The Class Struggle in UK Parliament: 

Richard Burgon MP, Socialist Campaign Group

June 14, 2025HubMP2012

In the latest episode of the Labour Left Podcast, Bryn Griffiths speaks to Richard Burgon, the Secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs, on the theme of the class struggle in Parliament and the crucial role of the Labour left.

The whole of the Left is currently debating strategy as we deal with the ongoing impact of our defeat in 2019 and  the consequent Starmer ascendancy alongside Morgan McSweeney – his Chief of Staff and henchman.

The first part of the podcast looks at the making of Richard Burgon’s political thinking and the huge debt he owes to the legacy of Tony Benn.

Richard Burgon meets Tony Benn for the first time.

The long-form discussion that follows ranges across Labour’s craven Atlanticism and its impact on Gaza, Richard’s challenge to ‘Reevenomics’, Kanagasoorium’s concept of a Labour ‘sandcastle majority’, Lord Glassman’s Blue Labour threat to anything recognisable as progressive politics and finally we consider the terrifying rise of Reform. 

On the Labour Left Podcast we always go beyond diagnosing the problem. The whole point is not to simply bemoan what is; the point is to actually change things.

So, what should we do? Looking at the options before us Richard considers whether proportional representation could be amongst the defensive measures we use to contain Farage. Moving to the left, we look at the Campaign Group’s continuing role in the context of an emergent Green Left and the constant chatter about a new left party.  We consider the Campaign Group’s role as a buckle and consider the historical precedent of a ‘twin track approach’.

As regular listeners know to expect, it’s not all serious stuff and we have a laugh in the face of adversity along the way.  So, prepare yourself for football angst,  Metalhead confessions and some blunt talk from Dennis Skinner.

If you are enjoying the podcast please subscribe on YouTube or your favourite podcast platform so you never miss a future episode.  If you like what the Labour Left Podcast is trying to achieve, please help us to get the podcast in front of more people by sharing, following, liking, rating and commenting on every episode you watch.

If you’re new to the Labour Left Podcast, please take a look at our back catalogue.  The last episode looked at the fight for a United Ireland with historian Geoff Bell; Previous episodes have included a conversation with Compass’s Neal Lawson; Rachel Shabi talking about her book The Truth About Antisemitism;  Bernard Regan of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign;  Prof Harvey J Kaye on the legacy of the Communist Historians; Prof Corinne Fowler, talking about her book Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain; Andrew Fisher telling the story behind For the Many Not the Few Labour’s 2017 manifesto; Jeremy Gilbert, a Prof of Cultural and Political Theory, a champion of Gramsci, talking about Thatcherism; episodes with Mish Rahman, Rachel Godfrey Wood and Hilary Schan on the contemporary Labour Left; Mike Phipps, author of Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow, taking a long-term look at the Labour left;  Mike Jackson, co-founder of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, on the Great 1984-85 Miners’ Strike; political activist Liz Davies telling her story as the dissenter within Blair’s New Labour; Rachel Garnham, a current co-Chair of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy looking back at the history of the fight for democracy in the British Labour Party; and finally myself telling the story of Brighton Labour Briefing, a local Bennite magazine in the 1980s.

You can watch the podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts here, Audible here and listen to it on Spotify here  If your favourite podcast site isn’t listed, just search for the Labour Left Podcast. 

Bryn Griffiths is an activist in Colchester Labour Party and North Essex World Transformed. He is the Vice-Chair of Momentum and sits on the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy’s Executive. 

Bryn hosts Labour Hub’s spin off – the Labour Left Podcast.  You can find all the episodes of the podcast here  or if you prefer audio platforms (for example Amazon, Audible Spotify, Apple etc,) go to your favourite podcast provider and just search for the Labour Left Podcast.