By Barry Rodin
I first met Vera at a CLPD EC meeting in 1977. Vera was always very engaging and interesting to talk to over a wide range of subjects, including the well being of my family.
Vera always had a profound insight about the politics of the day. Although she had strong principles she also was prepared to be pragmatic, such as reaching out to LP members in the centre of the Labour Party, without compromising long-term strategic radical goals such as mandatory reselection of MPs and more inclusive policy making.
For example, she supported the creation of the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance which assisted the radical left in the LP retain a foothold during the challenging period in the late 1990s and the early 21st century.
The dedication and hard work of Vladimir and Vera over many years in greatly helping to create and develop the CLPD as an organisation and political force for more democracy and radical change gave many others, including me, inspiration and focus to work within the LP.
A testament to their work is that Vera and Vladimir helped to build the foundations and springboard for the recent successes of the Left in the Labour Party.
Vera gave us many words of wisdom and one very pertinent statement she made at one of the last CLPD EC meetings she attended was that the most effective political statements or articles are those that are based on sound reflection and use the minimum number and simplest words possible to convey the key points and conclusions.
In our world of intensive social media and instant communication this is even more relevant today.
I first met Vera at a CLPD EC meeting in 1977. Vera was always very engaging and interesting to talk to over a wide range of subjects, including the well being of my family.
Vera always had a profound insight about the politics of the day. Although she had strong principles she also was prepared to be pragmatic, such as reaching out to LP members in the centre of the Labour Party, without compromising long-term strategic radical goals such as mandatory reselection of MPs and more inclusive policy making.
For example, she supported the creation of the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance which assisted the radical left in the LP retain a foothold during the challenging period in the late 1990s and the early 21st century.
The dedication and hard work of Vladimir and Vera over many years in greatly helping to create and develop the CLPD as an organisation and political force for more democracy and radical change gave many others, including me, inspiration and focus to work within the LP.
A testament to their work is that Vera and Vladimir helped to build the foundations and springboard for the recent successes of the Left in the Labour Party.
Vera gave us many words of wisdom and one very pertinent statement she made at one of the last CLPD EC meetings she attended was that the most effective political statements or articles are those that are based on sound reflection and use the minimum number and simplest words possible to convey the key points and conclusions.
In our world of intensive social media and instant communication this is even more relevant today.
Comments
Post a Comment