Stop the War annual conference

350 people attended this weekend's Stop the War Coalition national conference. There were motions passed, experiences shared, a new committee elected. Here, though, I'll merely attempt to summarise the diverse contributions from a range of platform speakers during the day. Simply glancing at the names is to be reminded of the strength of our movement, and this report should bring to attention how many issues we are campaigning over but also how interconnected they are.

Andrew Murray (Chair, Stop the War) opened the conference and commented on the need to re-assert our right to protest, noting that all the Gaza national demonstrations in January were attacked by police. Stop the War President Tony Benn said that the wars and occupations we oppose are imperialist and, in the context of colonial occupation, it is understandable if people resist with force. He also reminded us of the enormous contribution our coalition has made to British political life over more than seven years.

Lindsey German (convenor, Stop the War) celebrated the upsurge of protest in response to the assault on Gaza, in particular the university occupations that marked a revival of student activism, and warned that the economic crisis will make the world more unstable. Campaigning MP Jeremy Corbyn remarked that if Barack Obama isn't careful, Afghanistan will become the 'new Vietnam' and asserted that we must demand removal of ALL foreign troops. He called for a big turnout on 16 May - the national 'Free Palestine' march - partly because the media images will be reach the Middle East and give millions of people solidarity and hope.

Seumas Milne (Guardian columnist) also noted the longevity and futility of the Afghan occupation, commenting that the 'war on terror' - which is in fact a war OF terror against ordinary people - has now lasted longer than World War Two. The war is now spreading into Pakistan, which raises the stakes even further. Rose Gentle (Military Families Against the War) talked about how she turned the grief following the death of her son Gordon in Iraq into a determined campaign for justice - and to bring the troops home. She said the troops have been treated disgracefully and also called for the Iraq inquiry this summer to take place in public.

Daud Abdullah, the Deputy General Secretary of Muslim Council of Britain who has been vilified by the government, said the attacks on him have really been a backlash against the wider Muslim community being politically engaged. He warned that not only has Islamophobia increased in recent years but now the BNP is jumping on the bandwagon and using it to boost its prospects.

Jane Shallice (Stop the War officer) talked of the long history of imperialist intervention in Afghanistan by the great powers. There is, under Obama, a new liberal rhetoric to justify the occupation which we need to challenge. Mohammed Asif, an Afghan-born journalist now based in Glasgow, said that it's ordinary Afghans who are suffering, but it's also (contrary to most media reports) ordinary people, not just the Taliban, who are resisting the occupiers. UK policy is tied to US policy and we must seek to break that link.

Sarah Colborne (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) acknowledged the strength of the relationship between PSC and Stop the War, which stretches back to the early days of the latter's formation. Public opinion on Israel has changed and we should build on this - and the recent protests - to campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions targeted at Israel. She commented that the Scottish TUC led the way by passing a motion making these demands. We should build a mass demonstration on 16 May.

Stop the War officer John Rees, in possibly the most well-received speech of the day, asserted it is vital that the Gaza movement has been simultaneously broad and radical. This movement represented the return of mass involvement of British Muslims in political protest, displaying renewed confidence despite the brutality of the police. He also stressed the centrality of the Palestinian question to the whole politics of the Middle East, with the US relying on Israel as its proxy in the region. Karma Nablusi, Palestinian writer and academic, reported on visiting Gaza recently, seeing friends and being asked by them for pictures of the big London demonstrations because they were so inspired by them. She praised the many students in this country who organised occupations in solidarity with Palestine.

George Galloway reported on the hugely impressive Viva Palestina mission, noting that he spoke at some very large meetings in the North West to build it and there were hundreds of people attending these who had never been involved in our movement before. He announced that he and Ron Kovic, the Vietnam veteran, will lead a similar American convoy which is to be launched on 4 July.

Iraqi-born academic Sami Ramadani gave a briefing about the situation in Iraq and answered delegates' questions. He emphasised that Iraq is part of a bigger strategy of imperialist domination in the region: they may shift their forces, e.g from Iraq to Afghanistan, but there is no serious change. Walter Wolfgang of CND (and former Labour Party NEC member) brought the issues of nuclear weapons and US military bases into focus, taking inspiration from the Czech movement that has mobilised effectively against bases in their country.

Steve Bell (Stop the War Treasurer) announced, on behalf of the steering committee, a new drive to increase the coalition's national membership. He observed that there's a contradiction between Stop the War undoubtedly being a mass movement and the realtively low levels of membership. We also need to raise more regular income, through members taking out or increasing standing orders, to make the organisation more secure and to enhance what we can do as a movement.

Conference was rounded off with speeches on our practical tasks. Joseph Healy of the Green Party reported on the demonstrations at Strasbourg's NATO summit and stressed the importance of making connections with movements elsewhere. Tahmeena Bax gave an inspiring account of the occuaption at Queen Mary's University she was involved in and said there needs to be co-ordination amongst student activists around the country. Chris Nineham (Stop the War officer) closed the conference with a rallying call to keep the movment on the streets. He also called for rallies across Britain on what's happening in Afghanistan, and urged us to use the new national petition on the issue as a tool for mobilising. Finally, he made it clear we must always be prepared for an attack on Iran - if it happens we have to mobilise in massive numbers to protest, occupy and bring the country to a halt.

What's Going On?

I borrowed Mark Steel's 'What's Going On?' from someone the other day. I've only read parts of it, but it turned out to be more interesting than I'd expected. His previous books have been excellent, and I've seen him onstage several times and he's always been very funny, but I'd avoided his most recent book. This was influenced by knowing it partly concerned his departure from the Socialist Workers Party after 30 years' membership - and the disillusionment and bitterness which goes with it.

Alex Callinicos, a leading SWP member, damned the book with a stroppy review in Socialist Review (Callinicos has, for good or for ill, developed something of a line in stroppiness) which I initially took to be an accurate account. Actually, while I find Steel's decision regrettable and think he makes some serious errors of judgement, his reflections are very illuminating.

For one thing he provides a sense of why it is so many people drift away from commitment to a revolutionary organisation. And 'drift' is the appropriate word - there's no sudden rupture or conversion to a different way of thinking. His politics remain very similar and his final decision to cancel his subs is the culmination of a long process of becoming largely detached from his party anyway. It is worth taking this kind of process seriously, not just as a mark of respect for people who have previously contributed so much to your organisation, but in order to reduce the likelihood of them leaving (and then - if they unfortunately have a book contract - slagging you off in print!).

The recurring theme in Steel's account is disillusionment with the SWP's failure to grow combined with exasperation at what he sees as the party leadership's failure to talk honestly about this. He exaggerates terribly about how much the organisation (and the far left more generally) has supposedly declined. He makes claims about attendance at the annual Marxism event collapsing that simply aren't accurate, for example. But he has a point when he urges socialists to face reality and be truthful with themselves. Only in this way can we evaluate anything accurately and plot a course for the future.

It is perhaps unfortunate that Callinicos took a defensive approach, rather than engage with this properly, as it is at least insightful into a process thousands of people have - in their different ways - experienced. Steel also reminds us of just how confusing and disorienting many activists find it when something goes wrong, as with the crisis and split in Respect. Those who follow extremely closely might just about make sense of a crisis like this, but for most it is simply strange and confusing. The book fails to find clarity out of the confusion - something its author readily admits - but the confusions are at least thought-provoking.

Marxism - university of the Left

The annual Marxism event - the 'university of the left' (T Benn) or 'gathering of the tribes of the left' (G Galloway, back when he was on friendly terms with the SWP) - comes around again this July. Speakers this year include - take a deep breath - Tariq Ali, Chris Bambery, Tony Benn, Michael Billington, Nick Broomfield, Jeremy Corbyn, Terry Eagleton, David Edgar, David Harvey, Ghada Karmi, Bernadette McAliskey, Eamonn McCann, Steven Rose, Michael Rosen, Sheila Rowbotham, Sam West, Zoe Williams, Gary Younge, Haifa Zangana and Slavoj Zizek. And many, many more.

Quite a few of these speakers bring back memories of Marxisms past (I've been going every year since 1994). I recall my cousin, who lives in London and isn't a SWP member, popping along to her first Marxism and attending a session with Chris Bambery - and finding his rather strident speaking style faintly terrifying. It maybe had something to do with the topic being Ireland, but whatever the subject Bambery certainly knows how to make his points assertively (and a good thing too, as far as I'm concerned, but a slight shock for the first-timer). Zizek, by contrast, is known for what might politely be called a rambling and tangential style. My sister once had the extraordinary challenge of chairing one of his meetings, and somehow managed to bring him to a halt before the ULU night shift shut up shop for another day.

Tony Benn always has long queues, Tariq Ali can be relied on to be lucid, insightful and generally magnificent, and Steven Rose is one of the few people who can make science comprehensible to someone like me. I've heard Mike Rosen several times over the years, on my pet subjects like education, language and literature, and he's always witty and engaging. The cultural sessions are often the highlights: last year I heard Guardian theatre critic Michael Billington talk about British theatre and bought his book on the subject ('State of the nation', which turned out to be fascinating). This year he and actor Sam West are paying tribute to the late Harold Pinter.

One way or another, I'm sure Marxism will be as unmissable as ever. For info check: http://www.marxismfestival.org.uk/

From Blair Peach to Ian Tomlinson

The issue of state violence, especially in relation to political protest, has been put forcibly on the agenda in the last couple of weeks. First the eyewitness reports of police brutality at G20 protests on 1 April, then the revelation that Ian Tomlinson certainly didn't die of 'natural causes' (as claimed by the Met initially), and now the video footage of a woman attacked by a uniformed thug at the protests.

There have been protests in response to the police brutality that have extended to being a defence of our right to protest and of civil liberties. In Newcastle 30 people joined a speedily-arranged protest on Saturday lunchtime which linked Tomlinson's death to a history of police violence and the suppression of free, democratic protest. I was pleased to learn that 200 people turned up to the 'Remember Blair Peach' fringe meeting at the conference of my own union, the NUT. He was a teacher and SWP activist killed by police on an Anti Nazi march in 1979.

The meeting marked the 30th anniversary of Peach's death but also connected with the current anger about the police - and also served as a launchpad for campaigning against the BNP this spring, in the run up to the Euro elections in less than two months. About a year ago the NUT took the excellent step of creating a political fund - not to support Labour, but to fund anti-fascist campaigns.

The role of the police has also been brought into sharp relief by the way the French state attacked demonstrations at the NATO summit in Strasbourg recently. I recommend reading these accounts: by Lindsey German, at Lenin's Tomb, and on the Globalise Resistance website. The violence of the anarchist Black Block is highly misguided, but these commentaries remind us the main problem is still the violence of the state - and the greater violence of capitalism and war it is designed to preserve.

shop stewards network

Wednesday evening's 'Recession and Resistance' meeting was a small step forward for rebuilding rank and file union resistance in Tyneside. It's a relief, when you consider the history of bickering and mutual suspicion on the left, to be able to have people from various socialist groups and traditions working together.

There's still some way to go, however, in really expanding the Shop Stewards Network (the meeting was organised by the North East SSN) to fulfil its potential. There were 40 people, which isn't bad, but it was overly dependent on the established organisations of the left. We need to find ways of reaching out to young workers, young unemployed people (unfortunately a growing constituency) and students to create a broad, militant grassroots movement.

The Gaza protests and occupations showed a new militancy on the streets and in the colleges, most obviously among students but in fact more broadly. And it would be naive to believe it's only about war and imperialism - the protest movement was sharpened, given an edge, by the economic crisis. It's also blindingly obvious by now that anti-capitalist sentiments enjoy sympathy like never before - petitioning to 'sack the bankers, not the workers' today the raw disgust people feel at the bank bailouts was tangible. The potential exists for a young, angry and political movement, centred on the issue of jobs but more powerful than a mere 'single-issue' campaign, feeding a possible revival in workers' struggle.

I suspect it will be common action around resisting job losses that takes us forward. It was striking that unemployment was the biggest topic of discussion. Graham Turner, left wing economist and author of The Credit Crunch, spoke eloquently about the severity of the recession (or depression - he said we should start talking of it in such terms), the centrality of unemployment to the crisis, and the urgent need for mass resistance to job cuts. Various contributions - including my own - focused on the jobs crisis and how we can build resistance.

There seemed to be agreement that practical solidarity with workers struggling to save their jobs - e.g. at Visteon - is vital, but the network still needs to plan what actions to take more generally. What can be done to strengthen the movement against us being made to pay for their crisis? This is one of the big challenges for the whole left, in the North East as everywhere else.

We aren't yet at the point where independent rank and file action by workers is a widespread reality. But we are also not still stuck in the era of defeats and passivity. Confidence is growing, but it's a process not an overnight situation, and you never know when something - a wildcat strike, an occupation - will spark much wider resistance. There's a new volatility since the crisis deepened last autumn - anything might happen.

Visteon - the struggle continues...

The Visteon occupation at Enfield has ended, but clearly the struggle goes on. Ady Cousins has posted a superb video marking the end of the occupation - it's inspiring stuff and makes me wonder just how amazing it would be if they were leaving victorious!

Of course, it's a tremendous inspiration largely because it does represent a kind of victory. I've been an active socialist for 16 years and it's the first time anything quite like this has happened in my political lifetime. It's too early to be sure if the occupation tactic is returning as a phenomenon for the first time since the 1970s, but it looks that way. The fact that it happened at all is a leap forward.

Could they have carried on? Well, it's hard to tell at this distance, but these things are shaped by the wider balance of forces. If it was part of a wave of occupations, or if it had triggered wildcat walkouts, it might be a different matter, but I suspect they went as far as was viable. There's also the relative strength of the rank and file compared to the union bureaucracy to consider.

We're in the early days of renewing the strength of the union grassroots, of asserting the possibility of independent rank and file action. It would be daft to pretend the union leaders aren't still an important factor - even when workers move into action independently of the official structures, the bureaucracy still has considerable sway. The key thing for the rest of us is building up as much solidarity across the union movement as possible.

emergency protest - no more police violence

Tyneside Stop the War Coalition is calling on people to demonstrate in Newcastle this Saturday, in response to the police assault on Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests last Wednesday. The demo will call for a full-scale public inquiry and a criminal investigation, as well as re-asserting our right to collective and peaceful protest.


Saturday 11 April - 1pm - Grey's Monument, Newcastle. Bring banners, placards, flags etc.

I predict a summer of rage

Senior police recently informed the media they were anticipating a 'summer of rage' from those discontented with a world of market chaos, war, racism and rising unemployment. It now seems, more and more, as if they are setting out to prove their own predictions right.

The police assualt on Ian Tomlinson, just 3 minutes before he collapsed (and shortly after died), was captured on video and has now been revealed by The Guardian. It is a shocking piece of footage, even for those of us with very low expectations of police conduct. It reveals the brutal contempt police had - on last Wednesday's G20 protests - for ordinary people. When they predicted a summer of rage, they perhaps had in mind the revolts of students and young workers in Greece. The trigger in that instance was police violence. While we are unlikely to see the same response here, we shouldn't forget the Greek example.

As the recession bites, we can expect to see more anger and more militant resistance - in the streets and in the workplaces. The noisy, vibrant carnivalesque demonstrations last Wednesday were a portent of what many of us hope to see in coming months. The occupations of the last couple of weeks - most obviously at Visteon but also the schools in Glasgow and the Defend Council Housing direct action (see previous post) - signal a new grit and determination in taking direct action.

It is also surely revealing that the best reception at the Put People First rally was for the magnificent and angry 'We are here to kill neo-liberal capitalism' speech by Mark Thomas. On the march itself it was the contingents of Stop the War supporters and students - many of them energised by having recently occupied their universities - that lit up the whole atmosphere. Indeed the Gaza student occupations could turn out to have been the first wave in a new era of resistance. I recall, also, just how upbeat, lively and inspiring the massive 10 January march for Gaza was.

An urgent priority now is the defence of our right to protest. We will not be driven off the streets, we will not be silenced. Anti-war protestors at the NATO summit in Strasbourg at the weekend endured tear gas and severe police repression. Across Europe the ruling elites are getting jittery, and increasingly willing to deploy the forces of the state against us. But this is precisely a symptom of their fear and insecurity, not their strength. It should inspire us to redouble our efforts in building our movements.

occupations for jobs, schools and housing

Workers occupy at Ford Visteon after being told their jobs are slashed (with no redundancy pay). Parents in Glasgow occupy in order to keep open two primary schools threatened with closure. Defend Council Housing activists occupy a flat in Lambeth, in protest at the council's policy of selling off council housing.

If you thought the occupation tactic came to an end with the end of term - and the culmination of the inspiring series of student occupations for Gaza - then think again. We have clearly turned a corner - increasingly there's a willingness to take militant direct action, whether it's in defence of council housing, schools, jobs or the victims of Israeli aggression. It is a sign of the times.

It is also significant that we've witnessed the demonstrations at G20 in the last week. The Put People First demo gave us a glimpse of the unions' strength, the potential for a serious response to the economic crisis. We need to go much further - with the kind of industrial resistance seen in France and Greece - but it was, however tentatively, the beginnings of the idea that we can build a movement around the crisis.

The protests midweek indicated the start of a resurgence for anti-capitalism, a mood that was also in evidence on the march last Saturday. But this time around there's the prospect of anti-capitalist ideas and mobilisations appealing to a much wider audience than we had around Genoa in 2001, due to the widespread disgust at the bankers and the impact of recession.

So, we live in interesting, unpredictable times. We can't know exactly how things will turn out, but there are things we can do now: build a militant anti-capitalist movement, raise solidarity with every group taking direct action to protect jobs and services, and start shaping a mass movement - in the unions and beyond - resisting the return of mass unemployment. This last task - a modern-day National Unemployed Workers' Movement or Right to Work Campaign? - may be the most challenging. But it's also possibly the most urgent and necessary.