07.02.2002

Moving forward

Representatives of the Alliance for Workers' Liberty and Communist Party of Great Britain met on Tuesday February 5 to discuss moves to establish an unofficial Socialist Alliance newspaper. The editors of the Weekly Worker and Action for Solidarity were present. After a wide-ranging discussion of overall perspectives for the SA, it was agreed to continue exploring the viability of a broadly supported paper. Comrades from both the AWL and CPGB agreed that there was little point in simply merging the organisations' two publications - but without active support from independent or non-aligned comrades that was all that would be achieved. The project for an SA paper has to be owned by members of the Socialist Alliance beyond our two groups. While differences of emphasis regarding the potential role of the alliance in the formation of a working class party were brought out in the discussion, it was felt that there is sufficient unity to push ahead. Although no formal agreement on details has yet been reached, all present felt that such a paper would need to be launched by a broad and representative conference of SA members. No disagreement was expressed with the CPGB proposal that the politics of new publication would defend, concretise and enrich the demands outlined in People before profit in order to recruit to the Socialist Alliance on the largest possible scale. Likewise, there was no objection to our suggestion that a founding conference should elect, say, five editors and a contributing editorial board of 10 or 20 which would meet perhaps quarterly. Outstanding issues to consider were agreed as follows: concrete details of the base of support in the alliance; proposed editors; defining differences between the AWL and CPGB on the Socialist Alliance; the content and identity of the paper; campaigning for it in the alliance; financial structure and distribution; and a timetable for implementation. It is up to those in the alliance - whether in the CPGB, AWL or, crucially, non-aligned comrades - to begin campaigning in earnest for a paper that fights for the Socialist Alliance. Marcus Larsen