A magazine has been unearthed that shows Sir Keir Starmer’s hardcore left-wing political beliefs, a stark difference from the sensible centre left politician he presents today.
The Socialist Alternatives magazine- the British section of the International Revolutionary Marxist Tendency (IRMT)- was established by Sir Keir in the mid 1980’s and carried at least seven articles in his name.
In one article, the now Prime Minister argued for “broadening trade unions horizontally both within the immediate working enterprise and beyond” to “facilitate the fullest internal democracy to avoid vertical hierarchies dominating the unions.”
In the Marxist publication- described as “the human face of the hard left” by another left-wing magazine Chartist – Starmer called for “a new industrial pluralism that encompasses negotiating and counterposing the interests of the producers with the interests of the consumers/users, the community, women, the unemployed, the environment and ethnic minorities, etc.
“This, of course, is fundamentally anti-capitalist pluralism.”
Keir Starmer has come along way from his Trotskyist beginnings
KEIR STARMER
Starmer wrote other articles for the publication that were sharply critical of Neil Kinnock’s leadership and called for a ‘radical alternative’ to “Labour right’s hopeless neo-Keynesian economic programme.”
In another he backed the campaign to reduce the working week to 35 hours, calling for a “campaign of struggles”.
On a dispute between print workers and Rupert Murdoch’s News International at Wapping, Starmer condemned the use of “‘paramilitary’ policing tactics”.
He wrote: “Whilst, of course, police violence and provocation should be condemned at every opportunity, it is necessary to go further and recognise that policing of any sort that is unaccountable stands directly in the path of any progress towards social emancipation, whether it be of workers made redundant in the pursuit of yet further profit or whether it be of ethnic groups coming to terms with racist oppression.
“This leads to the question of the role the police should play, if any, in civil society. Who are they protecting and from what? Who controls them and for whose benefit?”
Sir Keir’s journey to Labour leader was often bemoaned by left win commentators as a return to the centre for the party.
The Surrey-born, Oxford-educated barrister with a knighthood was at odds with their idea of a Labour leader, particularly after Jeremy Corbyn’s time in charge.
The unearthing of Socialist Alternatives magazine shows Starmer’s roots to be found in the hard left, Trotskyist movement, however, demonstrating how much he has evolved his political image.