Socialist Resistance

An archive of socialistresistance.org, 2002–2022

Respect: A new crisis - or a new opportunity? (continued)

by Alan Thornett  |  Socialist Resistance no48  |  page 5

This is scanned newsprint, not web text. The original PDFs carried no text layer at all, so every word here was read off the page by OCR. Expect dropped opening letters, run-together words and wrong characters. There was no contents page to cut the paper up by, so the articles were found from the size of their headlines: a headline may carry its kicker, and where an article ran beside a boxed panel a few lines of the neighbour can appear. The scanned issue is the authority; this text is here so the words can be found at all.

breakthrough into The Muslim community by the predominantly white left. It is not surprising that there are problems following such a breakthrough, but these problems have never been brought to the NC for collective discussion.

The question is not whether there have been political problems and disagreements. The question is whether political steps were taken to discuss these problems and bring

pollica. development.

John Lister and I had submitted a discussion paper to the NC taking up these issues and other aspects debate as had Salma Yaqoob -who made a very powerful case against The communaism allegation.

In the debate on all this on

22nd, was concerned, was for a new post of national organiser to function alongside the national secretary (aimed at broadening Respect out at the top).

The SWP, however, saw this as a direct challenge to the authority of John Rees and theretore to the vertical con. trol which is implicit in both the method of the SWP and its model for Respect as one a number of united fronts in which they work. It was this which made a simple proposal emerge as a pivotal issue.

The argument the SWP used was that any elected position took precedence over any appointed one.

This arose because the new post would need to be appointed it it was to be open

the whole membership rather than just the NC. But be discussed by a working group comprising Ger Frances, Lindsey German Linda Smith and myself in an attempt to find solution.

We met, but failed to agree. I could agree with everything Lindsey German wrote with the exception of the last three words "and individual officers".

These words reversed the proposal (that both officers are responsible to the EC) and put the national secretary back in charge. I discussed it with her prior to the 29th (we met over another issue) but to Canning Town where Respect recenty won lne snadwel local by-election and which is the constituency of Government Minister Jim Fitzpatrick.

The other is Birmingham Hall Green, the new constituency replacing Sparkbrook and Small Heath, where Salma Yaqoob came a close second in 2005.

It is a mammoth task, of course. But just being a serious challenger in these seats informs the shape of Respect's election campaign. It means that Respect will stand in a limited number OT seats