The conference had three major themes. The first was to de-legitimise any attempt to articulate an alternative strategy for the growth of Respect and to permit discussion only inside very narrow boundaries permitted by the SWP / Galloway leadership. Lindsey German really set the tone by accusing Socialist Resistance of being Islamophobic for raising the issue of the omission of LGBT rights from the manifesto. She shifted the whole debate from a serious weakness in the manifesto to just how Islamophobic it is to raise any criticism. It was breathtaking in its use of a very discreditable debating technique. John Rees, George Galloway, Michael Lavallette and Oli Rahman all made a point of refuting some of the demands that we were making. The whole thing felt like the CPSU in 1924. Voices contrary to the leadership were allowed to speak but mainly in order that they could be given a kicking by the apparatus and the CAC made sure that the list of speakers was manipulated to guarantee this happened every time.

Political retreat

Since 2000/2001 it appeared that the SWP was being won to a much less sectarian concept of building a new party in Britain. They were prepared to a much greater extent than ever before to work with other forces. Their work in building the anti-war movement was exemplary. The correctly shifted their oganisation to an orientation around Respect. What was lacking from all this was a clarification of what forces would have to be brought into a new party and why. Also lacking was a grasp that for many activists in the unions and from a Labour background the SWP has a very negative image. This image often corresponds with reality and it did so with a vengenace at the conference. The conference was a retreat to an old style sectarian conception of building organisations.

Brilliant ideas

The other worrying theme is the idea that policy is determined only by 3-5 people and the function of the rest of the organisation is to carry out their brilliant ideas. Speaker after speaker demanded that Respect have an internal regime that would not be tolerated in any union. There is no need to waste time on minutes, communicating with branches and a press. All we need to do is spontaneously intervene in the latest local crisis and bring the Respect message.

Both Respect and the SWP have taken some major steps backward. There had been evidence that sections of the SWP really understood that Respect had a major contribution to make to the creation of a new working class party. This approach has been ditched. The very narrow organisational framework that George Galloway prefers has now been adopted by them. If the reports that we have been getting about numbers of independent delegates resigning on account of what they saw are true this is encouraging and worrying. It shows that they have understood the issues. However they are the very people on whom we would base our fightback. We need large numbers of new class conscious Respect members. That is why, for example, we need to pick up on the reports in the gay press and use them to explain what we did and why they should be in Respect. It’s a difficult argument to have but we need to do it.

The only positive sections were the debate on the environment and health. These were conducted in a comradely manner and was free of the anecdotes about how we booked a big room and gave out lots of leaflets.

The SWP has decided to put very strict limits on how Respect will grow. Any independently minded militant at the event was appalled, that is if they weren’t humiliated from the rostrum. The organisation that displayed itself the weekend is one that RMT, FBU and PCS members looking a political home would not find welcoming. This was further proved by the dire trade union meeting on Monday 21 November. That was old style SWP sectarianism of the worst sort with only one non-SWP speaker and four SWP members saying that they had had meetings and everything is brilliant.

Tuesday’s screening of the film The Day After Tomorrow at the Genesis cinema in Mile End was attended by ten people, three of them members of the Green Party. Following a two day conference with two rallies on consecutive nights within twenty minutes’ walk of each other shows inspired leadership.

However Socialist Resistance can record some successes. Our fringe meeting was large and made us a pole of attraction. We know that our press is being read and the arguments discussed. We consistently picked up the votes from the non-aligned members and you couldn’t help but feel that they were so vicious towards us because we are saying things they know they should be doing. This is not the time to leave Respect.