Newsletter 10
At its recent meeting in London, Left Unity’s National Coordinating Group (NCG) has agreed the rates for Founding Membership and also the details of our Founding Conference in November. You have to sign up for Founding Membership in order to participate in the Founding Conference. You can sign up for both on our website
Founding Membership Rates
We have deliberately kept the minimum membership rates low in order to make Left Unity accessible to the largest number of people. If you can pay a little more in order to support our work, then please do so. Click here to become a founding member. If you already have a standing order to Left Unity you will be automatically considered to be a Founding Member unless you let us know otherwise.
Founding Conference Details
Our Founding Conference will take place on Saturday 30th November 2013. The venue will be the Royal National Hotel in Bedford Way, London WC1H 0DG. The hotel, which is fully accessible, is close to Russell Square underground station, as well as Euston and Kings Cross mainline railway stations. Click here to register. Founding Members will be able to participate in the conference subject to registering.
Left Unity Platforms
The meeting of Left Unity’s NCG in Doncaster in June, agreed that groups of 10 or more Left Unity supporters can organise as ‘platforms’ within Left Unity and that these will be able to put resolutions to the Founding Conference in the same way that Left Unity’s local groups can.
Three platforms have been formed so far. There is a rich discussion taking place on our website and in local groups across the country. These are the documents produced so far:
Class Struggle Platform Left Party Platform Socialist Platform
Left Unity Policy Commissions
The NCG meeting in Doncaster also agreed that policy commissions should begin work to discuss and draft policy to be considered for adoption by the new party founded in November. A small number will report to the Founding Conference, but they will primarily report to a policy conference in 2014. A policy workshop conference will take place in Manchester on 28th September to enable open discussion and feedback on the commissions’ work so far. Further details will appear on the website shortly. If you wish to find out more about the commissions or get involved in their work, more information can be found at: http://leftunity.org/policy-commissions/
The Left Unity newsletter team
3 comments
3 responses to “Newsletter 10”
Left Unity is active in movements and campaigns across the left, working to create an alternative to the main political parties.
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Isn’t it about time the Left stopped being so London-centric. It might be convenient for London socialists to crawl out of bed late morning but for most of us who live a sometimes considerable distance away it’s a pain in the arse. Wouldn’t the Midlands be more convenient all round?
I’ve signed up to attend the founding conference, with the minimal fee, the reason being that I live in Devon and travel to (and probably over-night accommodation in) London will cost me a lot of money. I attended a meeting in Exeter on 12 June at which the main speaker, recently elected onto the national co-ordinating committee of Left Unity, mentioned a commitment to include the country beyond London. She said: ‘We’re aiming for a local person per locality who knows the issues there. The Central Committee recognises that local people want to feel supported.’ It is stated on the website that LU needs money: donations, membership and attendance fees, I wonder what thought has been put into sharing these costs. Just opting for ‘the Midlands’ is not the solution. Video conferencing could be…
I agree, I think for a movement which is promoting itself as a radical alternative and solution to the ‘bubble’ of Westminster politics, the conference should:
a) have been held somewhere outside of London, York perhaps?
b) as noted above, needs to embrace e-conferencing/participation in someway to allow those who are unable to travel to London to still have genuine involvement in the founding process.
I live in Newcastle upon Tyne and although I fully appreciate the conference cannot be built around the needs of one person/region, travel costs to and from London, plus accommodation if necessary, all quickly add up. I know some commitment to the cause is required, but at the same time this would have been a good opportunity to demonstrate some truly grassroots/out-of-the-box thinking!