What does Starmer’s victory mean for the left?
Original article by Martin Williams republished from OpenDemocracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. The article was published on 5 July 2024 and refers to 2 outstanding 2024 UK general election results.
Green and independent candidates inflicted a series of blows against the Labour Party
Keir Starmer’s election victory has given Labour a firm grip on power – but a closer look at the results shows a party facing stiff opposition from the left. Many candidates standing on anti-austerity and pro-Palestine platforms have achieved impressive results, which could spark a wider political movement.
Across most of Great Britain, support for the Labour Party did not actually increase. It is thanks only to the UK’s First Past the Post electoral system that such a big landslide was possible.
With two seats still left to declare, Labour has won 9.6 million votes – around 33.7% of all votes cast. This is far less than the 12.8 million votes (40%) the party secured in 2017, when Jeremy Corbyn was leader.
Since the last election in 2019, Labour has increased its overall share of the vote by less than two points. Polling expert John Curtice says this was “entirely as a result of a 17-point increase in support in Scotland”, following a collapse in SNP support.
Starmer’s victory, Curtis explains, was not so much due to a rise in support for the party, but “largely on the back of a dramatic 20-point decline in Conservative support”.
The Labour leader’s allies will, no doubt, use the result to show that the party can win elections only from the centre ground – and will continue to push out any opposition from the left. But yesterday’s vote also represents a major shift in support for left-wing candidates.
At the last election, no independent candidates won a seat. This time around, independents secured an impressive share of the vote and inflicted a series of major blows to Labour, winning in five constituencies in England. Many such candidates had stood on pro-Palestine platforms, highlighting Starmer’s support for Israeli atrocities in Gaza.
Independent Shockat Adam defeated Labour shadow cabinet minister Jon Ashworth in Leicester South, which was meant to be a safe seat; Ashworth had won by more than 22,000 votes in 2019. After the result was announced, Adam said: “This is for the people of Gaza.”
Elsewhere, IT consultant Iqbal Mohamed, pulled off a landslide victory against Labour in the constituency of Dewsbury and Batley in West Yorkshire, winning by almost 7,000 votes.
A solicitor called Adnan Hussein, who stood as an independent candidate in Blackburn, secured a narrow win over Labour, in what the BBC described as a “stunning victory”.
And another pro-Palestine independent candidate, Ayoub Khan, beat Labour in the constituency of Birmingham Perry Barr.
Meanwhile, Corbyn – who also stood as an independent after being forced out of the party – won his seat in Islington North by more than 7,200 votes. This was despite Labour pouring significant support into the constituency, including visits from party grandees like Tony Blair’s former chief adviser, Peter Mandelson, and former deputy leader Tom Watson.
Corbyn, of course, benefited from being so well-known and having served the constituency for more than 40 years. But the scale of his victory was certainly not guaranteed. Shortly before the election, the constituency was described in the media as “marginal”.
Other independents came a close second or third. They include 23-year-old Liane Mohamed, who was within touching distance of kicking Labour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, out of his seat in Ilford North. She lost by just 528 votes.
In Chingford and Woodford Green, the Labour Party scored a spectacular own-goal by ditching its popular local candidate, Faiza Shaheen, in a last-minute deselection that split the left-wing vote and allowed former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith to retain the seat with 17,000 votes. Shaheen – whom Starmer previously campaigned with and described as “a fantastic candidate” – stood as an independent and won almost 12,500 votes – only 79 less than Labour.
Even in Starmer’s ultra-safe central London seat of Holborn and St Pancras, an independent candidate emerged out of nowhere to land a considerable blow. The Labour leader lost nearly 18,000 votes (more than 17%) from the last election, falling from 36,641 to 18,884. His rival, the anti-apartheid campaigner Andrew Feinstein, came second with 7,312.
All of these wins should worry Labour. Although its victory is clear, the party faces a significant electoral and political threat from left-wing and pro-Palestine opponents. If it wants to secure another victory at the next election, it must think very carefully about its stance on issues like Gaza, the NHS and the cost of living crisis.
There are reasons independent candidates often struggle to win seats at a general election. They receive little airtime from the media and lack the big financial donations that larger parties rely on.
The First Past the Post system also greatly benefited Labour in this election, when compared to the Green Party and others. This will reignite calls for proportional representation.
But despite these systemic obstacles, this time around, many independent candidates succeeded. Their message resonated with the public. So what would have happened if they had worked together on a left-wing platform of fighting injustices, both in the UK and further afield? The results today could well be very different in many areas.
If there was ever a good time for them to consider a new party, it’s now. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has shown that a new party can burst onto the stage and win seats in Parliament. Given the success of many left-wing independent candidates, and the purge of left-wingers from the Labour Party, could the left learn something from this in time for the next election?
Original article by Martin Williams republished from OpenDemocracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. The article was published on 5 July 2024 and refers to 2 outstanding 2024 UK general election results.
Labour’s biggest corporate donor Ecotricity accused of ‘greenwashing’
Original article by Martin Williams republished from OpenDemocracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.
Exclusive: Energy firm making ‘misleading’ claims about ‘neutralising’ gas with carbon credits
The Labour Party’s biggest corporate donor has been accused of “greenwashing” after an investigation by openDemocracy.
Ecotricity Ltd, which has given almost £3.4m to Labour since Keir Starmer became leader in 2020, claims to be “Britain’s greenest energy supplier”.
Yet 99% of the gas it supplies comes from fossil fuels. The company claims this gas is “carbon-neutralised” because it invests in “carbon reduction programmes to cancel out the carbon burned”.
But openDemocracy has learned that Ecotricity has no active carbon credits – despite listing four environmental projects on its website that it says it supports.
When questioned about the company’s claims that “carbon emissions from our fossil fuel gas are offset by investing in carbon reduction schemes”, a spokesperson admitted that some of the schemes it previously supported had not done “as promised” – and said that information on its website would be “refreshed”.
But experts warned that even if the company held active carbon credits, its claims that these “neutralise” its fossil fuel gas would still be misleading.
“It is highly misleading for a company to claim that its product – or itself – is carbon- or climate-neutral,” said Lindsay Otis Nilles from Carbon Market Watch. “These false claims are based on heavily flawed scientific principles and lead to consumer confusion.”
The company has not broken any laws, but it will be illegal to claim that carbon offsets can “neutralise” fossil fuel products in the EU from 2026, as the bloc looks to crack down on greenwashing. An EU directive says these claims create a “false impression to consumers that the consumption of that product does not have an environmental impact”.
Analysis by openDemocracy shows that some of the carbon offset projects that Ecotricity previously pumped money into have been linked to environmental concerns and human rights abuses.
In some cases, records cast doubt on whether the company’s offsetting credits actually helped to reduce emissions at all – since the projects it invested in were already fully funded.
For example, two years ago, Ecotricity purchased credits in the Soubré hydropower plant, the largest hydroelectric dam in Ivory Coast, which was completed in 2017.
The project cost around £452m, 85% of which had already been secured by January 2017, with a loan from EXIM Bank of China. The remaining 15% was covered by the Ivory Coast government.
The Soubré powerplant previously came under fire in a 2019 report that accused it of having an “irresponsible” approach to monitoring its potential environmental impact.
The report, which was published by American environment and human rights organisation International Rivers, also included complaints by workers at the dam of instances of “discrimination and physical abuse” and “threats from the government” when they spoke out.
Meanwhile, the project’s main contractor, Chinese firm Sinohydro – which is responsible for its engineering, procurement and construction – has faced allegations of fraud elsewhere.
The company is currently excluded from projects financed by the European Investment Bank, following an investigation into “misconduct”. And in 2018, another investigation by the African Development Bank found that Sinohydro had “engaged in a fraudulent practice”.
Ecotricity has also held carbon credits in another hydroelectric power plant in Indonesia, called Asahan 1. Reports from as far back as 2012 say the company behind it, PT Bajradaya Sentranusa, had already secured funding from a bank “to take over the entire existing project loans for the construction” when Ecotricity bought the credits.
A spokesperson for Ecotricity said: “The information on the website about carbon reduction projects is being refreshed.”
They added: “We used carbon credits to entirely offset our gas supply for the financial year 2024 which is now closed and our offsetting programme for the financial year 2025 is currently under review which is why we do not currently hold any credits. Any suggestion that we do not or will not offset our gas in the future is false and misleading.”
“Offsetting is an annual accounting period practice and can take place at any point in that [financial year] – that is standard practice. Our offsetting programme for the financial year 2025 is currently under review. Any suggestion that we do not or will not offset our gas is wrong.”
The spokesperson added that Ecotricity is looking at “more direct carbon capture methods”, adding: “Carbon offsetting has been a bridge. We have always been clear about that.”
‘Greenwashing’
Ecotricity not only boasts about its own climate credentials, it also actively warns customers about “greenwashing” by rival energy suppliers.
“A number of energy companies claim green credentials for themselves or for some of their tariffs,” it says, “but are their claims genuine?”
But Ecotricity has itself now been accused of greenwashing. Responding to the company’s claims about carbon offsets, Nilles of Carbon Market Watch told openDemocracy: “It is a fallacy to think that purchasing carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market can magically ‘cancel out’ or ‘offset’ climate harm. Greenwashing practices like this must stop once and for all.”
Ecotricity’s founder, Dale Vince, recently joined Labour’s campaign in Bristol. His involvement in the constituency is controversial because it is seen as one of the few seats the Green Party has a genuine chance of winning in this week’s general election. But Vince tweeted: “Labour has a green manifesto and can make it happen.”
The self-styled “green industrialist” is the outright owner of Ecotricity’s parent company, Green Britain Group Limited. According to the latest accounts filed with Companies House, this firm made £38m profit in the year ending 30 April last year, after bringing in more than £550m turnover.
Responding to openDemocracy, Vince repeated the claim that carbon credits were used to achieve “net neutrality”.
He said: “Ecotricity bought carbon credits from the Asahan and Soubre schemes two years ago – we no longer do so. We’ve been reducing our carbon footprint annually for decades and only recently used carbon credits to achieve net neutrality, for our green gas while we built new gasmills.
“It’s important to reduce as far as possible before using credits, but that world is full of uncertainty, risk and projects that don’t do as promised, which these two schemes appear to be an example of. We welcome the EU move to clamp down on all forms of greenwashing.”
Vince accused openDemocracy of a “smear attack” with a “rather distorted presentation of facts”.
Prior to this response, openDemocracy had repeatedly asked Ecotricity to provide a complete and up-to-date list of its carbon credit portfolio, but it failed to do so.
Last week, Vince told the Financial Times that he was not seeking support for his own energy projects from Labour. “I don’t want support for my projects,” he said, “I’m not interested, life’s too short to be chasing money.”
The latest accounts filed by Green Britain Group Limited show it received £123m in “government grants” in the year ending April 2023. The financial support was designed to pay energy firms to cap prices for consumers.
The previous year, the company received a £9.4m Covid “business interruption” loan to support large companies in the pandemic.
However, Vince told openDemocracy: “Ecotricity hasn’t had any government subsidies.”
Original article by Martin Williams republished from OpenDemocracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.
Four arrests at Gaza protest in London
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/06/pro-palestinian-protest-march-london-arrests
Met police confirm protesters held on suspicion of public order offences, including one related to placard
Four people were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of public order offences while attending a pro-Palestinian march in central London, including one relating to a placard.
The Metropolitan police confirmed on X that three people were held on suspicion of breaching Public Order Act conditions imposed on the march, with a fourth man detained on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence relating to a placard.
Organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets on the first day of a new Labour government to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
…
This latest protest comes after the health ministry in Gaza confirmed that at least 38,098 Palestinians have been killed and 87,705 others injured since Israel’s military offensive in Gaza began on 7 October.
In attendance was the re-elected independent MP for Islington North, Jeremy Corbyn, who told protesters that “a change in government doesn’t change the facts that the people of Gaza are still being murdered in their sleep”.
“We said it to the Tories, and now we will say it to Labour: a government that sells arms to Israel is a government that is complicit in crimes against humanity.”
…
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/06/pro-palestinian-protest-march-london-arrests
Jeremy Corbyn wins Islington North as independent; Labour secures victory in general election
Original article republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Labour secures landslide victory in UK general election, but triumph marred by centrist program and stance on Gaza
Jeremy Corbyn has been re-elected to the British Parliament, this time as an independent candidate. Corbyn won in his long-standing constituency of Islington North with a margin of over 7,000 votes over Labour candidate Praful Nargund. According to Corbyn, the result in Islington North is “a warning to the incoming government that dissent cannot be crushed without consequences. That ideas of equality, justice, and peace are eternal.”
Labour leadership blocked Corbyn from standing as a party candidate in this election following years of a campaign against him within party structures and in corporate media. Like other Labour members leaning explicitly towards the left, Corbyn faced extreme pressure and attacks against his policies, even during his tenure as Labour leader, despite receiving widespread support among the public.
The incoming government Corbyn referred to will be a Labour one. Keir Starmer is set to become the next prime minister after the party secured one of its biggest electoral victories in history, winning 412 seats. In comparison, the Conservatives, who held power for almost 15 years, struggled to reach 121 seats. These results align with pre-election polls, which predicted that former prime minister Rishi Sunak and his party would be punished for failing to address crucial issues such as the cost of living crisis, struggling public services, including the National Health Service (NHS), and more.
Election night brought some surprises, even for the triumphant Labour. The party lost to independent candidates running on an explicitly pro-Palestine platform in several constituencies in addition to Islington North. Starmer’s stance on Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip since October last year, as well as Labour’s unwillingness to adopt a decisive call for a ceasefire early in the war on Gaza, alienated a significant part of the Labour voting base. Despite their eagerness to oust the Tories, thousands of voters made clear that the next government would be held accountable for its international alliances, including support for Israel.
Gains were recorded by the Green Party, which secured four seats in Parliament, and Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK, which obtained the same number of representatives despite joining the campaign at the last minute. The Liberal Democrats increased their representation to over 70 seats, while the Scottish National Party (SNP) suffered a major blow, keeping only 9 seats, down by 37 from the last election.
Despite widespread relief being reported at the Tories being ousted from power, many voters remain uncertain about what to expect from Starmer’s new cabinet. Labour’s campaign manifesto was described by many on the left as insufficient to represent a decisive break from the path set by the Tories, including the continued commodification of essential services such as healthcare. Speaking after the announcement of election results, Corbyn described the Labour manifesto as “thin, to put it mildly,” and emphasized that public demands for improvements will be huge.
Although the measures currently proposed by Labour are far from enough to get the UK on the right track, the presence of Corbyn and other progressive voices like Diane Abbott, who is likely to be re-elected as a Labour MP, will ensure the new administration is held accountable for its decisions.
“Tonight’s results in Islington North give us a glimpse of a different future, which puts the interests of the many ahead of those of the few,” Corbyn said in his post-election statement. “Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we organize. The energy we have unleashed will not go to waste.”
Original article republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Additional comments by dizzy dissident: I regard Keir Starmer as a thoroughly dishonest politician of the Tony Blair and Boris Johnson tradition. He has claimed to be a Socialist while intending to pursue a thoroughly conventional NeoLiberal and Zionist agenda. Despite campaigning on the inane slogan of “change” the reality is no change. Diss ent cannot be crushed without consequences.