Sticking to task of "reclaiming" Labour Party... CPB Congress votes not to join Respect
Socialist Resistance in print2000sScanned print read by OCR, and not yet proofread: expect run-together words, dropped letters and, where a piece began partway down a page, a few lines of its neighbour. The printed page is the authority.
Communist Party of Britain January 17th, not to join the Respect unity coalition - which was due to come into being the following weekend. Instead the CPB would continue with its current (and extremely difficult) 'policy' of seeking to reclaim Labour for the left.
The rather decisive two-to-one vote at the Congress, however, does not reflect the yawning chasm which appears to have opened inside the CB over this issue
The debate on Respect was carried in the pages of the Morning Star in the run up to the Congress. It reflected the impact that Respect is having on the left in England and its relevance in the current situation. It is the only show in town, when it comes to building a left alternative to new Labour.
On Saturday January 10th CPB General Secretary Rob Griffiths presented the case for joining Respect. He pointing to the positive experience of the CPB in the Stop the War Coalition, and urged CPB members to be prepared to work with Trotskyists in an electoral coalition, as they had in the StWC
CB chair Anita Halpin put the opposite view. She argued that if Respect was, as stated, just an alliance for the June elections it would be wrong - since the CPB should be voting for the Labour Party. But this is not the case, she argued. The reality behind Respect is that it will develop into an ongoing alternative party to Labour - and that would be a disaster for the left.
Morning Star Editor John Haylett waded in support of Rob Griffiths, arguing that: "the unity coalition" proposals on imperialist war, opposition to the Euro and an EU constitution, defence of public services, the manufacturing sector and jobs and rejection of privatisation and environmental vandalism are indistinguishable from CPB policies".
"The alternative is of soldiering on under a Prime Minister who not only rejects any sug gestion that he may not be the font of all wisdom but who actively glories in spurning all labour movement concepts of solidarity, wealth distribution and social justice. Reclaiming the Labour Party for the Labour movement cannot simply be a case of wishing and hoping. It requires decisive action for change.
And the debate has continued after the Congress as well, with the Morning Star appearing to promote Respect, against the Congress decision.
In the Monday afterwards, the Star •
carried a prominent advert for the Respect rally in Oxford that night, with long quotes from John Lister of the Oxford Socialist Alliance, promoting the meeting. Hard to find were a couple of sentences saying that the Congress had decid. ed not to join Respect
On Thursday January 22nd the Star carried a lengthy article by George Galloway under the remarkable headline: "All aboard for the Unity Express", and making a direct appeal to Morning Star readers to join Respect.
Personally, he said "l am in little doubt about the attitude of Morning Star readers when confronted with such a choice - espe cially when it is seen that the overwhelming majority of anti-war activists in the country have already voted with their feet and are on aboard the unity express".
Despite this, the decision of the CPB Congress was a negative decision for all concerned. It was especially negative for the CPB itself, which remains, as a result, trapped in a hopeless electoral strategy.
The CPB played a significant role in worked successfully with the rest of the left. This must have been a positive experience for the CPB. The effect of this vote, however, is to push the CPB back into effective isolation.
It is also a negative decision for Respect, although not one which will stop the momentum which is building up behind it. A positive decision by the CB would have sent important signals to some parts of the left, particularly in the trade unions, and encouraged them to get on board
The main point about Respect is that it comes directly out of the experience of the unity generated inside the StW and the mass radicalisation generated by the mass demonstrations and anti-war activity.
The CPB were a part of that, and should naturally be a part of the political coalition which comes out of it.
The issue will not go away however. It is to be hoped that as Respect develops over the coming weeks and months, enough minds will be changed within the CPB to change what is for them a very negative and dangerous decision.
tance February 2004 9