The latest Weekly Worker has just gone on-line. For the third week in a row, I've had a latter published (drastically edited this time but making some important points and not distorted by editor Peter Manson - I sent it yesterday so that letters editor Steve Cooke didn't edit it first). The headline Peter chose for my letter is "Staying power".

 

Incidentally, John Bridge and Jack Conrad are both pseudonyms for the CPGB's leader; I had previously pointed out in a letter that Peter also published that an article of Peter's had said that Conrad had repeated the same point several times. The overthrow of Conrad/Bridge, the Stalin character in the CPGB, could transform the organisation just like the SWP is getting much better with John Rees' fall from leadership of Left Alternative (the SWP's splinter from Respect), although I have heard that Rees is still on the SWP's Central Committee.

 

I attended three days of the Covnention of Left in Manchester, as well as handing out my Foundation for PR-based Socialism newsletter 4 (with newsletter 1 on the back of some copies) - each of which is downloadable from http://www.PRsocialism.org - to those attending the Labour Party conference, including Charles Clarke MP, James Purnell MP, David Lammy MP, Daniel Finkelstein (of The Times) and Tony Woodley (general secretary of the trade union Unite). [I recognised them all, which Finkelstein pointed out that this forced him to take my leaflet.] I have now moved to Manchester from Glasgow (although I may visit Glasgow again for a week or so in the near future).

 

Those of you on Facebook may be interested in groups I have set up to call for Nicola Sturgeon to become First Minister of Scotland (Nicola, the current Deputy First Minister, is much more left-wing than Alex Salmond and as health minister is introducing a minimum price for alcohol in supermarkets which will massively help the problem of binge drinking) and Melissa Benn to be prime minister of the UK.

 

Melissa's speech was the highlight of last year's Labour conference in my opinion; it even persuaded grandfather Tony (now President of the Stop the War Coalition) to try to stand for parliament again. Melissa is not currently an MP, and would become the youngest ever MP if she overcomes a 8000+ Tory majority. [Electoral law stated you had to be 21 to stand at the time of the last general election, despite being able to vote at 18 - clearly a measure to try to stop young radical people from transforming parliament, just like you have to be 35 to be US president; I don't recall any legislation being passed to change the law (imagine the radicalising effect of publicising such an ageist law especially with the granddaughter of Tony Benn seeking election) so I thinkit was quietly decided to be changed anyway! In the current and worsening economic climate, Melissa could well win her seat bucking the national trend of a swing from Labour to the Tories, if she puts forward a democratic (i.e. non-Marxist) revolutionary socialist position in the election - but if there is a left-wing split from Labour in the meantime, she could well join it! I didn't meet Melissa in Manchester, but she is a friend of a friend of somebody I talked to at the Convention so she will probably find out about the group soon.

 

Search for "Nicola Sturgeon" or "Melissa Benn"at Facebook if you want to browse/join one of the groups.

 

Anyway, I've included below the unedited letter I sent to Peter. Download the whole newspaper - it looks really good this week with a front-page headline "Bush administration rushes to save sick financial system with trillion dollar bale-out. Drip-feed capitalism" - by going to http://cpgb.org.uk/worker/738/WW738%20WEB.pdf. It should be available in HTML soon at cpgb.org.uk.