For democracy not “consensus”

Submitted by Anon on 12 September, 2008 - 11:24 Author: Bruce Robinson

The fragmented left faces a new situation in the light of the blocking off of any possible challenge to Brown through the Labour Party; the failure of Respect; and the Socialist Alliance and the rise of the BNP. The Convention of the Left is an attempt to bring together those on the left opposed to the Labour government’s attacks on the working class and to debate and formulate alternative anti-capitalist strategies. Initially there will be a five day event in Manchester from 20-24 September running in parallel with Labour’s own conference.

This will consist of a number of themed meetings around peace, planet, politics, public services and trade unions. There will be sessions on women, international trade union solidarity, anti-fascism, climate change, Iraq and Iran. The Convention will provide a framework within which the left will, hopefully, be able to do more than just listen to platform speakers but also to have the kind of open debate that is all too rare on the left. It is also intended that sessions should put together a brief statement of policy on their particular area that will feed into a recall conference to be held in November, though it is as yet unclear how that conference will be structured or what its aims are.

The initial aim of the Convention was: “to start defining a new way of working… so that we can work together in practical campaigns, regardless of the organisations we may belong to… Diverse but not divisive, we want participation in debate and unity in action.” In practice, this has meant the central organisers sidelining or opposing anything that they consider likely to provoke controversy, regardless of its importance for working out a strategy for the left. Thus a debate on the Union-Labour link was rejected on the grounds that this would be “looking backwards”.

On the Sunday, the discussion under the title: “Unity in action – Probable? Possible? Potential?” will be around a resolution to which no amendments or additions will be allowed. While the resolution is relatively uncontroversial and includes a useful proposal for the development of local left forums, it shies away from giving any perspective for the November conference or the more long-term development of the left.

The Convention should be supported as giving a much-needed opportunity for the far left to debate politics and strategy. But serious differences do exist, and ignoring these cannot in the long run contribute to building a stable framework for working together. We need the most democratic framework possible, not a manipulated consensus.

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