I will be speaking at this event on Saturday representing Green Left on the panel dealing with the general election. Peter Tatchell is speaking at the same event on the panel covering the issue of republicanism. There is a statement by the organisers below.
Republican Socialist Convention
Saturday 13th February,London South Bank University, London Road, [Elephant and Castle tube Bakerloo line] London SE1 beginning at 11-45am.
On Saturday 13 February the International Committee of the Scottish Socialist Party, the Socialist Alliance and the Green Left are sponsoring the Republican Socialist Convention. The Convention has two clear aims. First it is to promote greater understanding of the struggle for radical democratic and republican practice as part of the struggle for socialism. Second is to promote greater awareness of the national dimension in the politics of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The Convention does not take place in a vacuum. Politics is gearing up for a general election. In 2009 four major issues grabbed people’s attention. First was the economic crisis. The failure of the banks and the nationalisation of their bad debts has virtually bankrupted the State. Second corruption in the Westminster parliament was exposed by the MPs expenses scandal. Third the Afghan war, the mounting toll of dead and wounded and a rising tide of British militarism and patriotism seeping deeper into national psychology. Last but not least is the issue of climate change highlighted by the UN conference in Copenhagen in December.
What policies should British capital and the ruling class pursue? The general election will show something of their plans as each capitalist party fights for power. How should the ‘party’ of the working class respond? The Convention is not attempting to answer this. But it does connect to one issue - the crisis of parliamentary democracy brought to the fore by the MPs expenses scandal. The trade union movement has not demanded any parliamentary reforms. The left has failed to make any impression on the trade unions.
The crisis of democracy is nothing new. In 2003 over one million people demonstrated against the Iraq war. Yet the rotten and unrepresentative parliament provided some “legitimacy” for Blair’s lies and deceptions. Parliament became willing accomplis in every cover up Inquiry organised by the Crown since. Parliament operates in the same way on the millions of small everyday issues not just on such big events. At the last general election 40% of the electorate did not vote. The BNP is not the cause of parliamentary decrepitude but the party most likely to gain from it.
The ‘old corruption’ is not confined to MPs expenses or the corridors and bars at Westminster. It lives through the laws, taxes and spending decisions that affect the living and working conditions of the working class. If you want to see the failure of the Westminster brand of parliamentary democracy don’t queue up outside the House of Commons for a seat in the visitors’ gallery. Of course you can sit and watch the whole ridiculous pantomime in action. Better to see the results by walking around the streets and housing estates in any of our inner cities.
The Crown (i.e. the state) governs the country in the interests of capitalism. The Westminster parliament is supposed to represent the people. But in reality it serves the Crown, providing ‘democratic’ cover to the rule of capital. This is the real corruption. Money talks and parliament sanctifies. This works as long as the people believe in it. The MPs expenses scandal has shattered many illusions.
Of course this is a London or England centred view. It looks different for people in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Here parliaments and assemblies raise different democratic issues about power or sovereignty. After 1997 demands for self government produced a Scottish parliament and Welsh Assembly. The republican movement in Northern Ireland came to a deal with the Crown in the Good Friday agreement. But the future of these institutional arrangements is far from settled. The present SNP government in Edinburgh for example is planning an independence referendum. The national question is far from resolved.
What should socialists say and do about the crisis of democracy, the Westminster parliament, the Scottish parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Good Friday agreement? The record is not good. There has been a tendency, especially in England, to ignore constitutional issues and hope they will go away. We are followers of the popular mood, not leaders of public (mainly working class) opinion. Lenin would surely have criticised us for “economism”, the “worship of spontaneity” and “tailism”.
The Republican Socialist Convention is not a sectarian initiative setting itself up against the rest of the left by offering the ‘correct’ view. Of course it stands for republicanism and socialism. But the aim is to promote dialogue across different strands, ‘warts and all’, that make up the working class movement. If there is criticism it is because we don’t have all strands of opinion on the platform. However it is an invitation for all to contribute and hopefully gain greater understanding from each other of the importance of democracy in the struggle for socialism.
The first Republican Socialist Convention was held in Edinburgh in 2008. The second in London reflects the problems, divisions and issues of the socialist movement here. However we have Scottish voices on the platform with invites to Welsh and Irish. With the mass struggle for a secular republic in Iran we have invited a speaker from ‘Hands of the People of Iran’. In England socialists are active in the Labour Party (LRC), the Green Party (Green Left) and in independent organisations such as Respect and the No2EU coalition with the RMT. We hope to hear from all these voices either from the platform or from the floor.
In 2010 the general election will be a major political event. The capitalist parties will fight for the right to form a pro-capitalist government. They will use the election to convince the working class there is no alternative. The prize is a working class made ready for the nasty medicine that capital and international finance demands. If the election can restore confidence in the Westminster parliament this will provide a ‘democratic’ seal of approval for the policies of the new government.
The Convention will therefore provide a platform for those who want to fight the Tories, New Labour and the Liberal Democrats. But our eyes must be firmly on using the election to prepare for the struggles that will arise afterwards. It means defending pay, jobs and public services by militant action. It is necessary to do more than this and go on the offensive. By raising republican and socialist demands the left contests the rights of the Westminster parliament and the rights property owners to rule over us.
The agenda of the Convention flows from these questions. There will be three sessions. The first is the crisis of democracy and a republican programme. Invited speakers include Tony Benn on The Commonwealth of Britain Bill, Peter Tatchell on The Republican Charter, Colin Fox (SSP) The Declaration of Calton Hill, Robert Griffiths (CPB) Republicanism and the British Road, Peter Taffe (SP) For a more generous democracy, Yassamine Mather (HOPI) on the struggle for secular republican demands in Iran.
The second session will look at republican socialism and the national question. Speakers have been invited from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales to introduce this session. Finally the third session will look at the prospects for the left in the general election and the possibilities for promoting republican and socialist ideas. The invited speakers to introduce this session include John McDonnell MP, Bob Crow (RMT), Joseph Healy (Green Left), and Colin Fox (SSP). The intention is to have as many contributions from the floor as time allows.
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