Campaign for a New Workers' Party conference - a report

On Saturday, four Devon CNWP supporters travelled up to London to attend the second national conference of the Campaign for a New Workers' Party (CNWP). The CNWP is a campaign aimed at building support among socialists, trade unionists and campaigners for the establishment of a new political party, one that explcitly campaigns for workers - a workers' party. Such a party would be able to provide an important united political voice for trade unionists in struggle and campaigners.

At the moment there are 2,500 supporters of the CNWP. In addition to events being held across the country like the one we had in Exeter a few weeks back, we try to gain support for the campaign in our workplaces, unions and campaigns.

The national conference was an opportunity to take stock of the successes and disappointments so far, and to debate and decide upon how further progress might be made. The general consensus seemed to be that steady, if unspectacular progress had been made. Many people have been disillusioned by new parties - the Socialist Labour Party, the Socialist Alliance, Respect - that had failed. Some people are willing to give Mr PFI Gordon Brown the benefit of the doubt. Also, a failure of the campaign has been local groups not notifying the Press Officer Pete McLaren of events that they have held and building they have done. We have been guilty of this, and it means he cannot publicise what is going on, giving the false impression of inactivity. Communications have been a problem in particular, and steps will be taken to send all supporters a monthly bulletin letting them know what is going on with the campaign and update the website more often.

Concerning the direction the campaign needed to take, the officers proposed a resolution updating the declaration to take account of new political developments such as the exit of Blair, as well as some basic points outlining what we stand for. Conference agreed it would put the horse before the cart outlining a fuller programme before a party is even formed, so these basic eleven points were agreed upon -

- Keep health and education public. Stop and reverse cuts in, and the sell off of, our public services. For properly funded, democratically controlled public services for all.
- For decent, affordable public housing for all who want it.
- No to racism and discrimination - oppose the divisive BNP. No to the specific oppression that people suffer due to their ethnic background, nationality, gender, sexuality, age, disabilities or health.
- For a living wage of at least £8 an hour, and a living pension - restore the link with earnings now.
- No to trident nuclear weapons - spend the £76 billion on public services.
- Ownership and planning of energy and transport, leading to massive investment and expansion of renewable energy and clean, public transport.
- Immediate withdrawal of the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
- For a democratic republic - a radical extension of democracy including all representatives elected by proportional representation, subject to recall, and paid the average wage.
- No to the capitalist profit system. For a democratic socialist society, based on public ownership of the major corporations that dominate the economy, and run to meet the needs of all, and to protect our environment for future generations, instead of the profits of a few.

There were some amendments put forward aimed at hemming the not-yet-formed party into detailed prescriptions and directions, but these were heavily defeated. Comrades from Workers Power, the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Campaign for a Marxist Party argued that the points outlined above set in stone a strategy of reformism (the idea that a democratic socialist society can be achieved gradually, with parliamentary legislation), as opposed to their proposals setting in stone a revolutionary strategy (proposing workers seize political and economic power now).

There are two arguments against their points. Firstly, the officers' resolution simply stated that we wish to replace the current capitalist system with "a democratic socialist society". The resolution rightly doesn't state how we get to that point - that is a matter for internal debate in the party once it is formed - the different organisations inside the party can argue for their point of view, it shouldn't be determined before the party is even set up. Secondly, the idea that a mass revolutionary party can be built at the present time in England and Wales is ludicrous. The workers movement is still barely recovering from the huge setbacks under Thatcherism, and confidence and political consciousness is still very low.

The debate was passionate but friendly, and there were some welcome new faces, particularly the comrades from the Democratic Labour Party in Walsall. The Democratic Labour Party was formed by socialists who had been chucked out of the Labour Party for being too left wing. They recently won a seat on Walsall council, and the two who spoke were clearly hard working, principled socialist campaigners, precisely the sort of people we need to get on board in this campaign.

There are more extensive reports and records of the motions passed and officer elections on the CNWP website.