Minutes of the 6th Meeting of the 105th Executive Committee of The Socialist Party of Great Britain on the 7th of June 2008 at 52 Clapham High Street, London (These minutes are not official until ratified by the EC) Present: Buick, Carter (Gen. Sec.), Deutz, Johnson, McEwan (Chair until 4.20pm.), Miller (present from 1.20pm.), Roberts, Thomas, White, Wigley(Chair from 4.20pm. until close of meeting). 1. Minutes of the previous meeting A correction to the attendance listing. It should have been noted that Comrade Johnson was the Chair for that meeting. Motion 1 (Deutz and Roberts) "Returns from branches should have been included in the minutes". Agreed. In item 3c The name Linus should have been spelt Linux.in 3b, Motion 2 (Wigley and Thomas) "Delete the people and replace with our contacts" Agreed Agreed to accept the minutes. 2 Matters arising a Nomination received for the Publications Committee Nomination received from East Anglian Regional Branch proposed by Fred Allen and seconded by Stair: "That Lorna Stevens be nominated for the Publications Committee" Vote:For 6 Against/Abstain/0. Motion 3 (Thomas/Wigley) "That Lorna Stevens be appointed to the Publications Committee".  Carried 4-2 3 abstentions b Nominations received for the Advisory Committee to the Treasurer i) At its meeting of the 6th of May, West London Branch passed the following Resolution: "That Comrades Victor Vanni (Glasgow) and David Perrin (Central) be nominated for the newly created Committee to advise the Treasurer on the placement of the Party money". 5-0 (5 members present). Both Comrades have expressed their willingness to stand." ii) At its meeting of the 3 June West London Branch passed the following resolution "That Comrade Syd Wilcox (West London Branch) be nominated to the committee to advise the Treasurer on the placement of Party money." Carried 5-0, 5 present. Motion 4 (Wigley/White) "That Comrades Vanni, Perrin and Wilcox be appointed to the Committee to advise the Treasurer on the placement of the Party money." Carried c Responses to the call for Amendments to Branch Standing Orders Responses received from East Anglian Region Branch, West London Branch and SouthLondon Branch. Motion 5 (Buick and Wigley) "That the comments be passed to the Ad Hoc Committee for consideration." Carried d No responses to the call for nominations for the Internet Committee It is considered that this Committee's need is urgent as the sites are neglected, and the possibility of referring to Companion Parties or to hire a professional on a trial basis was mooted. Motion 6 (Johnson/Deutz) "That the EC appoint Comrade Wigley for the Internet Department." Carried 8-0 1 abstention e Terms of Reference of Committees and Departments (T of R) i)Advertising Department Motion 7 (Wigley/Johnson) "Delete `press' in section 2 and insert `media'."  Carried 8-0 2 not present Motion 8 (Wigley/Buick) "Delete sections 3 and 4, (because this is the Enquiries Department) and renumber the rest." Carried 9-0 ii) Archives Motion 9 (Wigley/Roberts) "That points 1,5 and 6 as in the Advertising Department T of R. be added to the draft Tof R. submitted by the Archives." Carried 9-0 1 abstention Motion10 (Deutz/Buick) "That the terms of Reference for the Archives Department be accepted with the exception of the section headed `not required,' which will be dealt with in a retention schedule which is to follow."  Carried 9-0 1 not present iii) Audio Department Motion 11 (Wigley/Roberts) "That the Tapes Department be renamed the Audio Visual Department." Carried 9-0 1 abstention iv) Ballot Committee Motion 12 (White/Buick) "That the word `secrecy' be inserted after custody." Carried 9-0 1 abstention h Blog Department Motion 13 (Wigley/Buick) "That the T of R be the standard 1,5 and 6 and that the Department maintain the Party Blog."  Carried 10-0 v) Campaigns Department Motion 14 (Wigley/Thomas) "No amendments." Agreed vi) Central Literature Sales Committee Motion 15 (Wigley/Thomas) "That the Committee be deleted." Agreed vii) Education Committee/Organiser Motion 16 (Wigley/Thomas) "Replace title with `Education Department'.Delete `the Committee shall' and `the Organiser shall' and that it be renumbered".Carried 9-1 viii) Enquiries Department Motion 17 (Wigley/Buick) "As for the old Advertising Department, minus item 2 and renumber." Carried ix) Election Department. No change. Agreed x) Groups Organiser. Be deleted. Agreed xi) Head Office Organiser Motion 18 (Thomas/Miller) "Deferred." Agreed 5-2 3 abstained xii) International and Overseas Contacts Secretary Motion 19 (Wigley/Thomas) "The Terms of Reference for the International and Overseas Contacts Secretary not be changed".  Lost 1-8 1 abstention Motion 20 (Miller/Thomas) "That the Terms of Reference be deleted." Addendum: "as the work is already being carried out." Carried 5-3 2 abstentions As a substantive motion: Carried 9-1 xiii) Internet Department Motion 21 (Buick/Thomas) "That the Internet Department be asked to draft Terms of Reference on the basis of what they are currently doing for submission to next month's EC. Agreed xiv) Library Committee Motion 22 (Wigley/Thomas) "That the Library Committee Terms of Reference be amended to include 5, 6 and 7. Agreed Motion 23 (Deutz/Thomas) "that consideration of remaining Terms of Reference be deferred till the end of this meeting and/or next month's meeting." Agreed 3 Forms A and F Form A for Cyril Brown submitted by Manchester Branch. Accepted Forms F: Francis Ochieng Nyawir, Kenya, loss of contact. Accepted 7-2 1 abstention Eric Jefeth Ochineng Onyango, Kenya, loss of contact. Acepted 7-2 1 abstention Emmanuel Sichone, Zambia, loss of contact. Accepted 4-2 4 abstentions Charles Wafula, Uganda, loss of contact. Accepted 10-0 Moses Wanda, Uganda, loss of contact. Accepted 10-0 Letter from Kephas Mulenga , 28/2/08 asking for the re-instatement of Comrades Munchinshi and Elasmo. Motion 24 (Buick/Johnson) "That the Central Branch Secretary contact Kephas Mulenga asking for clarification regarding the letter." Addendum (Johnson/Deutz) "And to get confirmation in writing from the two people requiring reinstatement directly."  As a substantive resolution carried 10-0 4 Accounts 1) No report as a bank statement is still awaited. 2) A letter has been received from Leytonstone Job Centre Bureau with reference to Comrade Tristan Miller The EC agreed to answer their questions in the negative 3) Insurance Cover. A representative requires a Fire Risk Assessment to be done by a company. Insurance cover may limit us to 60 people in the building at any one time.A fully functional fire alarm system is required. 4) Invoice received from Past Tense Publicationsl for £6 for 10 copies of Peter Newell's `Ketts Rebellion'. 5) The Domain Registry of America , has asked for renewal of the domain name.Comrade Miller reports that this is a scam. The meeting stopped for a tea-break from 3pm till 3.20 Resumed at 3.25 5 Reports from Party Officers, Committees and Departments 1) New Speakers Handbook Motion 25 (Wigley/Johnson) "Moved adoption of the New Speakers Handbook." Carried 7-0 3 abstentions Motion 26 (Wigley/Miller) "That the Speakers Handbook be posted on Spintcom and the SPGB. website." Agreed To be posted as under the Education Department 2) Report of the GLA Election Campaign The breakdown of votes revealed a higher than average vote in two wards near Head Office (Larkhall and Ferndale). Motion 27 (Johnson/Wigley) "That the Election Department report on the London Assembly Election be adopted. And that the EC. accept that `we start to prepare now to contest these two wards in the May 2010 borough elections and that this should involve leafletting them both with a socialist newsletter every 4 or so months (that would be 6 or 7 between now and the election). Only about 3000 or so of these would need to be printed each time'. And that `the Party should contest Vauxhall again at the next general election (which must take place at the latest by May 2010)'." Carried 3) Report from Video Production Department Motion 28 (Wigley/Buick) "That we agree the price of £5 for the DVD. and that the Committee produce an insert." Amendment (Thomas/Deutz) "That the object of the Party be included on the insert." Carried The Motion as amended Carried 4) Report from Archives Department Motion 29 (Wigley/Johnson) "That the report be adopted". Carried 9-1 1 abstention 5) Report of Fire Risk Assessment Motion 30 (Buick/Thomas) "That consideration of the report be deferred". Agreed 9-1 1 abstention 6) Report from Campaigns Department Motion 31 (Thomas/Carter) "That £5 be set for the sale of post 1945 Socialist Standards till 1980". Carried 8-0 1 abstention Motion 32 (Buick/Thomas) "That no pre-1930 Socialist Standards be offered for sale next Saturday and otherwise only those where we have over 50 copies" Amendment (White/Carter) "Delete `pre-1930' and insert `pre-1945'". Amendment carried 5-3 1 abstention. Substantive motion carried Carried 6-0 1 abstention (Comrade McEwan left the meeting at 4.20pm. and Comrade Roberts left at 4.30pm.) The arrangement re. a musician a to play in the evening of the Open Day was discussed. Motion 33 (White/Miller) "That the entertainment be scrapped". Carried 5-2 1 absent from the table. The EC. agreed the suggestion that a van be hired for the Tolpuddle event for the period 18th-20th of July. With regard to the launch of the Ecology Pamphlet, Motion 34 (White/Thomas) "That Comrade Brian Gardner be asked to address The Ecology Pamphlet launch". Amendment (White/Wigley) "That `in addition' be inserted between `That' and `Comrade'." As an amended motion Carried Motion 35 (Thomas/Deutz) "That the proposed meeting with Ian Bone take the form of a debate." 7 Correspondence 1) Resolutions from East Anglian Regional Branch (31/5/08) i "That Fred Allen be nominated for the Library Committee". Vote: For 6 Against/Abstain Nil. ii "For the attention of the EC. Please be aware that the serving of hot drinks in ridged plastic cups is a serious health and safety issue as well as being against the law". Vote: For 7 Against/Abstain Nil iii "This branch apologises for not having forwarded a Form C and confirms that this isis now being dealt with". Vote 7-0 Motion 36 (Deutz/Thomas) "That Comrade Fred Allen be appointed to the Library Committee." Cd 7-0. Motion 37 (Thomas/Deutz) "That branches and members organising refreshments at meetings be reminded that hot drinks should be served in polystyrene or other suitable containers and not in flimsy plastic cups". Carried 6-0 1 absent from table. Comrade Johnson left the meeting at 5.30ish. 2) E-mail from Central London Branch 27/5/08 "Be it resolved that Central London Branch deplores the use of Head Office on 5th April as a public venue for a dramatic work by non-members which put forth ideas contrary to the Party case, especially as no advance arrangements had been made to have the Party case put in opposition." Carried 4-0-1 Noted 3 E-mail from Bill Martin, 14/5/08 Comrade Martin writes a rebuttal of some of the points made in the discussion at last month's meeting with reference to the Library Committee nomination. Noted 4 Letter from Andy Armitage, 26/5/08 Comrade Armitage requested clarification on Motions 2 and 3 in the Conference voting figures. It was agreed that the General Secretary reply in accordance with the facts and that the interpretation be added as a footnote to these minutes. 5 Letter from D.Gluck 10/5/08 Seeking temporary accomodation whilst in London. Any offers to put him up please send c/o HO. 6 E-mail from Maureen Turyasingura 18/508 Seeking clarification of the EC. position, and asking for copies of correspondence.Agreed to send copies of the letters sent to Jimmy Mbweze. 7. E-mail from B. Muswema, 22/5/08. Writes with his intention to re-join the Party. Noted 8 Minutes of the WSP of New Zealand, March 2008.Noted 9 March 2008 Minutes of the WSP NAC. Noted 10 Letter from Lambeth Planning, 14/5/08. Noted 11 Resignation letter from Martin Fletcher. To be passed to the South London Branch. 12 Request from Veronica Clanchy to advertise materials in the Socialist Standard Motion 38 (Thomas/Wigley) "That Comrade Clanchy be allowed to advertise the materials in the Socialist Standard."  Lost 2-4 1 abstention 13 Letter from Howard Comber on behalf of the Premises Committee, 3/6/08. Comrade Comber pointed out the security risks of allowing access to the whole of the building on the Open Day. Motion 39 (Miller/Deutz)"That the tours of the building be limited to this area (the ground floor) and the balcony." Carried 4-3 8 Any Other Business Comrade White gave apologies and notice of absence from the next EC meeting 9 Next EC meeting 5th of July 2008 at 12.30pm. 10 Comrade Miller to be the Chair of the next meeting. 12 Meeting adjourned at 5.55pm. Footnote: The distinction between the two is that one resolution prohibited members being `permanently resident' at Head Office (i.e., long-term residency). Whereas the other stated that the Party has no objection to members merely `staying' at Head Office (implying shorter, temporary stays).

To E,C. Minutes index page >>   To Socialist Party >> To SPintcom >> To SPopen >>  To WSM Forum >>