[Individual-members-EL] EL Indivual Members

Wed Jun 27 16:03:07 CEST 2012

Dear Stephen,

Just by way of keeping you fully in the picture, so to speak, there is an organisation here in Scotland called Democratic Left Scotland (which grew out of the old CPGB, but is now a network rather than a party, with some members from the Greens, etc.). I am in it, as are maybe half-a-dozen or so other independent EL members in Scotland. DLS is small (about 100 members) but good - it publishes an excellent quarterly journal called Perspectives (www.democraticleftscotland.org.uk<http://www.democraticleftscotland.org.uk>). The point is that DLS applied to become an observer member of the EL last autumn. They still have not received any reply from Brussels. It would seem that the chronic inefficiency at the top doesn't just apply to the issue of individual membership!

Richard.

________________________________
From: individual-members-el-bounces at listi.jpberlin.de [individual-members-el-bounces at listi.jpberlin.de] on behalf of Stephen Spence [stephen_spence at btinternet.com]
Sent: 27 June 2012 13:22
To: 'Indiv. Members EL'
Subject: Re: [Individual-members-EL] EL Indivual Members

Dear Richard,

In my lunch break so relatively quickly.

You are of course correct, a European Left badge would be better.  Currently there isn’t one although with three people and £150 you can register a party name with the electoral commission and run under it.  As long as European Left didn’t object although on what grounds they could do so anyway I’m not sure.  They have a EU registration but that doesn’t get you on the UK ballot paper even in EU elections.

To this point in time other UK based people I’ve spoken to haven’t supported doing that on the grounds that it would be a hollow organisation, and therefore simply another non-resourced label rather than anything real.  I’m not sure I agree with that.  I’ve always thought that one candidate with a Party name is enough.  But the point is I’ve never had two other people prepared to do it and for registration you have to list three people in total as officers of a named party.

That’s why I thought a ‘Left Independent’ openly advertising an affiliation with the European Left might be a way to go.  It still costs £5000 deposit, the appointment of an agent, so two people per constituency minimum required.  In addition you would need finance for leaflets etc and yes it would have to be the small number of UK people left as EL individual members who would have to try to do that.  So far I know of you and Luke and two others who were involved before I’m still in contact with personally.  In addition I think I could draw in a dozen or so personal contacts who would have an interest if something was happening but who have no interest if it isn’t.

I often get advice to start locally but there are lots of little left groups all round the country which haven’t moved much beyond the parish pump.  I think you’ve got to make a top end intervention to kick things off.

The Party of the European Left is to me a democratic left party, and to me the democratic left is subtlety different from other socialist and communist groups.  To me it’s a form of left social democracy at heart that I agree with.

It is of course possible with your £150 and three people (when three emerge pointing in the same direction at once) to register a party name that is UK specific, that could then seek to affiliate to EL.  I’ve thought of lots of them for example;

Democratic Left, Progressive Left, Radical Left, Radical Democrats, Left Green Democrats………………I assure you the list goes on.

So far any attempts to do this have floundered on different views to any proposal which is why some of us concentrated on getting individual membership of EL and then trying to get recognition for individual members.  Believe it or not since 2004 on two separate occasions we had a UK website including an on-line blog, a post office box, and we’ve had people attending Congress, Trade Union Network, summer Schools but the Party has always been slow to help develop it further.  Even now I’m waiting for George in Brussels to provide me with a list of UK based individual members, following a response from him criticising a statement from me that a lack of support existed.  No such list has ever been provided to me despite requests over eight years.  The EL want individual members but up until now they don’t seem to want them organising but in the same breathe tell to organise yourselves.  They mean I think as a Party that can affiliate, individual membership has always been a bit threatening to existing member parties, even though we don’t have one in the UK.

However I now have this dialogue going with Waltraud and frankly I’m hoping through that they pick up on efforts to consider candidates in the UK and give some help, but I’m not holding my breathe.

So it does indeed come down to what we think we could do.  I think there is no point in being an EL individual member long term if the EL can’t intervene in politics in the UK.  It’s taken me eight years to get to that point.  Therefore in 2014 I want to do something one way or another as the welfare state crashes and burns around us.

My ‘Left Independent‘ idea comes from an absence of any other bright ideas right now.  So far the two comrades who dropped out after previous efforts, who I still write to off line, don’t think it is a good idea and you have raised legitimate points.  A comrade from Germany has said ‘good luck’ and that so far is it.

My conclusion is after eight years of EL discussion in the UK someone needs to say ‘I’m going to run in this constituency can I rely on your support’.  In order to get someone to take that step I’m seeing if there is a way of doing it that has some degree of support.

If not it might be better for EL individual members in the UK, such as we are, to simply decide to support to Respect, TUSC or the Greens in 2014 or all of the above, and with EL concentrate on getting some form of Individual Members Branch in the discussions with Waltraud.

Happy to hear all additional thoughts.

Best

Stephen

________________________________
From: individual-members-el-bounces at listi.jpberlin.de [mailto:individual-members-el-bounces at listi.jpberlin.de] On Behalf Of Richard Dunphy
Sent: 26 June 2012 13:04
To: Indiv. Members EL
Subject: Re: [Individual-members-EL] EL Indivual Members

Dear Stephen,

Many thanks for doing this work on behalf of us all.

As regards your proposal for running candidates in the UK in the 2014 EP elections, I would love to have the option of voting for, and campaigning for, an EL party candidate, but I am not sure about the wisdom of running (an) independent candidate(s). If it is not possible to draw attention to the existence of EL as a party, and run on the basis of an EL Manifesto, what would be achieved by running as independents? Speaking personally, I must admit that I usually don't take independent candidates seriously (except, perhaps, at local council level) and tend to vote for a party, not an individual.

Also, would an EP campaign have to be financed entirely within the UK by a small group of supporters? Presuming so, again I wonder how feasible it would be - and all, more than likely, for a couple of hundred votes. OK, it might be argued that even a candidate running on an EL party platform might not poll more than a tiny vote, but at least in this case it would put the party on the map, so to speak, and remind many disenfranchised left-wingers in this country that there is a party alternative to Labour - at the European level at any rate. Would an independent candidature achieve this?

Sorry if this sounds negative. I'm not entirely close-minded, just exploring my initial reactions!

best wishes,

Richard.

________________________________
From: individual-members-el-bounces at listi.jpberlin.de [individual-members-el-bounces at listi.jpberlin.de] on behalf of Stephen Spence [stephen_spence at btinternet.com]
Sent: 24 June 2012 11:26
To: 'Indiv. Members EL'
Subject: [Individual-members-EL] EL Indivual Members
Dear All,

CONFIDENTIAL TO THIS LIST

I would like to advise you that I am in ongoing correspondence with Waltraud of the EL Statutes Commission trying to get a trying to get a date to meet in Brussels about individual members.  I am proposing, following up Nobert’s letter, a European wide individual members branch that can meet a couple of times a year, with a Branch Executive, a seat on the Executive Board, the Chair able to attend the Council of Chairpersons, and the Branch able to send delegates to the EL Congress based on the number of members.  In essence I am suggesting an Individual Members Branch should be treated like a Member Party.  I will let you know how these discussions progress.  I am happy to do this work but if there ever becomes a need for something to be said about it publicly I will need someone to do this, as I can only do this in a private capacity, behind the scenes, due to my public trade union work.

For individual members in the UK I would like to know your opinion on an additional matter.  I am wondering whether it might be possible for individual members of the EL to run as ‘Left Independent’ candidates affiliated to EL in the 2014 European Parliament.  Where there is no UK registered political party running as an ‘independent’ is an alternative option.  I had thought as the ‘European Left’ is registered party at the European level it might be possible to use that name but I can’t get any clear advice on that, and I think there were have to be a UK registered party to do it.  So the ‘Left Independent’ idea came into my head.  Does anyone have a view?

Best

Stephen

The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096

The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096
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