Andy Newman reports from the Morning Star organised conference and finds that the Communist Party of Britain is having serious, strategic discussions about the left's future. The "Politics After Blair" conference organised by the Morning Star was a very interesting event. It was reasonably well attended, with usually between 150 and 200 in the hall, but lots of people seemed to be there for only one or two sessions, so the overall attendance was higher than that.
There were some very positive aspects to the conference, not least of which was genuine and real commitment to allowing debate and contributions from the floor.
This was especially true of the fascinating session about the peace movement, where the panellists (Andrew Murray from the Stop the War Coalition, Kate Hudson from CND, and Alan MacKinnon from Scottish CND) did not lead off with speeches, but just responded to debate and questions from the delegates.
Alan was able to report on the extraordinary success of Scottish CND, in achieving the rejection of Trident by almost all parts of Scottish civic society, including an overwhelming vote in Hollyrood.
The continued weight of influence of the Morning Star was also clear from the fact that Jon Cruddas, John McDonnell, Ken Livingstone were on the platform, as well as Matt Wrack of the FBU, Bob Crow of the RMT and Tony Benn. Sometimes at left conferences, the "celebrity" speakers are there to play the role of ornaments enhancing the prestige of the organisers.
But the conference saw fraternal disagreements running through it about the attitude that socialists should take to the Labour Party, and the practical tasks for building the left.
The session on Social Equality and Multiculturalism became a bit muddled. It tried to cover too much ground, and was not able to adequately deal with genuine controversies that became apparent, for example with Salma Yacoob from the platform and the SWP's Sean Doherty from the floor defending faith schools against the mood of the meeting.
The question of the break up of the UK, and Gordon Brown's defence of the British union should also have generated debate, and the CP do not yet seem to have grasped the importance of this issue.
Bob Crow put the cat among the pigeons with a very forthright rejection of the idea that the Labour Party could be reclaimed, and both he and Matt Wrack pointed out that there is no appetite in their unions for re-affiliating.
Jon Cruddas, true to form, gave an extremely perceptive analysis of how New Labour is failing its working class supporters, and John McDonnell acknowledged the unprecedented weakness of the Labour left, but was sceptical that an electoral alternative could be built.
page 5 of the scan
AB UR Gluttons for punishment UNISON's Political Fund has circulated members to stress the union's unanimous endorsement for Brown, even as he slashes the wages of 1.3 million NHS staff - and to call for a vote for Blairite Alan Johnson, with a second preference for ... Peter Hain!! Hilary Benn said the failure to tackle yawning inequality, Alan Johnson said the neglect of children in care. This shopping list of