25.03.2004

Populism or principle

Respect meeting: Barnet and Camden

The fledging Barnet and Camden branch of Respect met on March 18 to select a candidate to contest the forthcoming Greater London Assembly elections.

There was considerable enthusiasm for the Respect project on display amongst the 30-odd people who gathered at the Friends Meeting House on Euston Road. Linda Smith of the Fire Brigades Union, one of the two speakers from the Respect executive, encapsulated the mood perfectly when she said, “I’m really excited and I think we can make a real difference.”

Comrade Smith and the other executive speaker, Sait Akgul, made much of the absence of a viable leftwing alternative in Britain. They highlighted the anger felt by many over the invasion of Iraq, and the growing opposition to New Labour amongst sections of society that had supported it in the past. The message was clear: Respect would provide political representation for the disillusioned and disenchanted electorate.

A laudable aim, but Respect has a long way to go to realise its ambition. In fact, if the Barnet and Camden branch is representative of Respect’s fortunes thus far, it has a very long way to go to reach the Socialist Workers Party’s stated aim of reflecting the diversity of the anti-war movement. Although there were people of different ages, sexes and ethnic origin at the meeting, it was evident that most were members or supporters of the SWP. Not in itself a bad thing, but the SWP clearly hopes that by adopting Respect’s tissue-thin platform of platitudes they would attract a wider spread of people to the cause.

Despite this somewhat negative observation, the inaugural meeting of Barnet and Camden Respect demonstrated a real sense of commitment. There is clearly a great deal of energy and experience that the branch can draw upon in the coming election campaign.

Liz Wheatley, a member of the SWP and the convenor of Camden Stop the War Coalition, was selected by the branch to be our candidate in the GLA elections, and a committee was also agreed. In a spontaneous acceptance speech comrade Wheatley spoke of how exciting her experience of the anti-war movement had been, and her background as a Unison steward in Camden council. Optimistically she too thought that, for the first time, Respect offered the chance of a real “breakthrough.”

There followed a discussion on ways to promote Respect locally. There were some interesting and ambitious suggestions put forward, including a rock concert/rally on May 21. The organiser hoped that it would attract such luminaries as George Galloway, Ken Loach and Mike Rosen. Unfortunately, at the time no bands had been booked. A young comrade drew attention to the fact that six percent of those living in the constituency are Bengali, and stressed the importance of attracting them.

As the meeting drew to a close, I took the opportunity to congratulate Liz Wheatley for having been selected as candidate. Having done so, I asked the comrade whether she would pledge herself to the maxim of a worker’s rep on a worker’s wage. Comrade Wheatley replied that such a question was an academic point. Not so, I countered: it was a point of principle. Her cryptic response was that a worker’s wage would represent a pay rise for her (she had obviously been listening to John Rees’s rejoinder at the March 13 Socialist Alliance conference).

The ability to avoid answering a question may be an invaluable skill for bourgeois politicians; but a working class politician should not resort to such cheap shenanigans. Comrade Wheatley should have been able to give an honest answer to an honest question.

Feeling dissatisfied, I then asked her where she stood on the issues of open borders and republicanism. She stated that she had been selected to stand as a Respect candidate, and that was the platform that she would stand on. When I pointed out that the said platform had nothing to say on either issue, the comrade agreed, but, having only just been selected, she wanted to “get out there” and talk to the people she would represent.

If I have interpreted this correctly, it is an alarming confession of populism and opportunism. Rather than declare her principles, and provide political leadership to the class, comrade Wheatley implied that she intended to merely hold a mirror up and reflect the perceived sentiments of a heterogeneous and amorphous electorate.

The elections of June 10 are just a few weeks away. Despite the enthusiasm and political experience evident in Barnet and Camden, Respect has a lot of ground to cover if it is to become a viable choice in the elections. The involvement of minor leftwing celebrities and street activities may have worked in the Stop the War Coalition but, when it comes to elections, there is no substitute for principled politics.