Workers' Liberty

At the conference of the Socialist Workers' Party which took place on 9-10 January, the expulsions of dissident members Clare Solomon and Alex Snowdon were confirmed.

A review of Martin Empson, Marxism and ecology (2009).

The Socialist Party has now gone public on the long-secretly-negotiated-about "son of No2EU" project.

At the conference of the Socialist Workers' Party which took place on 9-10 January, the expulsions of dissident members Clare Solomon and Alex Snowdon were confirmed.

I joined International Socialists (IS) in April 1972 and was expelled in August 1975.

Martin's Smith article on "How do we stop the BNP?" in the last issue of the SWP's International Socialism journal is worth a rea

Very many people are revolted at the state of the world. Whether it be in reaction to war, racism, exploitation, oppression or the sickening displays of meanness and hypocrisy that effuse from the bowels of government, we have all experienced that visceral urge to tear the head off this system and those who marshal it.

We feel this way every day. But unlike those who either sink into despair or comfort themselves with a purely academic understanding of capitalism and its degradations, we — the socialists, revolutionaries, Marxists — aim to change things. We agitate, educate and organise to transform the world.

Dear comrade,

On 31 October, hundreds of supporters of the English Defence League marched through Leeds, despite the nearby presence of up to 1,000 anti-fascists. They were able to do so because of the misleadership of the anti-fascist movement by Unite Against Fascism and by your organisation, the SWP.

Isaac Deutscher made a career out of divining the twists and turns in the Stalinist Russian state apparatus. Alongside his much praised but flawed biography of Trotsky he produced several apologias — posing as rational analysis — for the USSR.

His success, his plausibility, was in large part a function of a certain literary flair combined with sufficient chutzpah to fabricate what he — and everyone else outside of the ruling clique of Stalinist Russia — could not possibly know. There’s a certain temptation to replicate his method when dealing with the latest manifestation of crisis in the Socialist Workers Party.

In October 1992, after seven years of trade-union setbacks following the miners' defeat of 1985, hundreds of thousands of workers crowded onto the streets of London. 100,000 demonstrated on Wednesday 21 October, and 200,000 on Sunday 25 October, against Tory Government plans for further pit closures. Socialist Organiser discussed the next steps, and disputed the SWP's u-turn from its "downturn" dogma (since 1979) to suddenly demanding that the TUC call a general strike "now".

For most of its existence, since its founding in 2003, Unite Against Fascism (UAF) has done little or nothing. With no democratic structure, and few active branches, UAF is normally only visible around election times.

The Socialist Workers' Party held a public meeting in Newport (on the Isle of Wight, near the Vestas St Cross plant) on Monday 17 August.

"To face reality squarely; not to seek the line of least resistance; to call things by their right names; to speak the truth to the masses, no matter how bitter it may be; not to fear obstacles; to be

The AWL’s motto and guideline is what Leon Trotsky called “the rules” for revolutionary socialists: “To face reality squarely; not to seek the line of least resistance; to call things by their

AWL comrades attended a meeting at the SWP’s “Marxism 2009” event (2-6 July) on “Islamism and the new Arab left”, in fact mostly about Egypt.

Chris Bambery's SWP-sponsored booklet "Ireland's Permanent Revolution" is a grim business.

The Socialist Workers' Party has decided this year to mobilise heavily through Unite Against Fascism against the BNP's "Red, White, and Blue" festival in Codnor, Derbyshire, on 15 August.

The groups involved in the “No2EU” coalition for the Euro-election — the RMT union leadership group around Bob Crow, the Communist Party of Britain (Morning Star), the Socialist Party, and the Alliance for Green Socialism — are due to meet again before 28 June to discuss a “son of No2EU” project for the coming general election.

The SWP has held meetings about its “left unity initiative” on the fringe of the Unison union conference and in Sheffield and other cities.

Ed Whitby reports from the meetings in Middlesbrough and Gateshead: “The SWP have little to say,

The AWL has launched this appeal to socialist and working-class organisations and activists. So far the response from the SWP (Socialist Workers’ Party) and SP (Socialist Party) at national level has been negative, but many individuals have signed it.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB general union, used his speech to the GMB congress in Blackpool (15 June) to call for the Labour Party to select “fresh working-class candidates that people can relate to”.

“Now is the time to select and elect 40 to 50 fresh real people, real trade unionists, people who actually know how much a pint of milk costs, and what it is like to get on a bus, MPs driven by commitment rather than being worried about being driven by a chauffeur”.

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

In Newcastle we have a Tyneside Socialist Forum which has existed for a long time — before the Socialist Alliance.

It was relaunched last year. Along with AWL members it includes independent socialists, left anarchists, ex-CPers and some people from FRFI. It meets regularly and has political discussions, it could be the springboard for greater left unity.

According to an Open Letter distributed in Glasgow by members of Solidarity (the 2006 breakaway from the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP)), which has also been posted on the Socialist Unity website:

“It is our understanding that a group of prominent Scottish trade unionists linked to none of the parties of the left in Scotland are in the formative stages of brokering left unity talks specifically on the issue of the Glasgow North East constituency [i.e. Michael Martin’s seat, where a by-election is due to be called].

The SWP has held meetings about its "left unity initiative" on the fringe of Unison conference and in Sheffield and other cities.