05.05.2004

Abortion: make the position clear

An open letter to the Respect executive committee

Comrades

I am writing to you on behalf of the Communist Party of Great Britain to seek clarification from Respect’s leadership. Specifically, we are concerned about the political obligations of coalition candidates during campaigning for the forthcoming elections and the duties of any comrades we get elected.

These concerns are prompted by the recent comments of comrade George Galloway on the question of abortion - but they have far wider political implications for Respect, the role of the executive committee and the coalition’s possible future as a party.

Our organisation is committed to working for the biggest possible vote for Respect on June 10 and welcomes the support it has gained from trade unions, leftwingers and faith-based organisations. And similarly, despite our political differences with the comrade, we regard it as a strength that George Galloway - an outstanding spokesperson for the mass anti-war movement - is prominent in this coalition. However, his religious views - and the backward social attitudes they sometimes prompt - are not simply a personal issue and are certainly the concern of Respect as a political collective.

Speaking to The Independent on Sunday, Galloway said that he is “strongly against abortion. I believe life begins at conception and therefore unborn babies have rights. I think abortion is immoral.” He added: “I believe in god. I have to believe that the collection of cells has a soul” (April 4). In a certain sense this is not really news, of course. When he was in the Labour Party Galloway had a consistent record of opposition to a woman’s right to choose. The website of the reactionary campaigning organisation, the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, characterises him as a “courageous fighter” for his stance on this and related questions (www.spuc.org.uk).

But he is no longer a Labour Party backbencher. George Galloway is the leading figure in Respect - he also heads our London list for the EU elections. With that there comes collective responsibility. Otherwise the danger is that what George Galloway says will be equated in the public mind with what Respect thinks.

For example, MAB’s press release “welcomed” his “statements on faith and god” and concluded that British muslims will now “see Respect as a real alternative to the main political parties” (April 24). This use of George Galloway’s reactionary views - crucially on abortion - to justify support for Respect obliges its executive to immediately make its position absolutely clear. The suggestion of waiting till after the June 10 elections for an autumn conference is a nonsense - there can be no fudging on this issue: people have the right to know what they are voting for.

Respect’s founding declaration is for “the right for self-determination for every individual in relation to their religious (or non-religious) beliefs, as well as sexual choices”. Most in and around Respect would have regarded this as a fairly routine defence of basic democratic rights, not least those relating to a women’s control over her own fertility. Yet after comrade Galloway’s interview and its subsequent welcome by MAB it is clear that this formulation needs clarification.

As a matter of urgency we would ask Respect’s executive to:

1. Make it absolutely clear that comrade Galloway, when he was speaking to The Independent on Sunday, was wrong to oppose abortion.

2. Pledge that it will campaign to defend and improve abortion rights. Neither doctors, politicians, the church nor the mosque should decide a woman’s fate. Women themselves should be able to freely decide whether or not to have an abortion - as early as possible, as late as necessary. This should be unambiguously promoted in election material.

3. State clearly that any candidates elected under Respect’s banner - whatever their personal opinions - will, if elected, be expected to abide by this position when voting in local councils, the London assembly or the European parliament.

Yours in solidarity