is a
Left Wing Political Party In England And Wales founded on
January 25 ,
2004 in
London . Its name is a
Pseudo-recursive Backronym standing for
Respect ,
Equality ,
Socialism ,
Peace ,
Environmentalism ,
Community , and
Trade Unionism . It is often referred to simply as '''Respect''' or as the '''Respect Party'''.
Many mainstream commentators present Respect as a
Single-issue Party focusing on its opposition to the
War In Iraq . However, it claims to "''provide a broad-based and inclusive alternative to the parties of
Privatisation , war, and
Occupation ''" and have a broad
Socialist agenda.
Some of the policies on which it has also campaigned include:
- The repeal of the industrial relations legislation brought in by the Conservative Party in the 1980s.
- The defence of the rights of refugees and other asylum-seekers.
- Opposition to the " Stability Pact " that the European Union seeks to impose on all those who join the Euro .
- Support for the Palestinian people and ending British tolerance of various Israel i policies regarding the Palestinians.
- Support for Kashmiri self-determination and recognition of the status of Kashmir as an unresolved or "Unfinished business of Partition" or a merger with unionist Pakistan .
- Support for the British Environmental Movement .
In their founding constitution the founding parties state their overall aim as to "''help create a socially just and ecologically
Sustainable society''", giving a definition of social justice that includes "''the organisation of society in the most open, participative, and accountable way practicable based on
Common Ownership and democratic control''.
The Constitution of Respect - The Unity Coalition
]]
Respect allows its members to hold membership of other political organisations. It includes:
Other notable supporters include:
The coalition also has the support of:
Before its dissolution the coalition had the support of The national council of the
Socialist Alliance .
Although the leader of Respect is listed in the register of political parties as
Linda Smith (until
November 22 ,
2004 Nick Wrack ),
George Galloway is often assumed to be its leader by the mainstream media. In fact, Respect does not have a leader as such and is run by an elected "national council", a full list of whom can be found on their website. The party was originally launched by ''
The Guardian '' journalist
George Monbiot and
Birmingham Stop The War Coalition chair
Salma Yaqoob who is said to have thought up the coalition at her
West Midlands home.
In its 2006 accounts filed with the
Electoral Commission , it noted it has three paid employees including
John Rees and had 5,739 registered members on December 31, 2006 (2005 - 5,674). It has 42 branches (2005 - 25) and had a total income of £273,023 and expenditure of £228,100.
Respect - The Unity Coalition - Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2006
for the 2005 elections]]
The coalition sought to challenge
Tony Blair from the left at the
London Assembly and
European Parliament elections in 2004, and gained a quarter of a million votes. This is the best result, in aggregate, ever achieved by the socialist left outside of the
Labour Party . The party claims that these votes have been achieved primarily by capitalising on the 2003
Anti-war Protests and by attracting the votes of "
Old Labour " supporters who feel Blair has moved the party too far to the
Right of their socialist beliefs. The correlation between the performance of Respect and the
Muslim population of an area suggests that it has succeeded in attracting the protest votes of some Muslims who feel alienated by Labour's support for the war. It almost immediately had a councillor in Preston, SWP member
Michael Lavalette who was elected as a
Socialist Alliance candidate in 2003, but subsequently voted with the majority of the SWP to wind-down the Socialist Alliance in favour of the newly formed party, who was joined by a former labour councillor,
Steve Brooks .
Respect candidate
Lindsey German came fifth in the 2004
London Mayoral Election . Its largest constituency vote in the 2004
Assembly Elections was in
City And East London , where it polled 13.46%, reaching third place.
In their first European Parliament elections (also in 2004), Respect's proportion of the national vote was 1.7%, and they failed to win any seats. Their best result was in London itself, with a relatively strong 4.8%, and their worst was in
Wales and the
South West , with 0.6% and 0.7% respectively. Their strongest borough was
Newham , London, with 21.41% of the vote.
The results at the
Birmingham Hodge Hill and
Leicester South By-elections in 2004, were 6.3% and 12.7% of the vote respectively — enough to retain its deposit in both seats (which requires a minimum of 5% of the vote). However, in Birmingham Hodge Hill the "anti-war" vote was split between Respect and the Liberal Democrats; anti-Labour parties claim that, as a result, the Labour candidate won the seat.
Respect won its first election on
July 29 ,
2004 , when
Oliur Rahman won away a ward from Labour in
Tower Hamlets . The election was called after a Labour councillor was expelled for alleged corruption. In September 2004, Respect candidate
Paul McGarr stood in the Tower Hamlets
Millwall ward by-election and came second, pushing Labour into third place
{Link without Title} .
In the ,
East Ham and
West Ham . By far their best result outside London was in Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath, where Respect candidate
Salma Yaqoob came second with 27.5% of the vote. Again claims were made that the anti-Labour vote was split by the Respect vote allowing Labour to keep the seat. This is consistent with the mathematics of the results as, had the votes for the Liberal Democrat and Respect candidates all gone to one candidate, that person's vote would have beaten the Labour vote.
Respect stood a limited number of candidates nationally and concentrated on Tower Hamlets, where it stood a full slate of candidates and managed to win twelve seats. Although Respect defeated several high-profile Labour councillors including council leader Michael Keith and Cabinet member for Housing David Edgar, its performance wasn't as good as the party had hoped and the council remained in Labour control.
The party also had a , standing in
Bristol Lockleaze, came second in a ward that is 4% Muslim.
1
Respect stood
Dave Ellis , a trade unionist who organised one of the largest continuous strikes in recent years at
Huddersfield Technical College , in the Greenhead
Ward by-election on 27 July in the
District of
Kirklees . Ellis got 3.9 percent of the vote, coming fourth and narrowly beating the
British National Party 's candidate who finished last.
Greenhead by-election 27th July 2006 results
In the
Metropolitan Borough Of Barnsley Worsborough by-election on 16 November, Respect polled 91 votes, 5.5%
In December 2006, Respect gained another councillor in Birmingham, Abdul Aziz, who defected from the
Liberal Democrats , bringing their total in the city to 2.
In February 2007, Respect picked up another councillor when Councillor Wayne Muldoon in Loughborough defected from Labour.
2
In the days before the elections Respect lost one of its Tower Hamlets councillors,
Waiseul Islam who returned to the Labour Party.
Islam has since expressed his reasons for doing so saying, "I reject the notion of dividing the local community for political gain, which is what I believe Respect are effectively doing."
3
Respect stood a total of 48 candidates in 2007 and although only three candidates were elected (Mohammed Ishtiaq in Birmingham Sparkbrook, Ray Holmes in Bolsover Shirebrook and Michael Lavalette retained his seat in Preston Town Centre.
4), the number of people voting for Respect increased, with candidates coming in 2nd and 3rd places in many boroughs throughout the country. Their wins brought the total number of Respect councillors in the UK to 18.
Respect has suggested in the recent past that it may stand for the
Scottish Parliament in future if the
SSP's internal crisis continues, which now seems likely. However, the new party
Solidarity founded by
Tommy Sheridan , former convenor of the SSP, has the backing of Respect's prominent element, the Socialist Workers' Party and the
Socialist Party , in the past a critic of Respect. As of November 2006, Respect has not commented on these developments. Meanwhile, George Galloway has also suggested he would like to stand for the Scottish parliament in future having stated that he will not restand in his current seat personally (Respect obviously still will, possibly with a local candidate).
5
There has also been suggestion from some in the party of standing the party against far-right parties' target seats because some feel that they can make sure that any anti-establishment votes that will not go towards a mainstream political party, go towards a left-wing party rather than a far-right one.
The party's policy of standing in only a few seats per area is likely to stand, however branches are more likely to stand in every area in which they operate. Galloway has suggested on his radio show that he thinks in the next general election Respect will win several inner city seats both in and out of London where they currently hold a seat.
While Respect is not part of any international organisation and has no formal links to any party from other countries, it does have fraternal links with various organisations. Respect participates however in the
European Anticapitalist Left .
Respect is registered as a political party in Scotland but have claimed that this is just so no one else uses their name in Scotland. They have not stood in
Scotland and have in the past urged voters to support the
Scottish Socialist Party (
SSP ).
In 2005, Respect took part in the second congress of the
European Left . Respect's participation in this event was welcomed by the Left Party's chair
Fausto Bertinotti in his closing speech.
6
Critics of Respect such as the European and local elections, and that a full constitution will be developed democratically through elections at its annual conferences. Respect's policies were fleshed out to a large extent at its first national conference which took place in 2004; the resolutions passed can be found on their website.
Respect has also been accused of abandoning the left-wing issues of women's rights,
Gay Rights and fighting
Homophobia in order to attract Muslim support. While Respect included opposition to discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation in its founding declaration
7, critics claim Galloway has tended to avoid
Commons votes involving
Equal Rights for gay people - although he did vote to lower the age of consent for gay people in England and Wales to sixteen in 2000, earning him an invitation to open a new Lesbian and Gay centre in Glasgow. He has also praised New Labour's record on improving gay rights, and says of his absence from one vote that "there was never any doubt about the passage of the
Civil Partnerships {Link without Title} , I wholly support it".
8 Respect's 2005 conference resolved that explicit defence of equal rights and calls for the end to all discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and
Transgender people would be made in all of its manifestos and principal election materials.
9
Respect and elements of the LGBT community have clashed on two other notable occasions. In November 2005, Respect's largest single financial donor,
Dr Mohammad Naseem , was accused in an article by
Peter Tatchell of being homophobic due to his senior position in the
Islamic Party Of Britain , which he claimed advocated the "banning of gay organisations" and the "execution of homosexuals".
10 Naseem, however, stated that the Islamic Party was now little more than a thinktank, and furthermore, disagreed with the statements on the Islamic Party website which Tatchell pointed to, stating his views on homosexuality as follows: "These things are a matter of personal choice...I am not concerned with what people do in their bedrooms."
11 Naseem was also present at Respect's 2005 conference, where the vote to reaffirm Respect's support of LGBT rights was passed unanimously.
12
In January 2006, an article attacking Tatchell's opposition to the party was written by Respect member and journalist
Adam Yosef . Writing for ''
Desi Xpress '', Yosef accused Tatchell of
Islamophobia but was attacked by gay organisations for "encouraging violence against Tatchell" and for using "xenophobic" and "homophobic" language. Yosef also used other articles to attack
Same-sex Union s, describing them as a front for "
Tax Fraud ". Tatchell called on Respect to expel Yosef but the party responded with the following statement: "Adam Yosef has the right to voice his own opinions in his own column – they range from an ecstatic review of Birmingham’s gay pride to venting his thoughts about Peter Tatchell."
13
The British journalist .
Similarly, in the
2004 Euro Elections the Alliance for Green Socialism was particularly critical of Respect for placing
Anais Al Tikriti (of the
Muslim Association Of Britain ) at the top of their list of candidates in
Yorkshire & Humberside - claiming he was a religious
Sectarian and reactionary who was anti-socialist and opposed to basic left/progressive principles such as
Gender Equality and
Secular Civil Society .
Jacob Middleton, responding in the ''
Socialist Review '', notes Respect's success in certain areas with very small Muslim populations, such as Councillor
Elaine Abbott 's Respect campaign for the May 4th (2006) local elections in which the Respect party achieved second place by around 150 votes in the solidly white working class area of Riversway,
Preston . They also came second in the
Bristol Lockleaze ward in the same elections, in an area which is 86% white. He points out that even in Newham and Tower Hamlets, where Respect were most successful, Muslims form a minority, albeit a large one (24% and 36% of the population respectively) according to the most recent census. As of the 2007 local elections, Respect now has a councillor, Ray Holmes in Bolsover, in a ward with no Muslims resident, and a 98% white population, at the time of the last census.
Respect co-initiator
2004 . Accessed
10 November 2006 .
For the
2004 Euro Elections , an attempt was made by Respect to present a joint slate with the Green Party as articulated in a letter by Michael Lavalette in the Guardian (5 May 2005). However, the response from Prof John Whitelegg (Guardian, May 6 2004) claims that this would not have been legally possible as electoral law does not allow for joint slates. The Greens have also said that they had selected their candidates months previously by postal ballot, and were sceptical of the SWP influence.
16 In a newspaper interview
Hugo Charlton , Green party chair, said that he had "... always argued for some sort of understanding with them, not least because we are both "fellow travellers" on the left"; however he also noted that "any agreement at a local level, in the Green spirit of devolution, is up to local parties, but a formal, national alliance is out of the question".
17
After the 2005 results,
Peter Cranie , the Greens' election co-ordinator - impressed with their results - had called for further discussion about how to further build the left of Labour vote, but did not advocate forming a Green-Respect alliance.
18
The Alliance for Green Socialism also criticise Respect for being unwilling to discuss the avoidance of electoral clashes with Green Socialists whilst being prepared to offer such an electoral arrangement to the non-socialist Green Party.
- Mc Shane, Anne. ''Reformism from above?''
- Bynon, Huw. ''Drawing class lines''
- Fischer, Mark. ''Abortion: make the position clear''
- Manson, Peter. ''A strange amalgum'' (''sic''), ''Gerrymandering, exclusions and the farce of three- minute democracy''
- Tatchell, Peter. ''Bizarre, upside-down politics''
- Grzincic, Natasha. ''Respect where it's due?'' . . April 2005.
- '''. February 2004.
- Neira, Manny. ''Socialism - the final shibboleth'' . Weekly Worker. January 2004.
- O'Toole, James. ''British Labor rivals wooing fast-growing Muslim voters Iraq, immigration policies put incumbents on notice'' . . Page A 6. Wednesday, May 04, 2005.
- '''. 14 May 2005 .
- Sell, Hannah ''Islam and Socialism'' . . October 2004.
- Bird, Nick ''Respect can be a real advance for the radical left'' . . May 2005.
- Reports of 2nd annual conference, ''Celebrate success, but face the next challenge" . . 26 November 2005 .
- The Respect Coalition - Reactionaries in Progressive Clothing?
- ''' 7 May 2006 .
- Middleton, Jacob ''Respect and the Muslim Vote'' . Socialist Review, June 2006
