KE cal criteria for decidine thesc questions remain the same under the new 10085501 as under the old.
now there is an added saleguard - not onis the right to appeal to conference, but the creation of an appeals mittee. But Party statement refers In general, the differences between the old constitution terms of the decision-making ship structure - to make it a more efficient and effective 074830 The huge change in the character of the constitution taken place, except in the Socialist Party's imagination.
T he Socialist Party justifies its walkout by that the SWP to dominate the But what is the evidence for this supposed quest for domination?
Whilst there are infuriating examples of the abuse of local SAs should and ars being chal- SWP, which lenged, the issue is what is overall practice of the SWE there is no evidence that the SWP is setting out to dominate the Alliance - not least because if they tried to build the Socialist Alliance in that way, they would end up as tae only ones in 1t.
The slate for new Executive elected December, which was proposed by the SWP and others, has only three SWP members on it - 15 per cent of the membership of the The Party predictably dismisses this as window dressing, but actually happened The SP statement claims But although the Socialist that the rejection by the con- Party have made this a camlimitation of 40% of the EC stitution had no more to say to be members of a single on this than the new one.
With proof of the intention of the detail, it is no wonder the SP WP to dominate the EC. I have resorted to a succession against this, only why I did.
This was not just because I There is a difficulty around tink that tac political bal this question in terms of posance on the EC at a particular sible legal problems, but the time should be a political new Executive should look at decision rather than an arbi- this issue again as l urged trary. constitutional norm, them to do. 40% is far too high. the statement implies, None of the organisations that the SWP had a majority ta the conie taking such a proportion of They did not. the EC. Saying that 40% is They had to win other votes the nat suggests that maye to get decisions through. In 30% would be OK, whilst fact they lost the vote on the this would also be excessive. establishment of an appeals Morcover, once you get down committee. to the kind of percentages it In the end it is hard to should be - 15 or 20% - it avord the conclusion that the becomes too rigid and pro- SP leadership wanted an exit scriptive to have a constitu- strategy from the SA, and that tney sound one.
A direct charge made in the Their statement repeatedly statement about the ISG is claims an erosion of minority that we campaigned for the rights: but what minority constitution we supported to does the SP want be adopted unamended. which are not in the constimhe SP seem to tution, other than the right have missed the unilaterally determine three amend- their own chosen constituen ments, two of cies - which is what they dic which went to and one of which - on the Fortunately that was one major issue of the need for a right that the vast majority puoncanon or tac sa - was in the SA were not prepared rejected. How that amounts to concede. to campaigning for the con- It is also hard not to sce stitution unamended is hard benina the sis actions a reversion to the crudest secI intervened into the con- tarianism of the British left. ference to say that i thought This has led the SP to withprovision the draw from the SA - the most ISG/SWP proposed constitu- sigamcant астеорень о. tion was inadequate on the the British left for decades -procedure for new affilia- and to risk damaging that acielopment and maissins I was loudly heckled by the the opportunity to reshape SP who were shouting "too the left and fill the space to saic now, you shocia nave the left of Labour which they thought about that before'. point to. The first meeting of the National Executive of the Socialist alliance was a considerable success: held in Birmingham on the 15th December, it was well attended, with high levels of political discussion and business-like procedures. It bodes well for the future. In particular Liz Davies proved to be an excellent choice to replace Dave Nellist as chairperson of the Alliance. DAVE PACKER reports. WITH A DEFT hand Liz Davies steered the meetine in productive directions - sometimes bullying, and with complete transparency: Other officers Everybody was aware great opportunites lay ahead for the only due to the very important Trade Union Conference in March and the May local elections.
There was the real possi bility that in the future the left could make a political stream poltics, independently in its own name and cles, and occupy the space vacated by New Labour with right wing free market The national conference of the Allance has instiuted provided the basis on which we can now move selves in this space.
We can present ourselves as alternative to New Labour and everything they stand for and pole of attraction for leftward moving workers and activists.
in the first major discussion on general perspectives and the role of the executive, there activate the Alliance around several themes; united front type campaigns and events: organisational and financial preparation for the May Elections; and a membership drive Trade union It was agreed that the most Allances should build is the Socialist Alliance Trade Union as a potential catalyst for resunching the Allance in the The two main themes of the Conference had already been where should it go? and cuts' The conference is for all trade unionists.
There is not much time. means immediate local campaigning to ger TU branches /officers and shop stewards (in personal capacity if not offically) to sponsor the event and that they send reps/observers and/or come themselves There are a number of other issues we can work around, for example, the war. This remains ily winding down, but only as preparations are made to taror oter councnes The issue of Civil Liberties is also very important in this context. There are significant struggles taking place against privatisation of council housing under-funding and cuts.
The execut ve felt it was very! Alliances establish a basic framework and a set of prioricies to enable us to realise che full potential of the Socialist Allance nationally and locally. paigning literature on the streets (stalls etc.) and on the big estates, outside workplaces nd colleges, we must pa condon in our uricca thom work to establishing long term links with local labour moveThis also applies to well established campaigns, for coma on secon We stressed that the Alliance With May elections looming. Alliances should choose candidates must always ensure that wol put the interests of the working class first, i.e., never appearing parasitic on the movernent (ie., never putting our first priority).
The May elections are also not far away. The new executive took a first and rather preliminary if wide ranging discusdifferences on the importance of concentrating forces to get establish a broader profile.
The SWP seemed to support the tormer, and weekt Worker the latter approach. Some thought we should stand everywhere in London, others in groups of carefully chosen pars. Vie must avoid the sca ergun approach argued Vyman Bennet in any event local Alliances need to be discussing now where they want to stand canalcates and about selecans them. We need the maximum time to establish credible cana dates and this means relating to and supporting local camthrough street stalls and public meetings etc.
vre toree with those whit have argued that we should temper our ambitions with realism about available resources. We must decide how best to maximise our In our view we should concontrate on a smaller number thoroughly as well as leaflet and therefore make a real impact vinere possible we should come to agreement with other left organisations and potential candidates not to stand against one another. needed a membership drive. The unfortunate decision of the se to sage an unprovokeo walk out during the recent Socialist Alliance Conference had left a hole in the middle of the conference chamber.
Sectarian
However, in most localities SP to pursue their own narrow party-builde expense of the movement will have little impact.
Sadly, this is because they had not been involved, or because they had mostly withdrawn already. There may be one or two holes locally, but there is plenty of space to build the Socialist Allance. THOMP The main impact of the SP withdrawal from the Alliance is that it damages the serious attempts build a united left in orian, and wil De usco agarist us all by our enemies.
It's clear from the speed with has developed and the size it has reached that there are tens of thousands of people whom we could recruit to the We need to ensure we keep in touch with all our members locally throuch a local newletter, email contact, and where necessary ordinary mail. larty informed about Socialist Alliance activities such as street stalls, montay and one oll pudlic meetings, etc and encourared to net involved The new executive discineed many other things. It was a good start which I think will be sustained. • The conference established a unified single memAlliance. Membership subscription for 2002 is t24 per year waged, E6 unwaged or 62 per month/50p per month
Outlook une autre Europe est possible d14 NU
"With such attention to detail, it is no succession of sectarian insults rather