Alex Woodrow
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I agree with SocialistPunk that we read into Alan's comments a bit too much. I don't mean to go on about this subject Ed but it's just, if you don't want us to focus too much on Council seats then, may I ask, what is your alternative?
I personally think we should only contest Council seats because then we can communicate more with communities compared to if we were elected in constituencies.Anyway, if we were elected onto local Council seats, we would continue to spread the message of socialism and people power democracy within that ward and, hopefully, the people within that ward will democratically choose to live in a ward which is moneyless so this will be the start of the democratic workers' revolution which will gradually spread from one ward to another until eventually socialism reaches all of the world and we then have a socialist world.
Thanks for the response ALB regarding the other candidate and where they stood.Anyway, I still think it would be better only to stand in local elections even if they are on the same day as european elections because, correct me if I am wrong, though I think that, by only standing in local elections, this will clearly show people that we stick to our principles and that we are not sensationalists like all other parties.
If the executive committee denies giving all other members a say then, correct me if I am wrong but, doesn't that contradict what we, as a party, stand for?We do need to be taken seriously by the general public and hence this involves lots of planning, and this is why standing in local elections is the best way forward because people then won't think we are sensationalists like other parties, but instead see that we are a party for the people that brings with it people power democracy.We can get our message through to as many letter boxes as possible without needing to stand in the upcoming european election, as we can just stand in many local elections instead due to the fact we have many hundreds if not thousands of members and supporters up and down the country who would be willing to work very hard to help people within the community.P.S. Thanks for informing me about two candidates standing in local by elections. I knew that one stood in Junction ward in Islington but, may I ask, where did the other candidate stand?
We won't be able to get everything we wnat if elected on a ward, as the capitalist pseudo democracy will deny the people a voice. However, I think local elections is the only way that people will take us seriously. Think about it, we have members and supporters up and down the country, if we get many different members and supporters to stand in local elections then the people will start to realise that socialism is a populist movement and that we, socialists, unlike capitalists, do care about the people as we are trying to communicate more with local people by helping them with their day to day struggles, unlike the minority capitalist elite in Westminster and Brussels who are simply pigreedy buggers who only want to make money.Also, your idea of Councils/Governments sounds all right, though the only way this idea would work and be compatible with socialism/democracy is by everyone having an equal amount of control in the Council/Government so then this will be cooperative management of the economy and democratic ownership of the means of producing and distributing wealth.The main question I want to ask you, though, is what is your plan on how the world should transition from capitalism to socialism?
If the majority of party members want us to contest in the next european election then fair enough. Though we need to ask ourselves, would standing in a european election benefit the party as much compared to what it would standing in local elections?
alanjjohnstone, in a society of international socialism where the world is free we may well have decentralized governments where everyone has a share in the Council, because what's the alternative, a bureaucratic oligarchy, I don't think so.It's fair enough you are question SocialistPunk's views, though SP has not expressed any reformist views so why are you trying to make out that SP is reformist?Finally, feel free to correct me if I am wrong but, the impression I am getting, is you seem to be very much against the idea of cooperative decentralized governments. This is fair enough, as you are entitled to your opinion. Though, may I ask, what is your alternative?
What you say is true. As if our party mainly focuses on party political broadcasts for the european election then people may view us as sensationalists, rather than normal people who want to make a change to local communities up and down the country.Unfortunately we can't afford continual payouts because, unlike the Lib/Lab/Con, we are not funded by multinational corporations (the people who have all the power in this corrupt capitalist system which we live in).We need to concentrate in socialist democracy like you say SocialistPunk, as this will appeal to much more of the general public than what one european election broadcast would, that's for sure.
A deposit of £5000 is a lot of money to stand in an election but, then again, this exposes the capitalist oligarchy which we live in today, no money=no power=no voice.I assume under the pseudo proportional representation in the european elections I assume we would need at least 10% of the vote is we wanted to have any representatives for the european parliament. Though anyway, the next european election shall give us, the SPGB, a real chance in terms of publicising our party hence spreading our message of people power democracy.Anyway gnome, may I ask, in what regions do the Socialist Party of Great Britain plan to stand in come the next european election?
alanjjohnstonre may I ask, how do you know standing in the NE constituency will not bring that tv/radio propaganda benefit? Also, fair enough with standing in Wales and Scotalnd, as people need to know more about what the Socialist Party of Great Britain is about so that then more of the general public will start to support us. Though this is certainly not to say that we should divert the majority of our attention away from local elections to european elections, because the local elections are more important in terms of speaking physically face to face to local communities up and down the country and tackling local issues head on if we get elected.
If we have a good amount of support from the North East due to previous hard work from Steve and the likes on a local level, then maybe it would be all right to stand in the North East european constituency come the time of the next European election. Though correct me if I am wrong, but I thought I heard ALB say that we may be contesting Wales and/or Scotland as well in the next european election. I just want to ask, do we have a strong enough base at the moment in either Wales or Scotland to stand in these regions?
Agreed mate. We need to show that we are ordinary members of the community, not elitists in Brussels or Westminster. The party shouldn't stand in any UK parliament elections or European elections for the time being, but instead stand in local elections to get support from ordinary workers up and down the country and in the rest of the world.
Thanks for the comment SocialistPunk. I completely agree with you, the party needs to reach out to local communities worldwide so we can get our message across of people power democracy.Also ALB, may I ask why is the party putting candidates forward in the next European election? I mean, correct me if I am wrong but, wouldn't it make more sense to only stand in local elections?
This By Election in Junction Ward gives local people in Archway a REAL choice in who they vote for. There's no reason why Bill Martin can't win. A local bloke willing to work hard in the interests of the community, plus I heard leaflets went pretty much round every property in the ward so everyone knows what the Socialist Party of Great Britain are and what they stand for.Though actually, I guess there is one thing which might prevent Bill Martin from being councillor, and this is that the capitalist media manipulators lie through their teeth and say lies such as "we are evil" or "we are Stalin lovers" which is absolute rubbish because we are against all of that nonsense. Really it is just a question of whether ordinary people can see through the lies of the corporate controlled media and see the truth, the truth that we are a people's front.
