A progressive victory in East London?

Page 34
Q-News, Issue 362
April 2005

The Respect party has energised East London’s political landscape. Aysha Ali and Adam Riaz Khan report on George Galloway’s chances of unseating an increasingly unpopular and uneasy Oona King.

The 2004 European elections saw the Respect Party come first in the Tower Hamlets poll and second in Newham, pulling more votes than the three established parties. In July 2004 candidate Oliur Rahman became Respect’s first local councillor winning the St Dunstan’s and Stepney Green Ward in Tower Hamlets. East London’s Muslim heartland has since become the battleground for a showdown between Respect’s George Galloway and sitting Labour MP Oona King. Given the level of dissatisfaction on the street, King and her backers ought to be very worried.

The King vs. “Gorgeous” George bout has put East London residents in the enviable position of challenging the political power parameters. A defeat for the ultimate “Blair babe” would mark a serious shift in Labour traditional heartland and give Respect a shot at creating a national voice through an elected parliamentary representative. If anything, Galloway’s entry into the race has energised the political climate. Hussein, an Eastender agrees, “Galloway has already made a massive difference to politics in Tower Hamlets. Many people are inspired by his principled anti-war stance. He can bring that same determination and principles to fighting anti-terror laws, public housing and education.”

King seems only to epitomise the New Labour trend of being out of touch. On 7 March, speaking at Queen Mary University, she was asked why she supported the war in Iraq when most of her constituents and indeed the British public were opposed to it. She said she did it “out of conscience” and “sometimes you have to do things that are unpopular.” Unpopular, indeed. Eastenders organised local demonstrations to protest their MP’s decision. Over 10,000 marched down Green Street on one occasion.

In some ways, Galloway’s vilification by the establishment-controlled press and the Labour Party has made him even more popular. His leadership in the anti-war movement and his straight talk on Labour’s Iraq debacle makes him credible with voters who feel unheard and disrespected.

Traditionally, Labour the party of choice for the poor, working class and ethnic minority. The party stood for the principles of justice and equality. Today, there is little difference between the neo-liberalism of New Labour and the Conservatives. Curbs on civil liberties, privatised council housing, cut student grants and “controlled immigration” while blaming ethnic minorities and asylum seekers for social problems are policies that betray Labour’s socialist credentials.

Recent local election results in East London have also shown that the Liberal Democrats have failed to gain votes at Labour’s expense. The Lib Dems may uphold civil liberty issues, but they are cunningly in favour of privatisation, the selling of council housing and support the occupation of Iraq. Fawzia, a Wapping resident, explains, “I am concerned about the privatisation of council housing. My council home may be transferred to a social landlord. I’m concerned about rent increases and losing my secure tenancy. When the Liberals were in power in Tower Hamlets, they were no better; they were instrumental in creating racial tension in 1993 and allowing the BNP to win that year.”

Some have argued that Respect is a “Muslim Party”. Instead, it is Muslim activists who have encouraged leftist, socialist and other anti-war activists to change and abandon their prejudices about religion in order to form meaningful alliances and coalitions. The old left approach would have involved an attachment to exclusive notions of class. The Trotskyite left historically dissociated themselves from Muslims (associating them with sexism and homophobia) and everything contrary to secularism, feminism and gay rights. However, Muslims in Britain today possess the power as a minority to lead the important social movements of our time, a multitude of networks, organisations and communities.

“In Luton, my community voted on political rather than religious lines,” says Hafsha, a university student. “We, including old Labour party members, were disillusioned with Labour and so voted Respect”. Oliur Rahman adds, “We have Muslims and non-Muslims in our coalition; we work with all communities and unite on issues which are important to all people in East London - education, pensions and housing.” King has countered that she is one of the very few minority faces in Parliament and that Galloway would be taking a Black woman out of office. It is obvious that in her desperation King is playing the race and diversity card in order to win votes in an area with a large ethnic minority background.

Last year, when the Respect candidate for Millwall came second to the Tories in a by-election, King suggested that the Tory victory was due to Respect standing. In fact, it was Labour that came third and therefore, it can be argued that if anyone should have abstained from standing it should have been Labour. There is no doubt that King is feeling the pressure. Strangely, she continues to claim to have left wing credentials. East London’s working class people have already begun reclaiming the politics of their locality and their dissatisfaction is changing the tone of the political debate. Since Rahman’s electoral victory, he has been campaigning with the local community on issues such as the axing of a local fire engine to the construction of a new rail line which cause disruption and increased pollution for local residents. He has also raised issues regarding public sector pensions and has been a strong presence on the streets.  

If Respect can gain some electoral victory, it will challenge the view that war and imperialism is inevitable, that privatisation must happen, that students must get into more debt, pensioners must be poorer and civil liberties need to be curbed. Respect is trying to connect the neo-liberal agenda locally to injustice globally. After all, its the same forces that are privatising council housing in Tower Hamlets and displacing communities in the Narmada Valley in India. A victory for Respect will be a victory for progressive social movements on a global scale.

Attending an Islamic Hip Hop event in Bethnal Green on the eve of the election call, Oona King tried to associate herself with the politics of Malcolm X and joked that losing the next election might give her some free time and “her life back”. On this point, she just might be right.