MOMENTUM has been launched as a new movement in the Labour Party to support the left. The network, while independent of Jeremy Corbyn, will be important for sustaining his work of moving the Labour Party in a new direction and transforming Britain.

The mainstream media and some Labour MPs have expressed alarm about Momentum — but what should those of us on the left outside the Labour Party think? While Momentum is an internal Labour Party group, it is committed to reaching out to all of us on the left, whether we are Labour Party members or not.

Corbyn and John McDonnell are not just the most left-wing leader and shadow chancellor the Labour Party have ever seen but are also taking left politics in a radical, new and exciting direction. Learning from their long years of service on demonstrations and picket lines, where so many of us have met them, they seek to promote mutual learning and co-operation rather than top-down leadership.

Building a real people’s democracy has been the theme of their work. The crowd-sourced questions for Prime Minister’s Questions has transformed the event from a braying public schoolboys’ rally to a people’s event. Diversity is another feature of the Corbyn and McDonnell approach: they are open to new ideas and input from social movements and popular participation.

The launch of Momentum has clearly appalled an Establishment which is still in denial about Corbyn’s popularity. Various scare stories have been run by the newspapers. The Socialist Workers’ Party and other left groups, it is claimed, are aiming to infiltrate Momentum — or Momentum is a vehicle to deselect Labour Party MPs. It is clear that the only paper that supports Corbyn is our own Morning Star.

How intriguing that the accelerating internal Labour Party democracy is so hated by the media. It is clear that no external group is in any position to “take over” Labour Party branches given that party membership has risen so massively. The attempt at fostering a “red scare” is a joke and mainstream media complaints about Momentum look increasingly pathetic.

So how might Greens and others on the left work with Momentum? Obviously this is a matter for Momentum and, of course, whatever direction Momentum takes it will be attacked for doing so by the Guardian and other papers. If Momentum works with other parties and non-Labour activists it will be condemned as weakening Labour; if it only works with Labour members it will be condemned as an internal group dedicated to undermining the Parliamentary Labour Party. Whatever Corbyn does the “blame Corbyn” story will be published, and whatever Momentum does the “blame Momentum” articles will appear.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has argued that Corbyn’s victory could provide the potential for all of us on the left to work together to rid Britain of Cameron’s government, reform the constitution and transform the country in a greener and more socially just direction. Actual electoral pacts are difficult: we still have a politics which is more based on individual parties than the pursuit of political change. However I think Momentum could provide a means of bringing all of us on the left together. If members of different political parties can meet on a local level and work together, this has the potential to build trust.

Momentum’s first big campaign is on electoral registration. Cameron’s changes to the electoral register that took millions of voters off of the roll may have helped him win in May. The removal of yet more voters is his best chance of winning elections in the future. All of us on the left can support a campaign promoting voter registration.

Momentum is also said to be interested in promoting political education with a people’s philosophy, politics and economics to counter the elitist Oxbridge PPE. Again I think this is an easy win for co-operation on the left. Why not organise local debates on issues from common ownership to climate change? Members of other parties or none could contribute to discussions where possible. Persuasion rather than fear-filled sectarianism could be a result and politics is a battle of ideas as well as an electoral contest.

Joint campaigning on issues might also be possible. For example, different political organisations already co-operate in the People’s Assembly to fight austerity. Non-electoral campaigning work between different parties could be accelerated.

Electoral pacts looks distant, however there are circumstances where red-Green co-operation has already occurred. The London Mayoral elections next May look like a perfect opportunity: voters have more than one vote and to win a candidate has to gain over 50 per cent of the vote. Both as an independent and later as Labour Party candidate, Ken Livingstone was given a preference by many Green Party voters. On the GLA Labour and Greens have worked together in the past. In this regard Momentum could perhaps play a positive role.

The very fact that as a non-Labour Party member I am commenting on Momentum will seem inappropriate to some Labour members: however the non-party members who write for the Evening Standard and other newspapers run by billionaires seem to have a free run on telling Labour what to do.

We are slowly moving to a politics that is socialist, diverse and democratic. Awareness is growing that while this has been accelerated by Corbyn’s work, it is not the product of just one party or just one individual. Momentum has the potential to do something very exciting and while those of outside of Labour cannot of course join, we would value the chance to contribute to common work and discussion — if invited to do so.