La izquierda no sabe jugar en Madrid (ESP)

La izquierda no gana en Madrid porque no construye poder popular en los barrios obreros, esta es la explicación a grandes rasgos del fracaso de cualquier partido u organización progresista en la capital española. La izquierda madrileña vive de tópicos: de Vallecas como ejemplo para todo, de criticar a los habitantes del Distrito de Salamanca, de comparar al PP y a Ciudadanos con la extrema derecha de algún país europeo de moda, y sobre todo vive del derrotismo. 


El PP de la Comunidad de Madrid sabe utilizar las reglas del juego político a su favor, con una candidata transversal que es capaz de aglutinar el voto de la centro-derecha y de la ultraderecha con una facilidad que cuesta creer, sobre todo si atendemos a la situación del resto de los populares en España. Ayuso se come a Ciudadanos y a VOX, acapara los medios de comunicación y obliga a las izquierdas a entrar en su terreno. Ahí es donde los partidos progresistas se vuelven locos. 


La izquierda madrileña debería olvidarse de Vallecas por un momento, y centrarse en crear una estrategia que guste en todos los barrios de la ciudad. Necesitan recuperar las calles, pero no quieren. No tienen intención de hacer trabajo fuera del terreno institucional porque son ellos los culpables de haber desilusionado a la clase obrera, que ya no pretende manifestarse ni luchar por sus derechos, y es lógico, ya que la izquierda ha dejado solo al movimiento obrero. 


Más Madrid es la prueba de que si las cosas no funcionan, seguir igual y no tratar de ofrecer algo nuevo es la peor de las alternativas. Jugar al fútbol en campo contrario es más difícil, te encuentras a un gran número de rivales y necesitas unidad y estrategias conjuntas para llegar a portería sin que te hayan quitado el balón. Esta metáfora tan simple solamente quiere decir que denunciar los bulos de Ayuso, comparar su gobierno con el de cualquier mandatario “populista” (tener que usar esta palabra me cabrea) que esté de moda o ridiculizarla a ella y a su equipo es entrar en el juego del PP y perder. 


Una izquierda fuerte es la que no abandona los valores materialistas: el empleo, las condiciones salariales de los trabajadores, las relaciones entre economía y cambio climático, etc. Nadie dice que defender al colectivo LGBT+ sea malo, o que no haya que hablar de políticas verdes, pero a un obrero lo que más le importa aun en este siglo no es que talen un árbol al lado de su casa. Si no tengo ni para comer, lo de menos será la contaminación. 


Las políticas que pretenden hacer ver a la izquierda como hiper-progresista y que se suma a reivindicar cualquier nueva “opresión” que sufra un grupo minoritario por indiferente que esto le resulte a la población y por contradictorio que sea apostar por los derechos de algunos colectivos totalmente opuestos al progreso real de la sociedad, están causando rechazo entre sus votantes tradicionales, que ya no le encuentran sentido a muchas de las novedosas ideas del post-modernismo en el que ya no hay ricos ni pobres, solo “ciudadanos”.


Una izquierda descafeinada, blandita, que denuncia la corrupción cuando esta afecta solo a las derechas, que está completamente desconectada de la realidad social en la que realiza su actividad y que promete reformas mientras se beneficia del status quo; es perfecta para que VOX se implante entre los obreros (los de verdad) y el PP de Ayuso continúe en racha. 

En definitiva, la derecha sabe jugar en Madrid, pero la izquierda no encuentra un once inicial que le convenza a nadie, por mucho que lo guay ahora sea ser ecologista y feminista dejando al pueblo tirado en tiempos de crisis. El proyecto de Ayuso: simple, directo al ciudadano medio y tomando como referencia esa base regionalista que le ha funcionado siempre tan bien a los populares. Por algo ganan en Galicia y en Andalucía con mayorías. ¿No hay nadie en la izquierda que se pregunte estas cosas? Quizá la única verdad es que no les interesa, se vive muy bien en la oposición.












In defence of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng

From the beginning of the new Conservative administration, the media have been very critical of Liz Truss' economic plans and the nomination of Kwasi Kwarteng as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer has confirmed the government is going to fight hard to win over the press. Kwarteng finds himself in the position of trying to amend his predecessors' mistakes with the pressure of both the right wing of his own party and the backbenchers who supported Rishi Sunak as candidate to become Prime Minister.

His mini-budget has caused outrage in the opposition benches and hasn't satisfied a wide range of the British people. Unpopularity of scrapping bankers bonuses is seized by all the political spectrum to speak about a radicalised Conservative Party, even calling it a far right party. For some, it looks like Britain suffering the latest crisis of capitalism (like the rest of the world) and the effects of the war in Ukraine; has to do with the wrongdoings of a man who has juts been appointed Chancellor. 

I believe in Kwarteng's good intentions in regards to economy, but he won't be capable of sorting out a problematic that he didn't cause. "New Labour" advocates live in the 1990s and attempt to solve the biggest crisis of all time with methods that are obsolete and despite they repeat and repeat everything is going to end when Ukraine expels the Russian forces, the truth is there is much more to analyse.

With the pound falling fast and inflation rising high, Kwarteng's approach of lower taxes and freedom for businesses to invest in the country, we are looking at the re-emergence of New Public Management policies, promoting the private sector as the vital part of publicly owned services. But in this case, the government must adequate its Thatcherite attitude to reconcile the British economy with the public opinion.

The main challenge is that we need to learn that the time of the welfare state is now over and politics of entrepreneurship and deregulation come back as a reaction to neo-Keynesianism, and when comparing what I like to call the "new conservative revolution"* with old social-democracy; the population is clearly seduced by the former. Sir Keir Starmer has nothing to offer to the mainstream political space because of his 1990s-based discourse and plans, therefore left-leaning voters are genuinely abandoned by a party that is living in the era of Tony Blair and thinking of a model of state that is impossible in our society. The future of the left cannot be the past, and that is why the right is gaining ground amongst traditional Labour supporters.

Kwasi Kwarteng will have to amend others' mistakes, and perhaps what the media can't see is that the Conservatives are going through an anti-establishment period that is probably going to reshape the main core of the party. Maybe the revolution within the moderate right is not just a reaction to Brexit as we're told, but a significant momentum for the Tories to evolve and leave behind interventionism and welfare politics. Labour's shift to the right is an opportunity for anti-establishment conservative revolutionaries (which is not an insult) and the liberal right. If Starmer wins the next GE, Liz Truss and her colleagues have to decide what kind of Conservative Party they want to build. We are in a transition period, both for the Tories and Labour.

In conclusion, low-tax economics and the strong free market approach Truss and Kwarteng are going for is coherent in terms of abandoning consensus on this level, and breaking this consensus is polarising the public opinion, which may favour the opposition in a short-term period but it will define the renewal of the main right-wing party in Britain. But it is certainly closer to libertarian economics than to fascism. If you think Kwasi Kwarteng is a far right Chancellor, maybe you should check the real meaning of the far right. The Conservative Party is looking back at its roots in order to develop a new approach for the future. 


(This article is not an opinion, but a brief analysis of the current situation of the British right)


* New Conservative Revolution: The debates that are shaping the conservative and right-wing parties all over the world, which are incorporating elements from the left and the social movements and influencing new currents of anti-establishment and radical conservatism, such as the American alt right or anti-immigration single-issue parties. I refuse to use the term populism that is so popular in low-quality definitions. I like to identify this process as the NCR because it has some common patterns with the German Conservative Revolution of the 1910s. 



RIP Chic Brodie, ex SNP MSP

Former South of Scotland MSP Chic Brodie passed away yesterday. He was a member of the Scottish National Party and an advocate for Scottish independence. Belonging to the liberal wing of the party, he left after the Brexit referendum and stood as an independent candidate in South Ayrshire. In 2020, he founded an Eurosceptic Scottish nationalist party, called Scotia Future, in order to contest the 2021 elections to the Scottish Parliament. I had the opportunity to meet him during the pandemic, as I was researching on Scottish independence and needed to cover all the perspectives to analyse the SNP's plans. I reached out to him, due to his experience as an MSP and his time in the party, and he explained the reasons why he believed an independent Scotland shouldn't join the European Union. Thanks to him and many other politicians, my Master's degree final dissertation was awarded with a fantastic grade and I learned a lot about Scotland and its independence movement. I will always be grateful to him.

I am very sad to hear about his passing, my thoughts are with his family and friends. May he rest in peace.

Lorena.




Interview with Dominic Atlas, Yorkshire Party candidate for Keighley West, Bradford

 Interview with Dominic Atlas, Yorkshire Party candidate for Keighley West, Bradford


  • Why a Yorkshire Party candidate in Keighley West?


The Yorkshire Party is the only party that makes sense to me. It’s easier to stand for a party instead of being an independent candidate, so that’s the main reason.


  • What are the main issues you want to prioritise?


I have a bit of a different outlook than most councillors and most of my competitors. My main area is to focus on the school system and bringing up the standards to something that has not been seen for a very long time. The councillors are focused on little things while I think it’s very important to ensure the safety of our children going to and from school, their safety during school. Obviously, I don’t know what it’s like where you are but over here bullying inside schools can be a real problem. We are seeing at the moment the biggest shortage of teachers in years, specially with high school teachers, there’s very little of them, which is making the standards drop even more. The central government just taking money away from them, and at the end of the day they are our next generation.


  • Why is the Yorkshire Party the best alternative to the rest of the parties in the area?


One of the main reasons I’m standing is because the councils that we have don’t care, be it Labour or Conservative, none of them care. British politics has all become about money, and it’s very little to do with the constituents. I aim to change that, I want to make a genuine difference in my community. I’m a bus driver, and transport here is quite a big problem as well. I’ve got people who are very close to me saying that “Politicians and councillors are all the same”. They promise stuff, but as soon as they get in they don’t care anymore. People think that will happen to me, but it won’t because I want to make a difference, and that’s why I’m standing for the Yorkshire Party, because the Yorkshire Party is local and is right there with us. In Keighley, which is part of the Bradford district we have a Labour-run administration, and then there’s a Conservative national government, so they’re always fighting and that becomes a problem for the people who they represent, because while they’re busy fighting each other, they’re not solving the actual problems that people care about. The Yorkshire Party, being very local, cares about local problems and ultimately while the other parties have a party whip, there’s none of that in the YP. When I become a councillor, my decisions will be my own: the stuff of what I think my constituents want. It doesn’t matter if people in my party disagree with me, because they’re not representing my constituents, I will be. That’s what we want, local people who want to make a difference. There’s too many councillors and MPs for that matter that just get brought in from some random place to serve the community and they know nothing about it.