Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Sinking SWP Ship

Last night Socialist Unity posted a confidential internal SWP pre-conference report by Party member, Neil Davidson. It is a typically Ultra left unreadable dirge.

These people take themselves so-so seriously. If they could communicate ideas on one page of A4 they may have made a lasting impression.

Instead this supposedly Trotskyite Revolutionary vanguard teamed up with a Stalinist ego maniac, Islamic fascist fundamentalists and rich anti-gay, anti-women local businessmen. A marriage of conveniences made to last? Yeah...

Now it doesn’t mean that some decent people were not sweep up in this farrago. Many of whom have now realised that they have been “had” - good and proper.

I enjoyed Davidson’s attempt to justify the SWP by posing the question “What would British society be like if the SWP had never existed? What would we see if the guardian angel of revolutionary parties could show us a United Kingdom where the ship bearing Ygael Gluckstein to these shores in 1946 had sunk with all on board?” Ygael Gluckstein was of course the SWP prophet, Tony Cliff, who I met shortly before he died. I’ll post on this weird and rather surreal meeting another time.

I’m not that sure that the obvious answer Yes you bloody fool why even ask? is actually true. Since if the SWP did not exist then no doubt another bonkers ultra left organisation would have rapidly filled the void. As Cliff’s SWP replaced the gap caused by the implosion of the rapist Healy’s WRP, which use to be the leading Trot Party beforehand.

It now appears likely that the SWP will split, not least because they need to witch-hunt someone for their failure to gain any power or to even seem like contenders. But no doubt another equally useless lot will take their place. My current “comrade at arms”, Dave Osler, as usual provides a more eloquent explanation for what is going on here.

I wasn’t born in 1946 so I couldn’t have possibly sunk Ciff’s ship. However in 2009 as you would expect, I will of course be trying to do my best to fly over the modern SWP wreck and machine gun any survivors....so I’ll leave you with these happy, happy thoughts (sorry Charlie for not being more “critically supportive”).

Thanks to Col Roi for his updates.

12 comments:

Charlie Marks said...

Can't wait for that post attacking Mandelson's plans to sell off our Royal Mail to a foreign multinational linked to Rupert Murdoch...

Far more important to machine gun some Trots! Our real class enemy...

John Gray said...

Come on Charlie

As Oscar Wilde never said one must have a heart of stone not to LOL at the current "problems" facing the SWP.

Anonymous said...

Don’t recall the Socialist Party condemning their own Kim ll Sung branch secretary in Greenwich who has decided to spend thousands pounds of his members money to place 6ft high pictures of himself and his girl friend on the back of buses in Greenwich

Couldn’t he just send a valentine card like everyone else

Anonymous said...

Quite right, John.

The undoubted megalomania of their leading bunch of reprobates is all about being the hardest kid in the playground.

Except of course, we are not living in a playground. Just ask the relatives of people who get murdered on a daily basis by some of those 'freedom fighters' or 'members of the resistance' these inhuman bastards give their blessing to.

The SWP is stuffed full of would-be Lenins - the major difference being they'll never lead a revolution and their lives will never be in danger (apart from when they will only look left to cross a busy road).

Charlie Marks said...

It doesn't amuse me to see splits amongst socialists. Oscar, proud socialist he was, wouldn't have been laughing.

I appreciate that as competitors you will welcome the demise of the SWP's electoral fronts, but we should welcome the possibility of a democratisation of the SWP.

The SWP have always called upon their members and fellow travellers to vote Labour at elections - a position I expect they will be returning to at the next election.

Anonymous said...

The swp have not called for Voting Labour at General election since 1997

keep up comrade

Charlie Marks said...

Well, to be precise, they called for people to vote Labour where there wasn't a Socialist Alliance (2001) or Respect (2005) candidate.

John Gray said...

Hi Charlie
The SWP et al are a cancer in British trade unions. They have no chance whatsoever of getting any significant electoral support on their policies. But they think that trade unions are the means to carry on with their dirty business. They do this by trying to discredit elected union leaders (all of them - even fellow trots), paid officials and anyone who stands up to them. They do this by telling lies, making up stories, provoking unnecessary confrontation with employers at every opportunity, physical threats and blatant intimidation. The one thing they are very good at is boring people out of being trade union activists. They want to destroy the union then take it over.

Unions are not perfect and do need fundamental change in order to survive and prosper. But frankly I do wish sometimes (ok often) that they would go off and start their own union and leave us to concentrate on our core role of protecting our members and improving their lot. If they are as good as they make out then surely members would flock to them? Just like they flocked to the SA and Respect. Yeah...dream on grayee.

Neil Williams said...

"Instead this supposedly Trotskyite Revolutionary vanguard teamed up with a Stalinist ego maniac, Islamic fascist fundamentalists and rich anti-gay, anti-women local businessmen. A marriage of conveniences made to last? Yeah..."


So who did you team up with John?
Two "New Labour" Prime Ministers responsible for the deaths of over one million people in Iraq (see: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html) and god knows how many in Afghanistan, one of whom is now a multi millionaire.

These same people who you "teamed up" with have delighted in privatising our public services while failing to build the public housing so desperately needed by so many.

John when they privatise our Public Libraries will you speak out then?

Charlie Marks said...

Thankfully, the SWP aren't so foolish as to want to split the labour movement, John.

Recently I've been wishing that the IS had never split from Labour. I think it might be one of the reasons for the party's problematic organisational culture.

John Gray said...

Hi Neil
Bit surprised that you are standing up for the SWP who effectively destroyed Respect? Christmas Spirit I suppose?
I am really proud of what the Labour Government has achieved during the past 11 years. Now, I don’t agree with everything they have done. But as I posted last night “even on its worse day a Labour government or Council was far better than a Tory one on its very best day”.
I believe in a Labour Movement family that delivers for working people. We do not always agree in this family but we share the same basic beliefs in Parliamentary democracy, Social Justice and equality. We just don’t always agree on the best way to achieve these common aims. While in your family you choose to include monsters that support the repression of women, persecute Gays, the killing of British troops and the torture of trade unionists.
You stick with your family and I’ll stick with mine.

John Gray said...

Hi Charlie

Tell me more?