However, if it is to be successful, it is crucial that a new party learns the lessons of history – including the federal nature of the early Labour Party which brought together many different organisations and trends, preserving the rights of all to organise and argue for their particular points of view.

Conversely, the history of attempts to launch new formations in the last decade, such as the Socialist Labour Party (SLP), demonstrates that an undemocratic, top-down approach will not work.

The young people who are becoming active in struggle in the 21st century correctly have a horror of bureaucracy.

Their experience of the betrayals of New Labour and the right-wing trade union leaders, combined with the effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union - which capitalism worldwide falsely equated with genuine socialism - mean that democracy is particularly vital to the new generation.

It is crucial that a new party, and any pre-party formations, be open and welcoming to all those who want to work together against the neo-liberal onslaught on the working class.

This means that all groups and individuals, provided they are in agreement with the basic aims of the party, should have the right to democratically organise and argue for their point of view.

Where one organisation is initially numerically dominant, we need to find ways to make sure that the views of other currents and trends are heard.

It is only this very open and democratic approach which will ensure that a new formation is attractive to trade unionists, community and environmental campaigners, and anti-war activists.

Most importantly it will assist in reaching out to workers and young people who are not yet active in struggle.

In this way we can unite the strongest possible forces to build a powerful working-class party that is capable of effectively opposing the anti-union laws, cuts, privatisation, environmental degradation and war.