Come May will Respect make hay while the sun shines?

[Fisher_Gate]

I think Barry may be right. London boroughs must elect all their councillors at once - the only alternative model that I know of being to elect a third of them each tiime. How else could there be an expectation to win in Tower Hamlets?

geoff c

Yes Rahman is up for election - he was elected in a by-election and all seats are up in Tower Hamlets. But the two Preston councillors - Lavalette and Brooks are not up until 2007, so Respect will have at least two councillors after May 2006. Respect will be standing in 3 or 4 seats in Preston with a reasonable chance of a good showing and winning in one or two of them (elections are by thirds here). The councillors profile remains high - see www.prestonrespect.org .

There are other places Respect are probably standing that haven't been mentioned - Liverpool and Manchester for example. Outside London though these are likely to be one's and two's to concentrate campaigning efforts. I think if Salma Yaquob is standing in Birmingham she's in with a good chance of being elected too.

I've been away for a while, but I'll try and compile a list of what I've heard sometime soon.

[It'll save the Weekly Worker bothering to do any research too (they seem to be reading these pages regularly but haven't the nerve to post their sectariana - http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/611/respect forum.htm)].

 

[belboid]

The lovely Maxine Bowler will be standing in Sheffield, Burngreave. She will got 9.7% of the vote.

 

[mutley]

The lovely Maxine Bowler will be standing in Sheffield, Burngreave. She will got 9.7% of the vote.

She will got? Have you invented a new tense?

Can you apply this to the lottery please and pm me?

 

[belboid]

the numbers 4, 16, 27, 28, 36 and 44 will all come up.

Tho not necessarilly in the same week, that's the problem with the imperfect future tense.

 

[BarryB]

Yes Rahman is up for election - he was elected in a by-election and all seats are up in Tower Hamlets. But the two Preston councillors - Lavalette and Brooks are not up until 2007, so Respect will have at least two councillors after May 2006. Respect will be standing in 3 or 4 seats in Preston with a reasonable chance of a good showing and winning in one or two of them (elections are by thirds here). The councillors profile remains high - see www.prestonrespect.org .

There are other places Respect are probably standing that haven't been mentioned - Liverpool and Manchester for example. Outside London though these are likely to be one's and two's to concentrate campaigning efforts. I think if Salma Yaquob is standing in Birmingham she's in with a good chance of being elected too.

I've been away for a while, but I'll try and compile a list of what I've heard sometime soon.

[It'll save the Weekly Worker bothering to do any research too (they seem to be reading these pages regularly but haven't the nerve to post their sectariana - http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/611/respect forum.htm)].

Welcome back Fisher Gate. Once your back in the swing of things and compiled your list perhaps we could have a discussion concerning the article titled Councils, Class Struggle & Respect by Liam Mac Uaid in the Winter 2005/06 issue of Socialist Outlook- a journal which im fairly sure you support.

Concerning the admittedly sketchy news we know so far it seems to me that outside of Tower Hamlets and Newham Respect are putting up fewer candidates for election than I would have anticipated.Of course this probably means that people will be brought into Tower Hamlets and Newham from all over the country to concentrate on making a major breakthrough in part of east London. Which is possible. But if Respect makes only modest gains it could be demoralising. Although im sure the spin doctors will be hard at work to portray it as another brilliant victory.

BarryB

 

[Matt S]

interestingly, Oxford RESPECT appear to have stood down one of their candidates in Oxford in order to campaign for the Green candidate.

Matt

 

[anfield]

I went to the 'launch' of the Merseyside Respect local election campaign a few weeks back. Galloway turned up the same time as I did, and lapped up the awaiting media, chunnering about "Preston and Chantelle". Was quite impressed by the candidate, standing in Toxteth, who was really too good to be associated with Respect. If he was an Independent I'd almost certainly help with his campaign - but I'm reluctant to throw my lot in with the Trot-Galloway-Islamist project.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

[It'll save the Weekly Worker bothering to do any research too (they seem to be reading these pages regularly but haven't the nerve to post their sectariana - http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/611/respect forum.htm)].

Funny you should mention that. Is it true that the ISG have decided not to let their CPGB rivals in to play with their new "Respect Party Platform" toy?

 

[belboid]

Galloway turned up the same time as I did, and lapped up the awaiting media, chunnering about "Preston and Chantelle".

funny, there was absolutely, resoundingly, no comment at all from him or anyone else on the platform about BB at the Sheffield launch meeting last night! Only a bloke from Workers Power mentioned it, to a resounding silence.

GG did find time to support the introduction of a law against holocause denial tho.

 

[anfield]

funny, there was absolutely, resoundingly, no comment at all from him or anyone else on the platform about BB at the Sheffield launch meeting last night! Only a bloke from Workers Power mentioned it, to a resounding silence.

To be fair this was a couple of days after he'd come out of the BB house, and it was mentioned several times by the chair, Alec McFadden.

 

[treelover]

How many was at the Sheffield meeting?

funny, there was absolutely, resoundingly, no comment at all from him or anyone else on the platform about BB at the Sheffield launch meeting last night! Only a bloke from Workers Power mentioned it, to a resounding silence.

 

[belboid]

dunno, fucked if i was going to go!

 

[Fisher_Gate]

Funny you should mention that. Is it true that the ISG have decided not to let their CPGB rivals in to play with their new "Respect Party Platform" toy?

I have a personal view on this and cannot speak for anyone else.

The CPGB/Weekly Worker cannot support the 'Platform' statement as it makes it clear supporters are in favour of building Respect in the here and now. The CPGB/WW do not favour building Respect - they 'intervene' in it when it suits them (for example in the general election they publicly opposed voting for a lot of Respect candidates, including Salma Yaqoob even though they had been democratically selected by Respect members http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/569/respect.htm http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/574/candidates.htm).

Therefore they have put themselves outside the framework of the Platform as far as I'm concerned. I do not believe this is an issue on which the ISG alone have a view, but one that I believe is shared by all those supporting and sympathetic to the Platform.

If the CPGB/WW were to change publicly their policy on building Respect to a positive one, then that might be another matter, but it would have to be shown to represent more than a tactical manouvre for anyone to believe it. Since the CPGB/WW follows Leninist norms I assume that what applies to the group applies to all members too.

 

[HarrisonSlade]

The May council elections are almost upon us and some Urban 75 posters are saying that it is 'make or break' for the Respect coalition. As a Respect member I do not agree that it is 'make or break', but neither is it a question of simply 'making hay while the sun shines'. George Galloway, the Respect MP, has been on Big Brother and many people, including many Respect members, have had their confidence dampened by his appearance. However, a lot could happen between now and then and we are already seeing the leaders of the United States and Great Britain talking about another war - in Iran - on top of the criminal disaster still unfolding in its full tragedy in Iraq. Millions and billions that could have gone on public services like schools and hospitals, or pensions or public transport, or ending child poverty in the UK, have been poured into tanks and guns and bombs. Respect emerged from the anti-war movement and are against privatisation and racism - but will they be able to win the confidence of enough people to hit New Labour where it hurts them - at the ballot box?

Basically, how many councillors are Respect going to have after the elections in May?

Why isn't there a zero option?

The left wing citizen of Britain wants a serious alternative to New Labour, not a bunch of Islamists and Trots in a Party with the most cringeworthy name you can think of.

 

[lewislewis]

Harrison...left-wing citizen of England, not Britain. No Welsh council seats are up for election. I do agree with you though, Respect wouldn't get the support of a majority of the left or a majority of the anti-war movement.

Did I read they support the Kashmiri People's Justice Party??

 

[Macullam]

Respect SWP report

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=8341

 

[mutley]

Funny you should mention that. Is it true that the ISG have decided not to let their CPGB rivals in to play with their new "Respect Party Platform" toy?

Funny you should turn up again after maintaining utter silence when these boards were crawling with islamophobes. Still, why waste time defending the oppressed when you can have a pop at the ISG eh?

 

[TeeJay]

Why isn't there a zero option?

It's already been explained twice already on this thread - there are some Respect councillors who are not facing reelection this year, so the number can't fall to zero in May.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Funny you should turn up again after maintaining utter silence when these boards were crawling with islamophobes. Still, why waste time defending the oppressed when you can have a pop at the ISG eh?

What the fuck are you talking about you mentalist? Do you want me to trawl through a boards archives every time I come back after a bit of a break and dig up whatever offensive threads I missed?

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Therefore they have put themselves outside the framework of the Platform as far as I'm concerned. I do not believe this is an issue on which the ISG alone have a view, but one that I believe is shared by all those supporting and sympathetic to the Platform.

And filtered throught the left group gibberish to English translator we get:

"Yes, that is correct. The ISG don't want some other organised group messing with their property."

 

[mutley]

What the fuck are you talking about you mentalist? Do you want me to trawl through a boards archives every time I come back after a bit of a break and dig up whatever offensive threads I missed?

Well you're on 3000 posts, and averaging 2.2 a day, so it's a shame that your little break coincided with an international outbreak of xenophobia but never mind. The defensive reaction is noted.

But anyway, get back to what you generally do on here, slag off other socialists..

 

[Nigel Irritable]

Well you're on 3000 posts, and averaging 2.2 a day, so it's a shame that your little break coincided with an international outbreak of xenophobia but never mind. The defensive reaction is noted.

Because of course the main front in the battle against an "international outbreak of xenophobia" is the UK Politics section of the Urban75 webboard...

 

[mutley]

Because of course the main front in the battle against an "international outbreak of xenophobia" is the UK Politics section of the Urban75 webboard...

Oh I understand that you have important tasks to attend to. Obviously posting here is light relief, a chance to toy with all of us poor misguided sectarians.

However your implicit admission that if there is another outbreak of islamophobic shite on here you won't regard it as in any way your role to defend the oppressed is noted.

 

[Nigel Irritable]

However your implicit admission that if there is another outbreak of islamophobic shite on here you won't regard it as in any way your role to defend the oppressed is noted.

 

[Fisher_Gate]

And filtered throught the left group gibberish to English translator we get:

"Yes, that is correct. The ISG don't want some other organised group messing with their property."

So sad, Nigel, so sad ... when can I join the new mass party, by the way?

 

[BarryB]

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=8341

I see that the article says that George Solomou, one of their Hackney candidates, claims to be an ex member of the Labour Party. Which reminds me that Eddie Barnes, another one of their Hackney candidates, attended two Labour Party meetings a couple of months ago saying that he was still a member of the Labour Party and claiming that the the mention of him in the Weekly Worker saying that he was a member of Respect was incorrect . Does he know what time of day it is?

BarryB

 

[tbaldwin]

Oh I understand that you have important tasks to attend to. Obviously posting here is light relief, a chance to toy with all of us poor misguided sectarians.

However your implicit admission that if there is another outbreak of islamophobic shite on here you won't regard it as in any way your role to defend the oppressed is noted.

Muslims must be so pleased to have people like you defending them.....What they really need is more useless patronising twats to join your merry band of reactionary racist donuts.


Oh yeah and they will obviously be so impressed if you manage to get 40 seats. And standing in 7 seats in Birmingham a city of over 1 million people just shows your growing strength.

 

[mutley]

Muslims must be so pleased to have people like you defending them.....What they really need is more useless patronising twats to join your merry band of reactionary racist donuts.


Oh yeah and they will obviously be so impressed if you manage to get 40 seats. And standing in 7 seats in Birmingham a city of over 1 million people just shows your growing strength.

Who's this 'they'.

Useless patronising twat...

 

[Fisher_Gate]

Thanks for info. I dont have any great knowledge of Birmingham but 5 does sound on the low side for the number of canidates to stand in what is one of Englands biggest cities and one that has a condiderable Muslim population. Especially considering IIRC Salma Yaqoob came second in 2005 General Election in the Sparkbrook and Small heath seat with about 27.5% of the vote. I suppose you might be supporting some of that Kashmiri grounps candidates (PJP?) but even so it still sounds lower than i would have expected.

BarryB

Respect contested 2 of 11 parliamentary seats at the general so it's similar - and yes Yaqoob got 10,000+ votes (27.5%) and came second - despite the CPGB's campaign not to vote for her.

PJP stood in 9 wards last city elections (2004) coming close in several (and of course won two in a by-election). - I'm a bit unclear how many wards there are from the Council web site; the results page lists 30 that were contested, but there are 120 councillors which implies 40. If PJP and Respect contest about 15-20 seats between them then that's up to half of the city. I presume there will be Green Party candidates too - and of course the SP stood in one constituency in the general election, so maybe they'll be looking to top their magnificent 120 votes (0.38%) then on the back of their campaign for a new mass workers party due for launch in March.

 

[TeeJay]

...I'm a bit unclear how many wards there are from the Council web site; the results page lists 30 that were contested, but there are 120 councillors which implies 40. If PJP and Respect contest about 15-20 seats between them then that's up to half of the city...

12-20 seats out of 120 doesn't equal half.