I joined the Green Party briefly, around a decade ago, along with 60 000 others who joined in the same week for the same reason. It was a protest, when Nigel Farage was, as usual, all over the television and his party-of-the-moment had just been granted a party political broadcast slot. When the Greens asked why Farage’s outfit had jumped the queue, the BBC said it was because his party had more members than the Greens.

Well, that was the first time we’d heard of that rule, and it seemed odd, when the Conservative Party did not even have members as such — but anyway 60,000 of us joined the Greens that week, while the BBC’s statement of that new rule was still on the table, so the Greens got that party political broadcast slot.

Job done. I stayed for a few months I think, and found the Green Party to be pretty dysfunctional and, other than what was then Caroline Lucas’s constituency, irrelevant to most people’s needs, so I gave up with them and joined the effort to get a genuine socialist (Corbyn) in charge of the Labour Party. That didn’t work too well, either.

Buts. Lots of buts

But the Green Party, despite not being socialist, democratic or even particularly environmentalist, despite a scandal over a serious sex-offender being accepted as an election agent, despite the dogs dinner they’ve made of their various incursions into local councils, and despite multiple court-cases over their inability to let women talk about biology, they continue to pick up membership — mainly I suppose because people are desperate for a party that’s not 100% genocidal.

But I am fed up of defensive politics. Continually accepting the least-awful of the existing parties carries us ever further away from a system that will actually work for people and has been demonstrated time and time again, takes us ever further towards a far-right government.

Tackling the far right

This week, Zack Polanski spoke in my town, and the meeting was heckled by Reform activists. A friend approached them and said what he thought of people heckling others’ meetings. They asked him what the crowd gathered for Polanski would have done if there was a Reform rally in Hastings. He had to admit, probably the same thing — and yes, I myself have been at women’s meetings that have been more disruptively and aggressively attacked by people who think they’re socialists — heckling other people’s meetings really does not have the effect you think.

But look how the media are reporting the disruption of the Polanski rally…

Here are the hecklers — on the prom, on the other side of a wall, above the Green gathering. I don’t think anyone who was there could possibly have mistaken them for Polanski supporters who were ‘at the rally’ — but those vexatious headlines could make people think so…

Tackling police violence

And now there’s a filthy row going on on my social media feeds because I criticized the media for a blanket condemnation of Polanski when he shared a post that questioned the police kicking that bloke in the head after he’d been floored by a taser. Rather than discuss police tactics, some people are furious with me for defending Polanski (I wasn’t – I was criticizing the media), or for criticizing the police (I was doing that – but specifically, police in London, and only where they’re arguably going against their own rules).

It makes me feel as though a lot of people who a few years ago were fairly middle-of-the-road are now far-right, authoritarian, pro-violence maniacs. I’m sure they’re not, really they’re just being swept along by a very unhealthy tide of anger which at the moment, the media are working very hard to direct against a) the #FreePalestine movement and b) the Green Party. Like a lot of people, I’m probably going to have to vote defensively next week – I’m going to have to vote Green, because the alternatives are horrendous.

Right, focus Kay, focus. You don’t have to join the Green Party. However professional Polanski’s Corbyn-mark-two act is, the Green Party won’t go with him. They’re still lost in the mire of accusing anti-Zionists of antisemitism, and women’s rights campaigners of ‘transphobia’.

No more party politics until we’ve got a real socialist party running properly. In the meantime, push back by doing more for the #FreePalestine movement and Stop the War, and more community-building.

Phew! That sorted that out. Have a nice May weekend!

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