03/06/2008 by admin.

What is the true cost of Britain’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan?

An invite for academic, research papers and investigations.

  We would like to invite researchers, students and campaigners to investigate and research the true costs of Britain’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to then present their findings at a key session during the Convention of the Left which is taking place Manchester in September 2008. This idea is inspired by the economists Joseph Stigliz and Linda Bilmes book. “The Three Trillion Dollar War “.   

 Stigliz & Bilmes book brought together for the first time the ’facts we need to understand the financial, economic and social consequence of the Iraq conflict”.  The main focus of the book was on the USA.  The authors devote a small section in their book on the cost of the Iraq war to Britain. Stigliz and Bilmes put forward an estimated cost to the UK of the Iraq war (table 6.1) of £20.9 billion.  It this area that we believe needs further research, investigation and exposure.  What is also not been subject to any rigorous and meaningful examination is the true cost of Britain’s involvement, up to now and in the future, in Afghanistan.

  We would like to encourage research and investigation in all or of any part of the financial, economic or social cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 We would envisage the results of any research being produced to published on a website and to become freely available as a resource for campaigners, journalists and the general public

If you are interested or want further information, please contact us 

Richard Searle - 07760 224 580 / gearie@aol.com

Linda Clair - 07985 624 968 / lindaclair@btinternet.com

For the Convention of the Left

&

Jacqui Burke. Greater Manchester & District CND

(0161) 273 8283 / gmdcnd@gn.apc.org

Please forward this message to anyone you think may be interested in participating in this project

Posted in Peace, Planning | 2 Comments »

17/04/2008 by admin.

Towards The Convention of The Left: Progress so Far.  

The following is an entirely personal account of where things have got to with this initiative and, in particular, an appeal for further contributions to the blog discussion.  

I write as one of the dozen or so people who thought it would be a good idea to hold the “convention”. Since that decision was made a few months ago a growing number of people from in and around Manchester have got involved. Probably as many as 50 people have attended at least one meeting, and from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives.  

At the last meeting on 31 March comrades from the SWP attended for the first time, as well as comrades from the LRC ( Labour Representation Committee) There were also comrades from Red Pepper,  Respect Renewal, The Green Party (myself !), The Labour Party, Permanent Revolution, The Communist Party of Britain and the AWL (Alliance for Workers Liberty)- sorry if I’ve missed anybody out- as well as a number of comrades who are not members of any political grouping.   

All of us attended as individuals, rather than as delegates from particular groups, and there appeared to be (as there has been throughout) an attempt to focus on what we all agreed upon and shared in common, rather than what divides us.

On Monday the comrades from Socialist Worker appeared anxious to ensure that our plans for Saturday 20 September complimented rather than clashed with the planned Stop The War Coalition demonstration which is likely to be held in Manchester on the same day.   The meeting affirmed this and the conference which we have planned for the Saturday will certainly break in the afternoon to allow participants to join the march.

We also discussed the possibility of moving the conference to the following day or possibly running it over the two days (The Friends Meeting House is not available for most of Sunday 21 September but there is a possibility of a booking at The University Students Union).  In addition to the “main” meeting at the weekend there is also an intention to hold a number of meetings on Monday, Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday (rooms have been booked and initial themes have been agreed)   

The meeting on Monday began to discuss how best to use the space that we have. It was agreed that although much of the focus of our monthly organising meetings would necessarily be on the arrangements for the week itself we also hoped to encourage discussion and debate beyond Manchester in the months between now and September. Ideally such a debate might encourage comrades to attend our conference and possibly get involved in an ongoing project to build something more permanent thereafter.  

Although discussions at our Manchester meeting have been largely positive and encouraging there has been limited contact from comrades beyond the Manchester area. I at least am anxious to find out if anybody else is interested in what we are trying to do.

If you are please let us know.   

Peter Allen

Posted in Planning | 4 Comments »

17/04/2008 by admin.

A theme on trade unionism and workplace organisation in the UK and internationally

As was pointed out at the ‘big’ meeting, there is a major gap in the themes of the Convention as there is nothing specifically aimed at trade unionists or taking up trade union issues other than privatisation in the UK and internationally. A theme on trade unionism could focus both on drawing together current experiences and on dealing with the major political issues facing trade unionists.

I suggest setting up another sub-group to work out a detailed plan with speakers etc and a meeting to get together those interested specifically in this area.Here are some ideas to kick around for possible sessions. These are only suggestions and obviously open to amendments, additions and deletions but I think they might form the basis for a viable, relevant and interesting stream.

Organising the unorganised:·
Young workers·
Migrant workers

Where now for the unions?:
Should the unions still support Labour?
Rank and file organisation-Shop stewards network/trades councils; union lefts
Current disputes / Public sector pay freeze

International labour:
Solidarity with Iraqi & Iranian trade unionists
Fighting sweatshop labour: union organisation worldwide
Chinese workers and the Olympics IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE INVOLVED, PLEASE CONTACT ME BY EMAIL AT:
BRUCE@BRUCEROB.EU

Comradely,Bruce Robinson

Posted in Power and politics, People not profit, Statements, Planning | 3 Comments »

10/03/2008 by admin.

by John Nicholson

The Left is weak, organisationally. This doesnt mean a lack of campaigning activities - stop the war demonstrations, CND’s Easter rally at Aldermaston, Heathrow camps, solidarity with Gaza, support for trade unionists in Shelter, NHS Mental Health, and education. And maybe weakness means fluidity -  anything could happen?

But we are weak.

So, at this time, would it be good for The Left to seek to develop some agreement on both policies and practices - which could be useful for the future? For example, what should our policy be on migration - “no one is illegal” - no immigration controls, no borders? - and then how should we be organising this in practice - through a broad campaign against deportations and for the right to work? with a distinct current arguing for no-one is illegal position within it? This is a two-fold debate - what we want, and how do we get it.

Or perhaps we could ask questions rather than setting out policy - what should we support in Pakistan/Afghanistan/Iraq/Iran? what is our vision for socialist healthcare? should education be secular? should public services be re-nationalised - and if so how? what is a 21st century socialist response to the consequences of neo-liberal economics? can the planet be saved without socialism?

And how should we organise to achieve our demands?

[Answers on a blog please - www.socialistunity.com, www.conventionoftheleft.org.uk]

Or we could build up a programme for The Left from existing examples (such as Socialist Outlook’s recent four point outline - www.isg-fi.org.uk; or the Communist Party of Britain’s Left Wing Programme - www.communist-party.org.uk) and debate these openly in order to arrive at some broad agreement.

Then we can discuss how we should organise ourselves, to put such policies into practice: - generalising from the example above, for example, perhaps through a broad organisation with a distinct socialist current within it?

Could we debate any or all of this, over the weeks and months ahead? Would it be useful for the Convention of The Left to address further in September?

Posted in Planning | 1 Comment »

27/02/2008 by admin.

By Bill Jeffries

If Unity is Strength, then the Left is very weak, not only has it suffered from three decades of defeat, but since the late 1990s has systematically failed to take advantage of the many opportunities for it to substantially extend its influence.

Most notably out of the enormous stop the war movement it failed to build a mass alternative to New Labour, rather the opposite, the anti-war movement, in spite of its many awe inspiring achievements, consolidated the Left’s fragmentation, its general retreat from class politics and overall decline. 

Faced with this situation it is a good time to re-think where the Left has gone wrong, what are the lessons and the next concrete steps we can take together to re-build the movement. There are obviously many different answers to these questions, but first among them must be, in a general sense, an appreciation of the situation and the tasks that it posed activists.

Notwithstanding the scale of the anti war movement, and growth of climate change activism, the anti-capitalist movement, ESF/WSF and so on, the overall level of class struggle remains weak. Strike figures are lower than the 1950s. Trade union organisation is down when compared with the 1970s/80s.

The Labour Party left is a shadow of its former self, while the various left regroupment initiatives, the SLP, SSP, Socialist Alliance, CNWP, Solidarity, Respect, Respect Renewal, LRC etc. without wanting to get into the specifics, have failed to unite the whole left within them. 

Faced with this fragmentation, what can the Convention of the Left do? 

Firstly it can provide a forum for the Left of all shades to discuss their differences and what unites them, their assessment of the world, where they think the priorities for struggle are, what are the key issues that face working people today. 

Secondly it can start to co-ordinate activists within these areas to make their struggles more effective. 

And finally in the light of its success with steps one and two it can consider future options.

Posted in Power and politics, Statements, Planning | 6 Comments »

13/02/2008 by admin.

The Manchester “Convention of The Left”, from the 20th -25th September, will bring together opponents of New Labour’s neo-liberal warmongering to discuss how we can develop unity in action - just a stone’s throwaway New Labour’s party conference. 

We want an entirely different world. One built by the working people for the working people, not based on profit, environmental destruction and oppression, but a socialist society.  We bring together people from different radical traditions - greens, lefts, internationalists and communists, civil liberties campaigners, anti-deportation fighters and trades unions, peace and public service campaigns – but united in our determination to combine our strengths and open a debate about how we can rebuild the left today.    

The Manchester Convention steering group invites anyone who wants to participate in, shape or promote the event to join us in Manchester on Sunday 24th February, at the Friends Meeting House, Mount Street Manchester between 3.00-6.00pm. 

There is obviously no final agenda as yet, but the loose proposal is that through the course of the Labour Party conference week, the Convention will organise a counter conference and actions.

The Convention will start on Saturday with a full day for discussion and debate between activists to see how we can work together better and co-ordinate our struggles, followed on a week of discussion possibly themed around;  

Peace – how we organise our struggle against imperialist wars and support the just struggles of peoples against national oppression  

People not Profits – how we oppose the privatisation of public services – and how we would run the services of the future  

Planet – how we can fight global warming and environmental destruction  

Power and Politics –how the struggle against oppression means fighting for power to change our lives  

If you would like to attend the Convention Organising Group, then feel free to come along, all welcome, individuals and groups or groups of individuals, or if you can’t make it on the day, then get in touch with our e-mail (john at conventionoftheleft.org) and we will be happy to facilitate your involvement in any way we can.  

Over the next weeks and months in the run up to the Convention we will be trying to shape a debate around the issues that face the left today.  

Yours, John Nicholson 

Convenor, Convention Organising Group 

Posted in Planning | 11 Comments »