00:00 Glyn Robbins: A member's point — I guess it relates to some extent. Yeah, that's what [?] were saying. I discovered a thing called Facebook during the course of the campaign, and I saw someone say the other day that for the price of the TUSC candidates standing and losing our deposits — i.e. around the thick end of 60 grand — you could have paid three full-time, however we want to describe them, community organisers, political campaigners.
00:31 And for my money that would have been a far better use of 64 grand than what it was used for. But I think also, to one last point: I don't see standing in elections and campaigning between them as an either/or. I think we can walk and chew gum. And to that extent, certainly from the campaign — I don't think this is a great political insight — the issues that came up again and again were housing and the NHS. Certainly in Tower Hamlets we are going to
01:05 start on Sunday in fact, talking particularly about housing and the issues around what gets called gentrification — a slightly catch-all term, but I think people know what I mean by that — and the fundamental issues around the extent to which working-class communities are going to be able to live in the City of London and other cities. That is a job that we have to get to immediately. Can't afford to wait for the next
01:35 electoral cycle to do it. And likewise, obviously, the NHS. We have to engage with the sometimes slightly weird, I think, campaigns that are trying to do stuff on the NHS, and we're really still not punching our weight on that question, which undoubtedly is of massive importance to people. Coming back to a Tower Hamlets-
02:05 centred position, I'd argue actually that Rabina Khan's campaign has a resonance and importance beyond Tower Hamlets, because it has the potential to stick one on the nose of New Labour. Now, I'm not for a second saying — I never did — about Lutfur Rahman, that whatever has been happening is quite perfect. It's not. There are fair criticisms to be made. But I think it's absolutely imperative
02:36 that we in this room and elsewhere, people who align themselves with however we define the left, recognise the significance of this particular electoral campaign and do everything that we can to ensure that Rabina wins it. And not unrelated to which — this is slightly random now — but I think one of the things that went slightly unnoticed in Tower Hamlets on Thursday was that, having literally not campaigned, I didn't see them at any of the hustings, I didn't see them on the
03:07 street, they might have delivered a leaflet or two but that was it: UKIP came fourth, I think with a vote of around six thousand, I believe from memory. So significantly higher than not only myself but the Liberals and the Greens. So that's a latent reactionary vote, and that is something that we have to challenge. I think to some extent Rabina winning would be a contribution, although not a solution, to that. Obviously, again, a big question:
03:37 where do we go from here in terms of the left? I don't want to get into a sort of counsel of despair around this, but we do have to be realistic. Not the least of the follies of the position that was being taken by some comrades last night was this idea that we, TUSC or whoever, should write to Rabina Khan and set out demands and ask her where she stood on these issues. Well, I don't mind — you send a letter, it doesn't, you know, the cost of a stamp.
04:08 What no one seems to recognise is that we do not have the political capital to be able to make those kinds of demands. And the same applies in relation to any discussion with the Greens. That's something I've been trying to do locally, but you can understand them saying: who are you? Why would we — what benefit would that be to us, the Green Party? I don't think that's a line that we should cut off entirely, but we clearly have to up our game. And I guess what George [Binette] has said
04:39 is what I would say, really: we have to decide pretty quickly whether we're serious about this. One of the things that was said to me during the campaign, by one of the Tower Hamlets First councillors who really was very helpful and supportive of what we were doing — he said, you know, what I have done — I've paraphrased, but for various reasons I guess I did do this — was to move outside of your comfort zone. You cannot carry on being in a room with people who basically agree with you.
05:10 You have to be prepared to have discussions with people who may not. And there is that old cliché: you open the door, the dust comes in. Well, that's true. But unless we're prepared to step outside the comfort zone of the left, then I don't think we are going to make progress. I think we have to focus our campaigns. I mean, it is absurd — I didn't even think we should have stood two candidates in Tower Hamlets. I think we could certainly have got a better vote in either,
05:40 and undoubtedly would have, had we concentrated all our resources and activism on the one constituency. But at a deeper level, I also worry that we're still using the language of the 20th century to try and fight political battles in the 21st, and we have to think about this. I'm not saying we can't talk about Marxism and Trotskyism and all that stuff — I'm not binning the history — but we have to recognise that a lot of young people
06:10 do not identify with it in any way. And so we have to think about how we express these ideas. Use of social media is obviously a part of that, but it's not sufficient. And I agree with what Piers [Mostyn] said: delivering thirty thousand leaflets is not a bad thing, but it's not going to generate a proportionate amount of political support. Having conversations with people face to face, having meetings which may not be brilliantly attended in and of themselves but potentially
06:42 create a ripple effect, is important. And so just to finish: Liam [Mac Uaid] mentioned in a previous meeting — unfortunately he's linked my name to this, which is not something I'm particularly happy about — that next year there is the Mayor of London election coming up. It is a proportional representation, and we have to think now, seriously. And what others have said is right: there were various reasons why my particular campaign didn't have a very long lead-in, and I won't bore you with the details, but they weren't bad
07:12 reasons actually. But if we're serious about that election we have to start planning it now and thinking about it now. And just finally — as I've said, I do find the Left Unity badge quite appealing in some ways, I think others would too — but if I can be a little bit vulgar for my final comment, I think Left Unity has to shit or get off the pot, basically. I think there's been too much prevarication, too much focus on process.
07:43 I understand some of the reasons for that, but we need to move on. Thanks.
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