The death of Labour Students is another nail in the coffin of Blairism. At the same time, its end represents a new opportunity.
Corbyn’s election as Labour leader has dramatically transformed the party. The left is clearly in ascendency. It is time the party was fully democratised in order to realise the true potential of this change.
We need a new Labour Students organisation founded on healthy democratic methods and socialist policies. On such a basis, Labour Students could be a powerful tool in the fight for a Corbyn government.
A new Labour Students needs to be a genuinely democratic organisation, with free and fair elections. There should be a national conference, where delegates can vote and decide on radical policies to take into the wider movement.
With big, bold political demands, we could appeal to the thousands of students and young workers who are looking towards Corbyn, and mobilising a whole generation to kick out Boris’ Tories and fight for a socialist Labour government.
Labour Students has fallen apart ultimately because it failed to inspire those that it claimed to represent. Where have Labour Students been during the climate strikes? What have they done to fight against tuition fees, precarious work, and the crisis in mental health.
These are urgent issues that we must take up. On the basis of a clear socialist programme, the revolutionary potential of the youth could be channelled into a movement capable of transforming society.
Our first task must be to get Labour elected on a socialist programme. To do this, we need to be doorknocking, signing students up to vote, and organising a mass campaign on campuses across the country under the banner of Students4Corbyn.
What should the Students4Corbyn campaign involve? We should organise joint meetings and mass rallies, where we can discuss what policies a Labour government should implement. We should go to every accommodation block, lecture theatre, and student union bar and sign people up. And we should reach out to the local labour movement to link up with workers who are also looking for a Corbyn government.
Such a campaign, with these methods, would then provide a platform for refounding Labour Students and establishing a new, dynamic organisation – one capable of fighting for class policies.
The general election hasn’t officially begun. But in reality the starting gun has already been fired. We have no time to lose!
We need to be mobilising students to vote and campaign now – especially in marginal seats such as Uxbridge and South Ruislip, where we have the opportunity to boot out Boris.
For a democratic, socialist Labour Students, we need to build on solid foundations. The coming general election campaign provides us with the perfect opportunity to set the tone for the struggles ahead.
Above all, it provides us with the chance to fight for a socialist Labour government – one that will engage with a new generation of young people who are desperate for an alternative to the misery of capitalism.
Students4Corbyn
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