. No report received from HOO or
Treasurer.

Motion 5 (Deutz & Helps) BIRT the matter of an assistant
to the Treasurer be deferred, and that the Treasurer and
Head Office Organiser be reminded to respond to the EC's
query.
Agreed

ii. Motion 18 (speakers' classes). No report received from CO.

Motion 6 (Deutz & Helps) BIRT the matter of speakers'
classes be deferred, and that the Central Organiser be
reminded to respond to the EC's query.
Agreed

iii. Motion 16 (Conference resolution implementation). No
reports received other than that of the Socialist Standard
Department.

Motion 7 (Deutz & Bissett) BIRT the matter of the
outstanding requests for reports on Conference resolution
implementation be deferred.
Agreed

iv. Motion 31 (Forms F for Pat and Phil Bentley)

The meeting considered a letter from the Central Branch
Secretary of 2 July submitting or resubmitting Forms F for
Cdes Partington, Mwape, Critchfield, and Pat and Phil
Bentley. The EC also received a letter from the Head Office
Organiser indicating that the Bentleys wished to remain
members and would pay by standing order.

Motion 8 (Deutz & Easton) BIRT the EC accept the Forms F
for Cdes Partington, Mwape, and Critchfield.
Agreed

Motion 9 (Miller & Easton) BIRT the Forms F for the
Bentleys be rejected and the Central Branch Secretary be
apprised of the Head Office Organiser's letter.
Agreed

d. Amendment of the 24 June 2007 meeting minutes

The EC read a letter from Buick urging caution with the posting
of the minutes of the 24 June meeting.

Motion 10 (Easton & Bissett) BIRT the full minutes of of the
24 June special meeting be circulated to Branches and members
who normally received them by post, that discussion be omitted
from the minutes posted online, and that a notice be inserted
in those minutes indicating that the full minutes are available
on request.
Carried 7–0–1

Motion 11 (Miller & Chesham) BIRT the 24 June minutes be
amended by adding Gordillo & Lee to the visitors list.
Agreed

Motion 12 (Miller & Helps) BIRT in 4.d.viii of the 24 June
minutes, “Smith presented the Branch with” be replaced with
“Smith presented him and two other members with”, and “The
Branch advised him not to submit the letter, and advised him”
with “They advised him not to submit the letter, and the Branch
advised him”.
Agreed

Motion 13 (Deutz & Miller) BIRT in 4.c.iii 2 of the 24 June
minutes, the first instance of “Lawrie” be replaced with
“Johnson”.
Agreed

Motion 14 (Deutz & Miller) BIRT the 24 June minutes include
voting figures for all Branch motions.
Agreed

Motion 15 (Deutz & Miller) BIRT 4.d.viii 3 of the 24 June
minutes be replaced with “Clanchy wrote that Smith felt the
need to get things off his chest, and that she considered this
to be the end of the matter.”
Agreed

Motion 16 (Deutz & Miller) BIRT in 4.c.ix of the 24 June
minutes “filed no written expense claim” be replaced with
“submitted no expense claims to him”.
Agreed

Motion 17 (Deutz & Carter) BIRT the comments of Cdes Thomas
and Johnson in answer to Central London Branch's Item 4 be
referred to in the minutes.
Failed 3–3–2

Motion 18 (Deutz & Easton) BIRT in 4.d.xi of the 24 June
minutes, “that it threw mud on Smith” be replaced with “that it
was like throwing a handful of mud and hoping some would
stick.”
Agreed

Motion 19 (Helps & Chesham) BIRT in 4.d.viii of the 24 June
minutes, “Aries had complained” be replaced with with “Aries
had mentioned”.
Agreed

e. Adoption of the 24 June 2007 meeting minutes

Motion 20 (Bissett & White) BIRT the minutes for 24 June as
amended be adopted.
Agreed

f. Matters arising from the 24 June 2007 meeting

Chesham said that with respect to 4.d.xiii of the 24 June
minutes, he had mentioned the matter to the HOO, who confirmed
he was also aware of the situation. The HOO raised the matter
at the 31 March EC meeting, so the EC itself was aware of this
issue, but chose to do nothing about it.
i. Correspondence on and discussion of alleged personal abuses
on Party mailing lists

The Internet Department reported that they had instituted a
moderation policy for the mailing lists which prohibited
personal attacks, but that they did not have the resources
to enforce it.

Motion 21 (Easton & Miller) BIRT a call for further
nominations to the Internet Department be made.
Agreed
Motion 22 (Deutz & Helps) BIRT the Internet Department's
report be noted.
Agreed

ii. Correspondence on and discussion of alleged personal abuses
by A B Smith

Motion 23 (Deutz & Easton) BIRT Cde Smith be referred to
the 1980 Conference resolution referred to in Motion 4 of
the 24 June minutes.
Carried 8–0

iii. Correspondence on and discussion of alleged personal
abuses by M Martin

It was agreed to consider under this heading all
correspondence the meeting had received concerning
Cde Martin.

Miller stated that Martin had repeatedly made abusive
telephone calls to Head Office. Bissett explained that one
of these calls was made to attack him for not removing one
of her abusive postings to spintcom. Easton noted that
Martin doesn't stand by her remarks, but that her being
prone to such behaviour causes problems. Deutz said that
Martin was also on the receiving end of abuse or
misrepresentation of her actions.

The EC read correspondence from Lawrie, Chesham, and Miller
which gave quotes of Martin repeatedly expressing support
for nationalist, reformist, and theist views and
organisations on the Internet over the last year. The EC
read correspondence from Buick about Martin's health and
state of mind, and stating it would be cruel for the EC to
charge her and force her to respond now. The EC heard a
letter from Bissett stating that her nationalism was not
sincere but was expressed only to gain the admiration of
people she had met on the Internet. Bissett's letter gave
many quotes from Martin where she properly and
enthusiastically argued the Party case.

Easton, Bissett, Deutz, White, and Carter argued for
handling the situation sympathetically and sensitively, and
for referring the matter to the Branch, at least in the
first instance. Miller and Chesham argued that this course
of action was not permitted under Rule 31; the information
had been brought to the EC, not the Branch, so the EC was
obliged to act on it. Miller argued that there is no
prospect for corrective or preventative discipline in this
case, since Martin had been acting in contravention of the
Principles and to the detriment of the Party for over a
year, and had already admitted that she knew this was wrong
but was determined to do it anyway. Helps said that we must
show sympathy, but also must treat her like any other
member.

Bissett moved that the matter be referred to West London
Branch. The Chair ruled this motion out of order on the
grounds that it was not permitted by the Party Rules. The
Chair invited the meeting to hold a vote of direction or
vote him out of the Chair if they felt otherwise. Carter
said that the Party Rules were antiquated.

Motion 24 (White & Helps) BIRT the EC charge Cde Martin
under Rule 31.

Bissett asked whether Martin had been notified that she
would be charged at this meeting. Miller said that he
asked Buick to inform her that her actions would be
discussed at this meeting and that she could be
charged. Buick said she had spoken with Martin, who
said she would resign in a month. Chesham said it would
be inappropriate to have a member of the Campaigns
Department expressing nationalist views, even for one
month.

For: Chesham, Easton, Helps, Miller, White. Against:
Bissett, Carter, Deutz. Abstaining: none.
Carried 5–3

iv. Correspondence on and discussion of alleged personal abuses
by any other members

Bissett asked whether Cde Comber was to be discussed under
this item.

Miller said he heard that Comber was in poor health,
possibly because of recent events in the Party.

Bissett said that it was obvious Central London Branch was
targetting any comrade who had upset Chesham, and that he
would not proceed with the charade. Bissett then left the
meeting.

Motion 25 (Miller & White) BIRT the EC contact Cde Comber
to wish him good health.
Carried 4–0–3

Notice of Motion 1 (White & Chesham) BIRT in view of the
fact that the Head Office computer has been used to access
and view websites of a pornographic nature, this EC affrims
that the Party's infrastructure is for the propagation of
socialism and the administration of the party.

Notice of Motion 2 (Chesham & Carter) BIRT the practice
of self-nomination to subcommittees be discontinued.

g. Notices of Motion and Business
i. Notice of Business 1 (Miller) from 2 June: The EC shall
discuss copyright licences for images used in The Socialist
Standard.

The EC read a letter from the Assistant Secretary of 2 July
warning that the failure to obtain and comply with
copyright licences for images used in The Socialist
Standard exposes the Party to civil and criminal liability.
The EC read a portion of the Report of the Socialist
Standard Department which indicated that the Department was
addressing the issue.

Motion 26 (Miller & Easton) BIRT the Socialist Standard
Department be instructed to credit all images in the manner
specified by their licences.
Carried 6–0–1

ii. Notice of Business 2 (Stair) from 2 June: The EC shall
discuss the purchase of a hearing induction loop.

Motion 27 (Helps & Carter) BIRT the matter of the
purchase of a hearing induction loop be deferred until the
next meeting.
Agreed

iii. Notice of Motion 1 (Miller & Browne) from 2 June regarding
an amendment to the EC's Standing Orders.

Carter argued that there was no need to amend the Standing
Orders since they had always served the EC well.

Motion 28 (Miller & Browne) BIRT the Executive
Committee's Normal Order of Business be amended as follows:
○ Replace “(c) Forms A” with “(c) Forms A and F”.

○ Replace “(f) Reports of subcommittees and departments”
with “(f) Reports of party officers, party appointees,
subcommittees, and departments”.

○ Insert after (g) “(h) Any other business”.

○ Replace “(h) That the Chair for the next meeting be
nominated at the previous meeting” with “(i) Nomination
of Chair for the next meeting”.
Carried 4–0–3

iv. Notice of Motion 2 (Stair & Helps) from 2 June regarding
meeting times

Motion 29 (Stair & Helps) BIRT the regular meeting of the
EC shall be on the first Saturday of the month at 13:00,
and that the EC's Standing Orders be so amended.
Agreed

3. Forms A
a. Charlie Wolf

Motion 30 (Miller & Helps) BIRT Wolf's Form A be deferred and
that the Membership Department be advised to consult with him
on his answers to #5 and #10 of the membership questionnaire.
Carried 6–1–0

4. Written report of the General Purposes Committee
□ None received.

5. Accounts
a. Accounts for March 2007

Easton left at this point to attend a prior engagement he had
announced at the beginning of the meeting.

Motion 31 (Deutz & Helps) BIRT the accounts for March 2007 be
noted.
Agreed

6. Reports of Subcommittees and Departments; discussion of campaigns
and The Socialist Standard
a. Report from the Video Production Department

Motion 32 (Miller & Carter) BIRT the Report from the Video
Production Department be deferred.
Agreed

b. Report from the Campaigns Department

Motion 33 (Miller & White) BIRT the EC thank the Campaigns
Department for their report and ask that the Department furnish
the poster designs and a detailed budget before their grant is
considered.
Carried 5–0–1

Motion 34 (White & Helps) BIRT the EC call for a further two
nominations to the Campaigns Department.
Carried 6–0

Motion 35 (White & Miller) BIRT the Campaigns Department be
asked to contact general debating societies in addition to the
university debating societies.
Carried 6–0

c. Discussion of campaigns

No discussion.

d. Report from the Socialist Standard Department

Motion 36 (White & Carter) BIRT the Socialist Standard
Department's report be noted with thanks.
Carried 5–0

e. Discussion of The Socialist Standard

No discussion.

7. Correspondence
a. Matters of urgency
i. Request from Internet Department for new equipment

Cde Culbert, the webmaster for the SPGB website, reported
that his computer is irreparably damaged and needs to be
replaced.

Motion 37 (Helps & White) BIRT the EC grant the Internet
Department up to 500 for a computer for Cde Culbert.
Carried 6–0

b. Correspondence from or concerning Branches, the Party in
general, and members
i. Letter from Swansea Branch (12 June) regarding Trustee
nomination for H Moss

Motion 38 (Deutz & Helps) BIRT Moss be appointed Trustee.
Carried 6–0

ii. E-mail from Edinburgh Branch (14 June)

The e-mail contained the following two resolutions:
A. That Edinburgh branch urges the EC, as a matter of
priority, to purchase for the Party audio and video
equipment to record Party activity – e. g., business
meetings and special events. (3–0–0)

B. Edinburgh Branch recommends that the EC investigate the
practicalities of providing integrated mobile phones
that have full capabilities – e. g., video, camera,
dictaphone, e-mail, and Internet – for the use of Party
Officers. (3–0–0)

Motion 39 (Miller & White) BIRT the EC requests a
rationale from Edinburgh Branch for their second motion.
Carried 6–0

Motion 40 (Deutz & Chesham) BIRT the General Secretary
reply to Edinburgh Branch's first motion in accordance with
the facts.
Carried 6–0

iii. Treasurer's recommendation on written expense claims (21
June)

Motion 41 (Deutz & White) BIRT all expense claims be
supported by claim forms and recorded by the Department
authorising them as well as by the Treasurer.
Carried 6–0

iv. Report to the July 2007 EC on Actions Taken Pursuant to the
1995 Conference Resolution Concerning the Protection of the
Party's Identity and Funds

The report gave the following news: The New Statesman
suggested we refer our complaint about spurious ads to the
Advertising Standards Authority, an industry
self-regulatory agency whose decision they would abide by.
The iPetitions website had promptly and satisfactorily
dealt with our complaint. The Assistant Secretary had
written to the manager of Hyde Park and to the Kings Cross
Brunswick Neighbourhood Association regarding spurious
meetings, and was still awaiting responses.

Motion 42 (White & Chesham) BIRT the Assistant Secretary
file a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority
about deceptive advertisements by the Socialist Studies
group.
Carried 5–0–1

The meeting read a letter from South London Branch
containing the following resolution:

That the Branch Secretary write to the EC informing
them that South London Branch urge that the EC publish
a statement in The Socialist Standard disassociating
the Party from the organisation of impostors
masquerading as the SPGB and currently speaking in
Hypde Park and holding meetings in Central London as
the SPGB (3–0–1)

Motion 43 (White & Miller) BIRT the EC write back to
South London Branch asking them to reconsider their motion
in light of the publicity it would bring to the impostors.
Carried 6–0

It was agreed to defer the matter of a leaflet on Harry
Baldwin another month.

v. Letter from South London Branch (26 June) seeking approval
for a debate at Head Office.

Motion 44 (Deutz & White) BIRT the arrangements for the
debate be approved.
Carried 6–0

vi. Letter from Head Office Organiser (29 June) giving
apologies for his absence.

Agreed to note.

vii. Request from North East Branch for 50 for a reunion event

Motion 45 (Miller & Deutz) BIRT North East Branch be
granted 50 as requested.
Carried 6–0

viii. Correspondence concerning the World Socialist Party
(India)

Miller reported that Binay Sarkar of the WSP(I) had
approached the Central Organiser with a view to
rapprochement.

Motion 46 (Helps & White) BIRT the General Secretary and
Central Organiser liaise in response to Binay Sarkar's
letter, that they contact both groups in India, and that
they furnish the next EC meeting with a recommendation.
Carried 6–0

ix. Form F for E T Critchfield from West London Branch:

The meeting noted that Critchfield was a member of Central
Branch, not West London Branch, and agreed that the General
Secretary would respond in accordance with the facts.

x. Letter from Brian Johnson (2 July)

Johnson self-nominated to the Overseas Contacts Committee
and Overseas Group Secretary. It was agreed to defer
consideration of these nominations.

Johnson's letter included correspondence between him and
Cde Mulenga of the Zambia group. Concerns were raised about
religious language in Mulenga's letter. It was agreed to
defer the matter.

c. Correspondence from Companion Parties and Groups

The EC agreed to note the following correspondence:
i. WSPUS minutes for 11 March 2007
ii. WSPNZ minutes for May 2007
iii. SPC newsletter for June 2007

d. All other correspondence

None received.

8. Chair for next meeting

None nominated.

The meeting was adjourned around 19:00.

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