Andy Newman of the Socialist Unity Network offers his assessment of the situation and the challenges facing the left after the The victory of George Galloway in Bethnal Green is of historic importance. Although Labour won the election, Blair has been humbled by those beneath his consideration: the Poor of London's most deprived borough, the families of immigrants and those of us who Blair describes as the "forces of conservatism", we who believe that the solidarity of organised labour is still the hope of the world.
There is no doubt that this SuLLCOS combined with George Galloway's barnstorming performance before the US Senate has had an enormous impact - Galloway even got an ovation at the end on BBC TV's Question Time, a quite unprecedented occurrence. But that does not mean we should shy away from analysing the election results critically.
Respect's good votes predominantly came in about 10 constituencies, where there was no prospect of a Tory victory, and where there were large Muslim populations.
Where these two conditions did not prevail then Respect's vote was no better than that achieved by other left candidates. This is probably because in much of the country the issue of the Iraq war was subsumed under a much greater imperative of stopping the Tories winning.
Where the contest became perceived close Tory/Labour marginal then Respect's vote suffered badly - this is particularly clear in Respect's results in Hove and Dorset South, as with the Socialist Green Unity Coalition results in North Swindon and Crawley.
We must understand this if we are to explain how excellent Respect candidates like Tony Staunton in Plymouth, or Heather Falconer in Neath, who fought energetic and imaginative campaigns, performed so poorly.
нол e | sideration as we assess the prospects of Respect spreading beyond its core support.
A large factor in the election was the relative success of New Labour in exploiting the pendulum nature of the electoral system by exaggerating the apprehension of a possible Tory victory.
This indicates that although the activist base of the Labour party has been undermined - and there has been an observable decline in loyalty to the party from trade union activists as well as a decline in absolute membership and participation - the voting loyalty of millions of working class people still resides with Labour. Lib Dems
What is more, although Respect gained the very creditable total of 68,071 votes in
seats, the Liberal Democrats increased their vote nationally by 1.2 million, almost exactly the same number of votes that Labour lost!
The predominant pattern was therefore for voters protesting against the war to switch to a different establishment party, indeed one that is to the right of the Labour Party on some core issues.
Of course Respect's ability to win the votes of so many Muslims is a formidable sucThe other parties, particularly New Labour and the Lib Dems, have fought hard to ensure that Muslims voters were aware that Respect was a left wing party, and thousands of individual Muslims, mainly working class, have consciously chosen to vote for this objectively anti-capitalist party.
The issue that has enabled this breakthrough is undoubtedly the war, many Moslems feel strongly over this issue, due to associations with the Middle East, or sympathy with co-religionists.
Respect now has a window of opportunity to exploit its breakthrough, but the main dynamics that will be closing the window are already observable:
Although Respect's achievements are great in forging an Islamic leaders and community activists over the question of the war, it is not a recipe that can easily be used in areas with onlv smal Muslim faith communities.
The Iraq war is unlikely to dominate the British political agenda indefinitely, and once the issue becomes less important then unless Respect can present itself as a national organisation with aspirations to real influence, then it will struggle to maintain relevance for its Islamic component.
Furthermore, if Blair goes and is replaced by Brown, and particularly if British troops are withdrawn from Iraq over the next 12 months, under whatever terms, then the electorate may consider the task of electorally removing Blair as "mission accomplished"
The protest vote over the war may itself have given catharsis, and allow the Labour Party to move on, under a new leader.
The poorer results away from the concentrations of Muslims suggest that in most of the country Respect is operating in terrain NO HOTE favourable than the rest of the left.
Optimistic plans to engage with such as trade unions, commuchurches and mosques will founder unless the existing activists engaged in these networks are allowed to develop towards Respect at their own pace, and Respect learns to work patiently with those who maintain misgivings about it
To progress Respect needs to engage the rest of the left in joint work over concrete issues, and to create an inclusive and democratic culture that established activists to join it.
because she speaks little
English but he wasn't golng to
do the same with me. When I
refused and asked why he
needed to see my face he
replied You are a danger to
me'. "I was just overwhelmed
by the way he spoke to me. H
was a shock that it came from a
officer based in this area. I
though he would understand
where I was coming from."
Mrs Bibl said she had
decided to speak out to prevent
other Muslim women from
having to endure the "humillaHon". "My husband is a West
Midlands police officer and I
never thought something like
this could happen. "But I am
worried it could be happening
to more women and we have to
take a stand to do something to
stop It No one should have to
take it"