‘Defending our people. We won’t pay for their crisis’ – Respect’s national conference

British politics, Political Organisations, Respect

‘Defending our people. We won’t pay for their crisis’ – Respect’s national conference

Respect’s national conference is taking place this Saturday 25 October, 11 – 4, at the Bishopsgate Institute, London. The main focus of Conference will be on building Respect as a campaigning and democratic left-wing organisation that can respond to the looming economic crisis and recession, and one that can play a major part in building…

Liam

October 22, 2008

1–2 minutes

Respect’s national conference is taking place this Saturday 25 October, 11 – 4, at the Bishopsgate Institute, London.

The main focus of Conference will be on building Respect as a campaigning and democratic left-wing organisation that can respond to the looming economic crisis and recession, and one that can play a major part in building an electoral alternative to New Labour.

Opening the conference will be George Galloway MP, who will be joined by writer and comedian Mark Steel and Ken Loach, internationally acclaimed film director. The morning session will focus on responding to the economic crisis and will also hear from guest speaker Rob Griffiths of the Communist Party of Britain.

The afternoon session will address how to build Respect as a local, grassroots campaigning party. Respect National Secretary Nick Wrack will be joined by Carole Swords, a leading housing activist and Respect member in Tower Hamlets, and Farhana Zaman, who will speak on ‘Women and Politics’. The guest speaker in this session will be Sarah Colborne, Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Each session will take resolutions as part of our discussion on how to shape a response to the economic crisis and to building a political alternative to New Labour.

Finally – to underscore Respect’s determination to provide an electoral alternative – the conference will be addressed by Hafiz Choudhury, our candidate in the Tower Hamlets council by-election to be held on 20 November, and Kahar Chowdhury, the local campaign organiser. At close of conference everyone will be invited to make their way two stops along the Central line for a couple of hours campaigning in what looks likely to be a closely fought election.

The day will be topped off with a curry at Preem and Prithi restaurant in Brick Lane for the special conference price of £7.

Further information including a full Conference pack will be available on Saturday 25th, and we look forward to seeing you at the Bishopsgate Institute.

You can register online http://www.respectrenewal.org/ or at the conference. Costs £10.

For more information contact conference@respectrenewal.org .

21 responses to “‘Defending our people. We won’t pay for their crisis’ – Respect’s national conference”

Joseph Kisolo

October 23, 2008 at 8:34 am

I’ve been blowing a bit hot a cold about the Respect conference lately, and about Respect in general to be honest.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that there is great potential particularly given the current economic crisis, I also stand by my decision to go with the Renewal side of the split however I think there are two big problems;

1) The SWP ‘united front of a special kind’ perspective undoubtedly held back Respect as it pulled it away from developing an internal structure and meant that it was in constant competition with building the SWP (The relative number of placard’s on demonstrations test is a good illustration of this)

However, the SWP did give Respect a level of organisation and national character that it now lacks – we are now a party of loosely related fragments in a few small areas.

2) I don’t think people have really learned the key lesson of the split – that we need a party which as well as pushing out has a strong internal life and wins people to become active shapers of THEIR party.

It seems to me that there are people still clinging on to the pre-split model of building an organisation with a few leading movers and shakers and generally passive membership that can be woken up to perform certain functions.

All that said, I am impressed with the line up for the conference and the motions seem to be serious and give actual concrete ways forward. I would have liked to see some more that where a bit more contentious. Hopefully a lively, inclusive conference may do much to restore my confidence in our organisation.

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Joseph Kisolo

October 23, 2008 at 8:38 am

On a less serious point, if I get a chance to talk to Mark Steel at the conference I’ll congratulate him on his latest Have I got News for You performance.

Often I don’t think his style works on that programme but having some good juicy economic crisis to bite into really allowed him to stand out and he defo’ delivered the best lines.

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Adamski

October 23, 2008 at 10:51 am

It sounds like you are “not the only one”. Significantly former members of Respect’s National Council like Ken Loach and Victoria Britain have declined the invitattion to be on Respect Renewal’s NC.

But to be honest, Joseph doesn’t seem to have “got it”. One of the main impediments to Respect originally becoming a party that belonged to its membres was that its highest profile figure refused to be in any way accountable to the organisation. This flowed down to every level of the organisation, the councillors were not accountable either. The programme and policies of Respect rather than being hammered out democratically, were constantly orientated to what would keep the big names on the top table onboard.

Certain topics were off limits at conference because the big names might walk out. For example, when Welsh members of Respect democratically in 2004 agreed a resolution for Conference on issues such as the Welsh Language, our officers were forced to withdraw the resolutions because one member of Respect didn’t like them.

The SWP themselves played a role in this farce by curtailing debate to not upset the big names etc.

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skidmarx

October 23, 2008 at 11:13 am

Who are “Our people” and do they know of your ownership?
If Ken Loach has refused to be on the National Council is doesn’t say much for the politcal depth of the organisation that he is one of the major speakers at conference.
” Respect’s determination to provide an electoral alternative ”
Has it got anything else to offer? As Labour come back in the polls it seems to have no raison d’etre to anyone not already committed to it (And I might say committed in the same way Galloway told a caller on his radio show a couple of weeks ago “They only let you out for the weekend”)

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rob

October 23, 2008 at 11:18 am

I agree with Adamski . The accountability of the Respect MP to the rest of Respect was always lacking. If that had been dealt with prior to the split things might have turned out differently . Like Adamski says there’d have been more chance of debating the issues in a more free atmosphere.

To be fair Loach and Brittain might have declined being on the Renewal NC simply because they may be to be busy.

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Joseph Kisolo

October 23, 2008 at 11:19 am

To some extent I don’t disagree with Adamski, Respect has in the past been organised in a top down fasion and the SWP were complisit in this, for example Galloway should have been given a formal telling off for Big Brov’.

Except that the main problem isn’t the top players not being good natured enough rather it was that there wasn’t a party structure that could have held people to account!

The vision of Respect as a united front worked against giving a though going internal life and thus worked against allowing it to hold its representatives accountable.

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steph

October 23, 2008 at 11:37 am

I agree Joseph, in an electoral party there will always be pressures to go down the spin-doctor, media-courting route where there is a perceived need to keep the membership passive so they don’t mess the image up!

However I’m hopeful that Respect’s conference will reflect the spirit of the Convention of the Left, and demonstrate that we do want a party with a healthy internal democracy and openness to debate.

And as Liam said before, the fact that things are not stitched up in advance means the unpredictability of the conference is in itself something to look forward to.

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steph

October 23, 2008 at 11:40 am

Oh, and skidmarx, don’t you realise it makes you sound a bit desperate and ignorant when you say that Ken Loach ‘refused’ to be on the Respect NC when you don’t have faintest idea about his circumstances?

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David Ellis

October 23, 2008 at 3:23 pm

Well, well. It’s arrived already. Respect has seen off the sectarian attempt to collapse it and has survived to establish this conference. Well done to all involved and here’s to a great day. It could be an historic day. People who are not there may think themselves accursed. If Respect continues to fight off sectarianism and opportunism with vigour guess what? Workers will join. In the meantime here is a little contribution to the morning’s discussion of the economic disaster:

The banks are partially nationalised but still the credit is not getting through to the small and medium sized businesses that need it. In fact the opposite. They are charging more and putting the squeeze on these businesses. Why is that? One can only surmise that they are holding on to government money whilst dragging more out of their customers in order to make good on the trillions of pounds-worth of toxic Debt Swap Certificates that they are holding. These financial weapons of mass destruction must be repudiated, written off, torn up and buried. You cannot collect what people don’t have or what doesn’t exist especially from those who never incurred the debt in the first place. Can you see American politicians bankrupting their people by collecting unrealistic levels of personal debt for the sake of the City of London speculators who bought them all? No, and why should we or normally well run small businesses? It is time to write off mortgages and personal and credit card loans and start again. Those left holding these DSCs . . . tough! Otherwise tax revenue is merely being sucked into a great big black hole never to be seen again. Yes, many very wealthy individuals and institutions and I’m afraid maybe even some very large Pension Funds will go bust (they are technically bankrupt now anyway – the government’s billions can’t cover the toxic trillions – and further payments into these funds is throwing good money after bad while futile attempts to save them will destroy either the currency or the tax payer). Victims must be taken care of directly by the government as far as possible through an improved state pension system. There is no way of avoiding a certain amount of economic contraction particularly amongst manufacturers and purveyors of luxury goods but better that than a whole economy is laid to waste for the benefit of a handful of billionaires. In addition, even if credit does start to flow it will do no good if big business starts shedding millions of jobs to maintain a lying semblance of profitability. Their tumbling values are adding to the financial pain as it is. Nationalise these too and share the work. Job-cutting in government departments must be halted and reversed as well. Nothing really good is ever born without contractions but I fear that the current batch of complacent midwives may be to busy flirting with the brandy-quaffing, cigar-smoking, unconcerned, fat cat pig of a father to tend to the urgent needs of the pain-wracked mother.

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skidmarx

October 23, 2008 at 4:32 pm

“Oh, and skidmarx, don’t you realise it makes you sound a bit desperate and ignorant when you say that Ken Loach ‘refused’ to be on the Respect NC when you don’t have faintest idea about his circumstances?”

No I was assuming that Adamski was reporting the facts accurately.

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Andy Newman

October 23, 2008 at 4:47 pm

“No I was assuming that Adamski was reporting the facts accurately.”

Not a safe assumption really.

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Adamski

October 23, 2008 at 5:19 pm

Andy. Pot. Kettle. Black.

Make a sentence from that . . .

I reported the facts correctly, obviously the interpretation of facts is the subjective element in this discussion:

http://www.respectrenewal.org/content/view/385/

Ken Loach, Victoria Britain and Yvonne Ridley who have all been members of Respect’s NC since the founding of Respect were nominated to be on the NC of tne new Respect Renewal, but declined to accept the nomination.

Intriguingly, one Liam Mac Uaid declined also a nomination. Mark P also declined (maybe Renewal isn’t moving far enough towards the right and English nationalism for his liking? I mean how come Renewal hasn’t taken up the issue of Football – the key issue for working class people?)

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Adamski

October 23, 2008 at 5:24 pm

Anyway, I don’t want to derail the discussion – it’s not my conference!

Though Renewal calling itself Respect is akin to a situation where after the break up of the Beatles, Paul McCartney had formed Wings, but instead of coming up with a new name, called the new outfit – “The Beatles”. Everyone accepts that Macca was a central component of the Beatles, but you catch my drift . . .

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Liam

October 23, 2008 at 6:00 pm

So Adamski it was you bugging my phone and not MI5 .

I can’t answer for Ken, Yvonne or Victoria but I’d be risking a divorce if I started taking on another weekend political commitment. In any case there are enough people standing whose views are close enough to mine. Sorry if that is more mundane an answer than you would have preferred.

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skidmarx

October 24, 2008 at 10:56 am

“Everyone accepts that Macca was a central component of the Beatles, but you catch my drift . . .”

I bet Ringo Starr never expected to be the most talented living Beatle. Though as he’s no longer in a band called the Beatles he must be a sectarian splitter. Peace and Love.

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charlotte badger

October 24, 2008 at 3:59 pm

skidmarx….. no I don’t catch your drif. what are you on about?

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skidmarx

October 24, 2008 at 6:40 pm

That whoever manages to keep ahold of the original name of a group gets to describe those who’ve formed organisations with new names as sectarian splitters.

I was thinking I saw something on TV once where one actor talked a lot about “My people” until another said “My people? Who the fuck are you, Moses?” but I can’t think what it’s from. (And this is in reference to the phrase “Defending Our People”. Who are they, or does their indefinability reflect an indefinability of basis of the organisation?)

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Joseph Kisolo

October 24, 2008 at 9:51 pm

See ya tomorrow anyone whoz going to the conference.

And to all the haters, I hope the economic crisis brings us the opportunity to grow up move on and come back together soon.

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RobM

October 25, 2008 at 9:54 pm

It was a good conference- positive, upbeat yet modest. Bursting with potential.
Ms Badger, nice to meet you at last (what a gal!). Joe, hope you all got back to Manc safely.

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