it'll be very interesting to see how far they allow debate. if recent history is anything to go by what opposition there is (which will in any case be small) will be marginalised by the officials, i.e. selective resolutions, amendments, speakers slips etc we all know the routine. the big if is whether the swp want to be seen voting against a woman's right to choose, gay marriage etc. I very much doubt it. i think they'd prefer just to prevent anyone putting those positions and instead support "individual" rights under cover of some vague catch all that can embrace both the mysoginist homophobic small business men/mp and the "revolutionary socialists" it'll be interesting to see how they manage to square the circle.
Respect: its hierarchy and internal workings
- Thread starter Kid_Eternity
- Start date
dont know if this helps but our local respect is putting together a local leaflet for the unity festival in Leeds tis weekend.
It will have a thanks from the local candidate (the royal ) we stood in the council elections, then maybe some news on the tower hamlets success and abit of blurb about other stuff.
Its all mainly to give (the royal) us abit more of a profile...
Oh, and we are ' Just doing it'...
It will have a thanks from the local candidate (the royal ) we stood in the council elections, then maybe some news on the tower hamlets success and abit of blurb about other stuff.
Its all mainly to give (the royal) us abit more of a profile...
Oh, and we are ' Just doing it'...
JHE
.
emanymton said:
To be fair, it seems they are just being organised.
My RESPECT email is almost daily (though not from the account they think I use once I resigned - not a jot of a reply or anything - even though I said I'd welcome a discussion)
Here was todays:
"There will be another council by-election in Millwall ward, Tower Hamlets, on
September 9th. Respect will be selecting a candidate on Monday.
We urgently need members and supporters in London to help leaflet the ward in
advance of the selection meeting on Saturday and Sunday this weekend.
We are meeting promptly at 12 noon on Saturday and Sunday at the main exit to
South Quay, Docklands Light Railway station. Please ring 07961 337640 for
further information.
Rob Hoveman, Respect national office"
emanymton
A cat politely sat on the flaming gardener.
Possibly but given I was never contacted about any activity during the election (all the work I did was helping out friends outside the area I live in) I can’t help feeling a little bit frozen out still if one is organised It will turn up on the email at some point.flimsier said:
emanymton
A cat politely sat on the flaming gardener.
Trust me all the local organisers are SWP, expect for one person who is very close. I am on the email list and they have my phone number they simply choose not to contact me.
Actually to be far a couple of friends do keep me informed but they are outside my immediate area and despite being on the regional committee they often do not seem to be sure about exactly what is going on. In one memorable incident thee was some discussion about standing some candidates in the locals as well as the euros and my mate was told by another SWP member that “we have not decided yet” as he said considering he is on the local committee who the fuck was this we?
I'm a little disappointed in myself for posting this as I promised myself I wouldn’t as I don’t think my mate would appreciate it but I think it is very relevant to this topic.
Actually to be far a couple of friends do keep me informed but they are outside my immediate area and despite being on the regional committee they often do not seem to be sure about exactly what is going on. In one memorable incident thee was some discussion about standing some candidates in the locals as well as the euros and my mate was told by another SWP member that “we have not decided yet” as he said considering he is on the local committee who the fuck was this we?
I'm a little disappointed in myself for posting this as I promised myself I wouldn’t as I don’t think my mate would appreciate it but I think it is very relevant to this topic.
So it's not just my area.
I'd love to know more specifics so I can argue that it's the premise/ fundamentals that are the problem - not just the local personalities.
(because, despite myself, I really do want the SWP and those in RESPECT to get this right, and they are not doing a good job of a massive opportunity).
I'd love to know more specifics so I can argue that it's the premise/ fundamentals that are the problem - not just the local personalities.
(because, despite myself, I really do want the SWP and those in RESPECT to get this right, and they are not doing a good job of a massive opportunity).
emanymton
A cat politely sat on the flaming gardener.
Thanks.flimsier said:
To be far to the SWP and the people involved one thing I don’t doubt is there genuine good intentions. The irony is that the behave in this way because they are scared to let go incase other people fuck it up not realising that is this arrogance and control freakery that will most likely lead to it being fucked up.
peaceNow04
New Member
it is essential for RESPECT that it works democratically.. of course.
the only way to ensure this, is to get involved with the party and hence building the structure- angry idiot i believed u were talking merely from the perspective of a voter... and in my experience a voter is more interested in what a party stands for, than how it is run. i would encourage you to get involved as soon as possible if you want to ensure you are comfortable with how things work.
of course there are branches in towns and cities across the eastern region.. this is most important, our party must be rooted in communities and be determined by what is felt and needed on the ground. i argued for a regional structure to ensure we can support people developing and setting up new branches, share resources, co-ordinate public meetings and coverage of important regional events, and have a wider view of the area. many other institutions are set up to cover the eastern region.. development agencies/education authorities etc. we share common issues.. we have huge rural areas and widely dispersed population centres.. massive housing projects planned going out from london up the M11 corridor.. expansion at airports.. we have the experience of the last election in common to help us see where we should stand in future elections.. and also a huge network that can respond to any local by-elections quickly. i dont think it would be efficient to rely on the national office for the attention to detail required for our success...
IMHO local, regional and national are complementary, they are not mutually exclusive
the only way to ensure this, is to get involved with the party and hence building the structure- angry idiot i believed u were talking merely from the perspective of a voter... and in my experience a voter is more interested in what a party stands for, than how it is run. i would encourage you to get involved as soon as possible if you want to ensure you are comfortable with how things work.
of course there are branches in towns and cities across the eastern region.. this is most important, our party must be rooted in communities and be determined by what is felt and needed on the ground. i argued for a regional structure to ensure we can support people developing and setting up new branches, share resources, co-ordinate public meetings and coverage of important regional events, and have a wider view of the area. many other institutions are set up to cover the eastern region.. development agencies/education authorities etc. we share common issues.. we have huge rural areas and widely dispersed population centres.. massive housing projects planned going out from london up the M11 corridor.. expansion at airports.. we have the experience of the last election in common to help us see where we should stand in future elections.. and also a huge network that can respond to any local by-elections quickly. i dont think it would be efficient to rely on the national office for the attention to detail required for our success...
IMHO local, regional and national are complementary, they are not mutually exclusive
rebel warrior
Soca Warrior
National delegate conference
More details about the October conference for members and supporters can be found here:
http://www.respectcoalition.org/?ite=400
More details about the October conference for members and supporters can be found here:
http://www.respectcoalition.org/?ite=400
emanymton
A cat politely sat on the flaming gardener.
Nice a delegate based conference. Now bearing in mind that a, the people in my area don’t bother to tell me what activity is going on (during the elections I found out we where doing stalls on sat when I went top the shops and saw leaflets all over the floor) and b, I work evenings and therefore can never make meetings what do you think are my chances of getting elected?rebel warrior said:
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Whats are Respect claiming as membership now? About 4,000? It would obviously be tricky to find a way to get all 4000 (or whatever it is) to a meeting anyway, and I've no doubt that in such circumstances there would be a sudden rush of members of a certain party rushing to join up (after probably pretending to have been members all along), so I think a delegate conference is probably wise - as long as the 'area meetings' to elect delegates are held in as democratc a way as possible - which doesnt mean calling them a week before they're due to happen, and ensuring that anyone who wants to attend the conference as a delegate gets the chance to circulate material to all members beforehand - rather than it just being a scribbled down list on the day. Also all members should have he right to attend, and to speak upon motions whehter they are delegates or not.
I think that asking how Respect is organised is a totally fair question, and that it has to be democratic.
Until now yes it has been ad-hoc, which is because we went from selecting candidates in March to a nationwide election on June 10th, then went straight into two crucial by-elections as well as Tower Hamlets. In the West Mids we selected candidates and a steering committee in March, had a number of meetings open to all members thru the euro-campaign, then had a 50 strong members meeting to decide to stand in Hodge Hill and select the candidate. Messy and ad-hoc, yes, but people have had lots of chance for an input so to me there's been enough democracy to give members control. Basically it's been mad, a rush of constant frenetic activity.
Now if someone had come to me any time before the Hodge Hill vote and asked how things worked i'd have explained the above and told them we're gonna sort out the constitution in October. If they'd said, 'no, i think we need to sort all of the detail out now' i'd have politely disagreed (and formed an opinion about them). Respect had to make its name on June 10th, and July 15th. With Tower Hamlets on top of that i think it has. If we'd flopped (as a number of posters predicted) the best constitution in the world would have been utterly irrelevant.
Until now yes it has been ad-hoc, which is because we went from selecting candidates in March to a nationwide election on June 10th, then went straight into two crucial by-elections as well as Tower Hamlets. In the West Mids we selected candidates and a steering committee in March, had a number of meetings open to all members thru the euro-campaign, then had a 50 strong members meeting to decide to stand in Hodge Hill and select the candidate. Messy and ad-hoc, yes, but people have had lots of chance for an input so to me there's been enough democracy to give members control. Basically it's been mad, a rush of constant frenetic activity.
Now if someone had come to me any time before the Hodge Hill vote and asked how things worked i'd have explained the above and told them we're gonna sort out the constitution in October. If they'd said, 'no, i think we need to sort all of the detail out now' i'd have politely disagreed (and formed an opinion about them). Respect had to make its name on June 10th, and July 15th. With Tower Hamlets on top of that i think it has. If we'd flopped (as a number of posters predicted) the best constitution in the world would have been utterly irrelevant.
Steve Booth
Bourgeois apologist
Business as usual then?
It comes back to this idea that the SWP are there to politically innoculate people. Make them despair of the whole show, become completely cynical.
Bring me your gullible and naive ....
A lot of good questions have been asked on this thread. Some other good questions to ask are:
Where does all the money come from to print the posters and leaflets?
Who is bankrolling this operation?
Who is the treasurer and how were they chosen?
What are the lines of accountability regarding the funds?
If these questions about the funding of the many posters and leaflets were answered, my impression is that the answers would go a long way towards answering the other questions asked on this thread.
He who payeth the piper, calleth the tune...
levien said:
It comes back to this idea that the SWP are there to politically innoculate people. Make them despair of the whole show, become completely cynical.
Bring me your gullible and naive ....
A lot of good questions have been asked on this thread. Some other good questions to ask are:
Where does all the money come from to print the posters and leaflets?
Who is bankrolling this operation?
Who is the treasurer and how were they chosen?
What are the lines of accountability regarding the funds?
If these questions about the funding of the many posters and leaflets were answered, my impression is that the answers would go a long way towards answering the other questions asked on this thread.
He who payeth the piper, calleth the tune...
Pickman's model
sunset spires and twilight woods
so you really are after naive and gullible people! it's interesting you imply you wouldn't want anyone who asked about the internal structure to join.levien said:
Steve Booth said:
I know where the West Mids money comes from. Exactly. It's from members and supporters of Respect in the West Mids. Several hundred individual donations, of which one was a 4 figure sum, the rest 3 or 2 figures. Also a number of big fund-raising events. All of this delivered by damn hard work, which is continuing. We've now got a system of standing orders to create ongoing income. It's all quite familiar to anyone whose been involved in a large scale operation.
Funny, i'm reminded of a big anti-poll tax meeting after the big london demo, where we heard that some tory mp had demanded to know who had paid for all those coaches. We just laughed.
The treasurer is Linda Smith, an FBU member. Don't know when she got given the unenviable job. Rather her than me.
The pipers still owed a few quid but we're getting there.
wibble said:
Have you ever been the treasurer to a serious organisation? The one that has to think about paying the bills everyone else builds up? If you had you'd know why it's unenviable. Mind you if you're UKIP and you're bank-rolled by a bunch of fat-cat businessmen and little englander millionaires maybe not.
And the reason we just laughed was that everyone in that anti poll-tax meeting (it was on Tyneside) knew that the coaches had been paid for by the people that were on them coughing up their wages, dole money, grant money and when people were to poor to cover it grafting to raise funds for them. It was our hard slog that raised it, and this tory was a joke to us. It's called collective self-organisation and tories immediately assume that if we've managed to bring hundreds of thousands to london it must be moscow gold (or saudi/pakistani oil money these days).
So it wasn't in the least an inconvenient question, just a bloody stupid one.
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