JO: yes

AL: … and therefore they’ve not been able to pull back on any of those gains.

JO: Do you feel that party structure can be … the people in the different positions and the structure itself can be improved?

AL: oh I am sure … more democratic … it needs to be much more pulled from the bottom up. Those people who are the like the sort of great lords of the Labour Party need to have a lot less control of the Labour Party …

JO: and who are we talking about here … in particular? Institutionally …

AL: Tony Blair. The people in the hierarchy of the Labour Party.

JO: The hierarchy is what …. the National Executive …

AL: I think historically it’s even people who are not in parliament. I think there’s still a whole structure around the Labour Party that still very much tries to control it. What’s happened is that because the Momentum movement has been from the grassroots up, they haven’t had that same level of control.

JO: that’s a large membership organisation, yes?

AL: a very large membership organisation.

I began to see that I don’t think parliament and the people who have power over society would give it up very easily. So, I think if Jeremy Corbyn did get elected on a left slate, I think we’d see a run on the pound. We’d see them doing everything possible to stop him from implementing the policies he has put forward.

JO: ok … and you ought to tell me a little bit about why the Socialist Worker. I have to tell you as someone who has been to maybe 10 or 20 big protest events in his life, they always seem to pull a fast one in terms of being the most visible …

AL: well that’s because we are rooted in building these movements … we don’t just come in and put our stalls up …

JO: you’ve definitely mastered that sort of skill set …

AL: I think it’s really, really important that you get your message out there and be very clear … you can completely support what’s happening here today ….

JO: when did you get into the …

AL: oh a long, long time… 20 or 25 years ago ..

JO: and what was it that attracted you to that in the first instance?

A: well, initially for me, it was Irish politics. It was during the hunger strikes and I saw the fact that the British state would not in any way concede to, and allow people to die

JO: Bobby Sands etc

AL: exactly .. and then, more and more, I began to see that I don’t think parliament and the people who have power over society would give it up very easily. So, I think if Jeremy Corbyn did get elected on a left slate, I think we’d see a run on the pound. We’d see them doing everything possible to stop him from implementing the policies he has put forward.

JO: yes

AL: So, I think whilst you support left movements like that, there needs to be something bigger. There has to be a real movement that can cause that change, and I think that’s a revolutionary change.

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