<div>Hi all - I thought I would try out this new communication system, with some more encouraging news about the way things are shaping up locally.</div>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Garamond">Yesterday evening I finally tracked down York Stop the Cuts to their fortnightly organising meeting in a city centre pub. I discovered they existed after seeing a demonstration featured in the local TV news - demos in York being distinctly rare since February 2003. A bit of internet searching and I found they had quite a neat website. I decided to check them out, in case it was the usual suspects, the minority of radical voices in York in yet another formation. My cynicism was at least partially misplaced.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Garamond">The group is still very much in its infancy and making things up as it goes along, focussed on practical activities rather than deep political debates, and keen to reach out to the widest variety of interest groups affected by the cuts. One of the best discussion points, though unresolved, was how to reach out to individuals rather than institutions, to broaden the base of the movement rather than have it dominated by the agenda of those already organised. Another was how to build on the momentum of the successful targetting of Vodafone shops, as it was felt that shifting the focus onto banks and tax-avoiding businesses represented opportunities to make the case for an alternative to cuts, rather than just being 'opposed'.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Garamond">There were about a dozen people at the meeting. I was able to recognize one from the Green Party, one from the SWP and two from the Socialist Party, though most of these were there in their capacity as union branch representatives, and party lines played no part in any of the discussions. A growing interest among trade unionists was very apparent, with indications that local branches of the PCS may be emerging as a focal point around which trade union activity in the area will coalesce. Further initiatives were discussed around how to widen union participation, noting the surprising absence of anyone from the CWU. Inevitably, in a small city with two universities, there was a handful of students, who were equally anxious that the group should bring together the widest range of interests. They reported that they were taking eight bus loads from the University down to the demo in London, some 400 people in all, and that they had been oversubscribed.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Garamond">There are the usual problems that beset small organising groups such as this, especially in their early stages. The main difficulty is avoiding the situation where a small number do all the work, running Saturday stalls in the town centre, keeping up the website, researching and designing leaflets, carrying out liaison work, and so on. This will be something that will evolve in time - at least the pressure now is to find a bigger venue for the meetings.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Garamond">The strong points of the group I think are its openness, the complete lack of sectarian sniping, the down to earth enthusiasm of those who have built the organisation so far, and the apparent willingness to build for the long term and to reach out to a wide constituency. Nothing useful is ruled out, everyone who can contribute something is welcomed in. The weak point may be the lack of political debate. At this early stage that is not necessarily a bad thing, but it might help strengthen discussion with outsiders, whom, it was recognised from activity around the weekly stalls, still too often accepted the argument in favour of cuts. For now the consensus is around building up of a network of solidarity is the main task, and what has been achieved so far is both encouraging and a credit to those involved. Things can only develop from here.</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Garamond">Martin Bashforth</font></p></div>