At the Left Unity Liaison Committee meeting on 13 June, the Socialist Party said that it is not interested in a new Socialist Alliance for now.
Instead, it hopes to continue its “No2EU” alliance with RMT general secretary Bob Crow, the Communist Party of Britain (Morning Star), and the Alliance for Green Socialism, into some “son of No2EU” coalition for the general election.
The Socialist Party has also responded to the SWP’s call for unity, by rehashing an argument the SP had inside the Socialist Alliance which led to it leaving the alliance in December 2001. Its argument about the SWP is apt: “[in the past] you have taken a sectarian ‘rule or ruin’ approach — your own party’s narrow organisational dominance has been put before the interests of the workers’ movement.”
Butt the SP is not being completely honest. It never foguht the SWP inside the Socialist Alliance, and it left the Socialist Alliance in good part because its own organisational interests were threatened by the SWP’s presence (a case of “this town ain’t big enough for the both of us”).
To be sure, the SP are right to be suspicious about the SWP’s new ploy. As they say, the SWP sent their appeal to prominent members of the SP individually, but have not approached the SP as such for proper talks.
The SP is not a little miffed by the SWP’s failure to acknowledge the “No2 EU” Euro-election project. (In our view, there is not a lot to acknowledge: the project had an anti-European, rather than socialist political platform, and got a very poor vote despite its political weakness).
The SP chooses not to criticise the Respect project politically. It limits itself to condemnation of the SWP’s splitting with Respect.
• tinyurl.com/nx2rwz
