'Respect' and George Galloway

Galloway defeated

One good thing about the 6 May results: it looks as if George Galloway is finally out of British politics. In 2004 Galloway, expelled from the Labour Party, was offered a troop of activists to sustain him as a political figure by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), who founded the Respect movement with Galloway as figurehead. The SWP hoped that Respect would enable them to win over Muslim youth brought onto the streets by the marches against the Iraq war, and so agreed to overlook Galloway's record of friendship with leading figures in Saddam Hussein's regime; of taking money from Pakistan...

Shame! Galloway and Crow aid diehard admirers of Stalinist tyranny

With China now the world centre for industrial super-exploitation - low wages, no right to independent trade unions, and flagrant profiteering including by multinational investors - surely no "socialist" or "leftist" still sympathises with the Chinese government? They do. On 3 October the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist), a tiny diehard group, held a "celebration" for the 60th anniversary of Mao's seizure of power. The star speaker was George Galloway MP . On 7 November, the same holdout-Stalinist group has a meeting, dated to commemorate the 1917 workers' revolution in...

Being at odds with the USA does not make Ahmadinejad a friend of the workers

It is fortunate for the Iranian regime that it has a loyal network of supporters outside its borders, prepared to defend it against the “terrorists” as the Iranian opposition are now known. Some of the most outspoken defenders are not, as one might expect, brother clerics but… people on the “liberal” and “socialist” left. The Morning Star was ready to quote approvingly the words of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, quick to welcome Ahmadinejad’s re-election. According to Chavez it was a win “for all people in the world and free nations against global arrogance." However, the Morning Star is...

“Anyone but BNP” is not enough

The victory of at least one BNP MEP in the upcoming Euro-elections now looks almost inevitable. To accept this is not to collapse into nihilism or to admit defeat, but to indict the New Labour, Tory and Lib Dem councillors and MPs across the country. Their policies of cuts and privatisation have created the conditions in which the BNP — posing as a populist alternative to the establishment — have been allowed to grow. A Euro-MP would give the BNP access to enormous financial resources, allowing them to develop and galvanise their organisation. As anyone who lives in an area of BNP strength...

Popular Front, London-style

Ken Livingstone has launched an organisation called “Progressive London” ( http://www.progressivelondon.org.uk ), backed by a “broad alliance of individuals, campaigns, communities, artists, trade unions, environmentalists, political parties and groups”. It is for “all those who believe in social justice, environmental protection, good community relations, cultural innovation and the many other areas in which London has made a contribution recognised throughout the world.” The CWU, GMB, Unison and Unite — or at least senior figures from these unions — seem to be backing this “campaign”, and it...

Round-up from the left

Rent-an-SWPer... at a price Crestfallen though the SWP is these days, it still seems to be trying to pull something pretty outrageous in Stoke. According to a Socialist Party comrade posting on the Socialist Unity website (www.socialistunity.com), the Unite Against Fascism campaign which the SWP leads is demanding that the local anti-racist group NORSCARF provide it with £1,800 for “costs” incurred during the run up to the recent anti-BNP demo in Stoke. One of these costs is apparently the involvement of SWP full-timer Bunny La Roche. Having thoroughly pissed off pretty much everyone on the...

Galloway bag-carriers launch revolutionary regroupment (sic)

The International Socialist Group, which so enthusiastically supports George Galloway's side of the split in Respect that it handed over its monthly paper to Respect Renewal, has launched a call for "revolutionary regroupment". Revolutionary Regroupment is a fairly transparent effort to bring into a renamed ISG the small group of SWPers who resigned after siding with Galloway in the split - including prominent members Nick Wrack, Kevin Ovenden, Rob Hoveman and Jerry Hicks - and whom the ISG has been heavily promoting and courting since then. There is nothing wrong with that, of course; the...

The left: What a Waste, Flat Earthers

The split between the SWP and Galloway-sycophants in Respect has politically destabilised and reduced both sides. Destabilised in the sense that the SWP was presented with the problem of sticking to its perspective of building a populist alternative to New Labour whilst the Galloway faction lost its best organisers and activists. Reduced in the sense that both sides fared miserably in the recent London elections. The SWP, having lost the “cachet” of the Respect name through purely legalistic manoeuvring, resorted to running a campaign under the “Left List” title. In the face of major obstacles...

Who's sorry now? The 'Left List' and the London Elections

The Left List's explanation of the results of Thursday's elections strongly suggests that the SWP is stubbornly refusing to learn the lessons or even face reality. We can only hope that some of its more thoughtful members will notice that their emperors have neither clothes nor answers, and will call them to account and/or join with others in renewing and reorienting socialism. The Left List's claim that "voters punished New Labour for ten years of privatisation and warmongering" is not exactly wrong, but certainly simplistic. Of course war and privatisation are two of the main issues that...

Woeful London Elections

Over on Stroppyblog, Janine warns of a gloomy result in the London elections and picks apart how we got into this state; and looks at the Left List's response .

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