Defending our people. We won’t pay for their crisis!
Respect is holding its national conference in London on 25th October 2008, at the Bishopsgate Centre, 230 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4QH. Registration starts at 10am.
Our conference could not come at a more important time. The credit crunch and the banking crisis threaten misery to millions. Right-wing capitalist governments, including those of George W. Bush and Gordon Brown’s New Labour, have for years sworn by the market and denounced the very idea of nationalisation as heresy. But now the market has ‘bust’ the economy and, fearing economic collapse, they have turned to nationalising banks to save their skins (and pay their banker friends’ bad debts).
George Galloway, Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, recently denounced the “sharks, gorillas and spivs” who have bankrupted the financial system and threaten millions with hardship.
“The glittering spires of Canary Wharf and the Square Mile have produced little ‘trickle down’ to the vast majority of people…”, he said. “Now those same institutions are going to plunge millions in this country into severe financial problems as a result of the credit crunch….Unemployment alone is predicted to rise to two million by the end of the year.”
Among all these threats to our well-being, working-class people have no mass party to champion us against the employers. Respect is seeking to put that right. In the 2005 general election, we elected George Galloway in Bethnal Green and Bow. We now have a dozen councillors in East London and Birmingham, and a real chance of electing three MP’s when the General Election comes.
Come to the Respect Conference, on 25th October. Conference registration costs £10. To vote you must be a Respect (Renewal) member, which costs £5 for the remainder of 2008. Be part of building a real alternative to the parties of capitalism, racism and war. You can join Respect, make a donation and register for the conference by going to our website at: www.respectrenewal.orgor fill in the form on this letter and send your registration fee and membership subscription (if appropriate) to Respect, PO Box 1109, London N4 2UU. Cheques etc should be made payable to ‘Respect Renewal Conference’.
Conference will debate resolutions and elect a new National Council. Resolutions passed are featured on the website, and may be submitted to conference by a branch or else signed by 6 Respect members. Resolutions must be submitted by 11th October, amendments to resolutions by 22nd October. Nominations for the new National Council must be received by 10 October 2008. People can nominate themselves. Anyone nominated for the NC must be a paid-up member.
Any individual member seeking support for a resolution should send it to conference@respectrenewal.org; it will be put on the website so that other members can decide whether to put their names to it as above.
Please visit the website for more details and a full list of resolutions and nominations: www.respectrenewal.org
Special announcement:
Last year’s split and dispute finally settled. Last year Respect went through a split which left uncertainty about the party name. We are very pleased to be able to inform you that, following recent talks with representatives of Left Alternative (formerly Left List), former Respect Treasurer Elaine Graham-Leigh has signed the official forms required for a member of Respect (Renewal) to be registered as the party treasurer. This step places use of the name Respect and all other aspects of the party’s legal status completely in the hands of Respect (Renewal). We will no longer need to use the ‘Renewal’ part. We can now put the split and its consequences behind us and work to build Respect.
Liam redux 
Leave a comment