James M of Dead Men Left has left a comment on my previous post which I feel deserves more prominence. I had, at first, simply reported the winning of a council seat by Respect. Then, because I hate the stupid name (Respect) so much and I thought it was indicative of a lack of consultation, I linked to a letter from a chap - Tony Greenstein - who I have great respect. (ouch) for, bemoaning a lack of "democratic structure". He also described the group as "SWP-dominated". James M (in the Comments below) wrote of Tony Greenstein's letter: "Couldn't find anything substantive in it: a) "SWP dominated"? Where? The temporary (but elected) national committee has some 24 members, of which five or six are SWP members; b) local branches are already assembling democratic structures - discussions over this have already occupied a large chunk of Lambeth & Southwark's meetings, whilst local branches (Hartlepool, Birmingham, Leicester, Tower Hamlets) have so far made decisions about whether to stand candidates or not; c) a national delegate conference is called for October to sort out policy, elect a "proper" national committee, etc. Given the somewhat hastily assembled nature of the beast, I think we're doing pretty well."
My only hope is that they put NAME CHANGE on the agenda.
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