Respect – The Unity Coalition

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Respect – The Unity Coalition is a left wing political party in England and Wales founded on January 25, 2004 in London. Its name is a pseudo-recursive backronym standing for Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environmentalism, Community, and Trade Unionism. It is often referred to simply as Respect or as the Respect Party.

[edit] Policies

Respect was created in January 2004^[1], using the issue of the war in Iraq to mobilise its vote which led to accusations of it being a single-issue party^{[citation needed]}. Beyond this issue it has attempted to "provide a broad-based and inclusive alternative to the parties of privatisation, war, and occupation"^{[citation needed]} and have a broad socialist agenda.

Some of the policies on which it has also campaigned include:

• Renationalisation of the railways and other public services.
• Opposition to the privatisation of the National Health Service and the education system, including opposition to university tuition fees and support for pensions increases linked to average earnings.
• Raising the minimum wage to the European Union's "decency threshold" of £7.40 an hour.
• An increase in income taxes on the rich to fund social welfare programs and close the income gap.

• The repeal of the industrial relations legislation brought in by the Conservative Party in the 1980s.
• The defence of the rights of refugees and other asylum-seekers.
• Opposition to the "stability pact" that the European Union seeks to impose on all those who join the euro.
• Support for the Palestinian people and ending British tolerance of various Israeli policies regarding the Palestinians.
• Support for Kashmiri self-determination and recognition of the status of Kashmir as an unresolved or "Unfinished business of Partition" or a merger with unionist Pakistan^{[citation needed]}.
• Support for the British environmental movement.

In their founding constitution the founding parties state their overall aim as to "help create a socially just and ecologically sustainable society", giving a definition of social justice that includes "the organisation of society in the most open, participative, and accountable way practicable based on common ownership and democratic control.^[2]

[edit] Composition

Respect allows its members to hold membership of other political organisations. It includes:

• The Socialist Workers Party.
• Members of the Muslim Association of Britain and Muslim Council of Britain.
• People of no other political organisation

Other notable supporters include:

• Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).
• British television and film director Ken Loach, who is an elected member of its national council.
• Playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature Harold Pinter.

The coalition also has the support of:

• The Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee) [CPGB].
• The International Socialist Group.
• The Socialist Unity Network.
• Socialist Resistance.
• The Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) [RCPB(ML)].

Founding members left include:

• George Galloway, the only Member of Parliament Respect has, formerly expelled from the Labour Party.
• Salma Yaqoob
• Linda Smith

The coalition had the support of The National Council of the Socialist Alliance, until the Alliance dissolved.

The media often assume that George Galloway is the party leader, however according to the party constitution, Respect does not have a leader as such and is run by an elected "national council", a full list of whom can be found on their website and in the register of political parties the leader of Respect is listed as Linda Smith (until November 22, 2004 Nick Wrack).

The party was originally launched by The Guardian journalist George Monbiot and Birmingham Stop the War Coalition chair Salma Yaqoob who is said to have thought up the coalition at her West Midlands home.

In its 2006 accounts filed with the Electoral Commission, it noted it has three paid employees including John Rees and had 5,739 registered members on December 31, 2006 (2005 - 5,674). It has 42 branches (2005 - 25) and had a total income of £273,023 and expenditure of £228,100.^[3]

[edit] History and electoral performance

The coalition sought to challenge Tony Blair from the left at the London Assembly and European Parliament elections in 2004, and gained a quarter of a million votes. This was the best result, in aggregate, ever achieved by the socialist left outside of the Labour Party. The party claims that these votes had been achieved primarily by capitalising on the 2003 anti-war protests and by attracting the votes of "Old Labour" supporters^{[citation needed]} who felt Blair had moved the party too far to the right of their socialist beliefs. The correlation between the performance of Respect and the Muslim population of an area suggests that it has succeeded in attracting the protest votes of some Muslims who feel alienated by Labour's support for the war. It almost immediately had a councillor in Preston, SWP member Michael Lavalette who was elected as a Socialist Alliance candidate in 2003, but subsequently voted with the majority of the SWP to wind-down the Socialist Alliance in favour of the newly formed party, who was joined by a former labour councillor, Steve Brooks.

[edit] 2004 elections

Respect candidate Lindsey German came fifth in the 2004 London mayoral election. Its largest constituency vote in the 2004 assembly elections was in City and East London, where it polled 13.46%, reaching third place.

In their first European Parliament elections (also in 2004), Respect's proportion of the national vote was 1.7%, and they failed to win any seats. Their best result was in London itself, with a relatively strong 4.8%, and their worst was in Wales and the South West, with 0.6% and 0.7% respectively. Their strongest borough was Newham, London, with 21.41% of the vote.

The results at the Birmingham Hodge Hill and Leicester South by-elections in 2004, were 6.3% and 12.7% of the vote respectively — enough to retain its deposit in both seats (which requires a minimum of 5% of the vote). However, in Birmingham Hodge Hill the "anti-war" vote was split between Respect and the Liberal Democrats; anti-Labour parties claim that, as a result, the Labour candidate won the seat.

Respect won its first election on July 29, 2004, when Oliur Rahman won away a ward from Labour in Tower Hamlets. The election was called after a Labour councillor was expelled for alleged corruption. In September 2004, Respect candidate Paul McGarr stood in the Tower Hamlets Millwall ward by-election and came second, pushing Labour into third place [1].

[edit] 2005 general election

In the 2005 general election Respect ran candidates in 26 constituencies and it secured its first MP in George Galloway, who overturned the large majority of Oona King in Bethnal Green and Bow. It came second in three constituencies: Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath, East Ham and West Ham. By far their best result outside London was in Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath, where Respect candidate Salma Yaqoob came second with 27.5% of the vote. Again claims were made that the anti-Labour vote was split by the Respect vote allowing Labour to keep the seat. This is consistent with the mathematics of the results as, had the votes for the Liberal Democrat and Respect candidates all gone to one candidate, that person's vote would have beaten the Labour vote.

[edit] 2006 local elections

Respect stood a limited number of candidates nationally and concentrated on Tower Hamlets, where it stood a full slate of candidates and managed to win twelve seats. Although Respect defeated several high-profile Labour councillors including council leader Michael Keith and Cabinet member for Housing David Edgar, its performance wasn't as good as the party had hoped and the council remained in Labour control.

The party also had a full slate in Newham but won only one ward there despite winning 26% of the total vote, a greater proportion than that gained in Tower Hamlets. In total Respect gained fifteen new councillors including Salma Yaqoob in Birmingham who won 49% of the vote.^[4] Respect narrowly missed winning another council seat in Preston by seven votes where they already have Michael Lavalette as a councillor, some members noting that a Green candidate in the ward had taken 82 votes, possibly splitting Respect's vote.^[5] Other second places were achieved in Preston and wards in Sheffield, Bristol, and several London councils. The party achieved some strong results in areas with a limited Muslim population; for example, Jerry Hicks, standing in Bristol Lockleaze, came second in a ward that is 4% Muslim.^[6]

[edit] 2006 by-elections

Respect stood Dave Ellis, a trade unionist who organised one of the largest continuous strikes in recent years at Huddersfield Technical College, in the Greenhead ward by-election on 27 July in the district of Kirklees. Ellis got 3.9 percent of the vote, coming fourth and narrowly beating the British National Party's candidate who finished last.^[7]

In the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley Worsborough by-election on 16 November, Respect polled 91 votes, 5.5%

In December 2006, Respect gained another councillor in Birmingham, Abdul Aziz, who defected from the Liberal Democrats, bringing their total in the city to 2.

In February 2007, Respect picked up another councillor when Councillor Wayne Muldoon in Loughborough defected from Labour.^[8]

[edit] 2007 local elections

In the days before the elections Respect lost one of its Tower Hamlets councillors, Waiseul Islam who returned to the Labour Party. Islam has since expressed his reasons for doing so saying, "I reject the notion of dividing the local community for political gain, which is what I believe Respect are effectively doing."^[9]

Respect stood a total of 48 candidates in 2007 and although only three candidates were elected (Mohammed Ishtiaq in Birmingham Sparkbrook, Ray Holmes in Bolsover Shirebrook and Michael Lavalette retained his seat in Preston Town Centre.^[10]), the number of people voting for Respect increased, with candidates coming in 2nd and 3rd places in many boroughs throughout the country. Their wins brought the total number of Respect councillors in the UK to 18.

[edit] The crisis in Respect

George Galloway in September 2007 wrote a letter to Respect's national council members saying that the party was "too disorganised" and "faced oblivion" unless it reformed its internal party management.^[11]

The letter was the opening shot in a dispute in Respect between Galloway and his supporters including Salma Yaqoob on one side, and supporters of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) on the other. In particular Galloway called for the appointment of a National Organiser, which the SWP perceived to be a threat to the National Secretary position held by SWP member John Rees. A letter from their Central Committee stated;

"The SWP believed that the post was created to undermine Respect National Secretary John Rees." [2]

This was followed shortly afterwards by the explusion from the SWP of three of their leading members, Kevin Ovenden, Rob Hoveman and Nick Wrack, who had sided with Galloway in the dispute.

Since then the rupture has deepened, with both sides disputing the conference delegation of Respect's largest branch, Tower Hamlets, which is in the constituency of George Galloway.

[edit] The split in Respect

On 3 November 2007, the dispute came to a head with the announcement by Galloway's side, that they are to hold a "Respect Renewal" conference on 17 November "to continue the process of building a vibrant, radical, left alternative to New Labour" and "to build Respect".[3]This conference was set to take place on the same day as the original delegate-based Respect conference.

Linda Smith, Respect's National Chair claimed:

"The sectarianism and ‘control freak’ methods of the SWP have led us to a situation where Respect is irretrievably split. The SWP leadership has supported the breakaway of four councillors from the Respect group in Tower Hamlets, who then went into coalition talks with the Liberal Democrats." [4] (Although these "talks with the Liberal Democrats" have been disputed by the SWP Central Committee).

The SWP on the other hand attributed the split to a shift to the right by George Galloway and his allies, motivated by electoralism (placing election-winning above other principles). This, say the SWP leadership, led to attacks on the SWP as the most prominent left group in Respect. ^[12]

The Socialist Party has argued that the split is the inevitable result of the political and organization basis on which Respect was founded^[13].

[edit] Future plans

Respect suggested in the recent past that it was considering standing for the Scottish Parliament in future if the SSP's internal crisis continued. George Galloway has announced that he will not be candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow at the next General Election instead he will be a candidate for the nearby, newly created and notionally fairly safe Labour seat of Poplar and Limehouse.^[14][15]

All of these possibilities have been thrown into doubt by the party split in November 2007 which occurred after these plans.

[edit] International affiliation

While Respect is not part of any international organisation and has no formal links to any party from other countries, it does have fraternal links with various organisations. Respect participates however in the European Anticapitalist Left.

Respect is registered as a political party in Scotland but have claimed that this is just so no one else uses their name in Scotland. They have not stood in Scotland and have in the past urged voters to support the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP).

In 2005, Respect took part in the second congress of the European Left. Respect's participation in this event was welcomed by the Left Party's chair Fausto Bertinotti in his closing speech.^[16].

[edit] Criticisms of Respect

[edit] Reformism

Several far-left organisations including Workers Power refused to join Respect because, unlike Socialist Alliance, they saw the character of the party as being cross-class - something they always believed would lead to its collapse as those from the Petty bourgeoisie in it would have, as a class, very different interests to the working class, and seek to change its policy. They argued that its politics were much more populist^[17] and reformist than the previous alliance project, the Socialist Alliance.

[edit] Democratic process

Critics of Respect such as the Socialist Party, as well as the Alliance for Workers' Liberty and Workers Power, former members of the Socialist Alliance, claim that it is undemocratic and has an overly London-centric, top-down approach, its initial programme having been created largely by negotiations between the SWP and George Galloway. Similarly, the Weekly Worker, the Alliance for Green Socialism (AGS) and some other leftist groups claim that Respect is primarily a front organisation for the Socialist Workers Party.^[18] Respect has countered this claim by stating that it is simply false, that the Respect programme was formed as an "emergency response" to the June 10 European and local elections, and that a full constitution will be developed democratically through elections at its annual conferences. Respect's policies were fleshed out to a large extent at its first national conference which took place in 2004; the resolutions passed can be found on their website.

[edit] Equality and gay rights

Respect has also been accused of abandoning the left-wing issues of women's rights, gay rights and fighting homophobia in order to attract Muslim support. While Respect included opposition to discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation in its founding declaration,^[19] critics claim Galloway has tended to avoid Commons votes involving equal rights for gay people - although he did vote to lower the age of consent for gay people in England and Wales to sixteen in 2000, earning him an invitation to open a new Lesbian and Gay centre in Glasgow. He has also praised New Labour's record on improving gay rights, and says of his absence from one vote that "there was never any doubt about the passage of the civil partnerships [bill], I wholly support it".^[20] Respect's 2005 conference resolved that explicit defence of equal rights and calls for the end to all discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people would be made in all of its manifestos and principal election materials.^[21]

Respect and elements of the LGBT community have clashed on two other notable occasions. In November 2005, Respect's largest single financial donor, Dr Mohammad Naseem, was accused in an article by Peter Tatchell of being homophobic due to his senior position in the Islamic Party of Britain, which he claimed advocated the "banning of gay organisations" and the "execution of homosexuals".^[22] Naseem, however, stated that the Islamic Party was now little more than a thinktank, and furthermore, disagreed with the statements on the Islamic Party website which Tatchell pointed to, stating his views on homosexuality as follows: "These things are a matter of personal choice...I am not concerned with what people do in their bedrooms."^[23] Naseem was also present at Respect's 2005 conference, where the vote to reaffirm Respect's support of LGBT rights was passed unanimously.^[24]

In January 2006, an article attacking Tatchell's opposition to the party was written by Respect member and journalist Adam Yosef. Writing for Desi Xpress, Yosef accused Tatchell of Islamophobia but was attacked by gay organisations for "encouraging violence against Tatchell" and for using "xenophobic" and "homophobic" language. Yosef also used other articles to attack same-sex unions, describing them as a front for "tax fraud". Tatchell called on Respect to expel Yosef but the party responded with the following statement: "Adam Yosef has the right to voice his own opinions in his own column – they range from an ecstatic review of Birmingham’s gay pride to venting his thoughts about Peter Tatchell."^[25]

[edit] Communalism and Racism

During the late 2007 split in Respect, John Rees (National Secretary of the Respect coalition, and member of the Socalist Workers Party central committee) was claimed to have accused Galloway, Salma Yaqoob and their supporters of "communalism" (in the sense of creating or exploiting tensions between communities)^[26]. Salma Yaqoob, in her document 'Challenges for Respect', rebuts this.^[27]

[edit] The Green movement

Respect co-initiator George Monbiot, a left-wing writer and activist, left the project before its launch, because Respect intended to stand members of its party against existing Green Party members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Respect had offered to form a pact with the Green Party to stand down in each other's favoured seats, but this was rejected by the Greens. This may have proved problematic as both groups favoured standing in London, where Respect has received its highest votes and the Green Party holds seats.^[28]

For the 2004 Euro elections, an attempt was made by Respect to present a joint slate with the Green Party as articulated in a letter by Michael Lavalette in the Guardian (5 May 2005). However, the response from Prof John Whitelegg (Guardian, May 6 2004) claims that this would not have been legally possible as electoral law does not allow for joint slates. The Greens have also said that they had selected their candidates months previously by postal ballot, and were sceptical of the SWP influence.^[29] In a newspaper interview Hugo Charlton, Green party chair, said that he had "... always argued for some sort of understanding with them, not least because we are both 'fellow travellers' on the left"; however he also noted that "any agreement at a local level, in the Green spirit of devolution, is up to local parties, but a formal, national alliance is out of the question".^[30]

After the 2005 results, Peter Cranie, the Greens' election co-ordinator - impressed with their results - had called for further discussion about how to further build the left of Labour vote, but did not advocate forming a Green-Respect alliance.^[31]

The Alliance for Green Socialism also criticise Respect for being unwilling to discuss the avoidance of electoral clashes with Green Socialists whilst being prepared to offer such an electoral arrangement to the non-socialist Green Party.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Stop the War Coalition
• Respect Renewal

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Respect official website
• Election 2006 home
• Respect Renewal conference

Respect publications

• Peace Justice Equality: the Respect manifesto for the May 2005 election 727 KB PDF document. Retrieved 5 May 2005.
• Where now for Respect? 435 KB PDF document. John Rees, Respect National Secretary. 22 June 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2005.

Articles

• Mc Shane, Anne. Reformism from above?
• Bynon, Huw. Drawing class lines
• Fischer, Mark. Abortion: make the position clear
• Manson, Peter. A strange amalgum(sic), Gerrymandering, exclusions and the farce of three- minute democracy
• Tatchell, Peter. Bizarre, upside-down politics
• Grzincic, Natasha. Respect where it's due?. Red Pepper. April 2005.
• Molyneux, John The Necessity of Respect. Socialist Review. February 2004.
• Neira, Manny. Socialism - the final shibboleth. Weekly Worker. January 2004.
• O'Toole, James. British Labor rivals wooing fast-growing Muslim voters Iraq, immigration policies put incumbents on notice. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Page A 6. Wednesday, May 4, 2005.
• Rees, John, Respect win is only the start. Socialist Worker. 14 May 2005.
• Sell, Hannah Islam and Socialism. Socialism Today. October 2004.
• Bird, Nick Respect can be a real advance for the radical left. Socialist Unity Network. May 2005.
• Reports of 2nd annual conference, Celebrate success, but face the next challenge". Socialist Worker. 26 November 2005.
• The Respect Coalition - Reactionaries in Progressive Clothing?
• Cohen, Nick. Bigots, racists and worthless buffoons - so why do they keep getting elected? The Guardian 7 May 2006.
• Middleton, Jacob Respect and the Muslim Vote. Socialist Review, June 2006

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