Liam redux

,

Freeze that mother!

This is the resolution from Tower Hamlets Respect to conference later this month. Conference agrees that Respect has to take a leadership role in defending working people, the poor and vulnerable in the current economic climate. Our elected representatives, candidates in future elections and branches have to start agitating around issues which will directly appeal…

Liam
1–2 minutes

This is the resolution from Tower Hamlets Respect to conference later this month.

Conference agrees that Respect has to take a leadership role in defending working people, the poor and vulnerable in the current economic climate.

Our elected representatives, candidates in future elections and branches have to start agitating around issues which will directly appeal to the people who will be most severely affected.

Conference therefore agrees that we will start publicly calling for the following demands and that Respect will seek to play a major part in initiating campaigns to achieve them:

  • A freeze on council rents for the coming financial year.
  • A freeze on leaseholder service charges for the coming financial year.
  • A freeze on council tax, parking fees and other charges for the coming financial year.
  • Pay increases to at least match inflation for all local government employees.
  • Maintenance of current levels of local government service and employment.
  • Demand that central government meets any funding gap. Money currently spent on the wars and socially harmful programmes can be diverted for this purpose.
  • Investment in a programme of council house building.

49 responses to “Freeze that mother!”

  1. jim jay Avatar
    jim jay

    Interesting.

    I’m a little confused though. You’re calling for councils to freeze their income and increase their spending? Where is the bit of the plan that explains where the extra money comes from?

    Cuts in services? Eliminating consultants and executives? (I mean sacking not shooting, of course, transitional demands and all that). Sell off of disused/unused land?

    I’m not saying you can’t square that circle, but as it stands surely you’re passing a resolution asking people to campaign for something that can’t actually be achieved.

    That’s ok if you just want to make a propaganda point I suppose – but I hope the left has higher aspirations than that.

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  2. Joseph Kisolo Avatar
    Joseph Kisolo

    Not sure I agree with a freeze on council tax, wouldn’t it be better to move from council tax to a more fare local income tax?

    We could then call for a reduction in rates for the poorest but then call for a local business tax to pay for extra spending.

    On parking fees, in hospitals etc. they should of course be scraped but in the centre of towns I’ve got no problem with them being high as people have the opportunity to use public transport.

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  3. Liam Avatar
    Liam

    Jim – I think the amended version which is now up takes care of your concen.

    Joseph – at the moment parking charges earn a lot of money for local government and there is an obvious temptation to raise them as a semi concealed way of generating extra income. Who suffers most from them?

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  4. Andy newman Avatar
    Andy newman

    Indeed, the main idea behind such a resolution should be to indicate the line of march, so it is completely correct to say get central government to cough up.

    A more detailed implementation can then be drawn up later, for example, emphasisisng the way business rates now go to the central exchequer, instead of direct to the council. To take just this one example, were Tower hamlets able to set its own rates on businesses in its area, and keep the money itself, then it would certainly have enough money to fill any shortfall.

    Encouraging motion.

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  5. arbuckle Avatar
    arbuckle

    can’t council workers get more than the “rate of inflation” whatever that means. We all know for workers the rate of inflation is probably around 8-9% so is this mnotion saying this is what the rises would be or is it going along with the bull from the goverment?

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  6. Jim L. Avatar
    Jim L.

    Joseph – provided people do have access to public transport yes, but most places do not have the sort of provision London has.

    Funding can come from using the reserves while campaigning for a fairer settlement from central government and for the replacement of the council tax with local tax. Jospeh and Andy’s business rates idea are good ones also. Removing council tax discounts for second homes would have a big impact in my neck of the woods, not sure what the impact would be in Tower Hamlets.

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  7. SWP member Avatar
    SWP member

    You can pass the motion, polish it up, work out all the detailed plans you like. But what are you going to do about it?

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  8. Liam Avatar
    Liam

    We are open to suggestions.

    Have a look at the previous piece giving details of the levels of poverty in Tower Hamlets. The fact that a political organisation with some elected representatives in the area is willing to take positions like the ones outlined in the resolution should incline socialists in other currents to take a positive attitude to it. At last night’s meeting there was universal agreement that whatever local activities take place around the economic situation will have to mean working closely with SWP members, and by extension, anyone else who can agree with the broad thrust of these politics.

    Squabbling over recent history at this point is just downright futile.

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  9. artful dodger Avatar
    artful dodger

    funnilly enough I agree with Liam. The economic situation is very serious and I think we are at a serious point. Ideologically the ruling class are divided and more importantly on the defensive. The pro market rhetoric now sounds more hollow than ever. The moves made by the SWP are I think positive. I think the meeting with Larry Elliott and Jeremy Corbyn and others is a good thing as well as the protests organised by the Charter. What ever the differences we need to unite. I know that Galloway said he would never ever share a platform with the SWP but even he must be able to see this is more than a tad crazy.

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  10. David Ellis Avatar
    David Ellis

    artful dodger you are an idiot. Anybody who can dismiss the lessons of the recent SWP attempt to wreck Respect even while they are still so fresh is not a serious politician.

    The SWP is split now between ultra-lefts and those who want to give the electoral thing another bash but that wing will not be trying to reach an accommodation with Respect they will once again be trying to out manoeuvre and destroy it. They are even now trying to reach an accommodation with some labour lefts to cut Respect out of the picture. They are a SECT. The SECT is the only thing that matters. How many times do you need to see this in action? Or are you also part of the system of SECTS that carve up the left between themselves and have tacit agreements not to tread on each other toes? Let those in the SWP who want to take electoral politics seriously join Respect and do some exemplary work but let’s have no more talk of deals with the idiots.

    swp member says: what are you going to do about it.

    Presumably Respect are going to try to get members elected who will go all the way to defend their communities against capitalist cuts and fascist attacks and try and get radical socialists elected to Parliament to use that platform to expose capitalism and treachery whilst you lecture from the side lines.

    Sorry for calling you an idiot artful but come on . . .

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  11. chjh Avatar
    chjh

    Genuine question – why not call for the council to pay the local government pay claim in full? As a UNISON member, that line reads particularly oddly to me.

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  12. skidmarx Avatar
    skidmarx

    ” They are a SECT” If you get shouty people might thin You ARE mad

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  13. David Ellis Avatar
    David Ellis

    What, as opposed to a soiled nappy?

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  14. Clive Searle Avatar
    Clive Searle

    Artless Dodger said “I know that Galloway said he would never ever share a platform with the SWP but even he must be able to see this is more than a tad crazy.”

    Did he really? When?

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  15. sloth Avatar
    sloth

    can’t we have a bit of reason here. I am not sure if simply attacking the SWP is really going to get us very far. What ever the past surely we have more to unite us than divides us. I despiar when I see Respect members attacking the left. Its makes me doubt its ability to be a progressive force. Lets face it Clive, Galloway did say that and other things but lets let that rest. I think given whats happening in the world we need to build resistance not attack the revolutionary left. I agree that recent suggestions by the SWP are good ones. A conference is going to be held on the economic crisis in december. A lot of local protests regarding gas and food prices and the like will be held, a london wide meeting involving Larry Elliott and others and other regional meetings. This seems to me to be generally positive. I mean we can say we should also do this and that but come on Respect are not doing anything with regards this economic crisis. If they are, apologies and great. It seems that the bitterness of Respect members will further isolate them from real events taking place.

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  16. David Ellis Avatar
    David Ellis

    Bitterness is nothing to do with it.

    Galloway never said he would not share a platform with the SWP, he said he would never speak of them again. You SWP people are the deliberate polluters of the atmosphere. You are not the left you are just a silly sect.

    I don’t speak for Respect by the way, I speak as an individual.

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  17. Richard Searle Avatar
    Richard Searle

    Just to add a note to this debate,
    ( just for all those naysayers, we can work to together)

    Respect members, non aligned socialists and SWP members in Manchester joined together petitioning against fuel poverty and in favour of taxing the energy companies today in the city centre

    But prior to this another more worrying incident occured.

    This is a short report on the matter

    BNP turn up in Manchester City Centre. Saturday 4th October

    This news will come should send a chill up everyone’s spine. The BNP turned out on Market Street in Manchester city centre this Saturday lunchtime. About a dozen members attempted to distribute their newspaper. No one can re-call the far right putting in appearance in the city centre since the early 80s when the NF were knock off the streets and denied a public presence. At the centre of this rabble was the Manchester BNP organiser Derek Adams. Without knowing what motivated the master race to turn out today. It should focus minds to the fact they felt confident to do this.
    Market Street has been the focus of the Left wing and campaigning stalls for the last 2 decades. In fact we would consider it our turf ( even if it has to be shared with the odd crazies at times)

    The good news was that it didn’t take much to disperse them. Respect & SWP members ensured that their appearance was short lived, and moved them off Market Street. There was also a healthy response to this action by members of the public.

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  18. blake Avatar
    blake

    good news. nothing like a bit of unity in action, David Ellis I see would appear to rather see socialist divided!!

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  19. Clive Searle Avatar
    Clive Searle

    The trouble with sloth and dodger’s point’s is that they are simply not true. And telling fibs doesn’t help unity where it is needed.

    I can trade an SWP insult for every Galloway insult. I can make up a few to spice up the blogs but quite frankly it’s pointless.

    So the fact remains that Respect has split – but it’s over and done with. Both sides have now moved on – we are now in two separate organisations. So let us debate facts not rumour and inuendo. Let us see where we can work together rather than trade on past sleights.

    Can we work together? Yes – we’ve been doing so in Manchester over climate change, over the Convention of the Left, over fuel poverty, over the BNP. We may not always agree but we can work constructively where we do.

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  20. blake Avatar
    blake

    I agree a lot with what you say Clive and its pointless trading insults. I am sure lots of Respect members will welcome the developments taken by the SWP and hopefully join in. I certainly see no reason not to get alongside each other around the protests being called. Likewise when Respect suggest something in response to the economic meltdown they should welcome that as well. Yes there will be differences, and to be honest I am more towards the SWP than RR but thats not the issue. It would be interesting how you think Clive the left can respond to the economic disaster which appears to be unfolding? the free marketeers are ideologically in tatters, what does Brown do, bring in Mandy!!!!

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  21. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    Thanks for the report about the BNP, Richard.
    Yes agree that pracical unity in action is important.
    Let us know about upcoming events on the fule poverty campaign (didnt get to hear about this latest stall for example- though admittedly ave ben rather rpeoccupied with adopting a child so less active than normal).

    Jason

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  22. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    On the freeze campaign I think if this is proposed as a wider campaign to e.g. get local unions to sign up to, have demos and direct action then the demands are quite good as united front demands.

    Of course those who say we need a steeply progressive income tax plus punitive taxes on the rich and big pay increases for all rank and file workers are correct. These though would be the polcies and contributions of socialists and poltical groups within the wider united front campaign.

    So I’d make the resolution action focussed and have a more sharply socialsit policy of workers’ copntrol, for the party/group’s program (even if lost it would be good to raise the politics) and keep the demands abovce as a proposal for united front action.

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  23. bill j Avatar
    bill j

    Yes it is a shame that information about this campaign wasn’t more widely shared. Hopefully it will be in future.

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  24. Chris S Avatar
    Chris S

    Jason, Bill the campaign went out on the CotL list IIRC.

    I wonder if the BNP felt more confident after the attack on the RCG by the Aryan Strike Force a couple of months ago?

    It is good that they got run off Market Street. Well done to the comrades who did it, we should make sure they never try to come back.

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  25. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    I’m not sure what the CotL list is but can you publicise how to join it. Bill though as one of the main organisers of it should surely be on that list?

    Defintiely well done on running the BNP off the street.

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  26. bill j Avatar
    bill j

    Well I may have missed it. If so apols for not checking my e-mails better!

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  27. Clive Searle Avatar
    Clive Searle

    In response to Blake’s question about how the left should respond, i think we have to think about this on a number of levels.

    Obviously there is a simple propaganda argument that says the market has failed so we need socialism. All well and good, in and of itself, but not enough in my opinion to match the scale of the problem.

    The left needs to put forward concrete ways in which people can be shielded from the worst effects of the crisis. We already have a situation of rising child poverty. If the crisis comes even close to some of the worst predictions then we will see real desperation amongst families across the country.

    The left will be faced with a situation of rising unemployment, a pay freeze, service cuts, etc and sadly finds itself much weaker, both numerically and geographically, than it was during the last big recession.

    So the reality in that no one force on the left is able to pose as a national champion – in fact we are likely to see localised responses where different groups have greater strengths (elected representatives, union support, etc) or where new campaigns emerge unexpectedly.

    The left need to support these elements of resistance – not ‘intervene’ in them but give them wholehearted backing and attempt where possible to link them together.

    Here the questions of the three charters are important. We should be for one – which the whole of the left can support as a unifying response to the crisis.

    It is simply daft to have more than one. John McDonnell and the Robert Griffith for the CPB have indicated they are prepared to throw their own charters ‘into the ring’ so I hope that the SWP will throw in theirs and we can unite around one set of demands – one that individuals or groups can pick from for their own points of emphasis but give a sense of a larger ‘structure of resistance’ that can give the confidence that comes with being part of a larger movement.

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  28. bill j Avatar
    bill j

    I agree with Clive broadly. I think we should be looking at how we can develop campaigns around key questions facing the class now, as a result of the credit crunch, recession etc.
    Whether or not this takes the form of “platforms”, I’m not so sure. The campaign around this platforms has thus far been highly abstract, not much more than passing a few worthy resolutions. That’s all well and good but not really what we need at the moment.
    I’d prefer we pick say, three or four key priorities we can fight around and work out how we can fight together for them – for example fuel poverty, but also housing, women’s rights, anti-racism, rebuilding the unions or whatever,

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  29. Adamski Avatar
    Adamski

    Personally, at this stage I am more interested in left unity arising from local concrete struggles from the bottom up than these “why can’t we get along” events where left wing groups just compete with each other.
    I prefer the real life struggles of working people to the ghetto of the ultra-lefts whose politics never materialises.

    For example, here the left has rallied to support a campaign – No Borders – set up by local anarchists that has led a number of high profile anti-deportation campaigns.

    On the Charters, dare I say, that the People Before Profit Charter is the only one that actually seems to have led to any . . . action!

    I don’t really fetishise it as a document, but in South Wales where I live it has been useful as a campaigning tool and been endorsed by a cross section of the left including leading city trade unionists, three prominent left wing members of Plaid Cymru – Jill Evans MEP, Leanne Wood AM & Bethan Jenkins AM, members of the Green Party, the most respected left wing Labour Councillor in the area and people from the anti-war movement and others. Cymdeithas, the Welsh Language Society are intending to endorse officially as an organisation.

    I’m not a member of the SWP and I haven’t treated the Charter as their property and plaything, but it usefully covers all the bases. I think any organising in the current period has to begin by being fairly fluid without fitting things into pre-existing moulds.

    In different areas, building the movement will take different forms – I’m not just talking geographical

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  30. bill j Avatar
    bill j

    Actually I agree with you largely. Not to say that there wasn’t an element of various small groups competing at the COTL conference, but I’m afraid that’s unavoidable until they grow out of it.

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  31. Joseph Kisolo Avatar
    Joseph Kisolo

    Rather then a small set of people in London deciding on a set of Charter points wouldn’t it be better to have a real organic charter arise out of a multitude of meetings of local activists?

    The CoL proposed left forums could be given a much more substantial purpose if they were to see if as one of there key goals to develop these charters.

    Of course people like John McDonallad and the SWP cc lend a certain weight to a set of charter principles if they support it but to be frank I care a lot more about what the local people I have meet campaign over having a local community centre think then about what they think and I would rather the charter felt to be their property then that it was handed down from on high.

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  32. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    Good suggestion, Joseph. I think I agree with you.

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  33. arbuckle Avatar
    arbuckle

    yes Joseph
    best for the left to do nothing at all and that will be brilliant. Make sure the left doesn’t repsond to this economic meltdown without going thropugh regional cttees. Sorry but it is utter bollocks. No wonder RR is doing sod all about the current situation, zilge, zero. RR in my view has been blown away by this, All it can offer is some vote George and in Galsgo vote new labour, Jeeez Jo what sort of message is that for the locals at your community centre.

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  34. bill j Avatar
    bill j

    Honestly. If your only suggestion is push the SWPs charter what does that amount to? Zilge, zero, ziltch. (These things come in threes btw.)

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  35. Joseph Kisolo Avatar
    Joseph Kisolo

    Arbuckle, I’m not sure how to reply to you as I’m not sure that you really have grasped what I was suggesting.

    In your mind is there really only the options of calling soming from above or doing nothing? Then you clearly have a differnt idea of the notion of ‘socialism from bellow’ to me.

    I suppose your argument could be that we need a lighting quick responce and top down politics is the only way to provide that responce.

    But the economic crisis is not going away, if anything its just getting deeper, and we don’t need a flash in the pan responce to it we need a campaign that may be slow to build up but that is deeply rooted and owned by people suffering the brunt of the economic problems.

    In the long run a charter that is created through the real involvement of many will have a much greater impact then one that mearly appears fully formed from the minds of the ‘left fulltimers’.

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  36. skidmarx Avatar
    skidmarx

    “Zilge, zero, ziltch”

    You’re sounding a little like John McCain’s latest speech. I don’t know if that’s intentional.

    “In the long run a charter that is created through the real involvement of many will have a much greater impact then one that mearly appears fully formed from the minds of the ‘left fulltimers’ ”

    Or is it just they’re not “your” fulltimers?

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  37. Joseph Kisolo-Ssonko Avatar
    Joseph Kisolo-Ssonko

    If the Respect National Counicil launched a charter with a set of principles they had made up without consultation with the wider movement I would be equally as critical.

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  38. bill j Avatar
    bill j

    I’ll take that as a compliment, assuming that John McCain actually employs speech writers who know something about alliteration.

    PR don’t have full timers. Personally I think they should be banned.

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  39. RobM Avatar
    RobM

    Hear! Hear! I agree- PR should be banned!

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  40. Adamski Avatar
    Adamski

    Really, Joseph, you seem to be fetishishing a piece of paper, to be honest, I have no problem with people organising local alliances against the credit crunch which have no fixed programme or don’t use a charter. 2008 is the year when everything is out in the open.

    A friend of mine who is a mature student tells me that on her campus, the SWP and Socialist Party are in talks to set up some kind of joint left wing group on campus – in other campuses such an alliance would be unthinkable by either party. At a local workplace, I know of a loose trade union caucas set up where anarchists and trotskyists work very closely together – whereas in some palces this would be unthinkable. There are all kinds of alliances that will be built that will cut across the traditional divisions – I’m not for artificially imposing a model of “Left Forums” or pre-fixed idea of what these alliances should be.

    Though you seem to want to impose a top-down model ‘imposed from above’ based on the Convention of the Dinosaurs or rather the meeting of the old-timers from the old left where virtually all the platform speakers were over 50! Yep, the same people who were leaders of social movements 20 or 30 years ago still think that they should dominate the show, we must all bow before your wisdom and do obeisiance. Apparently, according to Joseph the movement shouldn’t be forged spontaneously from below but instead should submit to some self-appointed leadership of redundant clapped out left wing has-beens.

    The Charter is only the bare bones, obviously the meat on the bones will be building local alliances, in different areas and situations this will take different forms depending on what forces their are on the ground and the dynamics in different towns and cities.

    In my city we could have spent a long time having consultation meetings on drawing up a charter etc. that would probably contain exactly all the points in the People Before Profit Charter.

    But we just went ahead and organised an ACTUAL demonstration at the offices of British Gas, it wasn’t huge, but there were people from SWP, Socialist Party, Left ALt, PR, Greens, Plaid, Labour, Unions there and it got a lot of media interest and a lotta people want to get together and organise something bigger. Having a snappy Charter came in handy, as one, given that there was no existing organisation it was useful to call the demo in the name of a Charter endorsed by several prominent people, and secondly, the Charter linked the issue of fuel poverty to a wider fightback and more comprehensive programme.

    The point is – unlike Joseph’s phoney characterisation – that our alliance is not being handed down from above by the SWP Centre, but is actually being organised from below on the ground.

    But if Joseph actually *thinks about it* all kinds of initiatives are a mixture of top down and bottom up. You have talks between different organisations and figures in the movement at a national level & then you have groups of activists organising stuff on the ground.

    For us, the People Before Profit Charter seems like it could be useful. For leftists in other places, other means might be used.

    Let one hundred flowers blossom.

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  41. Adamski Avatar
    Adamski

    I suspect that PR doesn’t have fulltimers because it is quite a small organisation, if bigger, probably would. I thought WP had fulltimers? Back in the day, some revolutionary organisations used to rather than pay fulltimers encourage people to go on the dole to be organisers.

    Re. Fulltimers, it’s problematic. The Bolsheviks had professional revolutionaries. One problem is their is often a situation where the Full-timers are handpicked by the leadership and there is a conduit of information and power that flows from the leadership to the local organisers that bypasses democratic discussion of the wider membership. You end up having a conveyor belt from top to base of organisation. Essentially you have a clique and unequal distribution of power and influence in the party.

    On one hand it is worrying that in many trotskyist organisaitons, the leadership contains people who are not actually workers in the sense that many of them haven’t worked in a proper job for years. While workers at the Morning Star did go on strike at one time, generally, being abstracted from typical working class life can cloud your perspective and orientation.

    On the other hand, even on a local level it is useful for a revolutionary organisation to employ people fulltime because there is a lot of organising that needs to be done that makes it quite handy to have someone who is free during the day! Or if a group of workers are on strike, it is quite useful rather than the members trying to take the day off to hand out some leaflets and see what’s going on, if the full-timer and unemployed & student members can pop down and get involved in the action.

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  42. arbuckle Avatar
    arbuckle

    the real issue being debated from these RR members is not the issue of the demands, not really the issue of how to construct a charter etc but the fact that the SWP has done something and the mindset here is that anything the SWP do is wrong.
    Of course I know that George Galloway is a great beliver in letting the movement decide how to progress. He showed that inside RR with his discussion wether to support New Labour no doubt, his openess with comrades about going into BB was the stuff of legend, his sexst articles are I am sure given the one over and agreed by loads of women RR members. Its the way to go – lets all follow the great path of George, Mr Openess himself. Meanwhile RR has iniated f@@k all round the crisis, absolutely nothing because it can’t respond, no numbers and poor politics.
    Then of course it was not a top down decision to split respect by Galloway. Not a top down decision to back Livingstone as no1 in the mayoral election, not top down to try and organise a break away rally to ndermine the anti fascist carnival (Drawing less than 100)!! these then were all discussed and came about from the movement. don’t make me laugh, it was Galloway that called these shots. And lets face it, what a f~@k up. No RR are staring at electoral oblivion and Galloway is unlikely to remain an MP what a shambles

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  43. skidmarx Avatar
    skidmarx

    ” RR are staring at electoral oblivion and Galloway is unlikely to remain an MP”

    Then you probably don’t have to be quite so rude. Either the rats will start leaving the sinking ship or they’ll wake up the morning after the general election and realise there’s nothing left to cling on to.
    I notice that Stan Collymore who precedes GG on Talksport keeps speculating that everyone on his show is due to be fired and there are some obvious cutbacks (no more European football correspondants). Makes me think that the mother of all talkshows might not be too long for this world.

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  44. rob Avatar
    rob

    “Then you probably don’t have to be quite so rude”
    Yes,schadenfreude is very unedifying.
    It’ll be a shame if Galloway’s radio show goes.He might come out with some bollocks sometimes but it’s one of the few places where you get any left opinion in the media.

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  45. Liam Avatar
    Liam

    Arbuckle- if you have to use obscenities please do it somewhere else. The comments policy should make it obvious that I don’t want abusive language here. Most other contributors manage to avoid it and I usually end up banning people who persist in it.

    In order that the parameters of the discussion are clear it would be helpful if you could be a bit more transparent about your positions. Are you representing an official SWP view? Are you an individual SWP member speaking for no one but yourself? The questions are worth answering because as the report from Manchester makes clear and the consensus of Respect supports affirms there is a strong desire for united activity over the coming months.

    Wilfully introducing carping and bitterness into potentially productive dialogue is a technique that most of us are thoroughly fed up with.

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  46. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    “Good suggestion, Joseph. I think I agree with you.”

    “Hear! Hear! I agree- PR should be banned!”

    Slightly strange over-reaction. I’ll try not to agree with people again!

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  47. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    Arbuckle wrote:” yes Joseph
    best for the left to do nothing at all and that will be brilliant. Make sure the left doesn’t repsond to this economic meltdown without going thropugh regional cttees”

    As I agreed with Joseph’s suggestion then I think it is pretty important to look at what he wrote-
    “The CoL proposed left forums could be given a much more substantial purpose if they were to see if as one of there key goals to develop these charters.

    Of course people like John McDonallad and the SWP cc lend a certain weight to a set of charter principles if they support it”

    That is not ‘doing nothing’. It is saying we welcome in so far as they go the charter points produced by various left MPs/ groups/ campaigns and in order to put flesh on them and to actually make a difference we propose organising forums of trade unionists/ activists/ campaigners to organise around these campaigns- for example against evictions, for natioanlising the iutilities under workers’ control, against privatisation, for strike action and direct action in favour of these goals.

    Almost the opposite of doing nothing.

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  48. Jason Avatar
    Jason

    Though to be fair I also agree with Adamski on this following-
    “I have no problem with people organising local alliances against the credit crunch which have no fixed programme or don’t use a charter. 2008 is the year when everything is out in the open.

    A friend of mine who is a mature student tells me that on her campus, the SWP and Socialist Party are in talks to set up some kind of joint left wing group on campus – in other campuses such an alliance would be unthinkable by either party. At a local workplace, I know of a loose trade union caucas set up where anarchists and trotskyists work very closely together – whereas in some palces this would be unthinkable. There are all kinds of alliances that will be built that will cut across the traditional divisions”

    These and no doubt many other posisble tyopes of firums are what is needed I think. Excellent- which campaus is that btw?

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  49. bill j Avatar
    bill j

    In my experience “full timers”, in fact the bureaucrats who run left groups, mean that left groups are not run in the interests of the working class and socialism but in the interests of their…full timers.
    This was certainly the situation in Workers Power, where there were a ridiculous number of full timers especially towards the end. This was used to manipulate the organisation in the interests of the dominant clique.
    Certainly some full timers are self sacrificing individuals, but many are little more than parasites. And even where they are self sacrificing, their very existence robs the membership of responsibility and initiative.
    The vaunted platform is a good example of this. In reality it is little more than gathering a few union bureaucrats together to spout off from various platforms across the country, making themselves feel better. It has resulted in no action and indeed has no action proposals. How could it when it has no organisation other than that of a group run by a load of left bureaucrats?

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