26.02.2004

Donation 'sets ball rolling'

European Social Forum

London Unison is the first trade union branch to stump up some serious money to help run this year’s European Social Forum, which is due to take place on October 14-17 (the European assembly on March 6-7 will give the final go-ahead). The London region agreed on February 25 to firmly commit £50,000.

Sensibly, members of the CPGB were not excluded from the latest meeting of the ESF coordinating committee on February 25. Two weeks ago, we were forced to leave when the vital subject of finance was discussed (see Weekly Worker February 12). Last week’s meeting did not discuss finances, so exclusions were thought unnecessary. Now thankfully it seems comrades want to leave behind such undemocratic practices. Excluding comrades was always an indication of the difficult financial situation - not that keeping it secret was the way to rectify anything. The implication appeared to be that the Weekly Worker was to blame for trade unions not coughing up. Obviously ridiculous.

Spirits were markedly lifted once the meeting was informed about Unison’s donation. “This should be seen as a starter,” an enthusiastic Rahul Patel, until recently London Unison press officer, told the ESF coordinating committee. Comrade Patel, a member of the Socialist Workers Party, indicated that other branches and regions might follow this excellent example: “This donation will set the ball rolling,” he predicted.

Hopefully he is right. Unfortunately, the TUC general council has so far only given its “in-principle support”. Redmond O’Neill (Ken Livingstone’s director of public affairs and transport) reported that the “degree of support depends on how the ESF develops”. So, for the time being, no money from the TUC. This is a setback, which was somewhat glossed over at the meeting. The GLA had expected a major financial contribution from the TUC and comrade O’Neill previously indicated that both the TUC and GLA were expected to come up with similar amounts.

Presented with what is still viewed as a cash-strapped situation, the GLA has now put forward the idea of a slimmed down version of the ESF. But rather than explaining that the lack of money was responsible for this proposal, Redmond O’Neill (who is a leading member of the Trotskyoid sect, Socialist Action) questioned whether the ESFs in Paris and Florence really were as big as publicly announced. “I do not believe that 50,000 people attended either of these events,” he said, mentioning a figure of around 38,000 instead. “We should plan to accommodate 20,000 people and look into the possibility of expanding the event, as more support and more money comes in.”

This was strongly opposed by the SWP’s Chris Nineham: “I really do not think that our ESF will be any smaller than the first two. In Paris, 20,000 non-French people participated. Unless we really fuck up, our ESF is going to be a lot bigger than 20,000.” We should certainly aim at least to match the attendance at the first two forums.

There is another serious problem with the GLA’s slim-line event: it risks sidelining the workshops, which make use of the only self-organised space at the ESF. The GLA will want to make sure that nothing too controversial gets discussed and that Ken Livingstone can bask in the success of the ESF. Fortunately, there is a real consensus in the programme working group, which regards workshops as central. It is up to all our groups and organisations together to make sure the London ESF is both big and democratic.