Paper of the Communist Party of Great Britain workerweekly What would it take to persuade n FBU conference n Galloway·s book George Galloway to support a n Respect tactics woman·s right to choose? n ESF censorship No 528 Thursday May 13 2004 Towards a new workers· party www.cpgb.org.uk 50p/¼0.80 For the defeat of US-UK occupation forces 2 May 13 2004 528 workerweekly LETTERS Letters may have been shortened because of space. Some names may assembly seat is highly marginal - Labour self off as a leftwing alternative to ernised families don't produce adults that important as developing its policies. * have been changed. lost it by a mere 551 votes four years ago Labour´. Actually, this just ³doesn¶t are balanced, all-rounded and properly Unfortunately, there is little sign that Mc - or that the present incumbent, Brian exactly square´ with his reactionary com- functioning individuals. Shane and her ilk understand that partic- Coleman, is a paid up adherent of the Tory ments on abortion, she said, quoting the Socialised families and childcare - ular dialectical interrelationship. Party¶s loony right. A recent characteris- notorious comments he made to the that is the solution for the 21st century. C James Vote Lucy tic statement by Coleman was: ³The Independent on Sunday. Unless you have buckets of money, the email Sean Thompson¶s letter attacking Lucy influx of asylum-seekers from countries Even more worrying for Respect modern world causes too many problems Anderson, the Labour candidate for the which have no connection with Britain, members is the conclusion she draws for parents and children, who end up London assembly seat of Barnet and such as Somalia, must be halted.´ And he about the coalition as a whole: ³We can being victims at the mercy of anti-social Undemocratic Camden, only serves to underscore the objected to plans to expand Middlesex only assume that the people who select- governments. And no amount of charity- You should know that: brain-dead sectarianism that characteris- University with the comment: ³Why ed Galloway to stand for the European mongering can ever alleviate the social 1. National Respect (as in the policies es the outlook of many Respect support- should the people of north London suffer parliament, despite his disgraceful stand problems of capitalism - that's an obvious decided by the majority of people at the ers. in order to attract hundreds of foreign stu- on this issue, attach rather less importance fact. launch of Respect) has no position on Thompson says of Lucy that ³no-one dents?´ to women¶s rights than Labour Party Women should be encouraged to abortion. It is neither anti-abortion or pro- has heard a peep out of her´ since she Lucy Anderson, by contrast, was members do.´ give birth, and not feel guilty about abortion. became a Camden councillor two years selected as a Labour candidate in part Back came a worryingly limp handing the child over. But, more impor- 2. Some members of Respect (such as ago (Weekly Worker May 6). He obvi- because she condemned what she called response in the May 6 issue from Una tantly, the culture of casual sex should be George Galloway) have anti-abortion ously doesn¶t read his local paper, the ³the illegal and shameful war on Iraq´, Doyle, a local Respect supporter. Una, ex- replaced with the culture of meaningful views, and some are likely to have pro- Camden New Journal. If he did, even over and has received the backing of the SWP and president of Camden National and truly adult relationships. If men and abortion views. the last couple of months he¶d have RMT council of executives, having Union of Teachers, simply wheedles that women don¶t know how to relate to each 3. It is impossible for the Respect execu- found reports of Lucy clashing with the signed up to the union¶s four-point ³this issue is one where freedom of con- other and treat each other, than the fallout tive committee to take on a pro-abortion, council leadership over nursery provision programme, which includes repeal of science is exercised by politicians of all from that does have far-reaching conse- pro-choice policy, as this would need to be and speaking out against the privatisation the anti-union laws and renationalisation political parties´. Then - idiotically - the quences. decided at a national meeting, where all of a local sports centre. of the rail network. Writing in the cur- comrade tells us that Respect is a ³broad Lila Patel members of Respect would be invited. If he went back further, he¶d find cov- rent issue of Labour Left Briefing, coalition´, which means that ³George email Otherwise known as democracy. It is also erage of Lucy¶s participation in a delega- Lucy has stated that, if elected, she will Galloway is one individual who has the impossible to change every leaflet, where tion organised by Lawyers for Palestinian ³work closely with all the London right to his own opinion. However, his has the programme of Respect is visible Human Rights, which visited the occupied trade unions to ensure that their con- no more importance than any other mem- Small-minded before the European elections. The territories and issued a report condemning cerns are raised on the London assem- bers.´ It would seem that Anne Mc Shane, along CPGB¶s demand to the national executive abuses by the Sharon government. This bly´ and ³energetically support policies Er, apart from the fact, Una, that with too many others on the small-mind- to suddenly change its position is simply made the national press and was the main that promote the equality and diversity George Galloway heads Respect¶s ed British left, is more interested in seek- undemocratic. argument used against Lucy by the that my Tory opponent so provocative- London list for the EU elections and - if ing out and emphasising divisions with- 4. The Guildford branch should under- Labour Party right wing in opposing her ly rejects´. enough people vote for him - he will be in in Respect than in building on, clarifying stand that Respect has no national position selection as an assembly candidate. Lucy Anderson is the only candidate a position to vote on issues affecting and developing the policies that already on abortion, and should wait until a But Thompson, like all sectarians, standing in Barnet and Camden who has women¶s reproductive rights. unite its members (Letters, May 6). national meeting, where such a motion thinks the only campaigns and organisa- a chance of beating Coleman. From Michael Jeeves Why is this, I wonder? Respect may be voted on by the mass of members. tions that have any merit are the ones he whose election would the labour move- London does not hide the fact that it is trying to If Respect was to adopt what the and his friends are involved in. So he finds ment benefit more? As Ken Livingstone bring together a diverse spectrum of the Guildford branch calls for, then I¶m sure it reprehensible that Lucy Anderson did- remarked in a recent letter to the Camden highly successful anti-war movement. every branch would be willing to cam- Q¶t join the local Stop the War Coalition New Journal urging support for Lucy, it¶s Mc Shane tries to make cheap political paign on this issue. What we don¶t want group. But the group was run by the a no-brainer. Yet Sean Thompson and his CPGB capital out of the fact that Respect has not is a small, rogue branch campaigning in Socialist Workers Party and its allies in the comrades have insisted on standing a opportunism yet been able to establish policy on some contradiction to the national campaign, as Socialist Alliance and reflected their pol- Respect candidate despite the fact that George Galloway has made his position critical issues like abortion. Yet she it is more effective for us to have a single, itics. For that reason, very few Labour they¶ll be lucky to get three or four per- quite clear in a recent press release and I knows that the coalition has, of necessi- unified campaign around the entire coun- Party members did join. They felt that cent of the vote, which in another close- cannot speak for him, but your use of this ty, been established on the hoof and try. handing out leaflets demanding the TUC run contest could be enough to let issue is downright offensive and should be thrown into an election campaign with It seems that, if CPGB members can¶t organise a one-hour general strike when Coleman in again. Indeed, in response to disregarded as rank opportunism, by little time to do so. get what they want on a national level, war broke out, or standing outside Alastair Livingstone¶s article, Respect supporters women especially (µFight for abortion She also knows that many of the they resort to anarchist-style decentralism. Campbell¶s home banging on pots and have flooded the correspondence rights¶, May 6). leading members of Respect (eg, the John Kay pans and frightening his children, were not columns of the New Journal with letters My personal view, for what it is SWP and International Socialist Group) email effective ways of opposing the invasion fiercely opposing a vote for Lucy. It¶s the worth, is that I detest abortion (but that are long-standing and well known pro- and occupation of Iraq. sort of ultra-left lunacy that split the does not mean I would support with- choice advocates.