building a federation of socialists is an international endeavour and have to accept that comrades in Cymru, the North of Ireland, and Scotland will organise in our own way, and will certainly be prepared to work with any internationalist ecosocialist federation but the starting point has to be a recognition of our independent agency."
https://cymruncodi.substack.com/
On the same day, Burnham's anti-Reform coalition squeezed the Greens to 308 votes in Makerfield, Plaid Cymru won all three Wrexham council by-elections, demonstrating that where a credible formation with deep local roots exists, the tactical squeeze consolidates behind it rather than behind Labour. The lesson for the Socialist Federation is not 'build another Your Party.' It is 'build the local roots that make a formation credible before the squeeze arrives.'
Couldn't agree more - its important to note that the structure composite includes a specific mechanism for the nations to found the federation on an equal footing with autonomous Scottish, Welsh, English and (if desired) Irish National Associations that are co-equal under the general federation, which is already posited in spirit - if not by the exact practical form - as an international structure.
This is not a bad analysis as it stands, but there is one glaring omission. It fails to truly analyse the role of First Past The Post (FPTP) and plan for a future where this antiquated voting system is replaced by a proportional one, like in most advanced democracies, and already implemented in one shape or another in the devolved regions. Anti-Reform voting tactics will of course always play out like this result in Makerfield under FPTP. But Burnham is a fan of PR, where number of votes equals the number of seats (more or less, depending on which variant is chosen). And once we have PR, the game changes completely. The Left will then really have a chance at electoral success. So the strategy now should be building the local base with community organising, proving our concrete worth, and only going for a full-blown electoral strategy under PR. Get all our ducks in a row locally. And bide our time til blast-off, after electoral reform.
That's definitely not the only omission: an even bigger one, for example, is the need for the English left to address the reactionary role of the UK state, and to advocate for England's separation from its reactionary role in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
https://theleftlane.media/one-for-me-one-for-you-tories-bag-upset-victory-in-scotland/ and https://theleftlane.media/andy-burnham-is-the-new-lesser-evil-and-that-is-a-big-problem/