Spoilt for Choice?

Just as the local anti-cuts campaigns in Lambeth have begun to pull together a new national umbrella organisation springs into life.

Regular readers Sid and Doris Trotsky-Cynic will realise that I am not that impressed by the arguments advance by the Socialist Party for establishing another national anti-cuts organisation from yesterday's Conference of the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN).

If I had to choose from amongst the competing "umbrella organisations" I would probably favour the Coalition of Resistance which seems to me least likely to fall under the exclusive sway of a single political organisation. However, the (SWP inspired) Right to Work campaign seems to have a positive idea with the Peoples Convention on 12 February.

What I suppose we are looking for, even more than a single democratic anti-cuts organisation (which won't happen) is something which may bridge the gap between the far left, organised in part in the trade unions, and the emerging anti-cuts activists in UK Uncut and the student movement.

In the mean time, whilst the predominantly London based "leadership" of the left compete to offer us different shades of umbrella organisation under which we may shelter, at a local level we simply need to get on with the job of campaigning. The single most important focus must for now be the TUC demonstration on 26 March.

The scale of the student demonstrations and the anti-tax dodging protests over the past couple of months, and the likely scale of opposition to coming local authority cuts, are far more significant and important than this choice of umbrellas.