I want to run the idea by you on creating twin partnerships between local UK Labour Party constituencies and local German SPD constituencies. This would be an attempt to create links between the parties not only at the top but also at the grass roots. Such partnerships may include visiting each other in turn, exchanging ideas on how things are done locally, learning how one may do things better/differently from the other etc.

I am sure this idea (of course interest must be there on both sides) could be interesting for other LI regions. It could also further encourage making Labour UK more international if the grassroots were exposed to the international dimension and increase awareness and importance of LI for the Labour Party as an important contributor.

Dalvir Singh (LI Correspondent Germany)

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Labour should have a role in turning things around. But what role? Leading by example, along with our French and German colleagues? If this is the case, then there is no need to look at specific countries in isolation. We need to get the right policies in place, have a positive new internationalist approach. And then wait for people in other countries to emulate our success. And this success is not just electoral success – we need benchmarks to judge us on social cohesion, reducing inequality and creating a more just society.

I highlight the far-right threat in Hungary, but would also highlight the way that EU enlargement has created a periphery which has been great for multinational companies, but left millions in poverty. Everything is connected. We can put Hungary and the MSZP under the microscope – it would be a great start. But we need to catch a reflection of ourselves in the mirror.

We may be looking at the end of the European project, a collapse into self-interest. New Labour set a great example in this. I remember well, that for Tony Blair, Europe was always about economic competitors, never allies, or friends, or partners. Labour has played a negative role in the PES, blocking radical proposals and until recently, rejecting calls for stronger financial regulation.

So what credibility does Labour have at a European level? And what credibility does the PES itself have, with so many failed parties, so prone to corruption and bureaucratic hubris? Until answers emerge to this, what can we actually do, other than try to message through to the leadership of the Party, that a real problem exists, that the PES is rotting from the inside out?

When we have a failing party in whatever country, what procedures should exist? Should the PES be able to send a ‘Task Force’ monitor, track and advise? Where do Labour stand in this…. are we able to pool our resources and create a genuine people’s movement at a European level?

The answers to this will, I expect, define the Europe that our children will inherit, whether it is a failed bureaucratic blow-out, crippled by economic failure, or a responsive and democratic pooling of nations, cities and communities, drawing from the strengths of the people that it represents.

– Carl Rowlands (Hungary and Central Europe Branch)

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