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New members meeting in the South West - preparing for the battles to come
(Click to enlarge)
Robin Clapp, South West Socialist Party
The Socialist Party in the South West held a very successful online meeting with new members who joined us in the last two months. Its purpose was to offer a question and answer session, with a couple of more experienced members taking up the issues raised.
Eight new members attended from Bristol, Gloucestershire, Devon and Dorset. Following introductions where everyone explained why they joined, the meeting fielded the first question from Cole about nationalisation and what we mean by it. Another member asked where we stood on the role of the police in society, and how that would change under socialism. Jane asked: "Where does the Socialist Party stand on the monarchy?" That one didn't take much time to answer!
Mark wanted to know about the role of cooperatives and social enterprises, a discussion then unfolded about the electoral system and our attitude towards lowering the voting age and proportional representation.
Questions were asked about how we counteract the danger of hierarchical structures developing within our party. This gave us the opportunity to explain how we operate, and the vital role of political education, as well as every member's general rights and responsibilities.
Our answers were kept short, further reading was signposted, and the topics discussed were all agreed to be good subjects for future discussions in our weekly branch meetings.
Our five new members in Plymouth were unable to attend as they were engaged in student rent strike meetings, but we will follow up this very successful initiative with a subsequent meeting geared towards them.
Political education can be challenging for all new members, but less formal formats like this encourage member participation. There's nothing better than hearing young members say, after they've heard us briefly sketch out our ideas, "that's great, that's what I hoped, and that's what I think too."
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Finance appeal
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
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CONTACT US
Phone our national office on 020 8988 8777
Email: [email protected]
Locate your nearest Socialist Party branch Text your name and postcode to 07761 818 206
Regional Socialist Party organisers:
Eastern: 079 8202 1969
East Mids: 077 3797 8057
London: 075 4018 9052
North East: 078 4114 4890
North West 079 5437 6096
South West: 077 5979 6478
Southern: 078 3368 1910
Wales: 079 3539 1947
West Mids: 024 7655 5620
Yorkshire: 078 0983 9793
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