Labour are shameless in accepting such offers of cooperation while refusing to reciprocate, Green peer Jenny Jones writes.
In 2017, the Greens stood down in 31 seats to allow Labour a free run in a make or break election. So why has this generosity disappeared – and why are the Greens talking to the Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru about electoral deals, instead of the Labour Party?
Just two years ago, there were hundreds of people around the country actively campaigning for parliamentary candidates they saw as both socialist and green.
This time though, we tried, and we are still open to trying again – but sadly we are not getting a positive response from Labour. Greens got absolutely nothing back for our sacrifice in 2017. No recognition from Labour. No promise of fair vote (PR) elections.
The impact on us was that a lot of Green activists put their efforts into stopping a Conservative win and the Green Party vote went down as a result.
Labour members had been threatened with expulsion for supporting the Greens on social media – and the Labour leadership ignored all those activists who wanted to see reds and greens working more closely together. The goodwill felt towards Labour within the Green Party has suffered, because it was clear that Labour were as tribal as ever, even when we Greens are trying to stop yet another Tory government.
Moving closer
At the same time, when it comes to policy Labour and the Greens have moved closer over the last few years. The 2017 Labour manifesto adopted whole chunks of Green Party policies – hurray! The recent Labour conference decision to go for zero emissions by 2030 is a breakthrough moment, although the detailed plans for achieving this fall far short of what is needed.
There are also positive signs of co-operation bringing success. When Green Party councillors started the ball rolling at local authority level by declaring a climate emergency, the other parties often responded positively (though not all Labour councils were initially keen).
Caroline Lucas MP and I brought up declaring a climate emergency in both Houses of Parliament – and it got pushed through when Corbyn backed the idea. We have also beaten the frackers with Labour/SNP opposition to the industry, combined with leading Greens risking arrest to stand (or sit) alongside local campaigners. Extinction Rebellion has raised public awareness across the political spectrum, while MPs like Caroline Lucas and Labour’s Clive Lewis MP have joined together in promoting the Green New Deal via a Bill to Parliament.
Greens are good at co-operating with others because we recognise that it is the best way of getting things done. When Ken Livingstone made me his Deputy Mayor and then his green transport advisor, I was happy to be working alongside a Labour Mayor to make London a pioneering City that promoted congestion charging, the low emission zone and traffic reduction. Of course, none of it went far enough, and the next steps were cut short by the arrival of Boris Johnson as Mayor, but I could imagine a similar red/green government at national level.
Fair representation now
However, this positive experience in London required a proportional system of London elections, which has enabled Greens to be elected to the London Assembly for the last two decades.
In 2017, Labour had the chance to learn lessons about working with others and to help modernise our democracy, but instead it has become isolated as the only social democratic party in Europe to support First Past the Post. It remains wedded to an outdated two-party system that is no longer fit for purpose – and could allow a divisive, right-wing Conservative government to be elected on a minority of the vote share.
The current leftwing refrain of the Greens splitting the vote is only true because it is a First Past the Post electoral system that the Labour Party supports for general elections. If Labour supported PR when in government, more Greens would get elected and we would naturally develop a more European culture of cooperative politics.
Over the last decade, Greens have been part of national governments in numerous countries – and we would have had Green Party Ministers in this country as well if it wasn’t for our unfair way of counting the votes.
Free run
There are seats where local Greens have stepped aside to allow other parties a free run, and in some seats like the Isle of Wight, the Lib Dems have returned the favour. But Labour are shameless in accepting such offers of cooperation while refusing to reciprocate.
Greens in Calder Valley have stood aside in this election. They have every right to be generous – but I hope they have judged the situation carefully. Personally, I couldn’t ask anyone to support any of the 119 Labour MPs who voted last year to expand Heathrow airport, the single most polluting project in the country.
This is a Climate Election and preventing the death, barbarism and suffering that will come with the collapse of civilisation, through environmental degradation, is my number one priority.
We desperately need more Green voices in Parliament to ensure that the climate emergency is kept at the front of everyone’s minds, so that the Labour Party and others don’t keep supporting road building, fossil fuel subsidies, incinerators and airport expansion.
Greens will put forward all the positive solutions that will enable us to live happier lives that work with nature, not against it.
Baroness Jenny Jones is a Green Party peer.
29 Responses to “Exclusive: The Greens tried to form a progressive alliance with Labour. Here’s why it didn’t work out”
Jen
Which candidates do the Greens expect Labour to stand down to allow a Green candidate to win?
I speak as someone who voted Green when Blair was in power.
Liam Tully
In reply to Tom Sacold. Do you think the PLP is full of real socialists and working class people. Please tell me who they are? I know there are some but not many.Too often nice middle class people like Chukka Umuna were put in place because they ticked the right boxes only later to say “I never really felt comfortable in the Labour party.” And if he had stood for the leadership he could quite possibly have won. I don’t think I have ever met a solicitor who I could call a socialist – I am sure there must be some.
How many millionaires are there in the Labour party who you would call a socialist – surely not Dame Janet Hodge or Stephen Kinnock and his parents.
Even the likes of Andrew Johnson and Prescott sold out once they got a taste for power.
The biggest problem is too many MP’s become careerists. I would restrict all Labour MP’s to three terms of office before they have to step down, then take one term out and then they could apply for another three terms.
I support Corbyn but would prefer McDonnell and will campaign for the party. But what is the alternative – the evil Tories with their fake news and misinformation or their lackies the Lib Dems. There is only one choice though I think it will be a hung parliament so what chaos will that cause!
Eric Walker
As so often happens, Tom Saccold is talking through his hat. I was a member of the Labour Party for many years and left in disgust over Blair and Brown’s PFI initiatives. There are many like me in the Green Party. So why didn’t we go back to Labour when Jeremy was elected leader? A few did. I was tempted but I decided to wait to see what happened. Now although I agree with 90% maybe 100% of Jeremy’s programme, I still see him being tribal. There seems to be an arrogance at the top levels of the Labour and Trade Union movement coupled with a wilful disregard of the demographic. We have never had a Labour government with a decent majority ( excepting the 1945 election) unless it had about 50 M.P.s from Scotland. That is unlikely to happen again. In Ipswich we have a fine M.P. in Sandy Martin. Ipswich is a marginal seat. Should the Green party put up a candidate and risk Sandy losing his seat? Sandy, during the many years that I have known him has always been a strong supporter of green issues. But he is adamant that the Labour party has the sole right to be opposed to the Tories. So what happens with the head in the sand attitude? When Labour get in they improve welfare services etc. Then along come the Tories and demolish it again. At a local level we recently had an example of the fruits of co-operation and not competition. Woodbridge Suffolk Town Council has from time immemorial been Tory. Before last May 11 Tory, 4 LibDems. No others. After, with co-operation between the anti-tories = 4 Tory, 4 Libdems, 4 Greens, 3 Labour. The old peace song went “When will they ever learn ? when will they ever learn? Can the same be said of the Labour Party?
Jen
The same cannot be said about EU elections, though, which are done on a partial PR system.
In the north east we had 2 Labour and one Ukip.
This year’s election we ended up with 1 Labour and 2 Brexit.
Yann Maenden
The Labour Party have assumed an aura of ‘entitlement’.
They’ve got just as bad as the Tories.
They love the two horse race at Westminster because you don’t need policies, it becomes ‘if you don’t vote for us then you get them’.
In pursuit of this fantasy they expect other parties to co-operate in keeping the Tories out by standing aside for them, while they, in their arrogance, feel no need to reciprocate.
While Labour will always retain its tribal vote, the thinking public, the floating voters who really make the difference at election time, are fed up to the back teeth of grown adults screaming childish abuse at each other across the Chamber of the Commons.
They are fed up of politicians putting party before the people and their own personal gain before the needs of the public.
Socialism is about putting the needs of the country first. It means good will and compromise. It means co-operating to defend the citizens against common enemies and the capitalists.
It is absolutely not about having a little temper tantrum and walking away from a socialist pact because people won’t let you be PM.