I was lucky enough to have been picked by sortition for the Your Party founding conference for both days. It was great! A couple of speakers to inspire the conference and get us all going, followed by heated and constructive debate. As time progressed on Saturday, imagine my surprise to see news alerts coming through on my phone saying about how the conference - which I was sat in! - was in shambles?! It was like I was in George Orwell's 1984 with the double-think. Here I was, having a good time, people debating and building something truly amazing and unique, which has the possibility to bring about a better future for the UK, and then on my phone I was just being told lies. It was clear that the mainstream media has it's knives bared and ready to take this political project down from day one.
I do, of course, understand that there's a certain level of division that isn't sustainable. But I strongly feel that the conference and the larger party are a long way off of that. This is reflected in how the membership voted on the various proposals, overhwelmingly voting for: collective leadership, permitted dual-membership, the use of working-class and socialist proudly stated throughout documentation, and other proposals. We were a long way off of the division that was purported in the media. You can ask anyone who was lucky enough to attend, or even those watching online.
As a quick note about the dual-membership vote. I am particularly glad about this outcome. Not for the reasons that were grabbing headlines, namely, the SWP (Socialist Worker's Party) expulsions that occured just before conference began. I am proud of this because we are, all of us, intersectional beings! I am not just a leftist, or working-class, or heterosexual, or British, or Trini, or Jamaican, or a man, or a survivor. No! I am all of these things. If I am in a party that focuses on Black issues, I should not be expected to sacrifice that essential work so that I can help Your Party. Similarly, if I am concerned about the planet, then I do not see the issue in merging these interests of mine.
Do not listen to the mainstream media only. Talk to people who were there. Talk to people on the ground. Talk to me even if you really want to know. Let's work together to build a Britain where we lift each other up, not stepping on others!