Resolutionary Socialism Changes Nothing

by Les May

IN 1988, I was still teaching in a Rochdale school.  One day during the autumn term all the staff were summoned to a meeting after school finished.  We were surprised to see the Diana Cavanagh, the then Director of Education, standing at the front waiting to talk to us.

She had come to tell us that a small group of parents had moved to call for a ballot of parents which would decide whether the school should ‘Opt Out’ of Local Education Authority (LEA) control and instead be controlled directly by central government.

Though people’s motivations differed, there was little enthusiasm for such a move.  Some were against it just because it was a Tory policy, some felt it flew in the face of local democracy and local accountability, some were concerned that it was the thin end of the wedge which would lead to a worsening of our pay and conditions of employment, and some simply did not trust the headteacher.

After everyone had had their say a resolution was put to the meeting condemning the proposal. It passed without obvious dissent.  At this point it looked as if that was all that would happen.  Then someone stood up to object to leaving it at that.  I am sufficiently immodest to say it was me. What I went on to say was that simply passing a ‘resolution’ was a complete waste of time. If we wanted to defeat this move we had to contact all the parents of the children at the school, visit them and explain what ‘Opting Out’ meant and why we opposed it.  Without any debate it was agreed that an ad hoc committee should form to organise the mechanics of contacting parents and because we would need money to pay for letters to parents a collection was quickly organised. I assumed we would see everyone give a £1 or so.  When the ‘hat was passed round’ at least one £10 note went into it from one of the Maths teachers.

Letters went to newspapers to publicise our activities.  Lists of names and addresses were sorted into routes which a two person team could follow. Night after night in the first couple of months of 1989 we tramped the streets visiting parents, listening to parents and soliciting their vote in the forthcoming ballot against ‘Opting Out’.

It was all worth it, because the parents voting against the proposal.

In 1995 there was a proposal to use the Gort Sand pit and Wilderness Quarry sites for a Greater Manchester Council landfill site.  A group of people, each for a different reason, objected, came together and fought this. It took work to make it happen, but we were so persistent that eventually a full public inquiry was held in Rochdale Town Hall. In the end the Inspector did not agree with us and the site was used for landfill.  Was it worth it?  Yes it was!

Some people think that ‘activism’ is passing a resolution, writing a wish list, denouncing someone as a ‘racist’ or a ‘fascist’ or … just fill in your own preferred epithet here, or producing a Twitter storm.  Every week some petition or other falls into my e-mail inbox. It’s there briefly before going into the trash. Signing a petition may make some people feel pleased with themselves, but if you want to change things you have to do the work, even if sometimes you lose.  Before the last election the lady I tramped the streets with in the winter of 1989 was on my doorstep canvassing for the Labour party.  She’s still doing the work! 

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