Workers' Liberty

To the SWP’s Executive:

Recently I wrote a short letter complaining about two idiot-nutter members of your organisation — Ian Mitchell and Yunis Baksh — who attempted to break up a fringe meeting we helped to organise at your so-called “Marxism” event (July 97, London.)

Experiences since suggest that you reined in Mr Mitchell; but Baksh is still at it. Brother Baksh appears to object to our growing influence in the Newcastle colleges. His response has been to act like a nutter in local student meetings and to threaten more of our people.

In front of a number of witnesses at the back of a very big Free Education meeting he threatened to beat up our local organiser (a young gay man, about half his size.) Incidentally, there is evidence that this bloke has completely lost it: he wasn’t just threatening our known comrades on the 5 November student march in Newcastle. For example, he threatened to beat up a 17 year old comrade who was giving out CFE placards. I know about this only because this young man is in fact a member of ours. There is no way Yunis would have known that. I understand that SWP leader Tony Cliff has declared the current period one where the key battle is the battle of ideas. I had a good laugh when I heard this. What are you going to do with Yunis Baksh and others like them in your ranks? Get them to have the word “ideas” tattooed on their fists and stencilled on their bovver boots?

Mark Osborn