Left Unity has to be fun if it is going to be serious

Some of the people at the Brighton Left Unity meeting

A report from Keston Sutherland on the Left Unity meeting in Brighton last night

Brighton Left Unity held its first meeting on the evening of the 18^th April in central Brighton. Around sixty people showed up, a lively and exciting mix of experienced activists, students from the Sussex occupation, other students, trades union members and local people of all ages and backgrounds. It was immediately clear that this was not a single campaign group, nor a meeting only for seasoned party workers, but a very open, hospitable environment in which everyone was encouraged to share their thoughts and views regardless whether they had any experience of activism or political work. There were no dominant voices and no members from already existing political groups tried to steer discussion down narrow partisan channels. Lots of people in the room contributed to the conversation and everyone was heard with respect.

The meeting began with a short introductory talk by Keston, who thanked everyone for coming, gave a short account of his own reasons for joining Left Unity, and invited the group to start a new, free and lively conversation about its experiences of the coalition government and the austerity regime without worrying about party lines or protocols. There followed a short talk by three students from the Sussex occupation and the wider campaign against outsourcing at the university. The students told the history of the occupation, described their struggles and the obstacles they met with, including the failure of their attempts to set up meaningful talks with senior management, and talked about the future of the campaign, which will be carried on despite the injunction in place at the university banning spontaneous protest. As well as recounting a number of frustrations, the students who were invited to give this talk and also a number of other students who spoke later in the meeting stressed how wonderful their experience of the occupation had been. They described a communal space in which social questions could be debated with extraordinary care and intimacy, a space in which people were able to learn from each other and share their thinking at all hours and in the most intense and respectful manner imaginable. The meeting heard from members of Unison (the union that represents 90% of the workers at Sussex who are directly affected by the outsourcing plans) who complained bitterly that their reps at the university are apparently attempting to prevent strike action by refusing to issue an indicative ballot and instead sending out a large, confusing “survey” of members’ opinions.

After the talk by the students, the group reassembled into a big circle – the room was only just large enough to contain it!—and people began to talk to everyone. Whether they came from experienced party activists who are used to speaking at meetings, or from people who had never attended a meeting before, but who now felt that something must be done, all the contributions to the group discussion were valuable, articulate, thoughtful and inspiring. Several people said how pleased they were at the considerable diversity of the group. Lots of people who already belong to a party or other political group said how exciting it is that Left Unity has already managed to attract such large numbers of people, and suggested various actions and campaigns that the group might like to consider supporting. Conversation ranged from questions of immediate social significance to thousands of people, such as the difficulties of bringing up children while benefits are being cut, to questions about the history of the left and the difficulties of uniting small factions in a common purpose. Various local campaigns that are already up and running were recommended, and several people suggested that Left Unity could take an active part in opposing the EDL march in Brighton this weekend.

There was a consensus in the room that Left Unity has to be fun if it is going to be serious. People give up their time because they care about political causes, the reality of suffering and poverty, the future of communities and the state of democratic institutions; but they also want to be engaged in really lively and interesting discussion and to enjoy themselves together. There is plenty of misery in the world already, especially for poor and working people whose lives are less important to the government than the profits of major corporations. Brighton Left Unity will be about bringing some optimism and friendship into those people’s lives. We will hold some social events in the near future, free and open to all.

People continue to join Brighton Left Unity every day. It was observed that our next meeting will need to be in a bigger room, that lots more people had planned to come but had been unable to make it. Let’s get a hundred of us together next time! Whoever you are, whether or not you have any experience of political work, if you oppose the destruction of the welfare state and the NHS by the representatives of big business and you want to think collectively about how we can actively put up some resistance, come and join us! You will be welcome.