In the 2015 election, 22 million of us in the UK didn’t vote [1]. That’s more people than voted for any political party. It wasn’t because we’re apathetic – it’s because most of us saw through the “good cop, bad cop” routine of Labour and the Tories. At the time, both parties supported cuts, privatising the NHS, and making life hell for benefits claimants. [2] In the same way that a “good cop” will offer a cup of tea and a “friendly chat” while a “bad cop” shouts and makes threats, the Tories jeered at “scroungers” while Labour smiled and talked about the need to be practical. Whatever the weak promises of their manifestos, it was clear they both wanted to do the same thing – to screw us over on behalf of the rich. A few of us in the anti-cuts movement wanted to openly side with non-voters, and use the platform to promote action outside of parliament to bring down austerity. Instead, most of the movement worked for Corbyn and spent less time on actions and protests – for all the good that did! With the fall of Corbyn and mass disillusionment in the Labour party, we now have the opportunity again.



So what’s the alternative to supporting Labour? If you listen to most of the Left, either we should create a new party (why would they be any different?) [3] or change things from within, because Labour are “the party of the working class” (bollocks are they!) [4]. This is obviously not going to work. All it does is channel our anger at being screwed over, into a process designed to pacify us. If we want to make our lives better we need to take action for ourselves, not vote for “representatives” to do it for us.

Rather than trying to get another politician into power, some of us organise in our communities to solve problems through direct action. When workers aren’t paid the wages owed them, instead of asking the government to give us better legal protection, we take action to force employers to pay. We’ve won many cases like this [5]. Rather than asking the government to end the “workfare” programmes used against benefits claimants, we shut them down one by one until all their biggest schemes fell apart [6]. This is despite the involvement of only a few hundred people. Imagine what we could do with several thousand! When it’s been tried, it works. Mass strikes happen all the time and are responsible for improving pay and conditions for millions of people. The vote itself was first won through militant direct action. The best example in the UK has to be the poll tax – a hated tax imposed by Margaret Thatcher and the conservatives. While the Labour Party prevaricated, millions of people refused to pay, and tens of thousands took part in riots and militant demonstrations. The tax was quickly scrapped. [7]

We also work towards a society with have real democracy, and organise ourselves using the same principles. After all action needs organisation, and if we run ourselves like the government then we’ll only end up creating the same problems. In the International Workers’ Association, we vote on the issues facing us directly, rather than electing representatives to make decisions for us. All our roles are taken on by volunteers – people with the same pay and the same troubles as all the rest. When we need one person to act on behalf of the group, we use delegates who are strictly “mandated” with instructions, and changed regularly so that everyone gets a turn at it. Unlike politicians, if anyone steps out of line they can be recalled right away. It works, we have thousands of members from all over the world making decisions this way. In the future we want workplaces and communities to be run like this: working together freely, with everyone having a say, and decisions made by a majority instead of a few managers and shareholders.

In the meantime, voting is a waste of time and only serves to dull our anger. Working class direct action, organised at the grassroots, is making a difference right here and now. If all of us who don’t vote got together and took action (voted with our feet), then we could take back all the rights and benefits we’ve lost under the Tory government, and more besides. So let’s get organised, get active, and give ’em hell!

(many changes made, based on original written for Bristol SolFed in 2015 – http://www.solfed.org.uk/bristol/vote-with-your-feet . See also https://theotherleft.noblogs.org/post/2017/09/22/corbyn-a-new-theory/ for an analysis of Corbyn’s Labour and the contradictions within it)

[1] stats from govuk website – 15 million plus estimated 6 million not registered [2] https://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/here-comes-the-forced-labour-party-massive-extension-of-workfare-and-benefits-to-be-slashed/ ; https://libcom.org/library/driving-nhs-market ; http://libcom.org/library/labouring-vain [3] http://libcom.org/library/should-brighton-vote-green-03032010 [4] despite a change in membership, many Labour MPs and staff are still posh, right wing, and anti working class. They ran the show during the New Labour years and they are still there now, with a proven track record of working against their own party when it suits them. (see https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labours-leaked-report-we-cant-let-them-get-away-it) We need to stand up to the rich and powerful, not waste all our energy and time in a fight to take over the party, then make that party win an election, and then fight against that party when the leadership are in power and turn their backs on us! The idea that Old Labour ever belonged to our class and stood up for our interests is a lie (see the Syndicalist Workers' Federation, How Labour Governed 1945-51) [5] UK examples: http://www.solfed.org.uk/south-london/victory-in-the-wage-theft-fight-against-green-eco-plus, http://www.brightonsolfed.org.uk/brighton/solfed-chalks-up-another-wages-win-with-brighton-hospitality-workers, International: http://www.iwa-ait.org/content/struggles-and-victories-iwa-2014 [6] For example: http://bristolaf.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/victories-in-the-battle-against-workfare [7] see Poll Tax Rebellion, by Danny Burns - https://libcom.org/history/poll-tax-rebellion-danny-burns