Independents Quit Globalise Resistance Steering Committee
Mr F Rontgroup | 12.02.2004 01:05 | European Social Forum | Sheffield
According to a mysteriously leaked resignation letter, four leading members of Globalise Resistance's Steering Committee have resigned with immediate effect, citing the undemocratic takeover of the organisation by the SWP to further its own interests in the organising the European Social Forum in London in late 2004. It is not clear who leaked the letter, but as a journalist, I felt duty-bound to put this information in the public interest. The text follows below.
Dear Steering Committee
With regret we announce our immediate resignation from the GR Steering Committee. We are sure that many of you will have suspected our deep dissatisfaction with the organisation for some time, so we would like to clearly lay out our reasons for resignation.
It is no secret that GR is dominated and controlled by the SWP. Nor is it a reason, we believe, not to appreciate that it has been a vibrant organisation, which has carried out many inspired national and international actions and forged many new working relationships. This, of course, is why we became involved in the first place.
More recently, however, GR has taken on a rather more specific persona. It has become the mechanism through which the SWP engages with the European Social Forum process. Far from being an active, grassroots group incorporating different perspectives as it claims to be, with some natural tensions cropping up from time to time, GR has come to represent a very specific agenda. The agenda has not been endorsed by the Steering Committee and it seems to us one which is primarily aimed at increasing the profile of the SWP within the movement.
While of course we have had concerns about this for some time, last year we sat through many meetings where we not only disagreed with GR but actively opposed its line, as iterated through leading members of the SWP - increasingly the only public representatives of GR. Within the ESF and more widely, we believe the SWP has followed a course which endangers the process as a whole and is proving detrimental to the building of a pluralistic movement capable of radical action in the UK. As the ESF process gathers momentum in London the situation is simply untenable for us, and we no longer feel able to lend our support, by being on the Steering Committee, to GR's position.
None of this means we will not continue to keep cordial relations with, hopefully, all of you. We continue to recognise that GR has a role in the movement, and we look forward to working with you on various actions and projects, which come up. We think it is more honest and more effective to do that from a position outside of GR.
Best wishes,
Naima Bouteldja
Nick Dearden
Asad Rehman
Omar Waraich
With regret we announce our immediate resignation from the GR Steering Committee. We are sure that many of you will have suspected our deep dissatisfaction with the organisation for some time, so we would like to clearly lay out our reasons for resignation.
It is no secret that GR is dominated and controlled by the SWP. Nor is it a reason, we believe, not to appreciate that it has been a vibrant organisation, which has carried out many inspired national and international actions and forged many new working relationships. This, of course, is why we became involved in the first place.
More recently, however, GR has taken on a rather more specific persona. It has become the mechanism through which the SWP engages with the European Social Forum process. Far from being an active, grassroots group incorporating different perspectives as it claims to be, with some natural tensions cropping up from time to time, GR has come to represent a very specific agenda. The agenda has not been endorsed by the Steering Committee and it seems to us one which is primarily aimed at increasing the profile of the SWP within the movement.
While of course we have had concerns about this for some time, last year we sat through many meetings where we not only disagreed with GR but actively opposed its line, as iterated through leading members of the SWP - increasingly the only public representatives of GR. Within the ESF and more widely, we believe the SWP has followed a course which endangers the process as a whole and is proving detrimental to the building of a pluralistic movement capable of radical action in the UK. As the ESF process gathers momentum in London the situation is simply untenable for us, and we no longer feel able to lend our support, by being on the Steering Committee, to GR's position.
None of this means we will not continue to keep cordial relations with, hopefully, all of you. We continue to recognise that GR has a role in the movement, and we look forward to working with you on various actions and projects, which come up. We think it is more honest and more effective to do that from a position outside of GR.
Best wishes,
Naima Bouteldja
Nick Dearden
Asad Rehman
Omar Waraich
Mr F Rontgroup
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