recently rejoined the labour party and is the political figurehead of the esf. This esf runs under the banner of the GLA. What do you think he wants to be part of the esf for? Think about it carefully. Um, publicity maybe and to add credence to the idea that the labour party is somewhere on the left? oh, yes and personal ego management.

Oh, and the building offered by the GLA recently was free but the security was around £5,000. And thats just the start of the big spend. The money to fund the ESF has to come in in the next couple of months or its off. Where is that money going to come from? I would be wary of the motives of people bearing gifts.

Its not built on the roots of local social forums (Jonathan Neale now a major part of the organisation of this jamboree, has said publically he doesn't believe the UK is ready for local social forums, he doesn't believe in the principles of social forums, yet he is heavily involved in organising the ESF in London. Draw your own conclusions).

There is an argument that the value of the ESF (even if hijacked by ken as a publicity exercise for the 'alternative' side of labour, even if costs massive, massive amounts of money, even if it is almost everything the ESF was not set up to be, even if it only pays lipservice to the grassroots stuff),
that it is still an opportunity for good people to create alternatives on the edges and to network.

But the danger is that by involvement, people who would never normally touch something that is beginning to smell so badly, will lend it credibility.