I will be at the first meeting of the National Council of the Coalition of Resistance on Saturday, together with other members of the Green Party and Green Left. I totally echo the sentiments expressed below by Bob Crow and they represent the views I put forward in my recent interview on COR on Left Project blog. We are facing a cataclysm for public services, the voluntary sector and the benefits system. We must work together to oppose these cuts or perish.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am writing to urge maximum unity in the struggle against the Coalition government’s austerity programme.
Such is the scale of the onslaught against our class that no one should be in any doubt of the need for such unity.
There can be no question of any political party or organisation seeking to assume leadership of this struggle or setting up new national organisations that would create disunity.
Instead all our efforts should be devoted to mobilising all progressive forces and building the biggest and broadest possible movement against the cuts.
I would urge all comrades to take a step back and consider how we can best act in a way which helps achieve these aims.
Yours in unity
Bob Crow
RMT General Secretary
Fitting call for unity from Secretary Bob Crow there, and the timing of both your sentimements discouraging division is spot on too. There is still (perhaps understandibly at this stage) some mild mistrust and uncertaintly of the type of movement we are wanting and more crucially, - needing to shake down the coaltion and their appalling barage of socially-toxic policies.
ReplyDeleteBob Crow has been a friend to our ideals more and more recently, we must make sure we return the solidarity. Although the circumstances were complex, and focusing on building structured and diverse bodies very similar TUSC may indeed be the type of thing Bob is suggestion couuld be counter-productive right now, I'm still thankful to the RMT for funding our Salford General Election campaign and welcoming me into the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coaltion as the only Green Left candidate.
One thing we should be hopeful of as a longer-term aim is re-exploring a far stronger, better-funded, and less divided genuine Ecosocialist effort at the 2014 European Elections as way of cementing what brings us together long-term.