Independent Working Class Association
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The Independent Working Class Association is a small left-wing political party in Britain with the avowed aim of promoting the political and economic interests of the working class.
It was formed in 1995 by several organisations, including Anti-Fascist Action, which argued that the likely election of a New Labour government would entrench the legacy of Thatcherism and further diminish the political influence of the working class.
AFA, in particular, also argued that following the BNP's abandonment of the "marches, meetings punch-ups" strategy in 1994, there would now be a need to respond to the rise of the British National Party politically by orienting towards working class communities.
From 1998, the Independent Working Class Association formed groups in Birmingham, Islington, Oxford, Hackney, Glasgow and a few other areas, and were rewarded with the election of a local councillor in Oxford in 2002, with candidates coming second in local elections in the Clerkenwell (2002) and Bunhill (2003) wards in London. In 2003, the IWCA was launched as a national organisation, and claims to have since attracted many former members of the Labour Party. The IWCA was able to raise the £20,000 required for participation in the London mayoral election, 2004 and nominated Lorna Reid, a resident and advice worker on the Highbury council estate. Reid came ninth with 9,542 (0.5%) of the first preference votes and 39,678 (2.1%) of the second preferences. In the local elections that took place on the same day, the IWCA picked up two more seats on Oxford city council, removing Labour's majority.
The IWCA has adopted controversial but successful tactics of community action to fight anti-social behaviour. It has also campaigned on other issues of local concern such as council housing stock transfers and inner-city regeneration.
The group has been criticised for refusing to take positions on international issues and refusing to focus exclusively on opposing racism, and for taking a stance against what it describes as multiculturalism in the belief that it encourages segregation.
External link
- IWCA national website (http://www.iwca.info)
- IWCA Oxford website (http://www.iwca-oxford.org.uk)
- IWCA Blackbird Leys website (http://www.bliwca.fsnet.co.uk)
- IWCA Islington website (http://www.iwca-islington.org.uk)
- IWCA Thurrock website (http://www.thurrock-iwca.org)
- IWCA Harold Hill & Havering (http://www.haroldhill-iwca.freeservers.com)