Ash Ritchie, Northampton Socialist Party
Judy Beishon, from the Socialist Party Executive Committee, opened the discussion at the East Midlands regional conference: ‘A world in conflict, and how it impacts class struggle in Britain’. Judy highlighted the effect from Trump and his tariff wars, and the importance of the Socialist Party and the international we’re part of, the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI) – building socialism on an international basis.
East Midlands Socialist Party organiser Seamus Smyth, based in Northampton, opened the discussion on building the party. He spoke about the rise of right-wing populist parties, such as Reform, and the importance of uniting the working class in struggle.
Capitalist division
The divisive policies put out by Reform are not new. It is a divide-and-conquer tactic that the capitalist ruling class has always used. We need to be ready for the class battles that lie ahead.
Financing our party is extremely important. We do not have any rich backers. All the money raised to produce socialist campaign material and spread our programme comes from our members and supporters.
East Midlands Socialist Party organiser Heather Rawling asked people if they could increase their monthly membership subs, and Leicester Socialist Party member Odunayo Eniayekan asked attendees to donate to help fund the CWI World Congress in August.
Socialist Party member Jon Dale opened our conference with a tribute to Karen Seymour. Socialist Party member Karen was running in the May local elections for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC). Sadly, Karen passed away (see socialistparty.org.uk).
Peter Taaffe – for decades Socialist Party general secretary – also passed away in April (see socialistparty.org.uk). In Peter’s memory, Gary Freeman from Nottingham Socialist Party sold books Peter wrote about the history of our party and more, and previous issues of our monthly magazine, Socialism Today.
Finally, East Midlands Socialist Party secretary Steve Score proposed a new reginal committee. Steve spoke about the importance of youth rising to take the lead, with the support of older more experienced comrades. Two newer younger members – myself and Odunayo – stepped up and were elected, joining the current regional committee.
