18) DISPUTES COMMITTEE

a)     A Disputes Committee shall be elected annually by national ballot. This committee will consist of seven people, but shall include no members of the National Council. Its role will be to investigate disputes and complaints about the behaviour of individual party members referred to it by Regional Councils or the National Council, who will be expected to have endeavoured to resolve the speci?c disputes or complaints before referring them on.

b)    If an individual member, or group of members, have a complaint against another member, involving an alleged failure to abide by an aspect of the constitution or the guidelines on personal behaviour set out in Appendix 1 (Safer Spaces Policy), the ?rst recourse will be to seek reconciliation and representation through the informal stage of the Safer Spaces Policy

c)     If after all informal attempts at reconciliation are exhausted, the relevant branch should attempt to resolve the issue. Should a branch fail to resolve the issue or consider disciplinary action necessary, it should refer the matter in writing to the Regional Committee for consideration. If the Regional Committee decides that there is a case to answer, it will refer the matter to the Disputes Committee. Should the Regional Council decide not refer the matter to the Disputes Committee, the complainant may refer the matter in writing to the Executive Committee. If the Executive Committee decides that there is a case to answer, it will refer the matter to the Disputes Committee.

d)    The Disputes Committee may form a sub-committee of at least 3 members to consider any one case.

e)     The Disputes Committee shall adopt its own Procedures and Standing orders, subject to approval and amendment from time to time by National Conference

f)     The National Council may refuse anyone membership (or decide an existing member no longer meets the criteria for membership listed in (3) or take other disciplinary action against an individual member. Such action may only be taken as a result of an investigation by, and recommendation from, the Disputes Committee, which must be explained in writing to the member (or potential member) concerned.

g)    The individual concerned has a right to appeal to the Appeals Committee.

 19) APPEALS COMMITTEE

 a)     An Appeals Committee shall be elected annually by national ballot. This committee is the last stage in any disputes resolution procedure and its decisions are final.

b)    The Appeal Committee will consist of seven people, but shall include no members of the National Council or Disputes Committee. Its role will be to hear appeals from members against disciplinary action taken against them by a Regional Council or the National Council as a result of an investigation by, and recommendation from the Disputes Committee. The Appeals Committee may form a sub-committee of at least 3 members to consider any one case.

c)     The Appeals Committee shall adopt its own Procedures and Standing orders, subject to approval and amendment from time to time by National Conference.

20) STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE

a)     A Standing Orders Committee will be elected each year by the national membership. This committee will deal with the organisation and arrangements of the Annual Conference and the timing and running of conference agenda, including sending out a prioritised motion or resolution ballot form to each local group, and facilitating the compositing of motions where appropriate

b)    The Standing orders Committee shall be made up of 10 people but including no members of the NC

c)     The minutes of all meetings shall be published and any member may attend as an observer without speaking rights

d)    The Standing Orders Committee will maintain a set of Procedures & Standing Orders for conducting the business of National Conference that may be amended from time to time by National Conference.

e)     Between National Conferences, the Standing Orders Committee shall be the final authority on the interpretation and application of the party’s constitution and procedures.

21) ALTERATIONS TO THE CONSTITUTION

Any changes to this Constitution must be proposed to a National Conference by the NC, branches or a motion signed by no less than 20 members, or any other figure decided by Annual Conference from time to time. Any change must be agreed by at least two-thirds of those members present and voting. The proposed changes must be made public and included in the notice posted announcing the Conference in good time to allow proper consultation.

40. West London Amendment (and Haringey)

Delete [Any change must be agreed by at least two-thirds of those members present and voting] and replace with [Any change must be agreed by a simple majority of those members present and voting.]

41. Tower Hamlets Amendment

Insert [or] before [branches]

Delete [or a motion signed by no less than 20 members, or any other figure decided by Annual Conference from time to time.]

APPENDICES TO THE RULES

APPENDIX 1 – SAFER SPACES POLICY

See Conference Booklet section 2

APPENDIX 2 – MODEL STANDING ORDERS

These model standing orders are designed to provide a framework for well-ordered party meetings. Party branches may want to adopt local standing orders to reflect their specific method of operation; however, local arrangements must not conflict with the provisions of these model rules.

1. The Annual General Meeting of [name of local party] shall be held each year in [month]. A formal notice of the annual meeting shall be sent by the secretary to all party members entitled to attend at least 14 days prior to the meeting.
2. Ordinary meetings shall be held on the following regular basis [i.e. the first Tuesday of each month]. Formal notice of all meetings shall be sent out by the secretary to all those entitled to attend at least seven days prior to the meeting. Such notice shall as far as possible include an indication of the business to be transacted at the meeting.
3. Meetings shall commence at [time]. Business meetings shall not be held if a quorum is not present within 30 minutes of the appointed time; always provided that in special circumstances members present may agree to transact pressing business subject to the ratification of the proceedings by the next quorate meeting. Meetings shall close two hours from the notified starting time, except that a particular meeting may be temporarily extended for a specified period with the support of two-thirds of the members present.
4. The quorum for business meetings of [name of local party] shall be 25% of those members entitled to vote in attendance, or a fixed number agreed with the Regional Committee. The proceedings and resolutions of any quorate meeting shall not be held to be invalid simply through the accidental failure to give notice of the meeting to, or the non receipt of such notice by, any person entitled to attend.
5. All members of [name of local party] living or registered as electors within the area covered by it shall be entitled to attend meetings and to vote, as well as any members living elsewhere whose membership of the local party has been agreed with the Regional Committee. Other members, potential members and supporters, may attend but shall not vote. When an annual or special meeting is not held for any reason or is abandoned without completing the business on the agenda, such meeting must be reconvened in order for any necessary outstanding business to be transacted. Only those eligible to participate in the meeting as first convened, whether or not held, shall be entitled to participate in any further reconvened meeting.
6. The following officers will be elected to manage the day-today business of the branch: Chair and vice-chair (unless a system of rotation is used within the branch; Secretary; Treasurer and any other positions deemed necessary by the branch
7. The elected chair of this body shall preside at all meetings (except where otherwise provided for in the standing orders of the branch in the form of a system of ‘rotating’ chairs). In the absence of the chair the vice-chair shall preside, but in the absence of both the secretary or other officer shall call on those present to elect a member to take the chair of the meeting. Should the office holder arrive once a member has been elected to preside in her or his place then she or he may claim, if they wish, the right to preside at the meeting once the current item of business has been disposed of. At the annual meeting the chair shall preside until a successor is elected. The new chair shall take over the conduct of the meeting forthwith and proceed to the election of other officers and further business.
8. The prime function of party meetings is to provide members, delegates and supporters with the opportunity to participate in party activities through social contact, political debate and policy discussion; to assist in the political self education of members and to further for the party’s objectives in the area through campaigning and the promotion of links with sympathetic individuals and bodies within the wider community. Party meetings shall be drawn up to give due priority not only to organisational matters, but to the introduction of new members and/ or delegates, the discussion of resolutions, party policy items and other matters of interest to party members and the receipt of reports from public representatives.
9. Original motions for the general meetings of [name of local party] must be received by the secretary in writing not less than 7 days prior to the meeting for which they are intended. Motions for discussion shall be made available to those entitled to attend with the notice and agenda of the relevant meeting, except for emergency motions which must be sent in writing to the secretary as soon as the nature of the emergency allows before the commencement of the meeting. Emergency business may be accepted by the majority of the meeting on the recommendation of the chair who shall interpret the term ‘emergency’ in a bona fide manner. Amendments to motions may be proposed without notice as they arise in the course of discussion
10. No motion shall be discussed at a meeting until it has been moved and seconded. Speakers shall address the chair and shall only speak once on any motion except by permission of the chair, providing that the mover of a motion or an amendment may reply to the discussion without introducing new matter for debate; such reply shall close the discussion. No speaker shall be allowed more than five minutes, unless agreed by the meeting to be ‘further heard’ for a specified period. Amendments to any motion may be moved and seconded from the floor of the meeting but shall be handed to the secretary in writing. Amendments shall be taken in order with one amendment being disposed of before another is moved. If an amendment is carried, the amended resolution becomes a motion to which further amendments may be moved.
11. A motion of ‘next business’ shall not be taken until the mover and seconder of a motion have been heard. Any motion ‘of next business’, ‘that the vote be taken’, ‘to adjourn’, ‘of no-confidence in the chair’ shall be moved, seconded and put to the vote without discussion; after such a vote the chair need not accept a further procedural motion for a period of 20 minutes.
12. No motion to rescind a resolution of this body shall be valid within three months from the date on which the resolution was carried. Notice of rescinding motion must be given in writing and made available to those entitled to attend the relevant meeting in line with rule 8 above.
13. Voting shall be by show of hands except where the constitution of the party provides for a ballot vote or where this body decides otherwise. In the event of there being an equality of votes on any matter decided by a show of hands, the chair may give a casting vote provided that s/he has not used an ordinary vote. If the chair does not wish to give a casting vote, the motion is not carried.
14. The election of officers and/ or representatives of [name of local party] shall be by secret paper ballot using STV if necessary. Any gender quotas laid down in the party constitution which apply to this body shall be incorporated in the arrangements for the secret ballot. Ballot votes shall be held at meetings to select candidates and where otherwise provided for in the party constitution; and where requested by any member supported by at least two others. In the event of a tie on a secret paper ballot the chair shall not have a casting vote. Where appropriate, the ballot shall be retaken and in the event of a continual tie lots may be drawn. In a preferential ballot the tie shall be broken by establishing which candidate had the highest number of first preference votes or took the earliest lead on transfers.
15. Any breach of or question to the rules or standing orders may be raised by a member rising to a point of order. The chair’s ruling on any point arising from the rules or standing orders is final unless challenged by not less than three members; such a challenge shall be put to the meeting without discussion and shall only be carried with the support of two-thirds of the members present.
16. Party meetings and events shall be conducted in a friendly and orderly manner and organised in such a way as to maximise participation from members. No member shall be precluded from attendance because they cannot gain access to the meeting place for any reason. Physical or verbal harassment, bullying or intimidation of any member is unacceptable as is any form of discrimination on the basis of gender, sexuality, disability or race. Smoking is not permitted at [name of local party] meetings. Any member acting in an unruly or disruptive manner, in contravention of the standing orders, may be removed from the meeting by action of the chair. The chair shall put such a motion to the meeting, which to be carried shall require the support of two-thirds of those present and voting.
17. [Name of local party] accepts the principle of minimum quotas for women at all levels of representation within the party and shall take steps to ensure that 50 per cent of any delegation shall be women and, where only one delegate is appointed, a woman shall hold the position at least every other year.
18. 18.  No alterations shall be made to the rules and standing orders of [name of local party] except at an annual or special meeting called for this purpose and carried with the support of two-thirds of the members present and the general provisions of the constitution and rules of [Left Unity] shall apply to it

APPENDIX 3 – NATIONAL COUNCIL TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

a)     Upon the adoption of this constitution at the party’s founding conference, the existing Left Unity National Coordinating Group shall take on the role of Transitional National Council of the new party. This body shall operate until the next National Conference, which shall take place within four months of the founding conference, when it shall dissolve and Clause 10 of the constitution will come fully into operation.

b)    The Transitional National Council will appoint, from its own number (or in the case of the Standing Orders Committee, from the membership at large), such acting national officers and temporary standing committees as are legally required by the Electoral Commission and as it may deem necessary for the efficient administration of the party. These will include Acting National Secretary, Acting Treasurer, and Acting Nominating Officer and members of Conference Arrangements and Standing Orders Committees, who shall remain in post only until the end of the next National Conference.

c)     The Transitional National Council will organise the election by regional ballot of 40 regional representatives to the incoming National Council, apportioned to the different nations and regions in a manner as proportional to the relative membership of the party as possible, and the           election by national ballot of the National Officers and members of the Standing Orders, Disputes and Appeals Committees.

42.Coventry Amendment (and Leamington Spa)

Add new sentence at end of section

[For this transitional period, the ten directly elected posts on the existing NCG
will be opened for re-election or otherwise at the Founding Conference
today, with nominations allowed from the floor in the lunch break, and
voted on during the afternoon.]

CONFERENCE BOOKLET SECTION 7

Priority campaigning

Austerity & the NHS

1: An Action Programme for Left Unity

A programme for resistance

Over the year ahead we will campaign for:

• The TUC and the unions to organise the midweek day of action they promised in Bournemouth and make it a full-scale one-day general strike, to use this mass mobilisation to initiate industrial and direct action up to and including an all-out political mass strike to force the abandonment and reversal all the cuts and the privatisations.

• Solidarity with all wages struggles in the private and public sectors, for an increase in pay to compensate fully for the loss of real wages over the past year, fully indexed against inflation. Stand against zero hours contracts. Raise the minimum wage, pension and social security payments to a level everyone can decently live on.

• A programme of essential public works – including a huge building programme of socially-owned housing, schools, nurseries and local health clinics, providing accessibility for the disabled, phasing out nuclear power and laying the foundations of a sustainable energy and transport policy. No one should be denied work while such crying needs confront us. This programme must be carried through under workers and users’ control and funded by taxing the wealth and the profits of the banks and big corporations.

• Halt and reverse the cuts and privatisations in health, education and welfare. Repeal Lansley’s Act; bring all foundation hospitals back into a fully nationally controlled system. Abolish the academies and free schools, nationalise the public schools, restore EMA at a living level, abolish tuition fees, reinstitute maintenance grants and cancel the student loan debt.

• Halt the attacks on women’s jobs, services and rights; defend and extend high quality childcare provision for all; fight for access to jobs, pay and conditions fully equal to men; strengthen zero tolerance of domestic violence and rape.

• Fight all expressions of homophobia, transphobia, and the bullying, physical and mental violence, it leads to; illegalise all discrimination and grant full and equal civil rights, including marriage.

• End police harassment against ethnic minorities. End stop and search. For the right of all refugees and migrant workers to come, live and work here with full citizenship rights.

• Solidarity with Muslims and other ethnic minorities against abuse and violence; stop the marches of the EDL and other fascist groups by mass mobilisations and by organising militant self-defence of communities and meeting places.

• Make our struggle international – for solidarity actions with those in other countries, like Greece, fighting austerity, unemployment and racism.

• Oppose all attempts to take Britain into new wars and invasions on false humanitarian or human rights pretexts; but mobilise material support for all those fighting for freedom in Syria, Egypt, Palestine, etc.

• Fight for the defiance and repeal of all the anti-union laws, and the restoration of legal aid.

• Fight for the right of the Scottish people to decide for independence or not, free from any threats or intimidation, and should they do so the immediate recognition and implementation of their decision.

Southwark Left Unity

2: Austerity

Left Unity is an anti-austerity party.  We will support and build national, regional and local campaigns against cuts and privatisation of our NHS, our public services and our welfare state.

West London Left Unity

Amendment to Austerity motion

Add “and our publicly funded educations system” so that it reads “Left Unity
is an anti-austerity party.  We will support and build national, regional
and local campaigns against cuts and privatisation of our NHS, our public
services, our welfare state and our publicly funded education system.”
Loughborough Left Unity

Amendment to Austerity motion

Replace the second sentence so that it reads:
“Left Unity is an anti-austerity party. We will campaign to unite the existing anti-cuts campaigns and campaigns against privatisation of our NHS, our public services and our welfare state.”

Sheffield Left Unity

3 Defend the NHS

The spirited demonstration In Manchester on September 29 showed yet again that defence of the NHS is a very popular cause and central to mobilizing against austerity more generally.

Left Unity branches will support local campaigns to defend Health Services. We should take part in a non-sectarian way We should develop and encourage local support for such campaigns

We should encourage local campaigns to understand the need for a national movement against cuts and privatisation of the NHS

We welcome the commitment of Labour to repeal the Health and Social Care Act if they are elected but note that the key purchaser- provider split which led to the privatisation of clinical services was introduced under Blair’s government, while contracting out of support services goes even further back than that.

Left Unity commits itself to campaigning to defend the NHS and restoring it fully to the public sector.

Islington Left Unity & West London Left Unity  (Two motions composited )

Trade Unions & Work

4: For a Left Unity Trade Union Strategy

Left Unity needs to clarify its relationship to organised labour, work within the grassroots of the trade union movement, and develop policies that links the crisis of working class representation to the development of a rank and file trade unionism. Following the Founding Conference, we agree to call a national meeting of Left Unity trade union activists to help develop policies and strategies on how to organise, producing material to distribute in workplaces and branches, and begin the development of a rank and file newspaper that can help build networks of readers and supporters inside the trade union movement.’

Sheffield Left Unity

Amendment to ‘For a Left Unity Trade Union Strategy’ motion.
Add the following
Further we agree that national trade union fractions (meetings of Left Unity members in the different unions) should discuss and agree on building rank and file initiatives in the different unions. This could be achieved either through participation in existing initiatives or through the development of new ones, according to our trade union members views. We would agree also that this activity should be discussed in the branches where the promotion of local trade union work can be discussed, facilitated and supported.
Birmingham Left Unity

Amendment to ‘For a Left Unity Trade Union Strategy’ motion.

Change the second paragraph to read:

Following the Founding Conference, we agree to call a national meeting of Left Unity trade union activists to help develop policies and strategies on how to organise and build trade unions and win support for Left Unity across trade unions, in workplaces and branches.

West London Left Unity

Amendment to ‘For a Left Unity Trade Union Strategy’ motion.

To be inserted between paragraph 1 and 2.

“The [Left Unity] party orients to the rank and file of the trade unions above privileging any relationship with left wing officials, because we recognise that union leaders, lefts as well as right-wingers, are prone to compromise and call off action at the decisive moment. A working class party must always be free to criticise leaders when this happens and direct its agitation and advice directly to the union members under attack.

We will organise caucuses of [LU] party members in each union, in each region and nationally, to coordinate our activities. We will co-operate with union activists from other political traditions and none, who want to build a fighting and democratic organisation in the unions. We promote as the aims of such an organisation:

1. The revival of workplace organisation: regular meetings and bulletins, unionisation drives, recruitment of new stewards and convenors;
2. Workers’ control of all disputes: mass meetings and directly elected strike committees to decide on when to ballot and their wording, duration and frequency of strikes, negotiation stance and full and immediate reporting back on all talks;
3. Official action where possible, unofficial action where necessary: full official backing for all actions endorsed by the workforce, including actions that break the anti-union laws.
4. Transform the unions: stand in elections on a fighting programme of action but also a programme of democratic reforms: regular election and recallability of all officials, sovereignty of conference, average pay for all officials;
5. 5.             Political trade unionism: democratise the union link and fight for political strike action against austerity and to bring the government down.”

Lambeth Left Unity

5: Trade Unions

Left Unity members are encouraged to join a trade union. Trade union members are also encouraged to take part in Trades Councils.

West London Left Unity

6: Zero-hour contracts

To launch a ‘Left Unity’ national campaign that aims to work with groups inside and outside the workplace to:

• Develop a high profile identity linking together all groups affected by this restructuring of the workforce –  zero hours workers, agency workers, low paid workers, benefit claimants, young people and un-unionised workers
• Campaign for “training” and “apprenticeships” to be at the level of a living wage
• Campaign for a boycott and an end to workfare
• Produce campaigning materials made available to all branches
• Lobby/target employers to change their employment practices
• Support the unionisation of workers in the private and the public sector

Manchester Central/Manchester South Left Unity

7: Campaign for a 21 hour week

As a reduction in the working week and the redistribution of work among the unemployed and underemployed are vital for the physical, social and psychological health of our societies, and a ready answer to the crisis facing us, Left Unity adopts the transition to a 21 hour week with no loss of pay as a goal and campaign priority.

To this end Left Unity will:

a)   Form a working group to develop plans and proposals for campaigning for a 21 hour week.

b)   Aim to publish regular articles on the subject from members in different areas of employment and life

c)   Write to unions, professional bodies, academics and campaign groups proposing the organisation of a conference in 2014 to launch a national campaign for a shorter working week.

Southwark Left Unity

Housing

8: Housing

One campaigning priority relates to housing. As well as campaigning against housing benefit cuts and the bedroom tax (the latter only affects those in social housing), there are other points taken up. Specifically:

1)     Increased production of social, cooperative and public housing to be done by the public sector and not-for-profit social housing sector; there is clearly significant need for social housing which is not being met.

2)     Reintroduction of rent controls: rents in private housing are rising out of proportion to incomes (which we know are stagnant or falling). A maximum increase can be introduced for which property owners and managers need to demonstrate their necessity in the context of repairing and refitting the rented property.

3)     Protections for the rights of short-term tenants in both public and private housing with respect to length of rental contract and termination of tenancy must be increased. We should call for democratic control of housing policy by tenants on housing estates.

4)     Condition of rental properties with respect to safety and health: properties must have access to adequate heating, running water and electricity. The properties must be consistent with health and safety codes.

Waltham Forest Left Unity

Amendment to the motion on housing.

Add list item 5) to list.
“5) Reduce the carbon footprint of all housing stock and improve energy
efficiency”

Loughborough Left Unity

Amendment to the motion on housing.

This will be point 4 –
Local authorities should be responsible for regular inspection and approval of all rented properties with a grading given in relation to facilities provided, state of repairs and heat insulation.
Birmingham Left Unity

Climate change & Internationalism

9: Internationalism

1. Left Unity is committed to maintaining and deepening the unity of the working class in Britain.

2. Left Unity welcomes its growing membership in Scotland and Wales. Left Unity will do everything it can to encourage members in Scotland and Wales to play a full part in building a party based on the principles of class solidarity, socialism, internationalism and human freedom.

3. Left Unity will not support Scottish or Welsh nationalism, nor will it content itself with the United Kingdom and the quasi-democratic status quo. However, individual members will be free to campaign both for and against Scottish independence in advance of the 2014 referendum.

4. Left Unity recognizes that to effectively fightback against the austerity Tory-Lib Dem government and a crisis-ridden capitalism requires an international strategy that takes the European Union as its starting point.

5. Left Unity will support and seek to take a lead in all moves towards organising the working class on an all-EU basis.

Glasgow Left Unity

Amendment to:  Internationalism

Paragraph 3: Delete from ‘Left Unity’ to ‘However’ and re-punctuate.

Paragraph 3 will then read “Individual members will be free to campaign both for and against Scottish independence in advance of the 2014 referendum.”

Cardiff Left Unity

Amendment to:  Internationalism

Delete paragraph 3

In paragraph 4, delete “that takes the European Union as its starting point.”

In paragraph 5, delete “on an all EU basis” and replace with “in Europe and internationally”

West London Left Unity

10: Climate change

Conference notes that:

The recent report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is comprised of climate scientists from around the world, is another wake up call on this issue. The report confirms and extends on its previous report in 2007 which concluded that the carbon content of the atmosphere continues to rise as a result of human activity. That as a result of this global temperatures continue to rise, the ice sheets continue to melt, the seas continue to rise, the glaciers continue to retreat, water becomes more scarce, the deserts continue to expand, the acidification of the oceans continues apace. At the same time weather patterns are disrupted resulting in extreme events including hurricanes (Katrina and Sandy for example), floods, droughts and fires which devastate whole regions of the globe and disrupt food production.

Conference therefore resolves:

a) To include this as one of LU’s campaigning priorities

b) To support the Campaign Against Climate Change and its trade union committee.

c) To support the campaign against hydraulic fracking which is not only threatening local communities but is introducing a whole new generation of fossil fuels into the energy system.

Southwark Left Unity

Amendment to Motion on Climate Change

Delete b) & c) and insert

b) To support the Campaign against Climate Change and its trade union committee. In particular to promote the proposals of the One Million Climate Jobs Report as the starting point for an alternative economic, and environmentally sustainable strategy which provides an answer to both increasing unemployment, austerity and economic stagnation on the one hand, and the growing threat of irreversible and catastrophic climate change on the other.

c) To actively support the campaign to resist and ultimately legislatively ban all forms of extreme energy such as fracking for shale gas, coal bed methane extraction and underground coal gasification, all of which threaten to introduce a whole new generation of fossil fuels into the energy system, as well being hugely environmentally damaging in their own right. In so doing, to conterpose the proposals of the One Million Climate Jobs report, as well as the development of renewables/energy conservation in general, as a much better alternative, even if the latter was not the case and they were “100% safe with knobs on”.
Wigan Left Unity

B: Party Organisation

Inevitably our constitution and organisation will need to be reviewed in the light of our experience as a new organisation. This should take place at our next annual conference.

West London Left Unity

Ruled out of order as not pertinent to priority campaign debate and potentially repetition of constitutional clause.

F: Branch Activity

Left Unity Branches should aim to produce regular newsletters for distribution to less active members and the public.

Branches should aim to hold periodic public or open meetings

Branch meetings should make a point of taking regular reports and discussion on local campaigns and encouraging members to get involved.

West London Left Unity

Ruled out of order as not pertinent to priority campaign debate and potentially unconstitutional.

L: Edward Snowden

This Founding Conference of Left Unity supports the actions of Edward Snowden and others in revealing the extent of efforts of the US NSA and GCHQ to monitor the online activities of much of the world’s population.

This conference believes that the activity of GCHQ and the NSA is in effect a conspiracy to extract as much material as possible from internet traffic with the principle aim of acting against the working class and the oppressed throughout the world. The mouthpieces of the spooks use the catchall “terrorism” to justify their activities, but clearly the ruling class is far more worried about workers and others organising against repressive regimes and savage attacks on living standards.

This Conference resolves to send a message of support to Edward Snowden and to join the fight for him to be offered asylum and safe haven from the torturers and killers of the US military and security agencies.

This Conference also resolves to campaign for the closure of GCHQ as a dangerous anti-working class institution with a world wide reach. In addition this Conference is in favour of GCHQ’s archives being opened for public inspection and investigation.

Glasgow Left Unity

Referred to spring policy conference.