Respect's achievements over the past three months - its general results, George Galloway's dramatic confrontation with the US Senate and the principled stand he made in the immediate aftermath of the London bombings - have given the organisation a remarkable profile in the short period of time. Respect is not quite a household name, but millions of people are aware of its existence and large numbers of them are open to its ideas. Rarely has there been a better opportunity to build a left alternative in England.
Making such gains, however, and consolidating them for the long-term, are very different things. As John Rees has put it a number of times: "the election results established a bridge-head for Respect, but only a bridge-head. If Respect does not go forward it will be pushed back into the sea. This means building Respect into a mass membership campaigning party".
George Galloway has made similar points at numerous Respect rallies.
This approach is absolutely right. In truth, however, the issue of building Respect as such a party
unresolved issue within Respect - even with John Rees himself.
Respect has developed as a hybrid organisation - partly a party, and partly a loose coalition. It shapes itself as a party when it stands in elections, particularly in its main target constituencies: but it functions between elections mainly as a coalition. This is reflected in its internal functioning - its democracy, accountability and discussion procedures -as well as it public profile.
John Rees and George John Rees, National Secretary and Respect Mp George Galloway Galloway are not the only leading spokespersons of Respect who routinely refer to it, from its platforms, as a "party". This may well be a pragmatic response to what Respect audiences want to hear. People are more likely to join something described as a party than a coalition because they think they will get more out of it. It may also reflect difficulty of presenting something that puts itself forward in elections as a governmental alternative, • as anything other than a party.
It is not, however, an accurate reflection either of what Respect is at this stage, or what they, as its leading representatives, want it to become. In fact the word 'party' itself is open to wide interpretation.
This issue comes out more clearly around the practicalities of building than it does abstractly around general principles involved. This is because it is precisely such practical steps that will shape the way Respect develops.
This came out rather dramatically at the July meeting of the National Council • 08 fin to write quarter of the cost of imvadin. - loss than a off $40 billion agreed on June 11
bill, or 3% of the likely cost of he £1 bil in the discussion on whether to have a regular Respect newspaper - one of the normal attributes of a party.
The launching of a Respect newspaper was first discussed at its conference last year and a sub-committee was set up to investigate possibilities. Eventually an 8-page pilot edition was produced, at the time of the G8 in June, in an attempt to concretise the discussion.
It was very successful. 25,000 copies were produced, they were all used, and it paid for itself -although it was not well advertised within Respect. The feedback from a range of Respect local branches was extremely positive.
The balance sheet of the pilot edition was discussed at the National Council around a proposal from John Lister (who had edited the pilot along with John Rees and Elaine Graham Leigh) to continue the paper on a regular basis and to establish a modest editorial production and distribution structure in order to do so. The precise regularity was left open. It could be monthly, bi-monthly even quarterly - at least at the start.
This proposal was overwhelmingly defeated despite being initially welcomed by a number of speakers. A proposal from John Rees was adopted which was to have a further edition, timed with the start of the student year, and no commitment beyond that -though there could be more one-off editions.
He argued that the pilot edition was successful because of the G8, but that under normal circumstances such a paper was unnecessary. Respect had plenty of ways of getting its views across. There were leaflets and broadsheets, and the website.
George Galloway went further, arguing that it would be wrong and politically divisive to have a paper because Respect is "a coalition and not a party". If there was a newspaper, he argued, some people would want to get their views into it - and others would object.
Others backed this up arguing that the main thing was local leaflets and broadsheets. In the end even most of those who had spoken enthusiastically in favour of a regularised paper voted against it.
The ambiguity was clear.
There is little point in calling Respect a "party" if -when someone proposes having some of the normal attributes of a party - the answer is 'this is not a party it is a coalition'. Whilst having a Respect newspaper is not a matter of principle, it is very difficult to see how a mass membership organisation - party or otherwise - could be build and maintained without a regular publication at the national level. How else could it organise its existing members or keep and integrate its new ones -particularly in areas of the country where it is new or weak? Without it, many who join Respect will have little or no connection with the organisation.
How can Respect have an adequate public profile without a paper expressing its views on a range of issues to distribute and display on its stalls? Having a paper would transform its profile at demonstrations and major events: the lack of such a paper remains a real problem.
Most left parties across Europe organise around a publication. The one which is most successful - despite its current tack to the right -is Rifondazione Comunista in Italy. It has a daily paper. The Left Block in Portugal, the Scottish Socialist Party and the Red Green Alliance in Denmark all have newspapers. The SWP itself, whose leading members oppose a Respect paper, has for decades organised itself centrally around Socialist Worker, a weekly.
A regular Respect paper would give substance and direction to local branches between big events. At the moment the set-piece rallies are excellent, but how to build Respect effectively when the rally is over, particularly in the weaker areas, is not so clear.
A paper would also help Respect meet its memberCampaigners in East London
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Upposition to Respect becoming
a party locks
Respect into a
framework of without a party structure?
Building party structures in the localities where we have elected representatives (which is unavoidable) while not doing so elsewhere or at national level will produce a two-tier organisation. The elected bodies of