Socialist Alliance

The (former) Socialist Alliance

Debate & Discussion: When is it a workers' party?

Martin Thomas To "campaign for a workers' party" means three things: 1. Setting out and grouping people round basic working-class political objectives-independent working-class political representation, a workers' government, a working-class "Third Camp" in international politics. 2. Arguing for working-class socialist unity, in the form of a new Socialist Alliance-a new regroupment of the left which rejects the SWP's hijack of the present Alliance and continues what that Alliance started out to do. 3. Developing a consistent policy in the unions to mobilise them against the New Labour...

Does the Socialist Alliance have a future?

A collection of contributions from members of the Socialist Alliance from all over the country: Support this statement and conference! What next for left unity? The opposition should move together Bring the different perspectives together "A Titanic looking for an iceberg" Don't throw away left unity! Stick in there, try to make it work We need unity We can still be a broad, pluralist socialist party Get back to basics Support this statement and conference! There remains an objective need for the unity of socialists in Blairite Britain. The Socialist Alliance has been the best attempt at...

Stand up for working-class socialism!

An electoral coalition with "sections of the middle class, or the petty bourgeoisie, to use the Marxist jargon" would be alright for socialists, writes John Rees in Socialist Worker, 2 August 2003. In his view, only alliances with full-strength capitalist forces are impermissible on principle. He then proves to his own satisfaction that electoral coalitions by socialists with any "Muslim community" group is alright. There is "a minority inside the Muslim community that is middle class", but apparently no capitalist section worth mentioning; and the middle-class section is in good part...

Debate and discussion: What sort of workers' party?

It seems almost flavour of the month. Everyone is declaring for a Workers' Party. But it could have two distinct meanings, and it's important to distinguish the two and work out what is the relation between them. It could mean a party that is organisationally and organically based on the working class, created from the trade unions and other working class organisations to represent the working class in the political arena. This says nothing about the politics of such a party. Inevitably, as a mass party, its politics will be disputed. Different political currents will fight for political...

What do we mean by a Workers Party?

by Gerry Byrne It seems almost flavour of the month. Everyone is declaring for a Workers Party. But it could have two distinct meanings, and it’s important to distinguish the two and work out what is the relation between them. It could mean a party that is organisationally and organically based on the working class, created from the trade unions and other working class organisations to represent the working class in the political arena. This says nothing about the politics of such a party. Inevitably, as a mass party, its politics will be disputed. Different political currents will fight for...

SWP's middle class coalition: on road to nowhere

An electoral coalition with "sections of the middle class, or the petty bourgeoisie, to use the Marxist jargon" would be all right for socialists, writes John Rees in Socialist Worker of 2 August 2003 . In his view only alliances with full-strength capitalist forces are impermissible on principle. He then proves to his own satisfaction that electoral coalitions by socialists with any "Muslim community" group is all right. There is "a minority inside the Muslim community that is middle class", but apparently no capitalist section worth mentioning; and the middle-class section is in good part...

SWP wreck unity in Socialist Alliance, where now for left?

In June the Socialist Workers Party packed a meeting of Birmingham Socialist Alliance with newly signed-up SWP members to remove the entire executive of the local Alliance - including the chair, victimised FBU militant Steve Godward - and replace them with SWP members and fellow travellers. In Birmingham the SWP want to see a "Peace and Justice" candidate - mounted jointly with the leaders of local mosques - that is an alliance with a religious hierarchy. Comrades in Birmingham rightly fear that such an alliance would be a betrayal of independent working-class politics and full civil equality...

SWP swoops on Birmingham

By David Stamp, independent member of Birmingham Socialist Alliance Whatever future the Socialist Alliance may have — and I’m no longer sure it even has one — it’s going to be an uphill struggle to recapture anything approaching a spirit of trust or unity within the Birmingham left following the antics on 1 July. In a piece of electoral manipulation that would shame Dame Shirley Porter, the SWP managed to “pack” an AGM of the local Alliance with a tribe of clones, for no other reason than to oust Steve Godward, the sitting chair, along with anyone else on the executive brave or foolish enough...

Socialist Alliance at the crossroads

The Socialist Alliance can either continue on the road of class struggle working class politics, that is, on the course Solidarity and Workers' Liberty, together with others - not then the Socialist Workers' Party - set for it four years ago.Or it can adopt the cross-class popular frontist politics which the biggest organisation in the SA now, the SWP, advocates. The signs, unfortunately, are that it will go the way the SWP wants it to go. They have a built-in majority. In the last few months they have used that majority to take control of the Executive and to remove non-SWPers from positions...

Crisis in the Socialist Alliance

On Tuesday 1 July, the SWP organised a coup in Birmingham Socialist Alliance. Mobilising dozens of people who have never before been involved in the Socialist Alliance - and very likely won't be again - they voted out all the officers of the Birmingham SA and replaced them by SWPers and their allies. The main target was Steve Godward, victimised FBU activist, vice-chair of the Socialist Alliance nationally until recently ousted by the SWP for having "minority views", and incumbent chair of Birmingham SA. Steve has been critical of the new "popular front" turn by the SA. But other officers who...

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