11 Sept 2012

Salma Yaqoob has resigned from Respect.

Salma Yaqoob has resigned from Respect.

Open invitation for her to join the Green Party, one of my favourite politicians and good feminist!

Below is her statement to the party:
Dear friends
It is with deep regret that I have decided to resign from Respect. The last few weeks have been extremely difficult for everyone in the party. I feel necessary relations of trust and collaborative working have unfortunately broken down. I have no wish to prolong those difficulties, and indeed hope that they may now be drawn to a close.

I remain committed to the principles and values that led me to help found Respect. The policies we have fought for need to be voiced as loud as ever in opposition to a political establishment that remains out of touch with working people.

I would like to thank everyone in the party for their support over the years; I wish everyone the very best for the future and in those common struggles for peace, justice and equality that I am sure we will all continue to be involved in.

Yours in peace
Salma Yaqoob





6 comments:

Scott Herbert said...

Well if she was to join I'd take it as a sign theirs still hope for GreenLeft and be more inclined to lend a hand.

Sean Thompson said...

We shouldn't just react to this news with a knee jerk 'Join the Green Party'. It's vulture like and sectarian. What we should be doing is regretting what amounts to the final death of Respect, which was, at least at the beginning, a serious attempt to build a broad based mass party with roots in dispossessed communities - something the Green Party has never attempted, unfortunately. And then we should be asking Salma how best we can work with her.

Scott Herbert said...

@Sean, the EC's of all the left grouplets just want to be big fish in little ponds. and their members don't want to rock the boat.

mark anthony france said...

Sean Thompson ... Raising the possibility that Salma could Join the Green Party is not necessarily 'vulture like and sectarian'. Politics in England is increasingly volatile and the austerity offensive of the Con/Dem government is begining to affect millions of people. Faced with this crisis there is an urgent need to build some kind of alternative that can act a a focus for resistence. The Green Party has the potential to become the real alternative.
Practically and constitutionally if Salma wishes to remain actively involved in Electoral politics she needs to join the Green Party as soon as possible so she can participate in the internal selection process to become a Green Party Candidate in Hall Green Constituency for the scheduled General Election in May 2015.
Salma still has a significant personal base in Hall Green and was already 'endorsed' via a ballot of Birmingham Green Party memebers in 2010. It is likely that the significant Lib/Dem vote in Hall Green will gravitate towards Salma as a Green Party Candidate in May 2015 making Salma's Electoral Victory almost a certainty. There is no other Constituency in the whole of England where the Green Party is withing spitting distance of taking a 2nd Parliamentary Seat. If Salma Joins the Green Party... it will mark a tremendous leap forward for qenuinely radical politics. In an instant the perception of the Green Party as 'white middle class taking shop' will be overturned.
I fully agree that the demise of Respect is something to be regretted.... and I agree we should be asking Salma how best we can work with her.
But I am in favour of an immediate approach from our newly elected Leader and Deputy Leader for a face to face meeting with Salma to discuss future possibilities.
Having known Salma for several years and having been honoured by her presence at my Wedding in 2008 - I feel she is a wonderful human being and her skills and talents should not be allowed to be wasted in the political wilderness... Salma needs a new safe and secure political home. The Green Party needs to make every effort to welcome her into our ranks.

mark anthony france said...

26.Lets Remember how in less than a decade after being spat on in Birmingham Town Centre because she was wearing a hijab in the aftermath of 9/11 – Salma stood in Hall Green Constituency and came a good 2nd to Labour taking over 25% of the popular vote. Only one other Republican/Socialist/Feminist did better than Salma and that was Caroline Lucas who actually won the Brighton Pavilion seat for the Green Party.

Salma played the key role in founding RESPECT and has put so much energy into attempting to build a movement for peace, justice and equality that she comprimised her own health. Salma is a heroine.

All the hard work Salma has put into Hall Green constituency along with her supporters and personal base must not be squandered. From my perspective the natural place for Salma to go to now she has resigned from RESPECT is the GREEN PARTY.

Birmingham Green Party memebers endorsed Salma’s Candidacy in 2010 via a ballot of all Members. West Midlands Green Party has secured some remarkable electoral breakthroughs via it’s Target To Win strategy and The Green Party’s newly elected Deputy Leader Cllr Will Duckworth represents the growing strenght of the working class, socialist, anti imperialist current in the Party.

If Salma joins the Green Party then I feel confident the party will rally around and campaign to get her into Parliament in 2015 and in an instant the perception of a the Green Party as a ‘white middle class talking shop’ will be irradicated.

I hope that Will Duckworth and Salma Yaqoob meet up soon to discuss the way forward.

Fuad said...

Caroline lucas and salma yaqoob are my favourite politicians in the UK, i think they could open new fronts on environmental and social justice issues.

What is the new leadership saying with regards to this?


Imperialism Is the Arsonist: Marxism’s Contribution to Ecological Literatures and Struggles

Derek Wall ’s article entitled  Imperialism Is the Arsonist: Marxism’s Contribution to Ecological Literatures and Struggles , argues that Ma...