From the East London Advertiser, by Ted Jeory.
LEADING Left wing politicians are staging a peace rally in the East End at the weekend in the final days before Thursday’s London Mayor and London Assembly elections.
Labour’s Ken Livingstone, standing for a third term as Mayor, is joining radical firebrand MP George Galloway, who is topping his Respect Party List for the Assembly.
They are joined by veteran Labour politician and former Government minister Tony Benn, among others including CND founder Bruce Kent and designer Vivienne Westwood, for the rally at Altab Ali Park in Whitechapel on Sunday (April 27) at 4pm.
The speakers are leading opponents of the war in Iraq. Organizers claim nearly three-quarters of Londoners opposed the invasion in a poll taken in 2003.
Neil Williams on said:
This is Unity in action and shows some of the possibilities for the future for left Labour, Respect, Greens, CPB (Morning Star)and others to work together.
It also show Respect Renewal is serious about building a new left. Respect was formed as a Coalition (something some have forgotten) to build a new progressive left of ‘New Labour’ Party with others.
George Galloway and Respect are showing the way forward in this election. Its all to play for over the next few days with the Tories in my opinion still just ahead but not so far we cant turn it around, and still with a real chance that George can get elected onto the GLA.
Neil Williams
Aled Dilwyn Fisher on said:
“This is Unity in action and shows some of the possibilities for the future for left Labour, Respect, Greens, CPB (Morning Star)and others to work together.”
A few points:
1. As far as I am aware, the Green Party has not been contacted, and we have no names on your poster.
2. We will have a presence at the Love Music Hate Racism celebration, which has been organised for ages, tomorrow from 12-6pm. If you’re interested in unity, why are you organising a parallel event on the same time? LMHR is being supported by an enormous, much broader list of people, coming together to fight fascism and celebrate diversity.
Has this happened before? Have Respect-Renewing-The-Bank-Account-of (George Galloway) ever organised an event on the same day as another similar event?
anon on said:
Er, isn’t there some big festival on that day to help stop the fascists or is silly old me getting me dates mixed up?
anon on said:
Oh yeah and that list could easily have been put togehther by stop the war coalition so its hardly about ‘building a new left’.
sergo on said:
What a disgraceful, sectarian comment from someone purporting to speak for the Greens. This rally is not organised by Respect or George Galloway, although he was no doubt pleased to accept an invitation to it, as I imagine the others on the speakers list were, including Tony Benn.
If Fisher’s attitude is typical of the Greens, perhaps it would explain why it did not cross the minds of the organisers to invite a representative from the Green Party. But I suspect, and certainly hope, that this attitude is not typical.
djn on said:
Curious…where’s the chair of StWC on that list?
I seem to remember supporters of this blog, only a few months ago, accusing the SWP of possibly engineering a split in the anti-war movement because of the fall-out from the split in Respect. I don’t remember what if any evidence materialized of this, but doesn’t this rally prove that it is Galloway (and RR?) that is splitting the anti-war movement, and not the SWP?
Some questions:
Who are “Londoners 4 Peace” and what’s it’s relationship, if any, to StWC? Why wasn’t Stop the War invited? Given recent back-slapping, what exactly is Galloway’s political relationship to Ken? And what is RR’s relationship to both Galloway and Ken?
As far as I can tell, this whole event backs up the SWP’s argument that Galloway split to the right.
djn on said:
And on the same day as the LMHR carnival!
Neil Williams on said:
Oh dear what is wrong with some of you out there (I mean a few on the far ultra left in the comments section). We should ALL unite to back BOTH the LMHR Carnival on Sunday morning/afterenoon and the Peace Rally in the East End which does not start till about 4pm and will attract many local people who may not go to the Carnival. It seems a few out there hate the idea of Unity but on May 1st the people will speak and no one will be able to hide from the reality of events.
Neil
sergo on said:
#6 and #7 – Wow. This is really hitting the pits. So George Galloway appearing on a platform with Tony Benn, Anas Al-Tikriti, Kate Hudson, Bruce Kent and Walter Wolgfgang is a move to the right, is it? djn, you are right off this planet.
On the more serious issue of whether there is a clash between this and LMHR, LMHR starts at 12noon, whereas this rally starts at 3.30pm. I know that for some people attendance at the LMHR event is compulsory and those who fail to attend are complicit with the BNP, but for those not resident in la-la land, you will know that many people don’t particularly like music carnivals. They are just not their cup of tea, despite the fact they wish them every success. Indeed, I find myself more or less in that category. Are you really and honestly saying that no-one else is allowed to do anything on the last Sunday before the election except what the SWP has organised for them.
The two events will undoubtedly attract different audiences. For those who would have liked to be at both, hard choices sometimes have to be made. But the choice is not that hard. You could do three hours at the Carnival, then nip over and do two and a half hours at the rally. Now that’s not so bad is it.
As for the invitation list, you will have to take up the absence of Andrew Murray from the peace rally platform with the organisers of the rally, but I can’t imagine his absence from the platform is politically motivated. On the other hand, I would note that George Galloway, the local MP for Victoria Park where the LMHR event is taking place, a man with an impeccable record of opposing fascism and someone who has welcomed both initiatives in Tower Hamlets in today’s Morning Star, was not invited to speak at the Carnival, unlike the New Labour mayor of Tower Hamlets and Tony Benn. Now why was that I wonder?
tonyc on said:
Are you serious? The mayor of Tower Hamlets was invited to speak?
I’m used to the SWP not inviting Galloway – and noting that whenever this sort of thing is mentioned, the SWP’s supporters forget that it is customary for a left-wing MP to be invited to a big left-wing event in his or her own constituency – but to invite a new Labour mayor to come… if this is true, the SWP will never have any credibility again when it comes to making claims about other people’s events.
Dave Festive on said:
I agree with aled fisher here. this is not a ‘rally for peace’ (whatever that is), it is a rally for ken. and the only people speaking are his supporters (basically uncritical labour supporters for the purposes of this election)
there is no organisation called londoners 4 peace beyond this, and it would be sectarian to organise this under a benner other than stop the war (if it was genuinely supposed to be a broad political rally), with the organisers doing as I predicted galloway and livingstone would do and trying to break stop the war.
this is an electoral rally for ken. call it what it is.
I commented on this yesterday, and andy deleted it rather than address these points. lets see if he has an answer today.
skidmarx on said:
I think the rain may have shifted across East London by the time of the rally in AA park.Someone up there…
tonyc on said:
“remind me again why he should be speaking?”
Again, without accepting your characterisation (because you’re just wrong, as you were with your lies about Galloway’s leafleters being paid), but given that this is your belief, can you point me to you arguing that the mayor of Tower Hamlets shouldn’t be being invited, and tell me what all the other people who have been invited have done to build LMHR? Clearly, you have some checklist about how much work someone should’ve done before being invited.
And I’m wondering what’s wrong with your memory – let’s call it “troll memory” – that you can’t grasp that if the local MP wasn’t George Galloway but was a fierce anti-racist, anti-imperialist MP, the SWP would’ve invited him without question.
George Galloway hasn’t been invited because he’s George Galloway, not because he failed some benchmark of previous political activity.
You know this, “Dave”.
tonyc on said:
“that you can’t grasp that if the local MP wasn’t George Galloway but was a fierce anti-racist, anti-imperialist MP”
Troll-immunisation: insert “as much of” between “but was” and “a” above.
redbedhead on said:
tonyc – you’re arguing about something that has nothing to do with this thread, frankly. Londoners 4 Peace is a front group for Livingstone. And as such it is a dangerous importation into the movement of a method that can only turn people off of mobilizing – why? Because it is cynical to use the anti-war sentiment that exists in this dishonest way. Hey, if they want to call a rally for Ken that involves people across the movements by all means – but call it what it is: Londoners for Ken.
Whether or not GG has been “excluded” from the movement, as you seem to be arguing, is a valid argument to have. It bears no relationship to “Londoners 4 Peace” and the attempt to link the two is a deflection.
chjh on said:
Check out Londoners 4 Peace’s contact details here http://www.muslimdirectory.co.uk/viewevent.php?id=1541
sergo on said:
#12 “galloway’s view on a leading figure in lmhr is that he should be in jail.” Would you like to name names?
TLC on said:
My God chjh – how sinister. Get a grip.
sergo on said:
#19 So Tony Benn and Kate Hudson, not to mention Bruce Kent and Walter Wolfgang, Anas Al-Tikriti and Vivian Westwood are complicit in a “dangerous importation into the movement of a method that can only turn people off of mobilizing…because it is cynical to use the anti-war sentiment that exists in this dishonest way.” Perhaps you could drop them a line to let them know. Or perhaps you could contact the organisers who I am sure would be only too grateful to hear a bunch of SWP clones lecture them on how they have got it so wrong.
You SWP apologists are getting sadder and more bitter by the minute. Is this because you fear you will see the stupidity and sectarianism of the leadership, to whom you are so devoted, demonstrated in incontrovertible terms next Friday?
redbedhead on said:
sergo – argument on the basis of sarcasm is cheap and fallacious. As is using schoolyard names like “clones”. It only demonstrates that your political analysis is completely empty.
But, in any case, yes, creating a phoney front group that seeks to mobilize a really existing sentiment solely in order to win votes for a candidate who has in most other ways sold out – for instance, not wanting to speak at the StWC demonstration just a month ago – is a dangerous method. The StWC built the movement on a cross-party basis for a reason – for breadth and so it wouldn’t be subordinate to the electoral manipulation of one party – in particular, Labour.
Neil Williams on said:
Some of you have lost the plot and lost it a long time ago.
Londoners 4 Peace is about getting out the vote to stop the Tories or do you want them to win redbedhead,johng,Dave Festive?
Its clear that the vote for Livingsone for Mayor and George Galloway for the GLA is going down very well right across East London and other parts of London (I was there yesterday and saw this for myself). This is the progressive/left view point across many parts of London, a viewpoint that some of you who live on another planet (are you listening Dave Festive?)cannot and will never understand.
Its the ‘Stop the Tories viewpoint’ and should be shared by all who care about London after May 1st.
If the Tories win whatever you think of Livingstone it will be as nothing to the damage that the Tories will do to anything progressive in London – they are ready and waiting and have their team in place for May 2nd and will use London as their springbord for the general election.
The Tories are in the lead I fear with Johnson set to win on May 1st (and at best it will be a close fight with possible recounts?). ‘Fightback Sunday’ could, just could turn things around but this requires Unity a Unity that some few on this Blog do not care about, prefering to put their own selfish Party/individual interests before that of the interests of the working people of London – shame on you!
Neil
redbedhead on said:
TLC – re: your comment to chjh – tell us, who are Londoners 4 Peace? Where did they come from? Why has the organization appeared at this moment and not, say, last month when the StWC organized a demo in London. I mean, where was Ken then? What’s more, Muslims 4 Ken had on their blog an article that explicitly said it was an outgrowth of the campaign to get Livingstone re-elected – it was subsequently removed and then even the link disappeared from google.
TLC on said:
“The StWC built the movement on a cross-party basis for a reason”
Apparently that was to allow Ms German to claim its support for when she stands in elections herself. At least Londoners for Peace isn’t claiming to be Stop the War.
redbedhead on said:
Neil – you start from a dishonest premise – that people don’t want Ken over Boris – and then go on to create an argument against that straw man. The best counter-arguments start with the actual argument that is on the table, not the argument we think is the easiest to defeat, followed by a reprimand for an position that nobody claimed!
redbedhead on said:
TLC – she never claimed to have the support of the StWC. You should read the article.
TLC on said:
“What’s more, Muslims 4 Ken had on their blog an article that explicitly said it was an outgrowth of the campaign to get Livingstone re-elected – it was subsequently removed and then even the link disappeared from google.”
Great argument – an article existed which I can’t reference and to which there is no longer a link.
But do you know what – it doesn’t matter. Why? because if you want a London that supports peace rather than war you had better hope Ken gets elected rather than Boris. So an event to get help Ken re-elected is perfectly reasonable. I’d be surprised if they are arguing for a vote for Boris down at victoria Park!
TLC on said:
Lindsey says, “I think there’s a lot more discontent with Labour and I’ve got support from the Stop the War group and also from the trade unions, so I hope that we can do it.”
Since the only other reference to a stop the war group in the article is her position as convenor of the Stop the War Coalition it is a clear inference that she has this organisation’s support. If not, what is this other mystery Stop the War group she is claiming support from?
redbedhead on said:
TLC – well, you argue using a blatant falsehood from an article that does exist and can be referenced.
In any case, we don’t need the fact that Muslims 4 Ken pulled the article and the link. Just answer the questions I’ve posed above.
However, then you’ve switched the argument. Nobody said Ken shouldn’t be preferred to Boris. This is a completely different argument and a red herring of the first order. Nobody said that Ken’s campaign shouldn’t organize events to build support (though maybe he should have gone to the strike rally on thursday, or the StWC rally last month). The point is this event is dishonest about what it really is. It is telling people to go to an anti-war rally when, in fact, it is a “vote for ken” rally. So, all your hand waving won’t hide that.
redbedhead on said:
TLC – the article is crammed with typos. She is clearly referring to having support from some stop the war groups, not the StWC and not from trade unions in an official capacity. She never claims an endorsement. God, don’t be daft. It claims it nowhere on the Respect website. It claims it nowhere in any LL material. More hand waving – “no, look here. Don’t look there!”
TLC on said:
I think you’ll find that people are invited to a Londons4peace rally – one london, one community. It does not claim to be anything other than that. Get over it. It claims no link to Stop the War but has a damn good line up of speakers. I’d bet Linsdey would jump at the opportunity to speak at it.
You claims of dishostey can’t be taken seriously as you are prepared to accept any nonsense for your mate German – or blame it all on the proof readers.
There is NO stop the war group worth it’s salt that would support one candidate over another as it would break the cross-party consensus. The fact that you think there is one – with no evidence again – suggests more about your uncritical support for German than an understanding of the UK anti-war movement.
redbedhead on said:
TLC – Let’s try this in big type for you: SHE NEVER SAID SHE WAS ENDORSED BY STWC. Good lord.
Your method of argument is all bait and switch. You still haven’t answered the question – what is this Londoners 4 Peace rally? Who formed it? Why now?
TLC on said:
It is part of the effort to get Ken Livingston re-elected. It was put together mostly by members of the muslim community. It is one week before the election.
I didn’t think you wanted that question answered as it’s BLOODY OBVIOUS!
As for the lovely Linsdey’s article even writing in BIG TYPE doesn’t hide the fact that she tried to imply THAT SHE WAS supported by the STOP THE WAR GROUP.
But anyway, THIS HORSE IS DEAD. Let’s stop floggin it. I’m sure you’ve got some more defending the indefensible to get on with on another thread. GOOD BYE.
redbedhead on said:
TLC – thank you for confirming that Londoners 4 Peace is a dishonest front group for the promotion of Ken Livingstone. I appreciate it.
As for Lindsey’s article – you are basing your assumption on nothing but your own sectarian hatred of the SWP. Surely, as the convenor of the StWC she knows the name of it and wouldn’t call it a stop the war group. She, unlike you, also likely knows what an endorsement means vs getting support from within movement organizations.
TLC on said:
Mmm – talk about dishonest. It was you who just put words in my mouth. I never used the word ‘dishonest’. You have taken your interpretation and ascribed it to me. You and your fellow travellers have been making up stuff about this event for the last few days, including the lie that it was to undermine Stop the War, undermine the Carnival and all the rest.
Petty and wrong but you have found yourslef in a fantasy world where everything revolves around the priorities of the SWP. It must be really hard for you over in Canada where you must find it more difficult to bathe in the reflected light from Lindsey ‘never mind the proof readers’ German.
As for ‘sectarian hatred of the SWP’. Grow up. You’ve no idea who I am or who I hate.
“She, unlike you, also likely knows what an endorsement means vs getting support from within movement organizations.” Care to explain? I’m clearly too stupid to know what you mean by this comment. Actually don’t bother. This horse really is dead. But please feel free to have the last word.
Andy Newman on said:
TLC #30:
“There is NO stop the war group worth it’s salt that would support one candidate over another as it would break the cross-party consensus. The fact that you think there is one – with no evidence again – suggests more about your uncritical support for German than an understanding of the UK anti-war movement.”
Indeed. In fact a motion was unanimously passed at the 2004 Stop the war national ocnference moved by Bristol STW that affirmed that STW cannot endorse electoral caniddaites or parties.
Luke on said:
I think we’re all missing a point, and all points seem to be geared towards the elections- which are important.
But it seems that these two events (LMHR and L4P) have been hijacked by two varying factions- Left List and Respect Renewal- this is regardless of the multitude of other speakers, one cannot ignore the fact that the organisers of LMHR are Left List supporters, and the organisers of the Londoners 4 Peace rally are Respect Renewal supporters. There is no Unity here, just blatent sectarianism for an electoral purpose.
The demographic of those most likely to attend the LMHR carnival are young people, some of which will not be entitled to vote, however at the Londoners 4 Peace rally I can assume that the majority in attendance will be entitled to vote.
From a Green perspective, a prescence at both events may have been favourable, but I imagine that they would be squeezed at LMHR by the Left List, and squeezed by Respect Renewal at the Londoners 4 Peace rally.
Carole on said:
Londoners for peace rally.
Held in London with the London Mayor in the constinency of George Galloway Respect MP
Held in London – Got the message ” LONDONERS ” for peace the stop the war is suppose to be for everyone everywhere Londoners for Peace is for Londoners for peace.
How Hard is that
Andy Newman on said:
lOndoners for peace was not organised by Respect, and I cannot understand why a green Party member would say it is – unless they think Ken Livingstone has joined Respect.
non partisan on said:
Assuming its over-and someone actually went, any chance of a report?
lol on said:
I was told Ken called the Carnival ‘magnificent’. Also told he said that to approx 200 (including stewards and speakers).
Have to agree with Ken, Carnival was great.
Comment by lol — 27 April, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
alatab ali a damp squib. Literally. Would say little more than 100 people there–and many of those were party activists handing out leaflets.
Vivienne called on people to vote ken because food prices were going up.
Anas Altikriti called on Muslims to vote for Ken because it would be the end of the world as we know it otherwise.
GG called on everyone to vote Ken to keep out Boris, who he described a ‘racist bigot’.
Bruce Kent called Anas Altikriti his ‘very good friend’.
And Ken wished GG ‘good luck’ and said ‘wouldn’t it be wonderful if George was elected and managed to keep out the BNP.’ He then launched into the usual crowd pleasers, specifically how he would fight to prevent an invasion of Iran.
Speeches each lasted about two-three minutes. V short…and v wet.
Comment by alan — 27 April, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
sergo on said:
#40 I understand the numbers may have been as high as 250, but I suspect the organisers will be disappointed that the turnout was not much higher. Flyers started circulating on the internet, as I recall, on Wednesday afternoon and leaflets did not appear till Thursday evening. I do not know quite how the event was built but clearly it did not reach some levels of the Bengali community the event was primarily aimed at in the very limited time available.
Nonetheless there were large numbers of journalists and cameras there from the Bengali and Asian media. This will mean that highlights of the rally reached a much larger, particularly Bengali, audience later in the day and will reach them again in the Bengali papers that come out just before the election. In these and other respects, the rally can certainly be considered a success.
On more internecine issues, I, amongst others, repeatedly pointed out that this rally did not conflict with the Carnival, against the sectarian jibes of SWP bloggers. Now that the SWP sectarians have been proved wrong on that, these same sectarians now sneer at its size, when no-one to my knowledge had speculated at all on what size this rally might be. Typical.
They also imply that the size of the rally represents a failure for the Respect campaign. If this had been Respect’s rally and a central focus of the Respect campaign, the critics might have a point, but as it was neither, they don’t.
leo gray o waggle on said:
george galloway spoke well as did ken, this i feel is a straight forward good versus evil with boris falling firmly into the latter category. if i woke up on may the 2nd to ken and george having been dully elected i would be quite contented, if i woke up with someone from leftlist/swp had been then i would feel an icy chill, the wicker man springs to mind…….
optimistic Larry Nugent on said:
Maryland cookie, what blighted vision you have, Hoping that something unsavory will stick to GG. So you have no politics other than smearing comrades.
JM on said:
#41 The fact that your rally was a total failure doesn’t mean it wasn’t a scab operation. It just means it was a failed scab operation.
alexander poskrebyshev on said:
#45 Dear oh dear. How sad are you? Just go and lie down in a darkened room for a few days as there is very bad news coming for you very soon.
M on said:
#46 I fear you’re overestimating all those results. However, whatever happens, I’m sure all right-thinking folk will understand it was all the SWP’s fault. Or Galloway’s.
sergo on said:
#46 – dom. Predictions are very dangerous things but this one looks way off.
But let’s suppose you are right. It’s not the 1% difference between Left List and Respect that will be the subject of debate but the 1% between Respect being elected and not being elected. The argument will be that the Left List adventure stopped Respect being elected and probably let in another assembly candidate for the BNP.
Hobsbawm ate my Hamster on said:
So the list headed by a candidate that was selected by an all-london meeting of 300 members should have stood down, in favour of the list that was selected by, well, a few of the great and the good that run RR. Dream on.
sergo on said:
#50 This invoking of a meeting more than a year ago prior to the split to give some democratic validity to the Left List list is plain stupid. And the subsequent meeting this January which dumped several members off the list was just the SWP with a few friends. But anyway, let’s see how 300 plays against the votes for the Left List and Respect.
For the definitive figures, we will have to wait till Friday evening. My firm belief is that the Respect vote will be much more than one third larger than the Left List vote, but no-one can say they actually know what the result will be.
lurker on said:
“But yes, I totally accept the point that the Left List standing does indeed make it harder for GG to get elected and splits up the left-wing vote”
GG only decided to stand at the head of a list after the split. It’s equally valid to say that Galloway-Respect standing makes it harder for LG to get elected and splits the potential ‘united Respect’ vote. However, I’m not sure there is a ‘united Respect’ vote any more. There’s a very strong, if petty, division arisen that suggests that most Left List supporters don’t like many of the Galloway-Respect candidates, and vice-versa.
It will be fascinating to see the results on Friday. If you think the Left List are sectarian now, imagine what will happen if they outperform Galloway. And if you think Galloway supporters are upset GG wasn’t invited to the LMHR carnival, then picture the whinging if he narrowly misses out on a GLA seat.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time really, this split. Ironic that it was provoked by fear that a snap general election whilst Brown was popular might lead to poor election results. In a PR election, with a sitting Respect MP and councillors in the city, with an unpopular Labour government and low profile Labour assembly members, Trade Union unrest, upcoming fears of recession etc., the GLA elections should be fertile ground this year for a party standing to the left of Labour, asking leftwing Labour voters to punish Labour. And yet, ironically, by splitting to be better prepared for elections, both sides of Respect are now electorally weaker than they would have been, and much less likely to make a breakthrough. Still, Friday will give the good/bad news.