13.03.2003

Anti-war party debates

The inaugural People's Assembly for Peace met in London on March 12. It was a slightly chaotic, at times fractious, yet inspiring and certainly an historic event. Mark Fischer and Tina Becker report

Just a few hundred yards away from the now totally unrepresentative Houses of Parliament, well over1,000 delegates gathered in Central Hall, Westminster. They came from a wide range of political, religious, social and cultural organisations, local anti-war groups, schools and colleges. There was a palpable sense of conviction that mass action can stop this war - as Tony Benn told the audience to huge cheers, “The huge demonstrations of February 15 have given us back our confidence.” Most inspiring of all were the youth. Alongside the seasoned activists were representatives of the new layer of ‘rank and file’ organisers amongst school students who led many thousands around the country to strike on March 5. Youth are a barometer of the struggle. The scale of this mass movement against the war was underlined by the numbers of young people present at this first People’s Assembly, by their confidence, militancy and eloquence. Predictably slower to move are the big battalions of the workers’ movement. Nevertheless Bob Crow of RMT, Billy Hayes of the Communication Workers Union and other prominent union leaders and activists spoke forcibly of protest strike action. But their comments were often couched with caution, even when the delivery - as in the case of comrade Crow - was high-decibel and furious. Thus, the conference unanimously agreed a resolution that “a recall congress of the TUC be immediately organised to call general strike action … the Tory anti-trade union laws must not be used as an excuse to stop the trade unions organising such decisive action”. All very ultra-militant, but a more modest motion from the Socialist Party moved by Dave Nellist - also overwhelmingly passed - was probably more in tune with where the organised workers’ movement stands today. This states that “we must popularise the slogan ‘Stop work to stop the war’” and calls for the production of millions of leaflets “outlining the case against war, explaining how to organise workplace protest”. Many, many tens of thousands of youth are actively engaged already - but what will be decisive is when the working class as a class enters the battlefield, a molecular process that is necessarily slower and more careful. Once it does happen, however, regime change - not just the end of Blair - becomes certain. The People’s Assembly does not yet have sufficient authority. But there was a clear recognition that, while the official structures cannot be ignored, they certainly cannot be relied on to take the lead at this stage. In general, the assembly reflected the politics of February 15, with all its strengths and weaknesses. Thus we saw the welcome participation of a large number of muslims, including many new to politics. But a Lib Dem speaker was again allowed to pass Charles Kennedy off as a peace-monger - an bad mistake that must be rectified. Lastly, showing a worrying lack of confidence, a Workers Power amendment calling for people’s assemblies to be built everywhere was actually voted down. Stop the War Coalition chair Andrew Murray warned that we cannot “impose our will” on people. This vote was quite close - something like a third supporting. Nervousness like this will not prove important as long as the movement keeps advancing and Blair’s political crisis continues to deepen. Clarity, coherence and direction need to be fought for and can be won.