Socialist Alliance

For the last 15 months, a number of left groups and individual members of the Socialist Alliance (SA) have grouped together under the Socialist Alliance Democracy Platform (SADP). Our main aim has been to maintain the SA as a major focus for left unity as part of the process of building a new workers’ socialist party, organisation or network as an alternative to New Labour. The SA Conference last March agreed to maintain the Socialist Alliance whilst building Respect, and re-assess the situation at an AGM before the end of 2004. In the event, the SA ceased to function after March 2004. The NEC...

The Socialist Alliance Democracy Platform (SADP) emailed and posted a letter to the National Committee of the SWP on 27 September concerning the future of the Socialist Alliance (SA). The SADP contacted the SWP because that organisation represents a majority within the SA, and any decisions taken by the SWP are likely to be adopted by SA Conference. The letter is printed below, and represents a genuine attempt to resolve the situation whereby for the last seven months the SA has basically ceased to function. This is despite the fact that the last SA National Conference, in March, agreed to...

There are two major semi-hidden disputes within the Socialist Alliance Democracy Platform (SADP) . These differences underpin a number of recurring arguments in the SADP around RESPECT; around how we see the SA experience being possibly re-created; and about what our relationship should be with the LRC and the residual left within the Labour Party. The differences are about 1) what sort of workers party we want to build; and 2) why we intervene in elections. Comrades talk about building a workers' party but, behind the often-presumed agreement, is a significant difference in understanding...

By Riki Lane and Janet Burstall The Socialist Alliance (SA) began as an electoral alliance in early 2001 and has developed work in other areas, especially trade unions and anti-war campaigning. In local areas specific campaigns have also been taken up. Membership has grown, but the active membership core has not grown in proportion. The Alliance is changing as an organisation too, with a publication program, and organisational structures to include the affiliates and non-aligned members in Alliance decision making. There are contentious issues here, with the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP)...

The Alliance for Workers' Liberty in Britain sends its best wishes to the Australian Socialist Alliance conference for further progress towards the development of an open, pluralist, multi-tendency socialist party. In England and Wales that project has had a setback with the effective liquidation of the majority of the Socialist Alliance into the Respect coalition, a narrower, non-socialist, electoralist enterprise built around the dubious personality of George Galloway MP. We continue, however, to maintain some local Socialist Alliance groups, collaborating with a range of other comrades in...

By Martin Thomas On our way to leaflet a new batch of streets for Alison Brown, the socialist candidate in Sheffield City Council's elections, we passed the Yemeni mosque. A group of men were standing outside, so I gave them leaflets. "I'm supporting Respect", said one of them. "That's the Euro-elections", I replied. "We're supporting the Alliance for Green Socialism there. Will you vote for Alison in the council elections?" Friendly but firm, the man told me: "I'll have to ask someone else about that". Just round the corner, I met another group of young Asian men and handed them leaflets....

Alison Brown, standing for the Democratic Socialist Alliance (People before Profit) in Burngreave ward, Sheffield, tripled her vote by comparison with 2003 (which, in turn, was her best result up to then of the three times she had run in the ward). For more Democratic Socialist Alliance results, click here . Some of the improvement in Burngreave must be put down to this being an election in which all the ward's three seats were contested, rather than only one as in previous years; and some, also, to increased turnout with postal voting. Nevertheless, this time Alison beat all the Tory...

By Riki Lane SA national co-convenor The second National Conference of the Socialist Alliance in May voted to move towards a united multi-tendency socialist party. Most SA members expected a different situation and a different tempo for Socialist Alliance as a result. In fact, there has been more continuity than dramatic change in the two months since the Conference. Union work prospects The most significant development at the Conference was the adoption of a policy for serious trade union work. Since then a prominent SA member, Chris Caine, has been elected as WA MUA State Secretary. In...