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Dear Respectniks,

Several Respect members from Brighton and Hove travelled to London to
attend the post election rally at the Friends Meeting House tonight.
There was a packed hall with standing room only at the back. A massive
roar greeted the arrival of George Galloway, who recieved a hero's
welcome and a standing ovation for his open defiance of the Senate. He
was almost buried by the media scrum and was visibly moved by the warmth
of his reception by the waiting crowd.

An impressive array of speakers addressed the rally and watching media.
Mark Serwotka of the PCS union stressed the need for Respect to broaden
its appeal base from just the anti-war movement. Mark stated that the
'dark days' were over and that Respect had the potential to become the
real alternative to New Labour and its "Right wing Law and Order
Agenda". He called Labour's attack on the sick and disabled an "absolute
disgrace" and called for indefinate strike action to defend civil
servants jobs. To massive applause, Mark called for the end of the first
past the post system that so disenfranchises the British electorate.

Abdul Khalik Mian, Respect candidate for East Ham spoke of the need to
understand and respect each others cultures. He attacked those
fundamentalist muslims who had threatened George Galloway and Salma
Yaqoob during the campaign, stating that Islam was a religeon of
dialogue and persausion, and was not spread by intimidation. Abdul
called for Respect to become a mass party capable of standing in every
seat during the election.

Journalist and activist John Pilger was given a warm welcome by the
crowd. He launched a devastating attack on the genocidal UN sanctions
regime against the people of Iraq, stating that at its' height it
claimed the lives of 5,200 under fives every month. Pilger attacked the
'yellow' journalism of much of the media, particularly the
"hand-wringing" of The Guardian, in refusing to report the effect of the
sanctions and the lies and hypocrisy of our rulers. Pilger welcomed the
large vote for Respect up and down the country, stating that "courage
has at last come back into the opposition" and "the fightback has begun
in so many ways". Since the victory of George Galloway in Bethnal Green
and Bow "politics from the ground up has a new face, a new heart and a
new spirit".

Lindsay German, from the Stop the War Coalition, and Respect candidate
for West Ham spoke of a new political culture in East London which has
politicised previously marginalised sections of the community. Lindsay,
in common with several of the speakers, criticised New Labour's efforts
to try and criminalise the young.She rounded on Blairite apologists such
as Poly Toynbee, stating that we voted Blair and got Blair. Lindsay
suggested people should take off their nosepegs and "smell the stench of
New Labour". Lindsay claimed that the Labour hierarchy were terrified of
Respect, and that there now exists an enormous political vacuum to the
left of New Labour. For every 1 vote Blair fractured to the Tories, he
lost 5 to Respect / The Greens / The Lib Dems. Lindsay also rounded on
the racism within New Labour, pointing out their commitment to ethnic
minority candidates did not extend from Tower Hamlets to Newham, which
refused to select a black or Asian woman candidate. Lindsay contrasted
the corruption of New Labour with Respect, stating "We stand for the
people who have nothing".

John Rees, Respect National Secretary emphasised the enormous task
facing Respect. Since the election we have formed a beachead in enemy
territory. However, the establishment will do everything in its power to
destroy Respect and ensure we make no further progress. Rees likened the
smears and lies against Galloway with simillar campaigns in the past
against Tony Benn, Arthur Scargill and the NUM. He emphasised the need
for Respect to sink strong roots in all areas, based on the issues that
concern working class people. We must fight against privatisation in the
public services; against attacks on workers pension rights; against
attacks on council housing. Rees promised that future Respect
councillors must be willing to make personal sacrifices in a principled
defence of working class peoples interests.

Salma Yaqoob was given an enthusiastic reception for her brilliant
campaign in Birmingham. She described the campaign of personal
villification she experienced during the election. She accused New
Labour supporters in being complicit in a racist campaign against her.
Salma pointed out that her 10,500 votes were not a muslim block vote,
but came from all sections of the community. Salma also emphasised the
need for Respect to focus more on the domestic agenda, in a time when
the gap between rich and poor is wider than in Victorian times. She
called for action against the "corporate criminals" who have the ear of
New Labour and really run the country.

George Galloway rounded off the rally with an impassioned plea to build
Respect in all localities. He called for a "fighting, militant party"
that would be "the enemy within" of Blairs increasingly authoritarian
domestic agenda. He stated that nothing that Blair can do or say will
stop him from opposing Blair with all his strength. Galloway promised a
vigourous campaign in the East End to capture Tower Hamlets and Newham
Council. He promised a blockade of Bethnal Green fire station to prevent
the removal of an appliance on June 6th, and promised that any future
Respect council would lead people to Westminster in their thousands to
demand the resources to carry out its' programme. Galloway argued that
Blair has abdicated it's responsibility to working class people, and
that everywhere we must fight to win their allegiance.

My own impression of the rally was that it was one of the best political
meetings I have attended in twenty years of political activity. It was
encouraging to see the party begin to broaden out its appeal and begin
to place more emphasis on addressing the concerns of working class
people apart from the war. Galloways stinging attack on the likes of
Nick Cohen, who have compared Galloway to Oswald Mosley, was
particularly satisfying. To ringing applause, Galloway stated that
unlike the fascists and New Labour, Respect intends to protect the
rightsd of immigrants in the East End and wherever else it has
influence. I, for one, can't wait to build such a party.

I also went to the RESPECT meeting, the atmosphere was electric, emotionally moving with a real sense that people could actually change the whole rotten system. The speeches were first class, not just in presentation but left people with a clear strategy and picture how the political landscape and be transformed.

All radical activists should have come to this meeting, even if you do not agree with the RESPECT strategy one could not help but to be inspired. I am sorry IndyMedia but you should not have pulled down the post.

Dear indymedia mods and readers,

Posted the above report of the rally in order to stimulate a constructive debate as to the way forward. Hopefully we can all avoid the destuctive name-calling that so often characterises exchanges between followers of parties and the autonomous 'movement'. The opening presented to us by Galloways victory and subsequent trashing of the Senate neocons is too precious to squander. Too often we end up hating each other more than the enemy. I feel we all have something to contribute - we just need to work out amongst ourselves the best way to target all our efforts.

Again apologies for bending the publishing guidelines a bit. Just couldn't think of a better way of reaching the sort of audience that reads your sight.

Yours in struggle,

I'm glad that you enjoyed your rally with George, Lindsay and John!!!! Some of us are cynical enough to think that the latter 2 are members of the SWP Central Committee - but as you didn't mention it in the glowing biographies you gave them, maybe they have left?

So, anyway, the way forward..... what do you suggest?

Oh and in reply to 'red letter', the post would have been pulled because it breaches the editorial guideline that reads:

"Hierarchy : The newswire is designed to generate a news resource, not a notice-board for political parties or any other hierarchically structured organizations."

:)

Thank you for your story. The piece about respect growing and the excitement it generates, via it's working clas and strong anti-war components is quite exciting.

Here in the United States, we in the Green Party hope to mirror that. That is one of the rasons we need to have "Curious George" out here in Minnesota ASAP. Any and all help in having MP Galloway out for the Press Conference will be greatly appreciated.

The democrats here are just as pathetic, cowardly and pro-war as "New Labour", that is why I, for one, am so excited about George. We can use it as a warning to the Democrats. many Democrats are just as rabidly anti-war as you lot are, and are sick and tired of pro-war Democrats. having george out here to visit the Cavlan for Senate campaign will help generate interest and much needed "credibility" for us Greens.

We Greens are trying to become the Respect Party of the US. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Dear ftp,

Of course John Rees and Lindsay German are in the SWP. So what? Does this somehow make their point of view less valid than any of the other speakers?

As to the way forward, I obviously advocate people joining and supporting Respect as a way of fracturing the hold of Labourism over many working people. If it achieves nothing else, the election of Galloway has given the lie to New Labour's policy of triangulation - i.e that Labour can ignore their own working class base and drift ever rightwards, as working class people have nowhere to go. This will have implications over the coming years, not all of which may be immediately apparent. In light of impending attacks on our civil liberties and public services, feel that we need to establish a dialogue with each other, try to understand each other a bit better, rather than engage in pointless slanging matches of 'elitism' vs 'SWP control-freakery'. Only people to gain from that are the spooks, the state and the beer hall revolutionaries. We need to work together, where possible, so as to better confront the attacks we face.

I'm sure, ftp and others, that you have profound disagreements with any party type organisations. Just saying that in the changed political climate since the election, it would be constructive to see if we can meet each other part of the way.

Your thoughts much appreciated.

If you want to contact George Galloway i would suggest that you contact the RESPECT office on 0208980 3507 or www.respectcoalition.org


Reply to ftp

Your policies are just plain secterian and patronising.

You say "If it achieves nothing else, the election of Galloway has given the lie to New Labour's policy of triangulation - i.e that Labour can ignore their own working class base and drift ever rightwards, as working class people have nowhere to go."

Personally, I think its pretty clear to most people that New Labour's policy of moving ever-rightwards and triangulating like mad has, in actual fact, paid off pretty well for them. After all, since following Clinton's triangulation they've won three elections and still have a relatively comfortable majority. Since triangulating and starting ignore the votes of working-class people they've actually turned themselves into the most successful version of the "Labour" party since God knows when. Equally importantly, I don't think the victory of Galloway can be put solely down to rejection of working-class votes either - the relative image of the various candidates doubtless had something to do with it, as did their respective positions on the Iraq war. To be honest, I doubt that New Labour are particularly concerned politically about the rise of Respect at all.

Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not advocating voting for Labour. What I'm saying is you've got to look at why people are voting for Labour and other parties when none are really advocating their view. This may well mean questioning whether it is possible to change such a system from the inside.