Edward mac Cargill
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qrowfrickner.bsky.social
Edward mac Cargill
@qrowfrickner.bsky.social
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Liberal Socialist and Prog Rock fan
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Reposted by Edward mac Cargill
robertsaunders.bsky.social
I was teaching a class yesterday on the 1984-85 miners' strike. Here's an extract from Kinnock's speech to the 1984 Labour Conference.

Whether you agree with him or not, it's a sustained argument for the parliamentary road to socialism.

Now we get single-sentence paragraphs on "national renewal".
"We see unjust laws - laws which are nothing more than prejudice made statute. And every fibre rages against the injustice and the waste of all that. And we ask ourselves: what we can do about it? For socialists that is the question of the ages - because it is in our very nature, in our conviction, that we want to do something. It was a question faced by our move¬ment in the 1930s; and they came back with the answer that the democratic road was the only route for British socialism. All other options, they said, were closed since socialism by insurrec¬tion was pure fantasy, and socialism without the ballot box would simply never secure the support and understanding of the British people. They were right. (Applause) They were right in times even more dangerous than ours, when fascism was pressing at every gate of liberty. Democracy is the first premise of our socialism; it is a matter of principle, not of convenience; it is a matter of commonsense, not of tactics. We are not being smug and cosy, and giving in for the duration of the Tory government, when we hold to our belief in democracy. We are upholding the only system which can give us power; the only system that we want to give us power; and the only system that we are prepared to wield when we have that power. Democracy is our cause at all times and in every respect. (Applause) That is not a call to wait in idleness; it is not a call to relax until the election comes along. On the absolute contrary, it is a call to action - action to articulate and publicise the complaint of the people, for if they cry quietly, they will cry alone; action to break through the indifference to the scandals of social deprivation and industrial destruction in this country; action to pressure ministers and promote concessions; action to rouse and rally and resist; action to pro¬tect and promote the interest of the people that we are in politics to help; action that is continual; action that recruits and mobilises new people in our ca…
November 29, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Reposted by Edward mac Cargill
cjayanetti.bsky.social
And I think this is where the problem is. You don't have to give intellectual speeches - few people would listen or engage. But you have to be able to think your way through to your positions and policies. Which Blair did.
November 28, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Edward mac Cargill
robfordmancs.bsky.social
The Blue Labour right have become the Militant of 2025 - a tiny but hyperactive and densely networked sect working relentlessly to drag Labour towards their niche pursuits and away from the values and priorities of core Labour voters.
November 28, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Reposted by Edward mac Cargill
samfr.bsky.social
And honestly I don't give a fuck if it's popular or not. It's going to make a lot of kids' lives better. That's the point of government. Not an opinion poll.
November 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM