By: Trevor Loudon
New Zeal

Over the weekend, the British Socialist Workers Party – which has been heavily involved in the build up to the Egyptian revolution, organized a People’s Convention in London.

While primarily about organizing mass resistance to proposed Conservative/Lib-Dem government budget cuts, the lessons of Egypt were not lost on the participants.

Chris Bambery, an S.W.P. Central Committee member and National Secretary of the Right to Work Campaign, which fronted the conference said:

Every anti cuts campaigner has taken inspiration from the events in Egypt and the mass student protests in Britain. If Egyptian workers can overthrow Mubarak we can certainly settle accounts with Cameron and Clegg here.

Here is conference speaker, communist-allied Labor Member of Parliament John McDonnell on the real purpose of the gathering.

We’re about bringing this government down…

Conference participants pledged to:

  • Support the demonstrations in Cardiff against the Welsh Tory and Liberal Democrat conferences on Saturday 5 March and the demonstration at the Lib Dem spring conference in Sheffield on Saturday 12.
  • Build the 26 March TUC demonstration against cuts in our workplaces, colleges and communities. Accordingly we propose that on the weekend of 19 and 20 March every organization, campaign and trade union backing the march come together in every locality to hold mass leafleting, street meetings, stalls, car cavalcades and so on to build the demonstration.
  • On Budget Day, 23 March.. hold nationwide protests – including a London one assembling in Trafalgar Square.
  • Support and build the actions taking place next week – the Housing Emergency lobby of Parliament on.
  • Tuesday, 15 February and the CoR Valentines Day rally at Downing Street.
  • Support all those councils and councillors who vote against cuts, urge others to follow their example and in addition organize protests, blockades and occupations to stop councils passing cuts budgets.
  • Applaud the calls from a number of trade unions for coordinated strike action and will campaign to achieve this over the coming weeks.

The violent S.W.P/communist-led student riots of late 2010, were simply a dress rehearsal for what is planned for 2011.