Sunny Hundal - 'Trots out to wreck'

A Campsie view

As the campaign gathers speed to oust the existing leadership of the NUS, Sunny Hundal, editor of liberalconspiracy.org is in fear that these calls are an SWP take over of the movement.

Trots under the bed.

He has also insinuated  that left unity is the unity of the left and right within the Labour party - a kind of sectarian monopoly of left unity that must incorporate those who believe illegal war was and is justified, through to those cowed by the fear that the press will find out they are lefties so hide behind the latest New Labour/Nouveaux/Newest Labour title.

I'm not entirely sure of Hundal's left claims - he describes himself as "firmly on the left," a rather vague description - I AM sure he is as sectarian as those he has went out to criticise in his newly found hat as a member of the Labour Party.

He has in the past urged non-white voters to back the Tories and at the last election called on people to vote for Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats.

I am no fan of the SWP - but to label all who are criticising Aaron Porter and the NUS leadership as "Trots" (as he has on his twitter stream) in the way the right wing of the Labour Party bandy the term - and in the way Tories do without a definition of what he is talking about, is misleading - and jumping on a bandwagon that tries to discredit a movement. It seems that any organisation with a left anti-capitalist view outside the Labour Party fits this description (he is also critical of the WRP).

I do agree that the SWP will do their usual silly heavy handed "we are the leaders of this movement" rubbish and get on peoples nerves - and may well be part of the large body of students calling for Porters removal - but the SWP are not respected on the left as perhaps they once were (to say the least) - and are certainly not as strong as they have been in the past due to internecine fighting and resultant splits and bad feeling.

My take?  I feel that criticising all who are outside the parenthesis of the Labour Party NUS leadership is not understanding the current student movement - the NUS were irrelevant in the organisation and execution of any of the demos and occupations.

I suggest Hundal reads this superb analysis of where the REAL organisation of student resistance against the cuts is taking place (not in the student union NUS office)

Hundal's article is here

...and this is my comment on his blog.

Sunny – are you not also sick of the tendency for people to brand others they disagree with as ‘Trots’ if they raise their head above the parapet of a party selling itself as a movement (the Labour Party)? I know I am. In fact most of those I know who are outside the Labour Party and are part of the labour movement are NOT trots – either affiliated to other groupings or none. I would also say that is the case of the students who went beyond the SWP etc and used the technology and tactics they have learned over the past few years to organise (flashmobbing/ using twitter/ texting/ blogs etc etc)- and from school occupations across the country last year.

the current youth movement do not trust the mainstream media nor the ready made SWP type fronts to “guide them.” We would be wise to remember that.

That is not to say that the SWP will not try to highjack parts of this movement – but recent splits / walk outs/ wrecking tactics by the SWP in England and Scotland have weakened them beyond all recognition from even during the G8 demos in 2005.

Porter and the NUS are not representative of students- nor have had much bearing on what the movement has achieved. The NUS is really as this blog says, just a coming together of student Unions – and those who involve themselves in those (http://www.betternation.org/2010/12/perhaps-its-time-for-an-actual-national-union-of-those-studying/ ) – and they are usually young people already involved in either mainstream parties or, and not to put to fine a point on it – those interested in DJing in the union etc.

This movement needs spokespeople – not Aaron Porter pretending to lead from his candle lit front. Young people are wise enough -perhaps beyond the wisdom of their parents etc – NOT to want leaders – just spokespeople.

I vote for Jody McIntyre as a spokesperson – neither a Trot nor a slave to the party as far as I am aware…http://twitter.com/jodymcintyre

#Solidarity with the Students Podcast!

Podcast supporting the students in occupation and against the cuts...

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Mentioned in this podcast:

www.ssy.org.uk

@TheeFaction www.theefaction.org

@edinunianticuts edinunianticuts.wordpress.com

@radicalginger @Northernechoes @Labourcat

@efink (free downloads!) HERE and HERE

www.drivebytruckers.com/

The Students in London started the fightback for our democracy...

this is a transcript of a piece made for this TORY podcast - the piece in isolation can be heard here:

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Personally speaking, I am a believer of non-violent confrontation. Having said that, I am no pacifist nor am I Gandhi. Even he understood when under great duress, peoples frustration boiled over into violence. And I totally understand the frustrations vented by young people on the streets of London yesterday. In fact, what I would say is that what happened yesterday was about frustrations over the recent tory coup and undemocratic take over of this country and their insistence on foisting an ideology onto us - one that the majority of voters did not vote for.

This tory minority Government, without the help of the liberal democrats , could not enact this anti-poor, anti-woman, anti young people and anti working people cuts agenda.

People voted for the Lib dems as a vote against the tories - to stop them from carrying out their butchery of our social system and now, in order for the likes of Danny Alexander and Nick clegg to have a bigger salary – and – lets be honest – in order to pay off and protect their parties rich backers, they have done a back flip and are helping the Tories push through their un-necessary cuts.

The students, in my opinion, have actually began the fight back to retake our democracy from this unwanted minority and their failed ideology that saw the original big society quite rightly dismantled after the depression and after the second world war. People are seeing rights and needs their grand parents and parents fight for disappear. People in the past lost weeks and months of pay – and in many cases – their lives, in order to secure for future generations rights such as pension provision, child provision,homes and free education.

To vote for a party who said they stood in the way of the education cuts the Tories proposed, and then to have the same party open the flood gates of tory ideology must be gut wrenching for many voters.

I was glad to see that there were Scottish young people in that crowd. If anything, the Scottish people should be more angry than the rest as 85% of the electorate here voted against the tories. Scottish society is far to the left of the rest of the UK, yet because of the union, our government have no power to raise their own taxes or indeed save our services. The call is going out up here for the Scottish Government to refuse to pass on Westminster’s cuts. Rather, community organisations and activists are calling on the Scottiush Government to set No-Cuts Budgets, Defiance Budgets, and rally masses of workers and communities round a fight for the funds to retain every job, every penny in pay, and every single local service. There are other ways to raise the funds to pay off the richmans debts. The Scottish socialist Party have costed a Scottish service tax which not only would ensure no cuts in services or jobs, but would also raise extra money to invest in these.

Remember the lessons of the past. Remember the un democratic “saviour of Romania” ceaucescu or the people rising up against the right wing cuop in Venezuela. This undemocratically installed Government will have its ceaucescu moment. No-one voted for their ideology and no one voted for their cuts.

It was precisely mass civil disobedience, a refusal to obey Thatcher’s laws and the collection of her government’s hated poll tax, which tossed it (and her) in the dustbin of history.
I say well done to the students who have led the way in retaking our democracy.