tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post7100512798758903898..comments2024-03-29T09:14:53.583+00:00Comments on All That Is Solid ...: Labour Party Branch MeetingPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-13188935008339460182010-06-21T22:29:45.660+01:002010-06-21T22:29:45.660+01:00Hi Jota, just as I was coy about attendance at SP ...Hi Jota, just as I was coy about attendance at SP meetings and membership figures, I will carry on this tradition in my new political home. What I will say is the branch is solidly working class, which is hardly surprising considering the nature of the ward. And every Labour meeting in the city I've attended so far has more women and BME folk than any SP gathering I've been involved with in Stoke.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-18367498045099351602010-06-20T15:05:18.911+01:002010-06-20T15:05:18.911+01:00Phil: sorry for delay getting back to you, forgot ...Phil: sorry for delay getting back to you, forgot to tick the email if follow up comments box...<br /><br />It's up to branches and regions. Most branches in London try to have talks, and events to supplement business meetings although I think this is generally sporadic and depends on individuals being enthused and making it happen.<br /><br />Also conference (twice a year) has a good selection of training and members led fringes on top of this. Personally I think there's a large room for improvement but it is there, even if it's a bit of a postcode lottery.Jim Jeppshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17410387006098326671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-49806142198323789042010-06-19T14:37:54.555+01:002010-06-19T14:37:54.555+01:00well, it's good that you're able to stand ...well, it's good that you're able to stand for CLP Politiical Officer rather than have a "Branch Committee" handing down a take it or leave it<br />"slate". <br />An interesting article I found (re the "slate") was via the Weekly Worker - it was on an IMT (Socialist Appeal) opposition site-<br /><br />http://sites.google.com/a/karlmarx.net/open/topics/democratic-centralism-1/theoriginofthe‘slatesystem’John Rogannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-8063016048508794152010-06-18T19:07:12.315+01:002010-06-18T19:07:12.315+01:00Anonymous, how offensive to your petit-bourgeois m...Anonymous, how offensive to your petit-bourgeois mentality that ordinary workers have concerns about the things that affect their daily lives rather than wanting to engage in the kind of high-minded discussions of the student debating club you are no doubt so accustomed to.<br /><br />Perhaps you should look for a different working class more to your liking. Oh that's right that's what sectarians continually believe exists somewhere out there anyway.Boffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08157650969929097569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-704785074450347512010-06-18T17:36:54.210+01:002010-06-18T17:36:54.210+01:00dog shit politics nothings change in 30 years. I s...dog shit politics nothings change in 30 years. I so wish I had not been expelled.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-72842717821530429972010-06-17T20:50:27.052+01:002010-06-17T20:50:27.052+01:00Phil ten NEW members - that's almost as many a...Phil ten NEW members - that's almost as many as some of the sectsd have as a national membership! The good thing about the LP structure I think is that the separation between Branch and CLP means that the ordinary working class people who join, usually enter at the Branch level where the main reasons many of them join - local often very local issues - are discussed and dealt with. That means "politics" can be discussed at the CLP, which tends to attract the politicos.<br /><br />The main problem is that the LP as an electoralist, Parliamentarist Party, tends to see the means of resolving these community issues as being to hand it over to the Councillors to raise through official channels, or to the MP, or pass it up the Party chain of command. In fact, my perspective has always been that a "socialist" response is instead to try to mobilise and organise the particular "community" affected, to try to frame solutions around their own self-activity. The Councillor should act as little more than a shop steward on the shop floor, acting as a spokesperson for that community, and acting to provide practical assistance - including of course where necessary fighting within the Council Chamber. Its one of the reasons I am interested in the Co-op Party and movement, because that outlook is central.<br /><br />Our role as Marxists is to facilitate such Co-operative, collective action, and to help those involved to draw out the political lessons, without ramming them down their throats.Boffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08157650969929097569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-79516515257133187172010-06-16T17:04:22.820+01:002010-06-16T17:04:22.820+01:00How many people attended? What was the age and cl...How many people attended? What was the age and class profile?<br /><br />JotaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-12906317080474349192010-06-15T15:45:26.965+01:002010-06-15T15:45:26.965+01:00Do the Greens make any provision for members' ...Do the Greens make any provision for members' political education?Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-48333033010554219232010-06-15T15:12:35.367+01:002010-06-15T15:12:35.367+01:00Sounds extraordinarily like a Green Party meeting....Sounds extraordinarily like a Green Party meeting...Jim Jeppshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17410387006098326671noreply@blogger.com