RobertCox
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Please may I urge Party members and supporters who may have noticed the post on 13th August by Bijou Drains not to be deterred from making donations (whether in the form of donations, members ‘voluntary contributions’ or legacies/bequests) to Party funds.
In common with many voluntary organisations, larger donations and bequests make up a significant amount of Party income. Every extra £1 we receive is an opportunity to spread the idea of Socialism more widely and hasten the revolution and every less £1 we receive will help the Capitalist class sleep more soundly in their ill-gotten beds.
The Party is fully aware of the legal requirements of being a registered political party in the UK and has proceedures in place to check that all accepted donations (in cash or kind) are legally compliant. This includes multiple amounts from the same donor.
It is true that donations valued in excess of £500 may only be accepted if from a legal donor, which basically means from an individual on a UK electoral register or a company/organisation based in the UK.
However, rather than worrying about getting the Party “into a bit of a mess”, anyone with concerns may email for me for advice at spgb.treasurer@worldsocialism.org or write to me at 52 Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UN.
Alternatively, individuals can just check they are getting a letter each year from their local UK Council that confirms they are on the voters roll at their current address, or contact them if not sure.
YFS
Robert Cox, Socialist Party Treasurer
The University of Kent EU election hustings took place in Canterbury this evening, hosted by the student union. All parties fielding a full slate were invited, with seven candidates appearing – only the Brexit Party failed to send someone.
I forgot to count them, I guess about 50-70 attended, mainly students and some Party activists, it seemed (from the applause) mainly Change UK and a local pro-EU group with a leaflet urging votes for Remain.
Our candidate Andy Thomas from Folkestone appeared, along with two sitting MEPs, Labours John Howarth and Richard Ashworth, standing for Change UK after being expelled from the Tory Party.
The fact that the organisers for some reason had found it so difficult to invite us in the first place was again apparent, as the rostrum for each candidate had a notice on it with their name and Party name/logo but ours had the SPEW star logo and words ‘Socialist Party’, which by the time I saw it was too late to have changed but Andy made clear in his first remarks who we were.
Every question (but one) was (obviously) around Brexit. This made it easy for the two sides to trot out their well-rehearsed arguments, but despite this our candidate was able to use all the questions as an opportunity to advance the case for socialism.
The audience was mainly pro-Remain, and on occasion comments by both the Tory and UKIP received hostile or derisory feedback.
Here again the Labour candidate was die-hard remain (and a member of the EU parliament budget committee). Rivalry between remain candidates broke out into argument and accusation a few times, particularly between Lib Dem and Green.
At the end we leafleted the exit from the hall, having taken the best position before Change UK came out in a short-lived attempt to distribute theirs. Almost all the students gladly accepted our Q&A about socialism leaflet, and some only because it was about socialism, and a some useful discussions took place.
Students filmed the meeting and interviewed on camera our candidate after the meeting, so it may be available online in due course.
