Wasn't aimed at the mass market, crooked one. Galloway's appearance on Big Brother was not a Respect exercise in anything. I will hazard a guess right now that this opener sets the standard of inaccuracy and snickering that I can expect throughout the rest of your missive.
>Len, would I be completely 100% off the mark if I suggested that the
>non-SWP
>members of RESPECT (specifically, GG, Yvonne Ridley and the MAB-affiliated
>candidates) were beginning to take the piss rather in terms of making up
>RESPECT policy on the hoof? As far as I can tell, there absolutely had not
>been any decision to be 100% behind Hezbollah until Galloway said so at
>that
>public meeting. To an outsider it does not look like much of a way to run
>a
>railroad.
You would be completely 100% off the mark. Galloway did not make up Respect policy. Nor did anyone else as it happens. It was his own long-standing well-known ideological POV, and frankly I don't consider it problematic. Respect's policies, since you mention them, are outlined in a brand spanking new manifesto, and they are to die for. Here's a glance: http://www.respectcoalition.org/pdf/f473.pdf
My guess, for what it's worth, is that you are imbibing too much rumour from Hazza's Place.
>In a friendly and safe environment (although perhaps tomorrow, in order to
>show
>at least some token after the fact respect for the 3-posts-a-day limit,
>which
>appears to be in about as good shape as the Geneva Conventions at present),
>perhaps you'd care to run our American mates through, one more time, the
>rationale for the alliance between the SWP and (what I think I am being
>fair in
>calling) the soft-nutterist wing of British Islam?
No, I've already gone through this dozens of times. I don't think "our American mates" are at a loss to use their imagination, however. If any group in the American Left had half the success of Respect in such a short time, I should be very impressed indeed.
> What do these guys bring to
>the party other than warm bodies and a million political hostages to
>fortune?
What do you think pissed off Muslims bring to a left-wing electoral alliance? Rabies? Botulism? They bring their hostility to New Labour, imperialism, racism, privatisation, torture flights, Belmarsh etc etc. They bring their willingness and ability to cooperate in a socialist coalition in support of these priorities. They bring their willingness and ability to organise around them. They bring, in short, something serious to the table, which is considerably than can be said about yourself in this particular ball of grease that you've lobbed toward me.
>I seem to remember that the original plan was that the RESPECT alliance was
>aimed at drawing the more politically aware element among radical Muslim
>youth
>into the arms of the socialist party - how is this going?
Extremely well. I have never seen so many radical young Muslims at a Marxism event, for instance. Incidentally, let's not be ageist about this. Many of the older Muslims involved have been long-time socialists - a good number of our candidates in Tower Hamlets used to be in the Labour Party. For instance, Shahed Ali, one of our candidates who was elected in Whitechapel, was a classic Old Labour candidate. Oli Rahman is a trade union activist and socialist.
> Is the LGBT policy
>still in the complete two-and-eight that it was three months ago?
It never was in a 'two and eight'. Our policy on gay rights has been embedded in our constitution, in several conference votes and is now to be found in aforementioned manifesto: those Mad Mussies don't seem to have been that much of an obstacle you know, but then only a petrified Islamophobe would assume they would. Here's a taste:
"Respect condemns,and will campaign against,all homophobic attacks and acts of prejudice. We recognise that there has been an escalation of homophobic attacks like the murder of Jody Dobrowski in October 2005 on Clapham Common. If equality means anything it must apply to all.
"Respect supports equal employment rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people and will oppose all forms of discrimination. We are concerned about the increasing amount of homophobic bullying in schools and support measures to end this behaviour which makes the lives of so many young people intolerable.
"Respect is committed to equal rights for LGBT people. Respect welcomes the advances made on lesbian and gay rights in recent years, including the right of civil partnership. We recognise, however, that welcome as these legal advances are they will not in themselves be sufficient to end prejudice and discrimination. Respect seeks to work with LGBT organisations to oppose all these inequalities. We particularly note the advances made on these issues within the trade unions – where LGBT activists play an important role in the development of the trade union movement.
"RESPECT SAYS: End prejudice and discrimination. Equal rights at work. Stop homophobic attacks. Stop homophobic bullying in schools."
Those craaazy Mussies certainly have it in for the homosexual community.
> I feel like
>the guy in "Cabaret" asking "do you think you can control them?"
You might feel like that, but then again you might simply be grabbing a random cultural referent to reinforce that goofy lopsided grin of yours and slyly insinuate that those members of the Muslim Association of Britain who left to work with Respect, and those other Muslims who left the Labour Party to work with Respect, are somehow fascists. I mentioned the 'I' word before...
> It is just
>that, once more speaking as an interested outsider of British far-left
>grouplet
>politics, the RESPECT adventure is looking rather like Napoleon's march to
>Moscow.
Is it, darling? Does it look that way to you? I'm sure your vast repertoire of analogies and cunning historical references could have served you better: for instance, if you want a more modern and relevant instance of a doomed movement, try looking at Labour in the East End. Oh but... yeah.
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