09.11.2006

Structure, organisation and tasks

Resolution 1

This conference

l (a) Believes:

1. That the situation, including the crisis of the workers' movement and the left, requires the creation of a Marxist party.

2. That the creation of such a party is likely to be through a process of discussion and debate, including the publication of differing positions and analyses. This process will be aided by a basic programme of common work - intervention in the class struggle and international solidarity work carried out by members of the campaign.

3. That the Campaign for a Marxist Party should be membership-based and elected officials of the campaign will be democratically elected and accountable rather than manipulated by an unaccountable group. To ensure accountability, regular members' aggregate meetings will be held, to which steering committee and officers will submit reports.

l (b) Resolves:

1. Aims - the campaign is to put forward the need for an openly Marxist party at all opportunities and to promote debate and discussion of Marxism. The campaign also seeks to organise members locally and nationally plus to open discussions with potential collaborators internationally.

2. That the Campaign for a Marxist Party will accept in membership those who agree with the aims of the campaign. Membership dues will be £20 per year for waged, £10 for low waged and £5 for unwaged, although we will encourage comrades to donate via a monthly standing order. In addition the campaign will seek affiliation from existing groups.

3. The campaign recognises that comrades will come with different political histories and political tendencies and will allow for the organisation of groups of comrades within the campaign to support or promote particular political positions.

4. Committee - the campaign shall elect a committee from the conference charged with organising a recall conference by the end of May 2007, providing support and encouragement for comrades to organise local groups, to propose a basic constitution and start a programme of publications. Committee shall include a secretary, treasurer and publications editor(s) in charge of paper and web-based publications.

5. Constitution - the committee of the campaign is charged with producing a democratic constitution for amendment and approval by the recall conference.

6. Local groups - the campaign shall encourage comrades to set up or participate in local groups to discuss Marxism and do basic work in the class struggle. The campaign will attempt to provide materials and provide support for comrades to speak or participate in such meetings in other areas.

7. Debate - one of the chief aims of the campaign is to promote the debating of Marxist politics. We recognise that debate and polemic are the lifeblood of the development of political positions, analyses and understanding of the world and the state of the class struggle.

8. Publications - the campaign aims to publish a paper bulletin at least bi-monthly and more frequently if possible. The campaign will also put up a website as soon as possible with the aim of providing materials and promoting the campaign nationally.

9. That the Campaign for a Marxist Party will set as an urgent task the development and promotion of Marxist theory as an alternative to the several ideologies and pseudo-Marxisms propagated by the academy.

Addendums

1. We call upon volunteers and nominations for the following jobs - the jobs can be shared - secretary; treasurer/membership secretary; website manager; magazine editor; regional organisers (to follow up new members and set up branches) - London, Scotland, Wales, North, Midlands, South; international contacts; trade union organiser.

2. The steering committee to organise a series of day schools or seminars on Marxist programme to facilitate members' involvement in the formulation of a strategic programme.

Resolution 2

The central aim of the Campaign for a Marxist Party is the fight to organise all communists, revolutionary socialists and politically advanced workers into a single party. Conference notes that this too is the central aim of the Communist Party of Great Britain and its paper, the Weekly Worker. Therefore over the next year, not least in the interests of effectiveness, the elected leadership of the Campaign for a Marxist Party is instructed to enter into fusion talks with the CPGB.

Programme

In its party building work, the Campaign for a Marxist Party will advocate a unitary, democratic - ie, non-federalist - party with full liberty of tendency, platform and faction.

The democratic development of a socialist programme is indispensable to the process of building a working class party for socialism and this development should take place via the most thorough discussion and debate with a view to the founding conference of the Marxist party we aim to create being able to vote to adopt a strategic programme.