Left Unity

PCS: Rank and File or Broad Left?

Differences within Left Unity, the ruling faction of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), have prompted the Socialist Party to launch a faction within that faction, the Broad Left Network. At the same time, the PCS Rank and File Network is being launched. This raises the question of how best to organise in the unions – rank and file or broad left?

Workers Power  ·  06 September 2019

What Labour and socialist candidates should be fighting for

Editorial, Workers Power No. 381, February 2015 It is a total diversion to call for a vote for capitalist parties like the SNP, or for the middle class Greens, who do not have any historical or organised links to the working class and do not even claim to represent it. We should criticise the pro-capitalist […]

Workers Power  ·  02 February 2015

Left Unity Conference: doing what differently?

By KD Tait Left Unity’s Policy Conference on 15-16 November in London saw members pass a series of policy documents that revealed the party’s strengths and its weaknesses. KD Tait reports Left Unity’s mission statement is to build a ‘broad party of the left’ that can become a serious challenge to Labour. The conditions for […]

Workers Power  ·  26 November 2014

Report of Left Unity Policy Conference 29 March

By Andy Yorke Around two hundred members of Left Unity (LU) gathered in Manchester for the first policy conference of this new initiative to build a new working class party, launched only four months ago on 30 November.  The conference marked a step forward for Left Unity, with largely fraternal debates deciding policy in important […]

Workers Power  ·  09 April 2014

Left Unity conference: one step back, two steps forward

By KD Tait On 30 November, a new political organisation was founded; one which will champion a radical alternative to austerity, unemployment and war. Organisers announced that more than 1200 people had registered as founder members. Six months in the making, Left Unity’s founding conference saw 500 people agree a common political platform, constitution and aims. […]

Workers Power  ·  04 December 2013

A broad, European Left Party? No thanks!

The Left Party Platform in Left Unity has called a public meeting on 17 October “to present the case for a broad left party”. Dave Stockton argues why this should not be our model   Workers Power shares one thing at least with the framers of the Left Party Platform. We want to see a […]

Workers Power  ·  09 October 2013

An action programme for Left Unity

Draft action programme proposed for Left Unity's founding conference.

Workers Power  ·  09 October 2013

The purpose of the Class Struggle Platform

At its meeting in June, the National Coordinating Group of Left Unity decided that platforms, with a minimum of ten signatures, could put resolutions to the November founding conference. In the course of the summer, three platforms, the Left Party Platform, the Socialist Platform and the Class Struggle Platform have been submitted and have sparked […]

Workers Power  ·  17 September 2013

Platform for a class struggle party

We have drafted a third ‘platform’ to extend the debate within Left Unity. Having read the two platforms currently circulating – the Left Party Platform and the Socialist Platform – we were struck by an obvious similarity between them. Neither address the immediate issues confronting the working class in Britain today, which are not run […]

Workers Power  ·  08 August 2013

Left Unity: ducking decisions in Doncaster

Five weeks after Left Unity’s first national conference around 40 delegates attended its first National Coordinating Group (NCG) meeting in Doncaster. Ten had been elected at the national meeting on 11 May whilst the others had been elected to represent the local groups. Clearly there are considerably more groups who were unable to send delegates. […]

Workers Power  ·  16 June 2013

Branch building in Left Unity

  By Paul Silson, Wakefield Left Unity This month Ed Miliband announced that he would follow the Con-Dem coalition’s lead and vowed to cap spending on welfare. This statement follows a long list of betrayals and climbdowns by the Labour leader – the party will not reverse any austerity cuts, nor will it scrap legislation, such […]

Workers Power  ·  15 June 2013

Was I at Left Unity's first National Meeting?

By Richard Brenner IT’S ONE week since the first national meeting of Left Unity, and after reading some of the more hostile reports and comments I wonder if I was at the same meeting. A shambles, one report called it. What? 100 delegates assembled from more than 80 local branches, more than half of them elected […]

Workers Power  ·  19 May 2013

Left Unity launched in Wakefield

Six people attended the first meeting of Wakefield Left Unity on Thursday 9 May. There were people from trade unions, socialist organisations and workers who have recently taken part in strikes against downbanding at Mid Yorks NHS Trust. After hearing a report of the recent Left Unity meetings in nearby Leeds, we discussed the progress […]

Workers Power  ·  14 May 2013

WP no. 371 Editorial

The crisis in the Socialist Workers Party has implications for the entire left. Allegations of rape against a leading member were shamefully mishandled. Expulsions and a clampdown on dissent provoked a substantial and ongoing exodus from the party. The International Socialist Network is grouping together many who have left the SWP. It held its first […]

Workers Power  ·  22 April 2013

Left Unity launched in Leeds

23 people came to the launch meeting of Left Unity in Leeds this Wednesday. Everyone contributed and collectively we came up with a workable plan for building outwards to people who have been let down by Labour and believe an alternative is necessary. The planning meeting agreed to support an upcoming demonstration against the Bedroom […]

Workers Power  ·  19 April 2013

Building Left Unity: where to begin?

The response to Ken Loach’s Appeal “to discuss the formation of a new political party of the Left to bring together those who wish to defend the welfare state and present an economic alternative to austerity” indicates that this is an idea whose time has come.  Kady Tait looks at what steps we need to […]

Workers Power  ·  19 April 2013

Sign the appeal for a new left party

Get involved in building a united, campaigning, democratic and socialist party A surge of support for a new left party such as we haven’t seen for generations. That’s the meaning of the huge numbers – already more than 6000 by Easter – flocking to sign Ken Loach’s Appeal. With 70 local groups already, after just […]

Workers Power  ·  02 April 2013

SWP: the struggle must go on

This article was published shortly before the announcement of resignations after conference. Nevertheless the article addresses issues relevant for all comrades committed to building a genuine revolutionary party – whether they are in or out of the SWP.  The crisis in the SWP will not be resolved by the Special Conference called for 10 March […]

Workers Power  ·  11 March 2013

Leeds Against the Cuts: lessons in united action

On 16 February Leeds had its second Anti-Cuts Convention, a successful event that serves as a modest demonstration of the need and possibility for uniting the anti-cuts movement. The meeting decided on action and campaigns, involved trade unions, political groups and campaigns ranging from Keep Our NHS Public to Hands Off Our Homes. The struggle […]

Workers Power  ·  26 February 2013

Against Capitalism: Networks or a Party?

The great recession has tested working class parties to the limit. Almost every social democratic and labour party has repositioned itself in favour of cuts and austerity. For a new generation of fighters, the Occupy movement and last year’s student rebellion seem to offer a way to beat the system without parties. Dave Stockton looks […]

Workers Power  ·  26 February 2013

Building the left: The lessons of the last 10 years

Luke Cooper looks back on past efforts to build new left organisations and points to what we can learn from their mistakes

Workers Power  ·  07 November 2011

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