Minutes of the 41st Meeting

Minutes of the 41st Meeting of the Kent & Sussex Regional branch of The Socialist Party of Great Britain held on 12th April 2015The meeting started at 2.18 pm and was held at the Muggleton Inn, High Street, Maidstone, KentPresent: Mandy Bruce, Dave Chesham (Secretary), Marie Chesham, Rob Cox (Treasurer), Dan Fabian, Jacqueline Shodeke, Andy Thomas (until 4.25pm)Apologies for absence: Les Courtney, Hannah Dutton, Glenn Morris1. Election of ChairMotion 1. M.Chesham & D.Chesham “That Shodeke be Chair”AGREED2. Minutes of the 40th Meeting dated 8th March 2015 were before the meetingMotion 2. Cox & Fabian “That the minutes be adopted”AGREED3. Matters arising from previous minutesi) General Election 2015 – Hustings; leaflets; local advertising; media impact and street stalls.a) Brighton – One street stall was held on 14th March in New Road. The balance of the signatures required for the Kemptown constituency nomination paper were also collected the same day. There are already a couple of hustings in the pipeline. It is hoped to organise further street stalls.b) Canterbury – Two street stalls took place on 21st March and 4th April. Further stalls are planned for 25th April and 2nd May. There are plans for newspaper advertising and hustings invitations have been received.c) Folkestone & Hythe – Two street stalls were held on 28th March and 11th April. A further stall is planned for 18th April. One hustings has already taken place and was attended by 60 people.ii) New table bannersIn view of the time factor an online decision was made to acquire two new table banners and also a further folding table. It was agreed to donate our existing table banner to West London branch for use by their members at street stalls in Oxford.It was AGREED to ratify these actions.4. Party emblem on ballot papersMembers heard that the party emblem agreed by the EC for use on ballot papers had been rejected by the Electoral Commission because it contained more than six words. A last minute decision to remove the banner strap line from the emblem bearing the words 'world socialism' was taken in order to overcome the objection but was clearly not a satisfactory permanent solution.Motion 3. (to the EC) Thomas & M.Chesham “In view of the problem experienced in registering an emblem with the Electoral Commission due to their belated restriction on the maximum number of permitted words to six, the EC be requested to instruct the Election Committee to register a variant (attached) of the original submitted election emblem, with "(GB)" substituted for "of Great Britain", which would then be used exclusively on ballot papers, permitting retention of the banner strap line bearing the words "World Socialism". "The Socialist Party (GB)" is one of the six variants of the party's name registered with the Electoral Commission”AGREED 7-0-0 (seven members present)5. May Day Rally – Aylesham 4-5-15It was hoped to have a stall at this event but so far it had not been possible to get in touch with the organisers. Rob would do his utmost to make contact and book a place for a stall.6. Forms 'A' & 'F'NONE7. Branch Membership TransfersThe Secretary reported that Anton Pruden had transferred to K&SRB from Central branch.NOTED8. EC minutes – March meeting – 7-3-15NOTED9. Email from the acting General Secretary regarding unfilled officer and sub-committee vacanciesMotion 4. D.Chesham & M.Chesham “That Comrades Max Hess and Rob Cox be nominated to the Media committee”CARRIED 6-0-1 (seven members present)Motion 5. (to the EC) Cox & Thomas "This branch is concerned that the EC is being unrealistic in continuing to seek nominations for the remaining officer vacancies rather than find members willing to take on specific responsibilities as per the appropriate Terms of Reference."AGREED 7-0-0 (seven members present)10. Summer School – 24/26-7-15Several members expressed an interest in attending the Summer School this year.11. Kent Miners' Festival – Betteshanger Community Park – 31-8-15The Secretary has booked a stall at this year's festival and sent a refundable deposit of £512. Future propaganda activitiesNONE other than those already mentioned.13. Any other businessNONEMeeting adjourned at 5.00pmCollection taken: £11.50