This
year’s national sellers conference of ‘Socialist Appeal’ was held in London on the
weekend of April 16th and 17th. Supporters from all over Britain, from Aberdeen
to Torbay, came together against the backdrop of a year of class struggle and
revolution in Britain and internationally. Without doubt, the conference marked
a new period in the development of the Marxist voice.
This
year’s national sellers conference of ‘Socialist Appeal’ was held in London on the
weekend of April 16th and 17th. Supporters from all over Britain, from Aberdeen
to Torbay, came together against the backdrop of a year of class struggle and
revolution in Britain and internationally. Without doubt, the conference marked
a new period in the development of the Marxist voice.
What
distinguished this year’s conference was the qualitative break with the past.
From the series of revolutions that have shaken the Arab world to the
escalation of the class struggle in the USA, France and throughout Europe, we
can see that class struggle is back on the agenda. Far from being an outdated
idea as we have been told for the past 20 years, it is more relevant than ever.
At
the present time, capitalism is staggering from one crisis to another, as the
bankers’ debts crisis is turning into a crisis of state finances. We need look
no further than Greece and Ireland for evidence of this. Now Portugal is
looking to the European Union and IMF to come to it’s aid, but the whole deal
threatens to unravel, placing a question mark over the euro and even the
existence of the European Union.
From
all this it is clear that capitalism has failed, which has even been
acknowledged by The Economist, and reflects the deep despondency of the
capitalists: "Rising debt and lost output are the common measures of the
cost of the financial crisis. But a new global opinion poll shows another,
perhaps more serious form of damage: falling public support for capitalism.
This is most marked in the country that used to epitomise free enterprise. In
2002, 80% of Americans agreed that the world’s best bet was the free-market
system. By 2010 that support had fallen to 59%, only a little above the 54%
average for the 25 countries polled… Capitalism’s waning fortunes are starkly
visible among Americans earning below $20,000. Their support for the free
market has dropped from 76% to 44% in just one year." (The Economist,
April 7th 2011).
At
the same time, there has been over the past year a qualitative change in
Britain. The capitalist crisis has deeply affected Britain, and the movement of
the youth at the end of 2010 marked the beginning of a higher stage in the
class struggle in Britain. This movement has resulted in the growth of the
Marxist tendency and an influx of youth into our ranks.
This growth in our
support was reflected in the conference itself, with some excellent
contributions from many young comrades on the question of the youth movement,
the university occupations, the campaign for Student Union President waged by
the comrades at Cambridge University and the significant development of school
student organisations throughout the country. This latter development
culminated on April 15th with the first national meeting of NSSU, which
Socialist Appeal and Militant Student helped organise.
The
discussions over the weekend were on the World Crisis of Capitalism with Alan
Woods from the International Marxist Tendency speaking; Perspectives for the
class struggle in Britain introduced by Rob Sewell, political editor of
Socialist Appeal; a discussion on the work and plans to develop the ideas of
Marxism in Britain, led off by Ben Peck of the Militant Student editorial
board; and finally a very inspiring report by Fred Weston, editor of the In
Defence of Marxism website, on the work of the International Marxist Tendency.
The
discussion on Britain was the culmination of a pre-conference period that began
in January in which ‘Socialist Appeal’ supporters held discussions on a draft
British Perspectives document produced by the editorial board. After the discussion and the amendments approved
by the National Conference, it was agreed that the document will be updated and published
after the May elections.
The discussion on Britain involved questions on the
significance of the March 26th TUC demo and its repercussions, the current
stage of the youth movement and perspectives for the NUS, the struggle of
blacklisted workers, British involvement in Libya, the impact of the cuts on
the political situation, the London Mayoral election, as well as perspectives
for the Labour Party and trade unions.
The
atmosphere over the weekend was excellent with more than 90 comrades attending
the conference during the weekend. This included international visitors from
Ireland, Greece and also the Worker-Communist Party of Iraqi.
A splendid collection for
the Socialist Appeal fighting Fund was held which raised over £4,000 after a
special appeal was made by Steve Jones from the SA editorial board. At the end
he remarked that any seller or reader who missed taking part in the collection
should not hesitate to add their own donation, which you can do online by
clicking here .
Alan Woods summed-up the conference by explaining that
events were transforming the situation in Britain and internationally. Marxism
was becoming increasing relevant to wider layers of workers and youth. The key
task facing us was the building of the forces of Marxism. “If we work properly,
we will succeed.”
Comrades ended an excellent conference with a resounding
rendition of the Internationale. Everyone left lifted by the discussion over
the weekend, which had clarified the fundamental tasks and perspectives for the
Marxists in the coming period. Now we are faced with the vital work of building
and preparing ourselves for the tumultuous events that are about to unfold in
Britain and internationally.
