Respect in crisis

[nittynora]

Received Oct 29th at 6.50pm ....... gwd the emails are flying...

SWP leadership splitting from Respect


We are astonished that the Respect National Secretary John Rees has spoken publicly in support of four councillors who have split from Respect in Tower Hamlets.

Today, Monday 29 October, there was a press conference called by four former Respect councillors in Tower Hamlets. They announced that they had resigned the Respect whip on the council and were forming a Respect (Independent) party. This is a clear split from Respect.

John Rees answered questions at the press conference. He expressed his support for the four breakaway councillors. In answer to questions from journalists he said that Respect (Independent) candidates could be standing against Respect candidates in elections. Cllr Oliur Rahman, who was a member of the National Council and a national officer, did not rule out standing against George Galloway, who is Respect’s only nominee to be the Respect parliamentary candidate in Poplar and Limehouse.

No party could be expected to tolerate its purported National Secretary colluding with those who have split from the organisation and discussing standing candidates against it.

By this action he has betrayed the members of Respect and the party he is supposed to advocate, defend and build. He has forfeited his position as National Secretary and as a member of the National Council. He has clearly indicated that he and the leadership of the Socialist Workers Party are splitting from Respect.

Nothing could more clearly demonstrate the duplicitous behaviour of the SWP leadership, which has been asking for support for its petition against “witch-hunts” whilst preparing its forces for a split from Respect.


Yours in solidarity,


Linda Smith, National Chair

Salma Yaqoob, National Vice Chair


Ayesha Bajwa, National Council

Victoria Brittain, National Council

Rita Carter, National Council

Ger Francis, National Council

George Galloway MP, National Council

Jerry Hicks, National Council

Abdul Khaliq Mian, National Council

John Lister, National Council

Ken Loach, National Council

Abjol Miah, National Council, Leader of Tower Hamlets Respect Councillors Group

Bernie Parkes, National Council

Yvonne Ridley, National Council

Clive Searle, National Council

Alan Thornett, National Council

Nick Wrack, National Council


For more information contact nick.wrack@tooks.co.uk; lindablackpool@hotmail.com; kevin.ovenden@gmail.com; robhoveman@yahoo.co.uk or phone Nick on 07812 063409 or Linda on 07854 998501.

See also the letter sent out to all members on 26 October titled “Statement from elected representatives and National Council members - Respect at the Crossroads” and the letter sent of 29 October titled ‘response from national chair Linda Smith and others to SWP's "Respect appeal against witch-hunting"’.

[nittynora]

Bloody Hell another one received October 29th at 9pm .....

The Socialist Workers Party has no intention of leaving Respect and will not be "splitting" from the coalition it helped create and to which it has been so central.

John Rees did not state support for standing candidates against Respect candidates or against George Galloway.

The statement sent out earlier today is a further attempt to remove John as National Secretary and the SWP and those who share our views from Respect and to force a split in the coalition.

Our statement opposing the attack on the left in Respect has the support of 21 National Council members and six councillors, plus some 900 activists who have been central to the success of Respect.

We continue to believe that the best way to resolve our differences is by letting the members decide at the National Conference, which is now less than three weeks away. We desire a democratic settlement of the outstanding issues in a way that ensures members have their say.

The statement issued today, by threatening John's removal and by trying to declare a split in Respect would undermine a democratic solution to the debate within Respect.

John can only be removed through Respect's democratic structures, not by the issuing of a letter. The crisis within Respect is best resolved at our National Conference.

John Rees
Lindsey German
Chris Bambery
Elaine Graham-Leigh

[nittynora]

And another one October 30th.....

Stop this coup, let the members decide at Conference?
Dear comrades,

We are very sorry to say that some national officers have issued statements which amount to a coup against the elected National Secretary and an attempt to depose the properly selected GLA Mayoral Candidate Lindsey German. The letter sent to Respect members by George Galloway and others and press comment today has attempted to do exactly this.

It is utterly unconstitutional and undemocratic to think that any officer can simply write a letter declaring that either the National Secretary or any properly selected candidate can be deposed simply because George Galloway or any one else disapproves of their actions. These are matters for the National Council and the Conference of Respect and for no one else.

The National Secretary did not say any of those remarks attributed to him in yesterday's letter. In fact, as today's Morning Star report of yesterday's press conference shows, he said the exact opposite. Neither I, nor the SWP, nor the four Tower Hamlets councillors (who have only said that they will no longer work under the direction of the current councillors' group leader) are leaving Respect. Many of us are founders of Respect, indeed we thought up its name (as George Galloway's book I'm Not the Only One recounts). We are not being driven out by anyone.

The current debate in Respect must now return to democratic norms. We demand that all Respect members condemn the smashing of Councillor Oli Rahman's windows last weekend. We demand that all Respect members condemn the threatened legal action against Councillor Rania Khan.

We do not claim to own Respect, only the members own Respect and only a conference of members can decide our next steps.

We call on the members of Respect to defend the democratic structures of Respect. We call on all members to refuse to be bludgeoned into submission by these unilaterally issued dictates telling us who will be or will not be officers or candidates for Respect.

We call on all Respect members to elect their delegates to conference and to reject the actions of a small clique who want to drive the left out of Respect.

Additionally, I call on all National Committee members to uphold the democracy of the organisation regardless of their position in recent debates. I repeat, only the members have the right, at conference, to decide the issues before us.

Yours,

John Rees, National Secretary
Lindsey German, Respect Mayoral Candidate
Chris Bambery, National Officer
Elaine Graham-Leigh, National Treasurer

[nittynora]

Just received... another one...

Respect does not belong to the SWP


31st October 2007


If the Respect annual conference goes ahead, it won’t be the members who decide, but the SWP leadership.


There have been two meetings between SWP leaders and non-SWP Respect National Council members including the National Chair and Vice-chair - last Thursday and last Sunday. At both these meetings there was an agreement that the relationship between leading SWP and non-SWP members in Respect had fundamentally and irretrievably broken down and that there had to be a rapid but amicable separation if we were to avoid a profoundly destructive continuation of the divisions which now exist inside Respect. The principal issue was what names the two successor organisations would have. Non-SWP representatives wanted to issue a joint statement on Sunday but the SWP leadership wanted to keep the discussions secret.

Unfortunately, the SWP leadership were clearly negotiating in bad faith. On Monday a press conference of the four breakaway councillors was held in a venue booked by the one of the SWP’s members who works in the Respect National Office, presumably at the behest of the National Secretary and at a cost of £329. The venue was chosen by the SWP leadership to try to maximise national publicity for the four breakaway councillors. There has been a dispute about what was said at the press conference but what is not in dispute is that the National Secretary attended the press conference in support of the four breakaway councillors, spoke in their support and neither they nor he disavowed the possibility of them standing against Respect candidates in elections.

No-one should underestimate the significance of the actions of the four breakaway councillors. This is profoundly damaging to Respect in Tower Hamlets, has deprived Respect of its position as the official opposition on Tower Hamlets council and has been celebrated by New Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats. Resigning the whip is a profound betrayal of the trust of the members and voters who elected these councillors. We can only conclude that the SWP leadership’s support for this action makes clear that they are not interested in limiting the damage already done to Respect’s reputation, but in fact are keen to maximise that damage for their own narrow interests.

Moreover, a further meeting to negotiate a way out of the current crisis was scheduled for this morning, Wednesday 31st October, but was unilaterally cancelled by the SWP. They have raised instead the clarion call - “let the members decide at the annual conference”. However, we believe the basis of the annual conference of Respect, due to be held on 17/18 November, has been corrupted and that it cannot go ahead. If it does, it will not be the members who decide but a rigged SWP majority.

This is our evidence.

1) Student representation. We now have documentary evidence that Student Respect officers locally have been encouraged to send in to the Respect National Office lists of names of students who have put their names down as “interested” in Respect at Freshers’ Fair, but who have not paid over a penny to the student organisation locally, much less to the Respect national office, in order to become members of Respect. On this basis, delegates are being allocated to “student branches”. The election of student delegates is being co-ordinated by SWP Central Committee member Colin Smith in order to boost the SWP’s representation at the conference.

2) Delegate entitlement. In Tower Hamlets the delegate entitlement was suddenly raised from 57 delegates to 77 delegates. This was based on including in the entitlement people who had previously registered but who had failed to renew their membership by the due date. This is without any constitutional legitimacy or support from the Standing Orders (the rules for the conduct of conference). We can only conclude that those who decided to change the basis of delegate entitlement believe that this will again give them an advantage in the process of delegation to conference.

3) The Conference Arrangements Committee. This has been dominated by the SWP. The Executive Committee (National Officers’ Group) refused to increase the representation on this committee of those independent of the SWP. We can only assume this is because control of the CAC is a matter of importance to the SWP in order to give them control of the process of delegation and of the conference itself. The CAC has not been endorsed by the National Council contrary to the requirements of the constitution.

4) The Respect National Office. This is clearly being used for factional purposes, a matter which will be of grave concern to the Respect membership who pay the wages of the office staff. We note that two of the full time staff are both members of the SWP, originally appointed to their jobs without open advertisement of the job, an independent appointments panel or any proper job description or contract. One of them has appeared on circulars sent out by the SWP Central Committee to all SWP members urging them to convene “Stop the Witch Hunt” Respect meetings and citing this staff member as someone to contact for speakers on behalf of the SWP. And the reply which was sent to at least one Respect member who accidentally signed up to the SWP’s statement was signed off as coming from the Respect National Office. We therefore have no confidence in the integrity of the national office in the administration of arrangements in the run up to conference.

5) Access to database and communication with Respect members. Access codes to both the membership database and the national office email which provides email access to the Respect membership were unilaterally and without warning changed almost two weeks ago. A request from the National Chair and Vice-Chair to be given these access codes was then ignored. The access codes seemed to be in the sole possession of the National Secretary, the National Treasurer and two office staff. Three of these people are members of the SWP and the fourth is extremely closely identified with the SWP leadership. We have no confidence that the Respect National Office has not registered SWP members or members sympathetic to the SWP after conference deadlines and/or without the requisite payment of subs. When a national officer went to the National Office and asked the National Treasurer for access to the members list to email out a statement signed by the National Chair etc, access was denied and the
statement was only sent out after a further call to the National Secretary. Access codes were only finally made available on Monday 29th October after a meeting with the SWP leadership on Sunday to discuss the crisis in Respect and the terms of a separation.

6) Packing the conference. The SWP has sent out numerous circulars to its members about the so-called witch-hunt in Respect. It has used its communication networks to communicate its point of view to Respect members nationwide. Worse than this, the SWP sent out a circular demanding that its members join Respect and get themselves delegated to conference shortly before the closing date for delegate entitlement. This is a blatant attempt to “pack” the Annual Conference by getting SWP members to register as members at the last minute and to get themselves elected as delegates from effectively non-existent Respect branches, rotten boroughs with delegate election meetings not properly convened. There is certainly no process enabling delegate election to be properly monitored, given the instruction from the SWP to its members to pack the conference and the evidence that the SWP is only electing SWP delegates from branches where they have a majority at a meeting.

We believe the evidence presented above is a formidable indictment of the legitimacy of the annual conference. We believe that if the conference goes ahead, the conference will carry no validity and is likely to degenerate into chaos and disorder. We also believe that the conference is now vulnerable to legal challenge and injunction.

The SWP have split Respect. If the annual conference were to go ahead in these circumstances, it would be a travesty.

Linda Smith, National Chair
Salma Yaqoob, National Vice Chair

WILL THIS END??? NOVEMBER 10th ?

[nittynora]

Bejesus another one ....can't even be arsed to read them. Can anybody?

Respect belongs to its members


Yesterday 'a spokesman for George Galloway' tried to sack the National Secretary of Respect and deselect the Respect Mayoral candidate in a press comment to the Morning Star. Today Linda Smith and Salma Yaqoob want to unilaterally abolish the Respect conference by edict.

The democracy of Respect is under threat and every Respect member must now stand ready to defend the right of the democratically elected conference to take place.

Until and unless the members of Respect decide otherwise at a properly constituted National Council or Conference I remain the National Secretary and will act to defend both the policies and democracy of the organisation. I will accept any vote or decision taken by such a conference. I remain committed to ensuring a full and representative debate takes place at our conference.

I, many of my fellow national officers and the national office staff remain committed to ensuring that the duly elected representatives of the Respect membership can exercise their democratic right to participate in the conference and to take informed decisions about the future of Respect. No one can be allowed to frighten, intimidate or circumvent the right of the conference delegates to attend the conference and vote on our future.

I call on all Respect members to assist the national office in maintaining proper democratic procedures in Respect and to assist the national office in organising a properly representative national conference.

Every argument used to try and convince Respect members that they should abandon the conference is false.

1. At the meetings called at the request of George Galloway's supporters to try and resolve these issues the SWP and its supporters were told, at the first meeting, that they should leave Respect and, at the second meeting, that George Galloway's supporters should keep the name Respect and that the SWP and others should go away and choose another name. When this 'offer' was refused George Galloway's supporters first called a recess and then ended the meeting. After the meeting George Galloway's supporters repeatedly briefed in private and to the press that 'the SWP are leaving Respect'. At all times George Galloway's supporters have absolutely refused to accept that any agreement would have to be discussed and voted on by Respect conference. It is this bad faith that ended the discussions.

2. The charge that the National Secretary is behaving in a factional manner is a moment of breathtaking hypocrisy when it is absolutely clear that the Respect MP, his entire office, the Chair and Vice Chair are doing nothing but behave in a factional manner. There is only one difference: they are trying to close down the possibility of a democratic conference taking place whereas I am trying to defend it.

3. The four Tower Hamlets councillors are absolutely within their rights to protest at the undemocratic nature of Tower Hamlets Respect in which the disruption of meetings, the packing of meetings, the abuse of procedure by the chair and other supporters of the Council group leader are routine.

It is simply incredible that the very people who have watched the destruction of democracy in Tower Hamlets' Respect now assert that a democratic delegation does not exist from Tower Hamlets.

4. Linda Smith was at the officers meeting and agreed the basis of student delegations to this years' conference. It is exactly the same as it was last year. The sudden uproar over the student delegation is not based on democratic concerns but on an attempt to ban delegates who may not agree with George Galloway~the same George Galloway who praised the student involvement in last years' conference.

5. The numbers of the Tower Hamlets delegation rose on the initiative of George Galloway's supporters in Tower Hamlets! But even then the chair of Tower Hamlets got half way through a vote at the last meeting called, at his initiative, to discuss the conference delegation and then closed the meeting in the middle of the vote when it was clear that he would lose the vote. Thus the original and only properly elected delegation in Tower Hamlets stands.

6. The Conference Arrangements Committee was elected long before this row and stands just as it did at that time. This objection is being raised now to try and force us to abandon the conference.

7. The Respect National Office. Every claim made against the Respect national office~ being used for factional purposes, staff appointed to their jobs without open advertisement of the job, an independent appointments panel or any proper job description~is as true of George Galloway's office which has never been accountable to the Respect membership. But whichever office people work in they are absolutely entitled to act as political activisits in their own right. The 'are you now or have you ever been a member of the SWP' approach is simply designed to stop them doing this and to provide an excuse for people who are too afraid to face the membership at a national conference.

8. The same office staff who have always had access to the data base still have it. No request for information has ever been refused to any Respect officer or NC member. Of course people are still joining Respect but the accusation that SWP members have registered members to vote for conference delegates after the appropriate date is utterly untrue.

9. The SWP wants it members to come to conference. I have long since given up expecting logicality from our critics. Is the SWP too engaged or too disengaged from Respect? Are our critics not seeking to get their supporters to conference? Or is it simply that they do not have that many supporters?

10. The story all week has been that the SWP has split Respect. But now we can all see who will and who will not be willing to face a united confernence.

Of course the national office is willing to meet with any Respect member who has concerns about conference and to try and resolve these problems.

In the meantime I call on all Respect branches to call emergency meetings and reaffirm their committment to the democratic structures of Respect.

Yours,

John Rees, National Secretary.

[Dugsie]

It is true that the SWP has a very bad record of being a divisive influence on any organisation in which it is involved. This, as has been suggested, probably has its roots in its method of operation. However, to what extent is this unique to the SWP ? If you believe in forming front organisations in order to become involved in reformist politics, yet, at the same time, maintain your 'revolutionary' organisation, manipulating and controlling behind the scenes, isn't division and schism inevitable ultimately ? Aren't the Socialist Party ( Militant ) attempting to do the same thing with the formation of a new 'workers' party ?

Trotskyism, like New Labour, is past its sell by date. Time for a rethink.

[nittynora]

And another one...

November 2nd

An Appeal to Respect members

There is a crisis in Respect and we are appealing to you to help us resolve it. Please read this appeal and show your support by signing it.

There is now overwhelming evidence that the democratic structures of Respect are being circumvented and marginalised. Some national officers are attempting to unilaterally by-pass the existing democratic structures of Respect and to witch-hunt socialists including the SWP.

In order to justify this, accusations are being made that the national officers group is dominated by the SWP when only 7 of its 16 members are in the SWP. It should be also be noted that the National Council of Respect is composed of 50 members only a minority of whom are members of the SWP.

There are attempts being made by some national officers to refuse Student Respect groups any representation at the national conference on the same basis as they were elected last year despite the decision by the national officers earlier this year that Student Respect groups would be allowed to elect delegates to conference.

In Tower Hamlets hundreds of new members have been registered in the last month, many of them in huge batches brought to office by a small number of individuals and virtually all at the concessionary membership rate. The decisions of a properly constituted branch meeting has been overturned by a margin of just one vote on the Tower Hamlets committee, attempts have been made to dismiss elected officers and a witch hunt of the left has begun.

In other places members meetings are being called without informing the existing officers and SWP members are being excluded from them.

Even more seriously there is a campaign of vilification of the left in Respect that can only result in Respect's destruction as a serious left wing force.

We call on Respect members to demand that the forthcoming national conference call a halt to this camapign and re-establish the democratic culture of Respect. We call on all members to stand together in defence of Respect as a democratic, radical left wing project capable of mounting a principled challenge to New Labour.


Councillor Oli Rahman (Tower Hamlets), Councillor Rania Khan (Tower Hamlets), Councillor Lutfa Begum (Tower Hamlets), Councillor Ahmed Hussain (Tower Hamlets), Councillor Michael Lavalette (Preston), Councillor Ray Holmes (Bolsover), Elaine Graham Leigh (National Treasurer), John Rees (National Secretary), Sait Akgul (National Officer), Helen Salmon (National Council member), Jackie Turner (National Council member), Dominic Alexander (Tottenham Respect), Lindsey German (Respect Mayoral candidate), Chris Bambery (National Council member), Jeannie Robinson (National Council, Chesterfield), Tony Dowling (National Council, Newcastle), Paul Fredericks (GLA candidate), Carmel Brown (National Committee, Liverpool), Mehdi Hassan (National Council, Tower Hamlets), Maxine Bowler (National Council, Sheffield).

To add your name reply to: respectappeal@gmail.com

A List of 1015 names

[nittynora]

And again...

Nov 3rd 2.45pm

George Galloway splits from Respect

George Galloway and his supporters have split from Respect. After a week in which he has tried to pretend that the SWP and other socialists were leaving Respect he has announced a rival conference on the same day as the Respect national conference.

The split conference, under the name Respect Renewal, does not have the support of the majority of Respect members nor has it been authorised or endorsed by any of the elected bodies of Respect.

George Galloway has chosen to ignore the resolutions from Respect branches around the country demanding that the Respect conference go ahead. The attempt by Linda Smith and Salma Yaqoob earlier this week to call off the long planned Respect annual conference failed because most rank and file members demanded that it go ahead.

George Galloway's response has been to try and split the organisation by calling a separate conference. He has failed to win votes at the national officers meetings or to put his call to a national council. He fears he will not have the support of a majority at a the Respect conference.

Every Respect member should support the original and properly delegated conference. No other conference will be a delegate body with the authority to speak for Respect members. We remain committed to the radical, democratic principles of Respect as it was first founded.

[nittynora]

I did not see this one in my inbox....

Locks changed on Respect office?
From: Respect - the Unity Coalition (office@respectcoalition.org)
Sent:03 November 2007 09:48:25
Dear Members,

Respect has been locked out of its head office.

Overnight the locks were changed on the Respect national office. This action excludes most National Officers, the national office staff and the majority of Respect members who support them from their own organisation's headquarters.

In recent days Respect branches all around the country have overwhelmingly voted in favour of the Respect conference going ahead. This coup is obviously meant to prevent democratic debate continuing in Respect and to rob the membership of their own organisation.

The immediate effect of this action is to prevent Respect from intervening effectively in today's NHS demonstration.

The Respect coalition nationally pays over half the rent, rates and bills of the office which is shared with the constituency party.

We call on all Respect members to demand that Linda Smith, the chair of Respect, and George Galloway reverse this disastrous course of action.

Please protest to gallowayg@parliament.uk, lindablackpool@hotmail.com

Please send a copy of your protest to office@respectcoalition.org


Yours in solidarity,

John Rees, national secretary
Elaine Graham Leigh, national treasurer
Councillor Oli Rahman, Tower Hamlets
Councillor Michael Lavelette, Preston

[nittynora]

And another one Its a game of beedin' Ping Pong.... Does anyone read this??? SPLIT ACCOMPLISHED???

A call to renew Respect from Linda Smith, Salma Yaqoob and 17 other members of the Respect National Council?
From: info@therespectparty.org
  You may not know this sender. Mark as safe | Mark as unsafe
Sent:03 November 2007 20:21:48

Dear Respect Member/Supporter,



Please find below two documents:

(1) Renewing Respect, from Linda Smith and Salma Yaqoob

(2) An invitation to the Respect Renewal Conference called by Linda Smith, Salma Yaqoob and 17 other National Council members

====================================================================

(1) Renewing Respect



The following statement has been issued by Linda Smith, National Chair of Respect, and Salma Yaqoob, National Vice-Chair of Respect.



"Respect was founded to bring together people from divergent political backgrounds in a common struggle for peace, equality and justice.



"It is now clear, however, that there is a fundamental and irretrievable breakdown in trust and relations between the SWP leadership and other parts of Respect.



"There can be no confidence in the legitimacy of the forthcoming Respect conference. The entire democratic process in Respect has been corrupted. If the conference goes ahead it will do no more than confirm that the SWP leadership is hijacking Respect for its own factional purposes. We will not be attending it.



"This breakdown in relations has occurred because the SWP leadership arrogantly refuses to countenance any situation in which they are not dominant and do not exercise control. They are determined to put the interests of the SWP above that of Respect.



"The sectarianism and 'control freak' methods of the SWP have led us to a situation where Respect is irretrievably split. The SWP leadership has supported the breakaway of four councillors from the Respect group in Tower Hamlets, who then went into coalition talks with the Liberal Democrats.



"We have no intention of giving up the struggle for a pluralistic, democratic and broad left wing movement. We will therefore be holding a Respect Renewal conference to discuss the future for progressive politics in Britain today. We are confident that this conference will attract a broad range of support from those who are interested in discussing how we can work together in pursuit of common objectives.



"This renewal conference will take place in London on Saturday 17 November, and we urge as many people as possible to attend it.



"Respect, in its current form, cannot continue. But it is in the interests of all us, including those in the wider left and anti-war movements, that this division is carried out in the most amicable manner possible - one that resolves any legal or organisational questions through negotiation.



"Two meetings have taken place between us and the SWP Central Committee, in the presence of an independent chair respected by both sides. The independent chair confirmed to both groups that there was agreement that the relationship had come to an end, and that what we were discussing were proposals for an amicable resolution of any outstanding organisational questions. Just days later, the SWP backed the split in the Respect group on Tower Hamlets council and walked out of further negotiations.



"We remain committed to finding a negotiated solution to these issues. And we understand that the independent person is willing to continue their efforts to bring the two sides together. We urge the SWP to seek to resolve outstanding legal and organisational questions through further negotiations, in the hope that these matters will not have to be resolved elsewhere."



====================================================================



(2) An invitation to the Respect Renewal Conference called by Linda Smith, Salma Yaqoob and 17 other National Council members


"We are inviting you to attend the Respect Renewal conference.


It will take place on Saturday 17 November, at the Bishopsgate Institute in London, from 11am to 5pm.


Speakers include George Galloway MP, Linda Smith, Cllr Salma Yaqoob, Ken Loach. There will be plenty of time for debate.


It will be an opportunity for all Respect members and others who want to continue the process of building a vibrant, radical, left alternative to New Labour to come together and discuss how to do this following the recent debilitating divisions that have split Respect.


It will be an opportunity to reflect on the mistaken methods and lack of political vision that have led to the split in Respect and to learn lessons on how to work together and with others in the future.


We remain committed to the radical policies which have been the cornerstone of Respect since its inception. Our organisational model is based on plurality, democracy and transparency.


For us, the acronym RESPECT – Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environment, Community and Trade Unions – remains as valid today as it did at our launch in 2004.


We want to build Respect but we also want to work together with all others who share a vision of a better, more equitable society, to create a broader, united party to represent the interests of all working-class people.


We want to reach out to all those in the anti-war movement who still need a voice for peace and against imperialism.


We want to reach out to all those concerned about climate change and the destruction of the environment.


We want to reach out to all those in the trade unions who feel betrayed by New Labour under Brown as under Blair.


We want to reach out to all those in the black, Asian and other minority ethnic communities who suffer racism and Islamophobia.


We want to reach out to all those who want to fight against discrimination, whether or the grounds of religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age.


We want to reach out to the dispossessed, the asylum seeker, the migrant worker and to all who defend them.


If you want to reach out with us, come along and join in our discussion."


The Respect Renewal conference is called by the following Respect National Council members:


Linda Smith National Chair,

Salma Yaqoob National Vice-Chair,

Mobeen Azhar,

Ayesha Bajwa,

Victoria Brittain,

Rita Carter,

Ger Francis,

George Galloway MP,

Jerry Hicks,

John Lister,

Ken Loach,

Abdul Khalik,

Abdurahman Jafar,

Abjol Miah,

Bernie Parkes,

Yvonne Ridley,

Clive Searle,

Alan Thornett,

Nick Wrack.


If you would like to attend to our conference, or would like to know more about us, please get in touch.


e-mail: respectrenewal@gmail.com


www.respectrenewal.org

[Oscar]

Pravda is also reporting this:
“SWP national council discusses crisis in Respect”
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=13463

And the official take from the SWP Central Committee is this wordy self-justification, which is unlikely to go down as a classic in the annals of Marxist history or theoretical elaboration:
http://www.swp.org.uk/respect_cc.php

An attack on the left in Respect

George Galloway has launched a series of attacks on the Socialist Workers Party in recent documents and interventions at meetings. He has been trying to win people to sign a document claiming “Respect is in danger of being completely undermined by the leadership of the Socialist Workers Party” . It alleges that the SWP is trying to fix the outcome of the Respect conference by “blocking delegates” in Birmingham on the one hand and voting for delegates “at completely unrepresentative meetings” in Tower Hamlets on the other.

At a Tower Hamlets meeting he claimed the SWP was trying to control Respect “by Russian doll methods” and said that Paul McGarr and Aysha Ali (both local SWP members) were “Russian dolls” .

Such allegations are false. They can be refuted simply by talking to many non-SWP members in Respect, as well as the SWP members against whom they are directed. The aim of these allegations is not simply to destroy opposition to a particular course on which Galloway wants to direct Respect — a course markedly to the right in some areas to that at the time Respect was launched four years ago. It is also to besmirch the name of the Socialist Workers Party, thereby damaging our capacity to play a part in any united campaign of the left.

It is sad that someone like George Galloway, who has been subject to so much witch-hunting in the past from the media — and who has always been defended by the Socialist Workers Party on such occasions — has chosen to witch hunt an organisation of the left, using the sorts of claims that have always been used by the right against the left in the working class movement. But that is what he has done. He is told at least one person that this is a “fight against Trotskyism” .

A few people on the left might be taken in by his claims. But serious activists know that our members do not behave at all as he purports, however much they may disagree with some of our politics. For the Socialist Workers Party has a long record of working over a wide range of issues with people and organisations with different views to our own.

This is something widely accepted on the left. So even Peter Hain, now a senior government minister, recalled in a recent radio programme being able to work harmoniously with us inside the Anti Nazi League in the late 1970s. He described our party as being the dynamic driving force within it, but said we were able to work with people who were committed to the Labour Party. Today members of our central committee play a leading role in the Stop the War Coalition alongside Labour Party members like Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn, as well as Andrew Murray, a member of the Communist Party of Britain, and people who belong to no party.

BLAH, etc, and so on.............. http://www.swp.org.uk/respect_cc.php

[Dugsie]

I never thought that any group in which the SWP was involved could survive for very long. However, it is rather depressing to witness this all too familiar scenario. The rival claims of legitimacy, the fight over the organisation's assets. It seems that the sectarian Left just can't avoid repeating the same old schismatic scenario over and over again. Even the SPGB have done it. Is it genetic ?

I was thinking of promoting a division in my own tendency. However, as the only member, I'm not sure how to go about it. Any suggestions ?

[nittynora]

A Red Pepper Blogger has just put a new post about just this situation. It is a refreshingly different take on the situation.

http://probablyblonde.blogspot.com/2007/11/i-didnt-say-that.html

[rob9443]

The SWP is to the left what the ice pick was to Trotsky.

[Fiona]

Two more blog entries on Respect by Red Pepper bloggers

Oscar Reyes
http://blog.redpepper.org.uk/oscar/2007/11/03/the-demise-of-respect-back-to-the-future/

Steve Platt
http://plattitude.blogspot.com/2007/11/praise-george-galloway-and-pass-samosas.html

[nittynora]

there now seem to be two RESPECT Parties... Respect(swp) and Respect(galloway)...

Now what is betting there is going to be a fight about this and that it will end up in Court?

[nittynora]

Now I am f*ck*ng confused which lot is this Respect(swp) or Respect(galloway). I think it is the former.. I feel a fight and a court case loomimg over the name Respect...

Respect Annual Conference‏
From: Respect - the Unity Coalition (office@respectcoalition.org)
Sent:06 November 2007 16:01:35
Reply-to:office@respectcoalition.org
Please note our new office address: 209 Coborn House, 3 Coborn Road, London E3 2DA

Respect Annual Conference
Saturday 17th November 2007

Respect’s annual conference remains the place where delegates elected from groups around the country can come together and set the priorities for their party for the coming year. It is the foremost decision-making body of Respect.

This year, due to extraordinary circumstances, the conference will be a one-day conference concentrating on how we move forward from the recent disputes within Respect. It will be an important opportunity for members to discuss their vision for Respect, set campaigning priorities and take democratic decisions on the future of our organisation.

The conference will take the resolutions submitted on the internal structure of Respect and emergency resolutions (see below). Other resolutions, unless withdrawn, will be remitted to a further conference to be held in the first six months of next year.

The conference will also elect the National Council and, if it so decides, the Chair, National Organiser and National Secretary for the coming year (see below for nomination procedures).

We urge all members who have been delegated to conference to attend, and those who have not been delegated to attend as observers. Over 300 delegates and observers have so far been registered and we are arranging overflow space so that everyone can participate.

Respect belongs to its members, and it is only the members, delegated to conference, who can decide on Respect’s future. Come and be part of it.


Respect 4th Annual Conference
Saturday 17th November 2007
University of Westminster
309 Regent Street
London W1

Agenda

0900-1030    Registration

1030-1100    Procedure for NC election
(including resolution 53)

1130-1300    Our Vision for Respect
(including resolutions 31-37)

1300-1400    Lunch

1400-1530    Campaigning Priorities

1530-1700    Emergency resolutions and elections

Following the conference, there will be a social in the Horse and Groom, 128 Great Portland Street, London W1W 6PX from 5pm – 8pm. Non-alcohol area available.

Nominations for Election to NC and Chair, National Organiser and National Secretary

It is proposed the election of the National Council should be carried out by single transferable vote (STV). Any two fully-renewed national members of Respect can propose and second any fully-renewed national Respect member for the NC, such nominations to be sent to resolutions@respectcoalition.org to be received by midday on Wednesday 14th November 2007.

Nominations are also invited for the posts of Chair, National Organiser and National Secretary, as resolution 53 proposes that these should be directly elected by this year’s conference. Nominations for fully-renewed national Respect members should be from two fully-renewed national members of Respect and should be sent to resolutions@respectcoalition.org to be received by midday on Wednesday 14th November 2007.

Emergency Resolutions
Emergency resolutions from Respect branches or 20 members will be accepted until midday on Wednesday 14th November 2007 and should be sent to resolutions@respectcoalition.org.

Accommodation
If you are coming from outside London and require accommodation for the Friday night before conference, or if you live in London and can provide accommodation, please contact Mehdi on 07949 091 475 or mehdi@respectcoalition.org.

[nittynora]

Duh.... of course I should have know..

Respect = Respect(SWP)
RespectRenewal = Respect(Galloway)

1. How long will this last?
2. What is the point?

[rob9443]

Galloway should consider joining the Greens. As it happens green is also the colour of Islam.

[Gitfinger]

Tony Benn was right: too many socialist parties and not enough socialists in them. This current debacle absolutely typifies the impotence of the left and the useless sectarianism in it. Can we stop pressing the self-destruct button, please?