Why don’t left-wing Labour MPs, unions, community campaigns, and any other working-class organisation that wants to co-sign issue a charter of pandemic demands (full pay for all; requisition private hospitals; PPE for key workers; cancel rent; &c)...

...and make the maximum possible amount of noise to amplify it? It’d put Starmer on the spot and make it much harder for him to join any potential “national unity” government, and would provide a basis for opposition if/when he did.

It also gives a clear focus for campaigning (virtually or, where possible/safe, physically). After all, the first mass working-class movement in this country’s history took its very name from the fact that it was organised around a charter of demands.

Revolutionary left groups and radical campaigning organisations have issued charters of this type but our reach is necessarily constrained by our size and resources. Those who command a bit more institutional weight need to show some leadership and ambition.

To be clear, this is isn’t some “why won’t our leaders from on high come to our rescue?”-type shit; clearly we need to organise whatever pressure we can from below to force our organisations and elected representatives to act.

This is the sort of thing I’m talking about in this thread, in form at least: https://berniesanders.com/issues/emergency-response-coronavirus-pandemic/. Doesn’t even need to as extensive as this, and could be a shorter list of headline demands/policies. But this approach - a workers’/emergency plan for the crisis - is the one.