Marcus Greville, London
"The greatest mass movement of our age has brought us together." This is the start of the draft declaration of RESPECT — the Unity Coalition, a new electoral alliance to be launched on January 25. The initial call for the new coalition was first made at a 1400-strong public meeting on October 29.
RESPECT stands for Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environmentalism, Community, Trade Unionism. "We want a world in which the democratic demands of the people are carried out; a world based on need not profit; a world where solidarity rather than self-interest is the spirit of the age", the declaration states.
The declaration arose out of discussions among leading figures in the Stop the War Coalition, which mobilised up to 2 million people at the February 16 London protest against the impending Anglo-American invasion of Iraq.
The initial impetus for the coalition came from a discussion paper put out by left-liberal anti-globalisation writer and Guardian columnist George Monbiot and Birmingham Stop the War Coalition chairperson Salma Yaqoob.
This was built upon by MP George Galloway in his call for a "unity coalition" at the October 29 meeting, following his expulsion from the Labour Party for his opposition to British participation in the Iraq war.
The initial RESPECT declaration was signed by Galloway, Monbiot, Yaqoob, left-wing filmmaker Ken Loach, Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) general secretary Bob Crow, Public and Commercial Services Union general secretary Mark Serwotka, Fire Brigades Union official Linda Smith and by two leading members of the Stop the War Coalition and the Socialist Workers Party — Lindsey German and John Rees.
The January 25 Convention on the Left will be primarily concerned with the adoption of the founding declaration to organise a united left-of-Labour electoral opposition for the upcoming June 10 European Parliament and Greater London Assembly elections.
The initiators propose that a formal constitution be decided on at a national conference after the June elections.
The structure the initiators appear to favour is for membership of the coalition to be open to individuals and affiliated organisations, with the latter being recognised as internal organised tendencies or "platforms".
The initiators have strongly stated at the first and subsequent public meetings about the Unity Coalition that it must be a visible campaigning organisation outside of election periods.
With these key initial qualities, the trajectory of the Unity Coalition could be toward the formation of a campaigning radical political party.
Complementing the January convention will be a conference of the trade union left, to be held in mid-February. This conference could be a major breakthrough for RESPECT, as the key debate on the trade union left is whether or not it can "reclaim Labour". The proponents of the reclaim Labour campaign have been given an equal platform to present their case.
In the context of the Scottish section of the RMT having affiliated in December to the Scottish Socialist Party and the involvement of some leading union officials in the formation of RESPECT, it looks likely that the left-led unions will rapidly affiliate to the Unity Coalition. This process could be further accelerated as the Labour Party has officially threatened the RMT with disaffiliation over its decision to allow support for other parties.
The British left is facing its biggest opportunity for decades and will need to work consistently to make the most gains from this process of realignment. The Unity Coalition looks set to draw the many left-wing activists in the anti-war movement and the trade unions together under one banner to fight both at the ballot box and on the street.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, January 21, 2004.
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