What I did on Thursday night

On Thursday night I went to my Respect Renewal branch committee. I heard a report from a couple of people who’d been at an afternoon demonstration outside a health centre that New Labour wants to privatise. We discussed building for a meeting in support of the people of Gaza. A couple of the younger committee…

Liam

February 1, 2008

1–2 minutes

On Thursday night I went to my Respect Renewal branch committee.

I heard a report from a couple of people who’d been at an afternoon demonstration outside a health centre that New Labour wants to privatise.

We discussed building for a meeting in support of the people of Gaza. A couple of the younger committee members had the idea last Friday. The meeting is happening this Saturday. They’ve had thousands of leaflets printed which they’ll distribute today and tomorrow.

We discussed building for next Thursday’s meeting on climate change and how we want to get lots of young people from the Gaza meeting along to it.

We discussed the processes for the GLA election and agreed that our next branch meeting would discuss what we think about Ken Livingstone and Lindsey German in the mayoral election.

We started working out what to do about spending cuts for services to the vulnerable

We decided to post out a newsletter and a copy of the new Respect paper to all our members.

We heard a twenty minute report from one of the youngest committee members about how we build up ward and branch structures.

10 responses to “What I did on Thursday night”

Jo

February 1, 2008 at 9:50 am

It makes me feel rather nostalgic. It reads like a report of large Labour Party GC during the early 1980s. I don’t know whether that’s a good or a bad thing!

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andy newman

February 1, 2008 at 10:57 am

When you say “branch” Liam, how big an area does that cover, a ward, several wards?

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Phil

February 1, 2008 at 10:58 am

What a waste of an evening – to think, all that time you could have been writing anonymous polemics against people you don’t know over issues that don’t affect you, and without leaving the house. You’re a great loss to political activism.

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Digger

February 1, 2008 at 4:03 pm

I thought one of the issues raised in the great Respect debate was whether Branches had democratic meetings in which all members could participate. When do the members in Tower Hamlets RR or Res[pect meet?

I am also getting confused about the status of Respect Renewal as meetings involving the same individuals are sometimes badged as Respect and sometimes Respect Renewal. Is Respect Renewal a platform in a larger party called Respect?

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andy newman

February 1, 2008 at 4:59 pm

Is Respect Renewal a platform in a larger party called Respect?

That is the legal and constitutinal position.

of course de facto we are a different party – but legality counts.

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Paul

February 1, 2008 at 5:41 pm

When Andy says “of course de facto we are a different party – but legality counts,” what he means is “read between the lines; we can’t admit to the truth or the Electoral Commission will withdraw their very kind letter.” For Marxists, when there is a contradiction between form and content, it is the latter that matters. That holds true even for the Electoral Commission. We will be sure to pass on your clarification of the situation to the Electoral Commission. (Abuse deleted – LIAM)

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Paul

February 1, 2008 at 6:42 pm

Liam, thanks for not deleting the substance of my last post. However, your explanation for what you did delete is misleading. How on earth can “Have a nice day” be dismissed as abuse. Sarcasm? Ok. But it hardly constitutes abuse, although people who read my post, and your commentary, will be lead to believe that I was abusive. Or they will do if they never read what I wrote before you editted it out. Please leave this clarification in place. That way people can make up their own minds as to the “abusive” nature of this deletion. In general I don’t have much of a problem with your moderation of this blog. And I can live happily with the loss of the closing sarcastic remark.

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Phil

February 1, 2008 at 7:08 pm

When Andy says “of course de facto we are a different party – but legality counts,” what he means is

What he means, Paul, is that nobody has left RESPECT to join RR; nobody has been expelled from RESPECT for joining RR; no RESPECT office-holder has been disciplined for joining RR; and there is nothing in the RESPECT constitution that makes RESPECT membership incompatible with membership of RR.

HTH.

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Jason

February 1, 2008 at 7:35 pm

Well I for one think it’s worth having these little snippets of what people do in meetings.
In my opinion, the most interesting things were the Gaza solidarity and the campaign against the privaisation of the health centre.

Whilst I retain a great scepticism about the vaibility of Respect in either of its incarnations, a community campaign, drawing in both trade unionists and the non-unionised local working class, with socialists playing an active and organising role is exactly the sort of thing we should be supporting.

Perhaps links could be made with the following campaing in Lewisham http://defendeducationlewisham.wordpress.com/

Not sure how far away you are- being from Manchester- but it must be worth making links between these sort of campiagns, surely?

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Carole Swords

February 10, 2008 at 10:57 pm

Can the members of the SWP please inform me why they keep on insisting on being called the Respect Party
when they are affiliated to the SWPand that is there master
Just to reiterate that you – split away from The Respect Party – The Respect party is still thriving without the SWP
Why do you have to carry on with your vicious attacks
point scoring,
I would like to remind you that you are the SWP .

please explain to me why you are ASHAMED of being called the SWP.
what shame is attached to that!

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