Working at the heart of a major trade union, I have frightening daily insights into the state of our society. We organise in places where entire communities are on poverty pay and reliant on foodbanks, working several jobs and not knowing where their next pay packet is coming from. We are fighting to prevent industries that sustain large parts of the country from collapsing. All this was before the government horrifically mishandled a pandemic, which has burned out already struggling public services and hit the most vulnerable people hardest.

We know how to fix this crisis. We need to organise and win on huge structural investment, secure jobs, and new rights to protect people against workplace bullies from Sports Direct to the Home Secretary. A socialist response is necessary for long-term economic survival, and electorally popular too. This is why it’s so disappointing that last week, while Boris Johnson was stealing Labour’s Green Industrial Revolution (in name at least), Labour’s leadership was busy facilitating infighting and factionalism.

Keir Starmer was right to promise left-wing policies alongside consensus-building across the party. If this was genuine, he needs to stop contributing to the party’s right carrying out sustained factional assaults in the middle of a pandemic crisis. They have blithely tossed procedure aside to block the firefighters’ union representative from chairing our national executive. Party headquarters has been attempting to seize direct control of local parties from Streatham to Bristol over the wishes of members, and even to control the Twitter activity of elected youth officials. This follows the removal or sidelining of every left-wing frontbencher. Most obviously, Keir Starmer has refused Jeremy Corbyn the Labour whip despite a balanced process returning him to the party. It’s difficult to imagine the howls of outrage had the Corbyn leadership behaved a way that was a tenth as fractional.

The leadership may simply hope that the mess will blow over by Christmas. It will not, unless they act decisively to end this damaging schism with a few simple, non-factional steps. They could reverse the removal of the whip to Jeremy Corbyn, a decision which is clouded by a number of legal issues. They could end the overreach of Labour headquarters into the legitimate business of local parties, and affirm their support for a democratic, movement-based party. Finally, they could be clear that the left has a place in their coalition, clearing the way for grown-up conversations about policy and political differences rather than destructive infighting.    

The right, of course, want to pretend their vendetta is not about policy and politics. April’s leaked report showed how a culture of personal bitterness, and the chaotic and factional legacy system of internal discipline, was a major blockage to the Corbyn leadership’s moves to improve the system to cope with a quadrupled membership and swiftly resolve antisemitism allegations. And equally apparent was the intense hostility of a hardline faction to even mild social-democratic policy (presumably including Keir Starmer’s own commitments), their praise of bigoted neoconservatives, and their consistent prioritising of faction fights above winning elections. So in order to campaign for the redistributive approach needed to end our current crisis, we need to campaign for the place of socialists and trade unionists in the party we founded.

But my biggest fear is not just for the left of the party. It’s the risk of members and supporters simply becoming demoralised and deciding that this is not a place for them. Some would welcome that. I would argue that when Labour has fallen out of touch with so many communities, and when voters are receiving their information from a dizzying array of conflicted and biased sources, then an active and motivated organising base on the ground in all corners of the country is absolutely essential.

Labour has an unhelpful habit of airing its internal grievances publicly. But there is another side to this: that we are made up of people who are morally and intellectually serious about politics and our different visions for a fairer world. It’s what makes us a powerful rallying point to fight the Conservatives and the damage they are doing. Take it from a trade unionist: Labour is your voice in parliament. Unite, representing hundreds of thousands of workers, will fight for your rightful place in the Labour coalition.

I would urge members to share this piece far and wide and support left-wing groups’ calls and campaign of motions to restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn. I would also urge members to stay active in their local party, in touch with fellow socialists and trade unionists, and challenge any attempts to undermine our party’s democracy. We would also like you to stay in touch with Unite and our work by following Unite Politics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Above all, I would urge people to stay calm and collected in spite of an extremely difficult year in politics and beyond, to stay active in your union and the Labour Party, and to keep organising for an end to this crisis and a more equal, decent society.