What is left of the left? Some unions are speaking out against vaccine mandates and some left commentators are grudgingly admitting that lockdowns were a mistake. Even whilst groups like the Socialist Workers Party outrageously condemn the successful NHS 100k march as a ‘conspiracy-driven movement’ and the World Socialist Website demands to close all schools. Workers fighting for their livelihoods continue to be branded as right-wing extremists.
The Big Tech and Big Pharma-driven nightmare isn’t going away. Already there are signs of a new economic crisis looming in 2022 that may lead to new lockdowns. And a ‘new normal’ of continuous injections, digital IDs and sweeping plans to replace in-person public services with AI and digital technology is now firmly in place all over the world.
Set against the new normal is the huge and diverse freedom movement of countless millions around the world. Together and across the political spectrum, campaign movements are fighting to win back our rights. The failed left sits on the sidelines, unable to admit its new role as an apologist for big capital. Teaching unions have turned on schoolchildren. The woke left have become social segregationists.
As the wider movement focuses on individual freedoms, it falls to the genuine, anti-lockdown left to speak out over the social cost of lockdown and hold those complicit accountable for the ‘long lockdown’ of unemployment and ruined businesses, of children with lifelong damage to their education and mental health.
The lockdown left is no longer capable of understanding history or turning to the future. As popular resistance to lockdowns and vaccine mandates surges, it’s time to reimagine the radical critique of society and our role as socialists, feminists, activists and trade unionists. Issues of social justice have historically been the premise of the left; fighting social injustices should continue to be our main objective going forward into 2022.
The day will start with insightful, inspirational talks from eminent scientists like Sunetra Gupta, specialist doctors and psychiatrists and move onto campaign updates from Together, NHS100K and Big Brother Watch (tbc).
Then we’ll open out into workshops to discuss where our ideological aims dovetail with current campaign movements and how we can all become involved in these current push backs.
And we must also plan for the society we want: good quality education for all, tenable working conditions for all, health provision at the point of need, robust and responsive emergency services, a just legal system, a social safety net for those in need and a fair system of governance.
Running order:
10-10:30 – Registration and start
- Panel 1: ‘The buying and selling of health’, featuring NHS and medical specialists
- Panel 2: ‘The attack on and vindication of the Great Barrington three’, featuring Sunetra Gupta
13:30 – Lunch
- Panel 3: ‘In it to win it: How effective campaigns flip the narrative’, with the Together Declaration, NHS 100k and (tbc) Big Brother Watch
- Break-out groups with different workshops
- Whole meeting round-up on actions and thoughts from Left Lockdown Sceptics organisers on on ‘Building left resistance to corporatism, technocracy and tyranny’
17:30 – Close
Great to see this. Wish you all the best with it.
Would also like to add that the real Left should be for an anti racist movement which opposes racism against white people as well as minorities. There would be no Tommy Robinsons if there was anti racism for all.