Caucus

By Matt Selwood

The Green Party of England and Wales is moving towards a period of unprecedented success. With more councillors on more local authorities than ever before, and with a vast gap opening up on the left of British politics, the party is close to a ‘tipping point’ that will enable it to elect its first Member of Parliament, to take control of its first councils, and to implement more of its policies than ever before.

With such potential, however, comes a great danger of co-option, compromise and loss of focus. It is the intention of this brief paper to explore the situation the Green Party finds itself in, so as to better understand both the potential successes and failures that await it.

What is the Green Party FOR?

From the very first days of my membership in the Green Party, I have been immersed in electoral activity. I have served as Elections Co-ordinator for Oxfordshire, sat on Elections Committee in several different capacities, and visited local parties up and down the country to help their electoral efforts. The Green Party is an electoral vehicle, and winning elections is our aim.

However, too often we forget to ask ourselves why we are trying to win elections. Too often we forget to raise our eyes from pounding the pavements, in order to think more widely about our political vision.

The Green Party, and similar political parties across the world, have set themselves a massive task – no less an objective than radically transforming society; changing both our relationships with each other and with the environment. We are Greens because, unlike ‘environmentalists’ in other political parties, we understand that ‘light green’ reforms to our current political system will not be adequate to the scale of the task. A few solar panels on community buildings, while welcome, will not achieve the change we need. Only the complete transformation of a society driven by economic growth, and social relations based on greed rather than need, will suffice for the Green Party.

Such a goal opens up difficult questions about what can be achieved by electing candidates to local councils – even to the extent of gaining a majority of councillors and control of local authorities. Indeed, such a radical transformation would be extremely difficult to achieve even with a majority in the House of Commons on the scale of Labour in 1997. It should be clear to everyone in the Green Party that electoral activity is not the ‘be all and end all’ of our great task – and, indeed, our own Philosophical Basis tells us as much:

Core Value 9 - Electoral politics is not the only way to achieve change in society, and we will use a variety of methods to help effect change, providing those methods do not conflict with our other core principles.

Councils – a course of action

Clearly, electing councillors is an important element in any strategy for radical social change. Not only does control of public funding allow Greens to re-direct money from harmful activities and towards constructive spending, but the process of election itself exposes the electorate to Green ideas and provides an opportunity for political discussion and debate. It is absolutely not the object of this paper to divert the party from the important task of increasing our representation on local authorities (indeed, it would be odd if that were the case, given that the author is a councillor himself).

However, Greens should certainly think carefully about how they engage with local councils, and their duties as councillors. In the current political situation, most councils are in a constant state of ‘managed decline’, with budgets shrinking year on year as national government continues its centralizing and privatising agenda. Local councillors are often called upon to take extremely difficult decisions about whether to retain services in public hands, and how far to co-operate with the unjust and neo-liberal frameworks set up by New Labour. The establishment of a new school will often only be possible through the ‘academy’ framework, the improvement of housing through the ‘Arms Length Management’ or ‘stock transfer’ processes, and even the maintenance of existing services will often require continuing increases in council tax.

In such a situation, Greens should be extremely cautious before taking on an administrative role, or even supporting the administration of a Council in making cutbacks and ‘efficiency savings’. Ultimately, the goal of Green councillors (and all Green Party activists) should be to make progress towards that radical social change mentioned above – and this will not be achieved by administering the decline of public services. Whatever small environmental or social reforms can be gained from support of a neo-liberal agenda will be outweighed by loss of community trust and the Green reputation for principle – while doing little to progress towards the fundamental change that is needed. US activist Michael Albert talks about the need for ‘non reformist reforms’ – activities within the current system that enable grassroots power and move society towards radical change. It is that kind of activity that Greens should be pursuing.

It is extremely tempting for Green councillors, particularly when their knowledge of the plight of local government and the poor state of local services increases, to move towards a position of accomodation with the existing system – to do the best for their constituents within the establishment framework. However, it should be obvious that the few reforms that may be wrested from the system by such a stance will not be sufficient to achieve the Green vision for society. Instead, councillors need to use their position, primarily, to build community campaigns and contribute to grassroots empowerment. Ultimately, only ‘people power’ has the capacity to achieve the radical transformation that Greens desire, and our efforts in the political sphere should be aimed towards building the networks that will make this possible. Green councillors should be the ’political wing’ of community campaigns. They should use their power as councillors to unearth information for local campaigns from local government bureaucracy, to put pressure through motions on right-wing administrations, and to divert money towards activities that help build community strength and confidence.

Of course, this paper is not suggesting that Green councillors should not engage in the ‘ordinary business’ of the local authority – far from it. It is important, however, that a balance is struck. It is often possible for Green Groups in a ‘balance of power’ situation, for example, to extract concessions from other political groupings without having to agree to unacceptable compromises, and it is always a good idea to engage in ‘constructive opposition’. Greens should not abstain from decision making for abstentions sake – and, indeed, it is important that we prove our competence and ability to function within the local government framework. However, lines must be drawn over which Green councillors should not pass. As our own Philosophical Basis states:

PB503 – We will even work with those who disagree with us where sufficient common ground can be found to do so. However, we do not seek power at any price, and will withdraw our support if we are asked to make irreversible or fundamental compromises.

The first precept for Green councillors, of course, should be that policy decisions reached at Green Party conference, and within their local party, should be respected when working within local authorities. Any other approach renders our internal democracy (one of the finest things about the Green Party, and an important seperation from the authoritarian left) meaningless.

A cause for concern?

Doubtless many readers will be wondering why this article has been written now. Many of the ideals expressed above would, after all, seem to be common currency amongst Green Party members. Unfortunately, however, the history of progressive social movements in general, and the recent history of neighboring Green Parties in particular, show us that good intentions are not enough to preserve the vision for which we are fighting. As more Green councillors are elected, many more opportunities for compromise will arise – opportunities which are already causing controversy within the party today.

For example, Green councillors in some authorities have expressed support not only for existing ‘Arms Length Management Organisations’ in their housing policy, but have supported the transfer of council housing stock towards ALMOs. The argument used, understandable from one perspective, is that ‘ALMOfication’ permits additional resources to be directed into their housing from central government – resources that are desperately needed by tenants. The obvious question – why is central government blackmailing councillors into supporting ALMOs? – does not seem to be given much thought or credence. From a short-term perspective, this stance makes sense. Affordable housing does indeed need more investment. But when viewed from the perspective of the need for long-term, radical social change, support for moves away from democratic control of housing towards privatisation are counter-productive in the extreme.

Similar problems have begun to arise in the field of health and education, with Green councillors tempted to support Academy schools and PFI schemes, because they are the only existing framework for investment. Yet, in the long-term, does it really make sense for Greens to neuter themselves as a political force by supporting the privatisation of our public services? Similarly, for the sake of short-term political gain, some Green councillors are entering into political coalitions which can be used to suggest that, far from being a force for social change, we are in fact a party of apolitical independents – quite happy to bargain away our principles for a couple of wind turbines and support for organic food. In one city, Green councillors sat in coalition with the Conservative Party until May 2007 – while in hindsight, many of those councillors involved in the Oxford coalition with the Liberal Democrats agree that, despite the altruistic and understandable urge to ‘save the council’ from Labour, jumping into bed with a right-wing coalition partner had consequences. Just as one group of councillors left their coalition with the Tories in May 2007, another chose to vote for a Conservative administration for their council (while not entering into an administration with them).

Of course, none of the examples above have proceeded anywhere near as far as the problems of our ‘sister party’, Die Grunen. The German Greens, from a position where they espoused the need for a radical change in society, have now become almost entirely accommodated to neo-liberal economics. Not only have they abandoned the traditional Green position on militarism by supporting the military actions in Kosovo and Afghanistan, they also overwhelmingly supported ex-Chancellor Schroder’s “Agenda 2010” – a programme of massive cuts in social welfare, supported by big business and opposed by every group working with the poorest people in Germany. All of this, so that they could pass some reforming environmental legislation as a partner in government.

Their achievements on climate change have been impressive, no doubt – but by supporting economic attacks on the poor and military attacks against other countries, they have destroyed what it means to be ‘Green’. Not only that, but because their legislation does nothing to achieve the radical transformation in attitudes required for true environmental progress (indeed, their other legislative moves have actively alienated and crushed grassroots social movements), they are no closer to achieving their goals.

In short, it is no good to have excellent, radical policies, if Green representatives on the ground are not implementing them – or worse, are actively doing the opposite.

The Green Party of England and Wales needs to pay attention to the example of our neighbours in Europe. Unless we follow a different path, realizing that accomodation to neo-liberal economics is a dead end (and that the reforms that we do champion should lead us towards greater possibilities for radical social change), we will end up exactly like Die Grunen. And the planet doesn’t have time for us to keep re-learning the same lesson. Its time for a different approach.

What is to be done?

The Green Party is in need of a comprehensive debate about its future strategy, and how it will achieve its aims and objectives. Until that time, our opponents will, fairly, criticise our strategy for social change as muddled and confused. However, even during such a dialogue, there are a number of measures that should be taken immediately, in order to ensure accountability of our elected representatives, the integrity of our national policy, and the confidence of the electorate in our principles:

- Annual reports from Green councillors. Upon formation, Green Groups should agree to produce an annual report, to be distributed to the local, regional and national party. It would include all major decisions taken, successes achieved, and any controversial issues and examples of digressions from national policy. Such reporting will immediately enable ordinary members to understand the decisions taken by councillors – to defend them externally if required, or to hold them to account internally if necessary.

- A requirement to adhere to national policy. The Green Party currently has no requirement for any elected representative to adhere to national policy. The only current requirement is for any candidate/elected representative to make clear that they disagree with party policy when diverging from it. While a formal ‘whipping system’ is not desirable, there must be some formal discussion of when continued divergence from national policy is unacceptable. Clearly, for example, a Green councillor who continually voted against money for climate change mitigation would rapidly be deselected – it is not yet clear that a Green who supported social service cuts would experience the same treatment. It is only fair that the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour is made clear.

- Clearer guidance on coalition politics. On occasion, councillors will wish to go into coalition with other parties. A complete refusal to engage in coalitions is neither practicable nor desirable. However, it is only fair to elected representatives that experience from historical coalitions involving Green Groups be made available, and that the national effects of local decisions are properly understood. Green Groups entering into coalitions should be asked to produce a clear statement of their aims and objectives, along with a list of ‘red line’ issues that would lead to the end of coalition.

- Accountability of Green councillors to their local party. Decentralisation and subsidiarity are important principles of Green politics. I would not want to see an all-powerful central party issuing edicts to local councillors, nor would such a course of action produce effective social change. However, it is important that Green councillors realise that the decisions they take can have serious impacts, not only in their local area, but also throughout their region and on the national profile of the party. Therefore, I would propose that Green councillors should be obliged not only to consult on any Council vote that forms an administration, but to call a properly constituted meeting of their local party and, if there is disagreement, to accept the vote of the majority view. This will ensure that any coalition, or proactive support for another political party within the Council chamber, will at least be debated and supported by the majority of local members.

It has not been the intention of this paper to make accusations or to point fingers. Our elected representatives are currently trying hard, under very difficult circumstances, to make the best decisions for their constituents. In the absence of a unifying Green vision for social change, and a strategy for getting there, they will continue to contradict one another, and Green Party policy. It’s time for a full and frank debate – what kind of party do we want to be? I certainly hope we will be one with our sights aimed up at the stars – after all, as we tell our voters – there’s only once chance, and one planet. Voting Green must make a real difference.

Cllr Matt Sellwood is Deputy Leader of Oxford City Council Green Group. He is also a former member of the National Executive and Regional Council, and a former Secretary of the Association of Green Councillors.