Alan Thornett,  a Respect National Council member, offers his views on a possible future for the organisation.  Some bits may, or may not, be controversial. In particular Alan flags up the “big breakthrough theory”, the orientation to Labour in opposition and Respect’s democratic functioning.

I agree with much of what Clive Searle (Respect National Secretary) says in his report on the election results circulated a couple of weeks ago. The report was written after an extensive post-election discussion on the Respect National Council (NC) and reflects the majority view in that discussion. There was however another strand of opinion at the meeting which is reflected in this text.

I agree with Clive’s analysis of the general post election political situation. He spells out very well the scale of attacks we face under the Con/Dem coalition, the squeeze on the small parties after the leadership debates, and the swing to Labour which took place in the last stages of the campaign.

He is also right that the Respect vote was qualitatively better than the rest of the left. Whilst Respect lost its MP and failed to get either of its other main candidates elected it received a very credible vote both at parliamentary and local government level. It won 33,000 votes across its 11 parliamentary candidates and an average of 13% across its 80 or so local government candidates. Salma Yaqoob’s vote in particular shows that she has a very strong base.

His stress on the importance of the election to Parliament of Caroline Lucas and the defeat of Nick Griffin and the BNP in Barking also very important.

Whether the coalition is ‘weak and unstable’ we will have to see. It is potentially unstable but it is also bound together by its need to survive and its joint total commitment to its cuts agenda. It is already clear that they are going for deep and radical cuts and will not be deflected by divisions within the coalition on other things.

Solidarity with new Labour?

What is far more controversial is what the report implies for the future of Respect. There were three main points of debate at the NC: What is the rationale for the existence of Respect in the post-election period; how should Respect be built in the new situation and is it or should it be a campaigning party as well as electoral machine.

One prominent NC member, who is a Socialist Action supporter, argued that after the election Respect should no longer see itself as an anti New Labour party but as an anti-coalition party in solidarity with new Labour in opposition. This is reflected in Clive’s statement.

To me this is seriously problematic. When it comes to opposition to the cuts, of course, Respect should work with all who are prepared to oppose them, including New Labour if that is what they do, though since they are fresh from pushing through their own cuts this is not too likely. The fact is that New Labour is still New Labour and this is not about to change when the leadership election has been concluded. What we are likely to get is not a retreat from New Labour but some kind of New Labour plus.

The crisis of working class representation, therefore, which was the political rationale for the existence of Respect, remains undiminished. Either Respect continues to address this by providing a political alternative to new Labour or it has no rationale for existence.

Building a broad left alternative to New Labour, however, is likely be more difficult with New Labour in opposition than it was with Labour in office. Moreover, the next election, whether it comes in May 2015 or before, is likely to squeeze the small parties just as much as the recent one. The two party system will still be in force even if AV is introduced and the ‘leaders debates’ are sure to continue with the same effect on the small parties. This implies a sharp rethink as to how Respect can be built in the present period.

Big breakthrough theory

One thing which needs to go immediately is the much debated theory of the ‘big breakthrough’ — which has been the defacto approach of the main players in Respect. This involved concentrating resources into breakthrough constituencies and then building on the kudos once victory is achieved. Respect does not have a future, as I put it to the meeting, simply as a support network for two or three key constituencies — important as they undoubtedly are.

This was a problem when there was a good chance of such victories since (in the case of Respect) it distorted the character of the organisation and left those outside of the key constituencies to fend for themselves. This has neither been a useful way to build Respect or the best way to support the target constituencies. Now with such breakthroughs far more difficult to achieve it is completely redundant.

George Galloway’s election victory in 2005 was the product of a very particular set of circumstances: a brutal and unpopular war, a constituency with a very big anti-war population and a pro-war New Labour incumbent. Also a Respect candidate who was a central leader of the anti war movement and with a Labour left background. This is becoming increasingly difficult to repeat even by Salma Yaqoob who has anti-war background and an exceptional local base.

The one option not open to Respect, therefore, in the post-election situation is more of the same — which seemed to be the message from the NC discussion. Instead the task facing Respect is to build itself outwards into those areas and sections of the working class (including the white working class) where its presence is currently weak or nonexistent whilst preserving the bases of support it already has. This can only be achieved by consistent work at the local level between elections backed up by national materials and structures.

A national perspective

It means building Respect as a political party with all that implies. Respect needs to have a perspective of becoming a national organisation with a national presence and it needs to act as such if it is to value the breakthroughs it makes into new areas and build them on a permanent basis. It was good that Respect extended its parliamentary candidates in the run up to the election but the task now is to integrate them into its ranks on a permanent basis.

At the NC it was argued that Respect is already a campaigning party as well as an electoral machine, and of course Respect fully support some very important campaigns such as Stop the War and Viva Palestina. It is far from consistently a campaigning party, however. Its activity around the economic crisis has been poor (other than in the paper which has faded through lack of support in the key areas) and there is a danger that this will be the case in the emerging campaigns around the cuts. We should already be doing meetings around the country about the cuts with our most prominent speakers.

Priorities have become most sharply distorted when an election gets close in the main constituencies. The elected bodies cease to meet and all activity and decision making reverts to local constituency level. The entire delegations from South Birmingham and East London (which are a hal
f of the NC) absented themselves en-block from the NC meeting 8 weeks before the general election, making their priorities absolutely clear. It rendered the NC unable to play any significant role in the election or in anything else. One of the few decisions it did take — to update the 2005 manifesto for use in the election — was subsequently set aside by the officers and an alternative manifesto adopted without reference to any of the elected bodies.

Respect needs to take itself seriously build itself as a fully functioning party with a comprehensive political platform, engaging in a range of activities. This is the only way to build a political alternative.

For this, however, the democracy of the organisation needs to be completely overhauled and the transparency of decision making re-established. Members have to be involved in decision-making and the integrity of its elected bodies respected. Regular materials have to be produced at national level to service the branches. Local branches need to feel that they are part of an organisation and that they are getting some support.

As far as the immediate future is concerned Respect needs to become fully involved in the in the escalating struggle against the cuts ad other anti-working class policies of on the coalition government. We should be holding meetings around the country and setting out our stall as a part of the struggle. Maybe the paper could be re-discussed and the website, which appears to have been abandoned, reactivated to carry up to date material both on the attacks which are being prepared and the organisation of resistance.

(10.6.10)