You can see Jeremy Drinkall’s blog here
Vote Drinkall For Vauxhall
Feb 15
For the millions – not the millionaires
From workerspower.com
Voters in the Vauxhall constituency of London will get the chance to vote against capitalism in the upcoming general election.
Jeremy Drinkall from Workers Power will be standing on an anticapitalist manifesto, saying on the streets and doorsteps that ordinary people should not pay for an economic crisis caused by the rich.
Jeremy, who is a teaching assistant at a local school, plays an active role as a Unison shop steward in Lambeth. He has taken part in local efforts to protect council housing and is on the steering committee of the national Right to Work campaign which fights against unemployment.
In the postal strike before Christmas, Jeremy regularly went down to the picket lines at his local depot, Nine Elms, to show support for the workers.
Jeremy said: “Like the rest of us, many postal workers felt let down by the Labour government, who don’t lift a finger for working-class people. Because Labour has been such a disappointment, there’s a real danger that the Tories and the far-right BNP will do well in these elections. I want to show that there is an anticapitalist alternative to poverty and racism.”
Jeremy is in favour of working class action to stop job losses and cuts to our services, like health and education, which the three main parties are planning.
He aims to stand as part of the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition, which is putting up candidates in a number of constituencies across the country.
“I’m asking for local trade unionists, political supporters and campaigning groups to get behind my candidacy. Together we can show that there is an alternative to capitalism.
“I will be fighting for that alternative – socialism.”
From workerspower.com
Workers Power welcomes the new political platform called the Trade Unionist and Socialists Coalition (TUSC), launched by a coalition of the Socialist Party (SP) and two union general secretaries: Bob Crow of the RMT transport union and Brian Caton of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), in personal capacity.
Its composition is broadly similar to the alliance which stood as No2EU at the European Elections in June, although this time the Communist Party of Britain, which publishes the Morning Star, and the RMT national executive, have not backed the campaign.
Its policies are an improvement on previous electoral initiatives of recent years. TUSC is opposed to the war on Iraq, privatisation of public services and “is united on the need for mass resistance to the ruling class offensive, and for an alternative programme of left-wing policies to help inspire and direct such resistance.”
The statement also states a commitment to “bringing into democratic public ownership the major companies and banks that dominate the economy, so that production and services can be planned to meet the needs of all and to protect the environment”.
Workers Power calls on all trade unionists, workers, socialist and anti-racist campaigners to vote for the coalition where it is standing.
To take the initiative forward the organising group should open it up and invite anticapitalist and socialist organisations to stand on this common ticket. Jeremy Drinkall, a member of Workers Power and candidate for the Vauxhall constituency in south London (see below), has already written to the organisers proposing he stands under the TUSC banner and we are looking forward to their quick response.
Critical assessment
Given the widespread disillusionment with the Labour Party, as well as the growing numbers of workers struggles and the historic capitalist crisis, clearly an enormous potential has existed over the past year to mount a challenge to Labour.
In this context it is really quite striking how little fanfare there has been around the launch of TUSC and, indeed, how late it has been left. An RMT-backed conference on working class political representation mooted the idea that this alliance would contest the general election last November.
Despite the lack of wider support, a closed meeting of the SP with Crow and Caton launched the initiative. This certainly was not the ‘open and democratic conference’ to discuss launching an alternative to Labour that many on the left had pushed and hoped for. Such a conference convened last September, for example, could have rallied hundreds of militants from the strikes behind the campaign and stood scores of candidates.
But instead it looks as though the TUSC will only stand a handful of candidates. This inability to engage with and incorporate a broader layer of workers in struggle is clearly disappointing.
Unfortunately it is another example of an initiative taken behind closed doors, where the political programme is then presented in a take-it-or-leave-it fashion.
Anticapitalism tops the agenda
Workers Power has energetically campaigned for a new anticapitalist party over the past period. We have collected over 400 signatures of supporters and have raised the call on demonstrations and in the unions. We believe a new workers’ party is essential for the political development of the working class in Britain and want to see the party formed on clear, class struggle anticapitalist policies to fight the crisis.
In this respect, we would have liked TUSC to say outright that the capitalist system is to blame for the offensive on our jobs and services and that society needs to dump the profit logic and challenge capitalist property if the working class is to win out.
Nonetheless, TUSC does potentially present an opportunity for a united challenge to Labour at the forthcoming election. A strong vote for TUSC will underline the need for a new anticapitalist party and we urge the broader left and workers to back it at the coming election.
Dear all,
A special thanks to all those new people who have signed the Call. The facebook group is now 520 strong. 350 people, many of them trade union activists, youth and those active in a range of campaigns have signed the Call online or in person.
Please continue to build on what we have done so far. Download the petition from this email, take the Call to your union branch, workplace, campaign organisation and encourage your friends to join us on facebook.
Please also check out the new material on our blog.
10 things an anticapitalist party could do
and
Antifascism: a new way forward written by John Tummon, from the Oldham Race Equality Partnership
There will be more from us shortly as we publish the debate that took place at Workers Power’s anticapitalism event which took place in the middle of last month on How to build a new anticapitalist party.
Solidarity,
John
Call for a New Anticapitalist Party
anticapitalistparty@gmail.com
http://www.anticapitalistparty.org.uk
- Inspire thousands of disillusioned people across the country that there is an alternative to poverty, war and exploitation caused by capitalism
- Produce a national, anticapitalist daily paper of the working class
- Get far more media coverage on the TV, radio and newspapers to challenge the lies of the capitalist mainstream politicians
- Fight for mass workers’ action in the trade unions against cuts in jobs, pay and conditions, and do this far more effectively than any existing left grouping. Challenge the union leaders when they hold back action.
- Provide a forum for debate and discussion. Use links in the unions and universities to provide working class analyses of government policy, the economy, social research etc.
- Stand in national and local elections to put out a socialist message to the millions, and counter the racism of parties like the BNP and UKiP
- Organise the unorganised – provide local centres for unemployed youth
- Fight the corner of those who aren’t represented: migrant workers, single-mums, the elderly, school and college students, etc.
- Show the true meaning of internationalism. Link up with and stand in solidarity with the struggles of workers and youth all over the world
- Organise everyone, not just at the polling booths but on the streets and picket lines to struggle against the effects of the crisis and to overthrow the system of capitalism that caused it.
John
Call for a new anticapitalist party
Time to act is now
Nov 16
Totally agree with the call for an anti-capitalist party. New labour are just as bad as the tories. The BNP are a nightmare waiting to happen. The UK hasn’t had anything close to a decent, honest, majority based government for my entire life and without action it will stay like that for another 40+ years.
Time to act is now.
Mark Brown, signatory to the Call
John Tummon, from Oldham Race Equality Partnership has signed the Call and has written a document explaining why we need a new party to counter the growing threat of the British National Party. He told us, “There is a huge political space to the left of all the parties with essentially the same policies. Don’t let the BNP fill it”.
You can read the document here (8000 words!)
Dear all,
The Anticapitalism event this weekend, hosted by Workers Power will discuss and debate why we need to build a New Anticapitalist Party in Britain. This theme will run throughout the whole event, but a special session has been put aside specifically for the Call. This will take place on Saturday 5.45-7.45pm.
The event will be held at Caxton House, Archway, London with registration for the whole weekend starting at 11am on Saturday 14 November, and going on until 3.30pm on Sunday. You can access a map here.
Anticapitalism will have speakers from:
The huge occupation at Vienna university
The indefinite refuse strike in Leeds (personal capacity)
The national postal strike (pc)
The New Anticapitalist Party in France (pc)
The Neue Internationale journal, Germany
… and much more
Are you a postie? We aim to hold a meeting on Sunday afternoon for those in the post to discuss where we go from here, after the suspension of the strike.
You can buy a ticket online or email workerspower [at] btopenworld.com. You can also call 02077084331 for more information. Accommodation will be available. If you require a place to stay, please let us know.
Kind regards
John
Call for a New Anticapitalist Party
Dear all,
In the last few weeks we’ve come into contact with hundreds of people all across the UK who want to see a new anticapitalist party in Britain.
We have been inundated with messages of support. The Facebook group has now grown to over 420 people.
Please keep the momentum up – sign up friends and family, raise the Call in your union branch, student union and community campaigns. We’ve got a lot of support from striking postal workers. They will be on strike again between Thursday and Saturday of this week, so support picket lines and take copies of the Call for a New Anticapitalist Party down to them.
Rise of far right shows need for left alternative
Perhaps this support for the call is not surprising given events last week, which saw Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP, dominate the agenda of Question Time, the BBC’s flagship political debate programme. Whilst Griffin’s racism was “exposed”, mainstream politicians on the programme competed with each other over who would be the toughest on migrants after the next election – giving Griffin just what he wanted.
The programme provided yet more evidence of the desperate need for a party which supports freedom of movement, fights for the rights of migrants against the racist lies of the BNP, and which points the finger of blame at the bosses and their system – capitalism. Without such a party, the BNP will continue to gain publicity and support.
Upcoming events not to be missed
The Question Time debate makes it particularly important to demonstrate against another far-right group on the rise – the fascist English Defence League who will be marching in Leeds on Saturday 31 October. Let’s make sure that we drive them off the streets again like youth in Birmingham did over the summer when the EDL attempted to march there.
Two more events coming up in the near future are:
· The RMT conference coming up on 7 November on the crisis of working class political representation. It will take place in the Camden centre, London between 11am and 3pm.
· Another national event coming up, Anticapitalism: the capitalist crisis and the working class resistance on 14-15 November and is not to be missed.
A rally has been set aside for the Call for a New Anticapitalist Party on the Saturday between 5.45 and 7.45pm with speakers who have signed the call discussing how we can take the campaign forward.
The event will take place at Caxton House, St Johns Way, LONDON N19 3RQ near Archway tube and will be full of debate and discussion, with a speaker from the NPA in France (in a personal capacity) and a German speaker talking about new political parties in their countries. Over the weekend anticapitalism, working class resistance to the crisis and new left parties parties will be the recurring themes of discussion.
Many thanks for your support for the call.
John
Call for a New Anticapitalist Party
anticapitalistparty@gmail.com
http://www.anticapitalistparty.org.uk
I am currently un-employed and upset with the lack of employment opportunities. The only work available is with agencies who offer poor standard jobs with no guarantee of long term work. There seems to be no ambition to help those at the lowest level of society to gain the skills needed to work in the industries with vacancies. I feel humiliated every time somebody asks my occupation and I am now seriously considering leaving the Uk all together to go and start a new else where. I have thought of the same idea that you are proposing and I do truely care about the ideals but the truth is the people of britain have been beaten down into a corner by the media and PC. Our country is in a terrible state. It hurts me when I see the media focusing on MPs expenses whilst not highlighting the job cuts and constant closure of plants.
Liam – unemployed worker
