Obvious questions about the #10pledgeparty
Some answers to some obvious questions about the https://interstar.medium.com/the-10-pledge-party-ae3a6384fcec
Isn’t this all a bit “transactional”?
Yes. It’s meant to be transactional. It’s a short-term tactical campaign, with a small but achievable goal.
The aim is to go beyond just complaining and have something we can actually DO. It’s within our power to give our vote to Labour or to someone else in the upcoming elections. So let’s get the maximum leverage we can from that. And try to extract something concrete.
What’s the concrete “achievable goal”?
To get Labour to reference Starmer’s pledges in its election manifesto. To ensure that those pledges are effectively the Labour platform it fights the election on.
What if I’m not impressed by Starmer’s pledges?
Forget what you think of Starmer personally and read them again. (https://keirstarmer.com/plans/10-pledges/) Given the state of British politics and what’s on offer, we’d say that a party that stood on that platform is worthy of your vote.
What if I don’t trust Starmer to stand behind his pledges?
You are right not to. He probably doesn’t want to. BUT … Starmer made those pledges very publicly. It’s not so easy for him to row back from them. The louder we are. The more we get everyone talking about those pledges, the more we associate Labour with those pledges, the harder it is for Starmer or Labour to be seen as standing for anything else. And the harder it will be for those branding agencies to erase this as being what Labour is about.
What good will “referencing Starmer’s pledges” actually do?
It gets Starmer and Labour on the record. People elected on that manifesto have a mandate for those policies. It prevents Starmer claiming that he has a mandate from centrists for different policies once he has an election under his belt on those policies.
But I want Corbyn reinstated and given a big fucking apology!
Don’t we all. But again, this is about tactics and pragmatism. Starmer is building his brand on being the rejection of / change from Corbyn. That is completely consistent for him. So it’s easy for him to say no to a demand for reinstating Corbyn. And, to an extent, to paint that as a fringe view.
OTOH … the 10 Pledges he, personally, made when standing as candidate for leadership? It’s very difficult for him to personally turn around and renounce them. That would be a big inconsistency.
We think that making Starmer own his own commitments is an easier objective to win. Because the cost to him of not doing so is high.
It makes him look very bad publicly.
He already looks pretty bad to me.
Maybe, but he’s probably figured your disapproval into his calculations. This is your chance to get more people to see him the way you do.
Look. If we go off in a strop saying “I’m never voting Stamer because of his treatment of Corbyn”, that’s the end of the conversation. And we’ve painted ourselves as the irrational, dogmatic ones.
If we say, “I’m open to voting Labour, as long as it commits to the course Corbyn set it on”, we’re being pragmatic and constructive. And we can make Starmer and his centrists either meet us half-way, or be the ones responsible for the rupture.
But a lame hashtag? That’s pathetic when I want something much more.
The idea is to get a lot of people together around a simple message and a simple action which is “doable” within the next month or two, before the elections hit us. It has to be pretty simple / simplistic.
There are a lot of hashtags out there. This is just one of them. But it represents an action that you can do, and a commitment you can make, and pressure you can exert, right now. Not just an aspiration or cause.
OK. Suppose I’m on board with this. What would count as “referencing the pledges”?
Well, that’s for you to interpret. For us, if the election leaflet mentions them, has a link to that page on Starmer’s site or similar, then that counts. If the candidate mentions them in a newspaper or radio interview, that would count. If a significant chunk of the ideas and wording from those pledges turns up a manifesto or leaflet, then that counts. If Starmer goes on TV and reiterates that he’s standing by his pledges, then that counts.
OTOH, if you listen out for Starmer and the rest of the PLP and your local Labour candidate talking about the 10 pledges and you hear … crickets … then vote someone else.
What if I vote someone else and the Tories win?
Well that’s always the issue for you to debate with your conscience.
There’s going to be people who abandon Labour because of Starmer. And people who decide that it’s still their least worst option.
We don’t say do one or the other. We say let’s make this moment count. Let’s think tactically and transactionally. And even though it’s a relatively small and minor election, and the Tories are very well established. Let’s try to use some leverage and get something, as much as possible, from this election.
#10pledgeparty
