Socialist Party reorients towards Labour?

Submitted by martin on 17 May, 2010 - 5:59 Author: Daniel Randall

Clive Heemskerk, deputy editor of the Socialist Party magazine Socialism Today, took part in a discussion on "after the election" at the Left Unity Liaison Committee on 15 May.

He seemed quite indignant when I put it to him that the SP's dogmatic position on the Labour Party would cut them off from the possibilities now opening up within the Labour Party (or indeed compel them to deny that the possibilities existed). He said that I'd clearly missed the nuances of their position and they were not hostile or indifferent to opportunities inside Labour.

He said they'd be using their positions on USDAW and Unison NECs to push for support for John McDonnell for leader, and would be arguing in the RMT for them to push their Parliamentary Group MPs to nominate him. He also said the SP would be arguing for John to raise in his platform the restoration of Clause 4, the complete restoration of Labour Party democracy, and the reinstatement into the Labour Party of the RMT and "all expelled socialists" (Clive specifically mentioned Dave Nellist, the Socialist Party member and former Labour MP expelled from the Labour Party in 1991).

Perhaps this is just a posture, but even so it indicates a very serious change of emphasis from what the SP have said previously. Since the early 1990s they have argued that Labour is no longer a "bourgeois workers' party" in any sense, but is rather a straightforwardly capitalist party with no fundamental difference in character from the Tories or Lib Dems. In 2007 they pointedly stood aside from John McDonnell's challenge for leader when Tony Blair resigned. They had previously stood against John McDonnell in his constituency of Hayes & Harlington under their "Socialist Alternative" electoral banner in the 2001 general election.

Clive also indicated that TUSC will not be calling a broad conference to discuss the election results, despite the call for such a conference from the SWP.

Comments

Submitted by Bruce on Thu, 20/05/2010 - 11:38

The SP have obviously decided since the election to give up on TUSC as I was told by local SPer on May Day that they *were* intending to call a conference, which would be the next step towards a new workers' party.

Submitted by AWL on Thu, 20/05/2010 - 11:53

Yesterday the Socialist Party also used their platform position at PCS national conference to hail McDonnell before he addressed the delegates. I think they're just deeply opportunist (and unable to see their own political incoherence).

Sacha Ismail

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