how did the CNWP thing go? Looking at the blog, and a few other comments elsewhere, it seems to be dead...
This do ya mate?
National Press Officer: Pete McLaren
NEW LEFT PARTY NOW MORE IMMININENT
Left Trade Union leaders and active socialists agree need to move forward is
more urgent
At the 3rd annual conference of the Campaign for a New Workers’ Party on
Sunday, hundreds of supporters attending were impressed with both a sprit of
left unity not seen for some time, and a commitment from two Trade Union
leaders to push forward the need for a new party to represent the working
class. There was unanimous agreement that Labour was no longer a party of
the working class, or socialist in any form, if it ever had been. A new
left party – a workers’ party – needed to be built
At the Discussion Forum on the way forward for the left in the morning, Bob
Crow, RMT General Secretary, suggested we needed the left and trade union
activists to unite around what we could agree on, and form an umbrella
organisation working towards a new socialist party to represent the working
class. PCS Vice President John McInally argued that trade unions should
call a conference in the autumn to discuss working class political
representation around key socialist issues. The Secretary of the Labour
Representation Committee, Simeon Andrews, made it clear, that in his view,
the Labour Party was finished as a socialist or working class organisation,
and that therefore it was vital to build a new left unity. That was why the
LRC would be attending the meeting called by the Socialist Alliance on Left
Unity on July 5, and the Manchester Convention of the Left in September, he
added. CNWP National Chair Dave Nellist argued we needed to build a new
working class party for the millions, not the millionaires Labour coveted.
National Executive Members from Respect, the Socialist Party, the CNWP,
Walsall Democratic Labour Party, and the Alliance for Green Socialism also
addressed the Discussion Forum. They stressed the need for a new united,
broad, democratic, socialist party. As CNWP spokesperson Pete McLaren
states “ It has been a real step forward that so many of the disparate
groups on the left see the urgency of moving towards a new party to give the
working class a political voice now that Labour no longer can do that”.
Clear evidence that the campaign to build a new workers’ party was moving
forward came with the resolutions that were passed after the Discussion
Forum, but clearly influenced by it. Supporters agreed to:
§ Continue to build the campaign amongst trade unions, and intervene
in trade union conferences
§ Argue within trade unions for them to break their link with Labour
and build a political movement for the working class
§ Invite all supporters of the campaign to become members, with
regional members meetings and local CNWP groups
§ Work to bring the various forces of the left together, as well as
working within the working class – within trade unions, tenants, black and
community groups, amongst women and youth.
§ Start moving towards a pre-party formation which will begin to
discuss the structure and rules of our new party
§ Campaign against university top up fees
§ Campaign against the BNP, and create a socialist alternative to
counteract them
CNWP Chair and leader of the Socialist Group on Coventry Council Dave
Nellist felt the Conference had built on the work already achieved. “It
took over 30 years for workers to set up the Labour Party. We have already
made significant progress towards building the new workers’ party that is
necessary to replace what Labour might once have aspired to be, and the CNWP
Conference has clearly moved the process further forward. The Labour Party
is finished, electorally and as a vehicle for working class political
representation. We will fill the void that therefore exists, and it will
now be sooner rather than later”, he concluded.
CNWP spokesperson Pete McLaren added, “Our Conference on Sunday demonstrated
how much support there is for a new left party. The left has had a history
of division, and we will learn from that. Conference clearly saw how
essential it had now become to build a genuine mass alternative to New
Labour, and I now believe we can do that. Bringing the rather disparate
left together is part of that process, and for the CNWP to have organised a
platform where left trade union leaders and most of the main players on the
left have come together – successfully – suggests to me we have made
significant progress in our determination to build a new socialist party”,
he concluded
Pete McLaren, CNWP Press Officer
NOTES
The Campaign for a New Workers’ Party (CNWP) was launched in London at a
Conference attended by 450 socialists and trade unionists on March 19 2006.
Over 3,500 supporters have already signed the founding declaration, and a
number of left groups have affiliated. Officers and a Steering Committee
have been elected. The CNWP founding Declaration – and full Conference
agenda -can be seen on our web site:
www.cnwp.org.uk
For further information contact:
