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Weekly Worker 597 Thursday October 20 2005
Catching upWeekly Worker 596 must be one of the best yet,” writes comrade DR. “It managed to cover debates on the British left and the most pressing international issues, as well as giving us a useful interview and some fascinating theoretical insight.” Wow! Well, I know last week’s paper was pretty good, but don’t go overboard, comrade - we’re aiming for a lot better yet! Anyway, not only did DR shower us with kind words - she also backed it up with a very handy cheque for £50 - and that certainly added to the width of my grin. Another comrade to send me a big’un was ES, who came up with £30, while PB (£20), FH and SS (£10 each) all played their part in swelling our coffers last week. And I must mention the fact that we also received two donations via our website - £20 from LV and £15 from TJ. Thanks, comrades, I’m glad to see our PayPal facility is still working after a few weeks of falling into disuse! Compared to nothing at all over previous weeks, two online donations in one week is definitely something to crow about. But, before I get carried away, once more it falls upon me to point out that this is actually a pretty poor return, considering we had 15,720 web readers over the last seven days. But let’s not go on about it too much. After all, £155 in a single week is not bad at all. However, after the very slow start to our October fund we still have some catching up to do. Our total is £280, leaving us £220 to raise in just 10 days if we are to make our £500 monthly target. It’s in your hands, comrades. Robbie Rix
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Not controversial?
Michelle Euston reports from Respect Walthamstow's pre-conference meeting, where a number of non-SWP members supported the CPGB's motion
Around 20 people attended the Waltham Forest pre-conference Respect meeting on October 13. An outline was given at the beginning of planned activity over the next eight months leading up to the May local elections. We will campaign against city academies, cuts in the NHS and plans for the Olympics where local needs are not addressed.
Then five motions for conference were put forward for debate. However, there was little debate, as no-one spoke against any of the motions. When, on the other hand, members had to vote on which motions should go forward, the SWP, with its majority at the meeting, clearly demonstrated its preference. The motion to oppose city academies got 13 votes, repeal the anti-trade union laws 12 and the environment motion 11, while opposition to the religious hatred bill got six votes and a motion calling for a fight for decent pensions five.
Despite what appeared to be block voting by the SWP, it was excellent to see opposition to the religious hatred bill get six votes - needless to say, all from non-SWP members. The religious hatred motion will undoubtedly be controversial at conference. At the Waltham Forest meeting controversy was avoided.
After the election of delegates, there was some debate around whether in the May elections Respect should stand three candidates or only one in each ward. This issue, along with the selection of candidates, will be further debated in meetings to come.
Form a Respect left opposition
Conference fringe meeting
Saturday November 19
6pm, Lucas Arms, 245a Grays Inn Road, London WC1all welcome, lots of time for debate
