Some accounts of local Left Unity meetings

More than 80 local Left Unity groups have been formed and many have been having their first meetings. Here is an account of a few of them

The first Huddersfield meeting

We had our first Huddersfield group meeting on Wednesday. It was really good. We had 15 folks there (and 3 apologies). And although backgrounds/affiliation varied greatly (no party, Socialist, Green, ex-SWP, TUC, Labour, Anarchist), there was a pretty united voice in terms of policy direction and in how the party should operate. And reading comments and articles elsewhere, it seems we’re not alone in our perspective. Unfortunately I was largely out of action yesterday due to my back, but I’m managing to get more done today, so will hopefully manage to type up notes
from the meeting. We’ve also got a discussion document on policy/position that went to members before the meeting that attempted to sum up a shared position (I’m
massively grateful to Rich in our group for taking this task on board). Whilst everyone backed its contents, as a result of the meeting a bit more has been added.
When members have had a chance to correct any errors I’ll forward these documents to you. Cheers Geoff

West London meeting

First West London Left Unity meeting 10 APRIL 2013

About 15 people interested in the Left Unity project met for the first time in my flat. It was rather squashed! We started with brief introductions, which revealed a wealth of experience in left politics. Some ex SWP members, (some very recently resigned), some ex Labour Party members, trade unionists and some who had never joined anything before.

We had a wide ranging discussion about what had encouraged us to get involved in Left Unity, what is currently is, and what we would like it to be. Some felt it was too soon to decide whether it should be a new party, let alone whether we should stand in elections. We firstly need to decide what we stand for which should be a broad statement incorporating differing views. We also felt activity is important so that people feel involved; so people who join Left Unity should be encouraged to join in with campaigns, such as the bedroom tax and the various NHS campaigns.

We had a brief discussion about the People’s Assembly as some were confused about what it is and how it relates to the Left Unity project. People were encouraged to sign up for it, but to be aware that it will include members of different political parties, such as the Labour party and the Greens, as well as those not in any party.

We agreed possible dates for our next meeting and a social gathering next month to watch the Ken Loach Spirit of 45 film, details will be advertised shortly. It was also agreed to nominate 2 people (man and woman) from the group to attend the meeting of group representatives on 11 May.

Chris Hurley WL Organiser

Medway Left Unity

Left Unity Medway held a first meeting last night, in Rochester. We had 20 people in the room, plus there were apologies from another 12 who couldn’t be there for various reasons (work, etc) but who want to be involved. Some in attendance were familiar activists – mostly from the established Left though there was even an ex-LibDem – but there were a lot of new faces.

One of the things we want to get away from is the stale practice of having a “top table” talking at a largely passive audience. So after a brief introduction, we went into several rounds of “speed debating”, then made sure that everyone had a chance to briefly introduce him or herself before having a more general discussion about what, where, and how Left Unity should organise.

I think there are several prevailing themes that came out of the meeting.

First is the absolute necessity of Left Unity being built from the bottom up, as a thoroughly democratic organisation of the grassroots. There is much distrust of party structures among the newer people, based on their perceptions and experiences of existing political parties, and it’s clear that Left Unity has to clearly distance itself from practices that alienate and exclude people from the decision making process.

Second is the importance of Left Unity growing into a movement that engages with, and sinks roots into, local communities, rather than just being a vehicle for elections. There was significant support at our meeting for the concept of being involved with social projects, making an actual difference to people’s daily lives.

Third – and this may reflect a high proportion of people from local arty circles being involved in LU Medway – the point was made that we should explore and experiment with more creative ways of encouraging open discussion, connecting with people and getting our political message across.

The meeting was a very good start. We now have a small team of volunteers to help with the organisational tasks. There is also the possibility of helping new groups to launch in nearby Maidstone and Gravesend, although the potential organisers for those towns are inexperienced and may need quite a bit of support to start with. The main thing is, we’re up and running!

Philip Kane

Southwark Left Unity – Initial meeting

16 of us met last night at the first meeting for people in Southwark to discuss the Left Unity project.

After a brief introduction about how Left Unity had come about and Ken Loach’s call for a new party there was a very good, wide-ranging discussion about the initiative and how it should develop.

Everyone spoke, covering a whole array of subjects: the need to be involved in local community struggles as well as national ones; not to be dominated by electoral campaigns; making sure we build up support and profile; Thatcher’s death; the relevance of class in politics; the lack of working-class representation; the need to link our campaigns to the idea of changing society; how Left Unity fitted in with the People’s Assembly and other left groups; the need to avoid factionalism and other problems; how we publicise our ideas and intervene in the media, and many other issues.

There was a shared enthusiasm for the initiative. Everyone was encouraged by the number of people who have signed up to support the call. People also recognised that we now needed to build support locally. We all agreed to meet again in a month’s time and everyone agreed to try to get more people to the next meeting.

It was agreed to set up an e-group for discussion and a Facebook page and we elected Mark Boothroyd, a nurse at St Thomas’ hospital, to be the group’s convenor/organiser.

There was a very friendly atmosphere, in which everyone felt able to participate. It was a promising start.

Nick