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Making it Public - in defence of public services
Saturday 27th February
11.00am - 4.00pm
Friends Meeting House
Mount Street, Manchester
Agenda
11.00am -12.30pm
Opening Plenary - Why do we want to "make it public" with John Nicholson (overview of event); plus contributions from Bill Jefferies (socialist economist); John Lister (Health Emergency) and Jerry Hicks.
Sessions - There IS an alternative
Sessions 12.30-1.30pm
1. Economy - Banks and Co-operatives - Eleanor Lewington (CPB), Bill Jefferies (Permanent Revolution), Andrew Fisher, (Left Economics Advisory Panel)
2. Unions - Building the Rank and File - Norma Turner (Unison), Kevin Brown (FBU), Jerry Hicks (Unite), Bill Greenshields (NUT)
1.30pm -2.30pm Lunch - refreshments provided
Sessions 2.30pm - 3.30pm
3. Health and Education - Declan O'Neill, Bill Greenshields (NUT), John Lister (Health Emergency)
4. Promoting public open space; debating regeneration, housing and transport - Steve Durrant (Green Left), Peter Allen (Green Party candidate for High Peak), Kay Phillips (Chair of Respect, Blackley candidate), Gayle O Donovan (Green Party candidate for Central Manchester)
5. Unity or Division? - the threat of racism and nationalism - Ian Parker (Socialist Resistance), John Tummon
3.30pm - 4.00pm Closing Plenary - actions to take arising from the day
Why should we Make it Public?
All three main political parties are proposing cuts and more cuts in the public sector. At the same time they can find unlimited money to bail out banks and failed privatisations (PFI) - as well as to continue wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But public service workers are fighting back - as shown by bin workers in Leeds and university workers in Manchester.
Vestas workers struggled against closure of socially and environmentally useful production of wind turbines. The Government could easily have afforded to take Vestas into public ownership - just as it could still save the jobs of steel workers in the North East.
The truth is that the wealth exists in society to pay for our essential needs. The Government's cuts are senseless and stupid, as well as savage.
Cutting civil servants who pursue tax evasion will cost the economy billions. Privatising the building and ownership of schools and hospitals has put the country into massive debt for years to come. Instead we should cut Trident, stop the wars, and make the rich pay. We should build houses for rent, create sustainable jobs and promote peace.
The recession has not been caused by the poor but the Government's response has widened inequalities and encouraged racist scape-goating and the rise of the right. They are buying themselves out - through bonuses for the bankers and expenses for themselves - but still blaming the crisis on its victims.
The alternative is to fight against the public service cuts, to show that privatisation is costly, ineffective and simply wrong for services such as health, education, housing and transport, and to promote the idea that public ownership is the only answer to the environmental and financial crisis of the wasteful, warlike and unfair system of global capitalism.
The media dont even allow the suggestion that there is any alternative to cuts. We want to "make it public" that there IS..... and that this alternative is to "make it public".
Whatever our different opinions of what to do in the forthcoming elections, we believe that the left can unite to defend public services and promote public ownership.
If you are interested in joining an open and participatory discussion to challenge to cosy consensus of the mainstream parties, the media and the moguls, please come to the Convention's "Making It Public" event on Saturday 27th February in Manchester.
LRC Conference backs Convention and looks forward to 2009
Resolutions are easy but now the hard work begins making that hope a reality.
Plans for another Convention are of necessity still embryonic but the LRC hopes other groups will come forward, as they did last time, to build a broad coalition of socialists and progressives who can find common ground for debate and discussion. At this stage, it seems pertinent to point out that in no sense will the LRC be taking "ownership" of any future Convention or aiming to dominate in a "top-down" way.
As a group working largely within the Labour Party, we have learned much by building alliances with those outside, including our affiliated unions the RMT, FBU and NUJ. So much so a new body, the Trade Union Co-ordinating group, was launched at the TUC Conference in September. The PCS is also involved in the TUCG.
COTL 2009 is likely to be planned around TUC or Labour Conference in Brighton in September. Our resources for building for it are still pretty much an unknown quantity. It might be a one-day event, a weekend school, or even if we are very resourceful on a scale comparable with the hugely successful COTL in Manchester
What is clear is that everyone interested in making it happen needs to make their views and contacts known as soon as possible. As one of two newly elected Vice-Chairs of the LRC, I'm keen to hear from others who want to get involved.
The Recall Conference on January 24 in Manchester will be an opportunity for us to move this forwarded - let's get to it!
Susan Press, LRC Vice-Chair, Calder Valley CLP
Recall Event Date Change - January 24th
Convention of The Left - January 24th Recall Conference - Capitalism Isn't Working
Convention of The Left - January 24th Recall Conference - Capitalism Isn’t Working
The Convention of The Left brought together the left across labour, socialist, communist, green organisations and those in none. In 5 days of countering the official security-bound (non)event next door, we did well to meet our threefold aims: protest at Labour's warmongering and privatisation, presenting an alternative of people not profit, and proposing ways of working together in unity for The Left as a whole. Our agreed Statement of Intent envisages local left forums that can support practical campaigns and co-ordinate local action, as well as continuing the spirit of genuine debate started by the Convention.
There were criticisms: "a sinking ship" (before we had even set sail!), "a talking shop" (what’s wrong with talking?), and, perhaps most critically, that we failed to set up "the one" (or "an other"?) new left party. Of course, many of us might want this to take place; but the Convention recognised that it will take time, we have to build confidence and develop trust, and it is better to start by doing so through unity in practical action rather than planting a flag and saying "we" are the true party already.
I am really pleased how so many people have praised the Convention, not least for its style and process, participatory discussion with (sometimes spontaneous) decision-making by those attending, no top-down platforms in an event called and organised by rank and file activists working together in the Manchester area. These comments have been echoed in the weeks since in emails and letters received by the organisers; thanks to all those for your kind words.
Even more, I am pleased that initiatives for unity are continuing. We cannot honestly pretend that our crystal-ball gazing enabled us to predict holding the Convention at such a timely moment as the crisis of capitalism; the oncoming misery of millions simply delivered us a silver lining in this respect.
But in parallel to, contributing to, and arising from the Convention have come several important developments that we should all be supporting.
- The Trade Union Co-ordinating Group, announced at the TUC, will take forward left unity in and across the unions.
- The Campaign Against Fuel Poverty, launched at the Question Time event at the end of the week, has already given local groups the ability to campaign on the streets, not just for windfall taxes but public ownership.
- Agreement is growing on uniting our various "Charters" (CPB, LRC, Public Services not Private Profit, for example); we must seek widespread support for an alternative economic strategy that does not let the government force the poor to pay for the crisis and that does not allow the recession to become an excuse to scapegoat migrants and increase racism.
- Further Conventions of The Left have been proposed, for both the Labour Conference and TUC in Brighton next year.
- Most immediately, there will be a "Recall Event" of the Convention on January 24th in Manchester, under the broad title "Capitalism isn’t working, what is our alternative"; and progress on all these practical proposals can be reported and hopefully taken further.
At this point, I would like to thank all those who helped make the Convention so effective. Among these, John McDonnell and the Labour Representation Committee, together with Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn, gave generous and unstinting support to its development from the start and to many of the sessions during the week; Robert Griffiths of the Communist Party of Britain and John Haylett of the Morning Star encouraged and gave excellent promotion throughout; Matt Wrack, Mark Serwotka, Pat Sikorski and Gregor Gall ensured the left trade union input; Clive Searle and the Manchester Respect party created and sustained the publicity and website; while Lindsey German, Martin Empson, Amy Leather (SWP), Derek Wall, Chris Hyland, Steve Durrant (Green Party) and Colin Fox, Frances Curran, Pam Currie (SSP) contributed personally and organisationally to give the full flavour of the left, both politically and geographically. And all the local activists involved for the year beforehand, too numerous to mention, and though un-named here, you know who you are and the value of the unseen organisation that you contributed.
The Recall Event takes place in Manchester on January 24th to take the vital process of left unity further forward.
Capitalism isn’t working; we must make sure that we are building the socialist alternative!
John Nicholson
Convenor of the Organising Group, Convention of The Left/ Left Debate, Manchester 2008
Some thoughts from the Scottish Socialist Party
Remarks ahead of 'Convention of the Left' recall conference on November 29th
by Colin Fox, SSP National Spokesman, 20/10/08
Introduction
The SSP is proud to have participated in the September 2008 'Convention of the Left' in Manchester. We congratulate all those who worked so hard to organise it. The belief that the Left in the UK could and should come together to develop greater understanding and cohesion was entirely vindicated by its success.
We feel some important progress has been made in developing greater respect and trust on the left and we see this as a necessary prerequisite for rebuilding the socialist movement in Britain as a coherent and effective force once again.
The subsequent capitalist financial collapse has certainly put into sharp focus the economic and political crisis on the right. But the collapse of the financial markets and the disorientation of their political classes at this time also poses huge challenges for the left and provides many opportunities to put over our alternative socialist case, yet collectively we are punching 'below our weight'.
Like others the SSP also accepts the Convention has a long way to go yet if it is to re-establish the strength of the collective left and achieve the political and policy objectives we hope to see implemented in the long run. It is disappointing that two important groups on the left, the Socialist Workers Party and the Socialist Party of England and Wales, appear less than enamoured at the emergence of the Convention, perhaps they feel threatened. We certainly don't, in fact we feel rather more optimistic about the Convention's prospects in making important headway towards its goals as long as it continues to work within a democratic and pluralist template.
The attendance of several Labour MPs and Labour delegates at Manchester was important. As we understand it Labour Party members made up the largest single political contingent over the week. It remains to be seen whether this reflects a desire for greater engagement by them with the non Labour left or simply a reflection of the Conventions proximity to the LP Conference itself. Either way it remains clear to us that working towards an effective left realignment must include engagement with the existing Labour left. For our part, the SSP took the opportunity to make closer contact with John McDonnell and the Labour left at this level.
We welcomed, as others did, the statement of intent as an important first step towards greater political cohesion and unity. We also welcomed the joint initiative on energy bills and fuel poverty. We believe this could become the first of many such initiatives. Perhaps another area we could just as easily link up on is in combating privatization and putting the popular economic and social case for public ownership. There are bound to be many other issues fundamental to us that we can use to tap into the wide scale opposition that exists towards neo-liberalism. This is especially so, it seems to us, with the change in consciousness following the recent collapse of the financial markets worldwide.
We felt the website was and remains an excellent resource, well designed and easily accessible. We particularly enjoyed the leaflets that were easily understandable and to the point. We received them quite early so were able to distribute them widely.
Ideas for Recall Conference - November 29th
We look forward to the 29th of November follow-up event as an opportunity to continue the process of dialogue and developing closer relationships between the different Left groups.I have some specific ideas to offer for the recall meetings consideration;
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Capitalism isn't working - What is our alternative?
The organisers of the Convention of The Left would like to invite you to a meeting next Tuesday :
Tuesday - October 21st at 7pm in the Friends Meeting House, Main Hall.
Following the success of the Convention in Manchester recently, this meeting will discuss the crisis of capitalism and develop our ideas for action in response to it. We have been clear all along that the wealth exists in society to pay for our essential needs - and now the way the Governments of the UK, EU and US have found this money at the drop of a hat proves what we have been saying. The trouble is that they want to use it to prop up capitalism - which will inevitably lead to the same results all over again. They are buying themselves out of their crisis, but letting the rest of us pay the price - with the added danger that recession will lead to another crisis - scapegoating, racism and the rise of the far right. We should be saying that the recession should not be blamed on the victims. The poor should not be punished for the crisis of capitalism. We must provide the alternative.
The meeting will be in three parts:
1) Discussion on the general political situation
2) What we want to do - what campaigns we want to start or work together in, whether we can put forward our own "programme" of action and see how the unity developed through the Convention of The Left can be taken forward in the Manchester area
3) Proposals for the Convention Recall Event on November 29th
You can download a leaflet at http://www.conventionoftheleft.org/resources/211008.pdf