The Ahmed Hussain Manouevre

Remember former Welsh Assembly Member Dr John Marek? Formerly an AM for Labour, he was deselected in 2003 and successfully defended his seat on a John Marek Independent Party ticket. For a time he was seen as a useful vehicle for the left Welsh nationalists of Cymru Goch to develop a left regroupment vehicle not unlike the Scottish Socialist Party. After some shenanigans aimed at excluding the "Brit left" from the eventual lash-up (which got a bit of coverage in the Weekly Worker at the time), CG and JMIP dissolved themselves into Forward Wales.

In its brief existence (FW disbanded earlier this year) the party didn't really achieve a great deal, beyond recruiting former Labour minister Ron Davies and polling a stunning 17,280 votes (1.9%) in the 2004 European election. Clearly Marek and Davies thought the party label was more a hindrance than a help and elected to stand as independents in the 2007 Welsh Assembly elections. Neither were successful.

Nonetheless FW was part of the far left, standing for a democratic socialist Wales (while, strangely, not officially ever calling for Welsh independence). You can read its statement of principles here.

I was therefore tickled to learn "comrade" Marek had performed the Ahmed Hussain manouevre. i.e. Jumping straight from the far left (in Ahmed's case, formerly a sitting SWP councillor) to the Tories. Well done, John! You can read his sorry statement here.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with some elements of Marek's statement. Sad to say, on some civil liberties issues the Tories do outflank Labour from the left, particularly on ID cards. Quite why the government continues to extend petty authoritarianism over more and more aspects of social life remains a mystery to me. But what worries me more is their ability to get away with rafts of repressive measures without so much as a ripple of mass opposition.

I digress. I wish John Marek all the best in his new home and hope his socialist conscience doesn't trouble him too much.