London's left and the peach paper

I just posted on the far right in the London Assembly elections. If you only want to read one post, read that one instead of this one. But I have to say the far left has a pretty crap presence in the proportional section (that's the one with the "peach" ballot - see left) of the GLA election.

Basically, there are three choices to the left of Labour, and all of them are appalling.

In the order they appear on the ballot, first you've got the Left List. That's the electoral front for the SWP, who lost the electoral name "Respect" when Linda Smith wouldn't give it back to them. Their list includes Lindsey German, Big Brother's Carole Vincent, the likeable but useless Oliur Rahman, and Kumar Murshid, who was at the centre of the corruption allegations around Lee Jasper and the other Ken cronies. On Kumar read: John's blog; Vikram Dodd's profile; or news stories on his "alleged" corruption from the Graun, the Evening Boris, the Beeb. In short, the new Stalinists.

Next up, "Respect (George Galloway)". The fact they put George's name in the name of the party is a good indication of the man's megalomania and delusions of grandeur: the party is the vehicle of this man's madness. Their politics aren't even left-wing, but a hodge-podge of Islamism and demagoguery. In short: the would-be new Stalin.

Finally, Unity for Peace and Socialism. Apparently, they are "an electoral alliance between the Communist Party of Britain and the British domiciled sections of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of Bangladesh and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE)." Their politics can be summed up by their call for "respect for China's sovereignty and borders today following attacks by supporters of Tibetan separatists on the Olympic torch relay", which will surely resonate with Londoners... In short: the old Stalinists.

What a pathetic bunch.

P.S. This made me laugh.