34. What happened in the UK general election? What next for socialists?

Will McMahon outlined the main trends revealed in the 4 July UK general election - a massive parliamentary majority for Starmer's Labour Party, but a reduced popular vote, a rising vote for the Reform party which split the Tory vote enabling Labour to win many of the seats, a disenchanted section of the electorate not voting (40%) and many former Labour voters backing pro-palestine independents.
Socialists/communists - we use the terms to mean the same thing - need to get better organised and reach out to the thousands who agree with the need for a complete change in the system. We in Talking About Socialism...from a Marxist point of view stand for a fundamental break with capitalism, for common ownership of the wealth and resources of society, planned democratically for need, not profit.

[@kevinlaing8712]

It would be good if the speakers could say why they dismiss and reject Galloway's position. At one point 'reactionary' is the dismissive word used. Definition of 'reactionary' needed. Later speaker says Galloway is a 'menace', without explaining why. Explanation needed.

[@user-zp3br9lq7n]

There are lots of concerns about Galloway's positioning. For example, having a union jack as a fade out back ground to some media messages is not good - it looks like a broadcast from the far right (or the Labour Party) and having red white and blue as the party colours sends out a very nationalist and reactionary vibe. Take a look at the election leaflets G issued in the Rochdale by-election ... two different leaflets aimed at a supposed solely Muslim audience and another to an assumed not muslim audience. The politics were very different in both and none of it socialist, in fact some of the comments seem reactionary. Take a look at the WP education policy - it uses arguments of localism to cover for issues around religious schooling. Many of us who have worked with GG in the past have found him to work like a rather typical left bureaucrat - ie does his own thing and does not collaborate. We have had too much of this in the past with other left leaders like Livingstone and Scargill to go through anything like it again. For a genuine party of of the working class to be succesful it needs to be open and democractic and have socialist politics to the front - i.e the need to take the big step from a society based on capitalist economics to one based on socialist economics. GG and the WP do not do this. It is just rehashed social democratic politics that has stymied the left for decades.

[@talkingaboutsocialism]

Hi Kevin, Nick Wrack deals with some of your points in this article: talkingaboutsocialism.org/nationalist-socialism-is-not-socialism/ We would be interested in your views.