This prioritisation should be encouraged but it must be remembered that the main strength of the Charter is its ability to draw together different interests in a coherent way.  So, whilst it is entirely appropriate to emphasise one or other aspect, this should not prevent you from drawing the links with other demands within the Charter.  The overall aim will be to build a broad and united campaign on the basis of local conditions.

Elections – The first half of 2010, in the bourgeois media at least, will be dominated by the general election.  It is clear from the outset that, whoever wins on the day, the ruling class offensive will continue and the impact of the result will simply indicate the pace and extent of the attacks on working people.  However, the election does provide an opportunity to raise the profile of the People's Charter and build the campaign for a progressive change of direction.  One of the key things local People's Charter campaign groups can do is write to MPs and prospective candidates, asking them to declare their position on the Charter.  Their responses should be publicised and pressure put on those MPs who are unwilling to declare practical support for the Charter.  However, a declaration of support should not be the end of the question.  Those MPs and P prospective candidates who have publicly endorsed the Charter should be pressed to show their support for specific demands, whether by signing EDMs, asking parliamentary questions, publicly challenging government policies or speaking out in key local issues.  The same approach can be taken with local elections, although Party candidates standing in elections should ensure that their platform includes prominent support for the People's Charter.

Local Strikes/Disputes – The establishment of a local People's Charter campaign is an opportunity to lend additional support to workers in struggle.  The local campaign group can organise leaflettings for a dispute or collections for a strike fund, put on social events and fundraisers and generally raise awareness of the issues involved.  Obviously, it is important to take your lead from the workers involved in the dispute in terms of what support is most valuable but it is a great opportunity to demonstrate to these workers and others what the People's Charter means in practice.

May Day – May Day marches and rallies provide another opportunity to build the People's Charter.  There are various ways to incorporate the Charter into a May Day event, from inviting a People's Charter speaker to address the event, through to making the Charter itself the main focus.  One advantage of the breadth of the Charter is that it is possible to invite a Charter speaker on almost any topic chosen for your May Day event.  Similarly, if the main focus of your local May Day celebrations were to be the Charter itself, it would be possible to invite a broad range of relevant speakers addressing whichever demands of the Charter you have decided to prioritise locally.

Other events – A range of other events have been planned by People's Charter campaign groups, from one-off social events to day conferences.  Help with organising such an event can be sought from Party centre but it is important to draw on the experience of comrades locally.  The two key things to think about are:

How will the event take the People's Charter campaign forward? and

How does the event fit in to the local political conditions?

The main aim of the People's Charter is to build the maximum possible unity around a programme of progressive policies.  As long as this remains the focus, and the Party branches and activists are willing to put the work in, we have the opportunity to build an effective movement which has the potential to change the political direction of the country as a whole.

Gawain Little and Ben Stevenson

Communist Party Executive Committee