Of course the majority of the Left are non-Marxists: I can’t believe we’re actually having this discussion though. There is an old adage in the Labour Party that it owes more to methodism than to Marxism – but whether it’s the leadership, whether it’s the Fabians, whether it’s Compass, the vast majority are not Marxists. Even among advanced trades unionists such as yourself, members of Labour are primarily reformists.

The revolutionaries are largely consigned to the smaller parties, whose membership numbers a few thousand between all of them, not the hundred and something thousand of Labour. In all seriousness, could you explain what gives you the impression that the majority of “the Left” are Marxist?

What I waant to know is, if that’s the case, how come we’re not getting more air time in the media, and having our own think tanks running the Labour Party bureaucracy etc?

but I pleased of course my arguments cheer you up!

What more could a blogger ask for!

Personally I think your viewpoint is a joke. The proportion of “the Left” dominated by Marxian thinking is really quite small. Perhaps that should have more bearing on why “the Left” (e.g. the Labour Party?) have been left floundering, as you claim, rather than its opposite – that there are too many Marxians.

Incidentally, I do enjoy your blog – it’s added to my feed reader as of last week.

I’ll be back Sat am for proper comment and will build on/use this for my part 4 megablog thing, but in brief – we can all get too hung up about what the different groups are or aren’t. The reality is that it’s really local traditions that count. I’m in Labour because it’s currently the most effective vehicle round my way. If it was something else, I’d be in that.

Some of the points which Andy advances against the LRC are equally true of Compass, though some of the points are just silly. It takes real genius to say that the LRC has no strategy for widening its influence when all the LRC ever does is court the unions and Labour activists – indeed Labour bloggers at one point.

I am not now nor have I ever said the LRC is perfect, but Andy Newman making a comment like how the LRC lacks “any credible argument for how a move to the left would benefit the whole party in electoral terms” strikes me a the sort of thing New Labour get up to: the attempted of anyone to the Left of themselves as historical curiosities.

That’s not analysis; it can concretely be shown up as false.

The conclusions to the article, about an ‘intellectual revival’ are exactly the sort of luvvie wank which most Labourite activists can’t be arsed with – and for good reason; intellectual revival usually means finding different ways to say we’ll let the bastards do what they want.

“The SWP, on the other hand, are busy organising a “Rage Against New Labour” protest – which I personally think is preposterous.”