Socialist Workers Party
| A guide to |
| God Save the Queen? |
“”The SWP are not socialist. Their only powerbase, in the redbrick universities, suggests the term ‘workers’ is a little suspect too. They are dangerously wrong about everything, from the Middle East to gay rights. They could be easily dismissed, like people who think they’re white witches, if not for their capacity to hoodwink young people who genuinely want to change the world, and instead send them out to sell papers outside Tescos.
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| —Paul Richards[1] |
“”[A] historical reenactment society... whose members like to pretend they’re taking part in a Communist revolution.
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| —Edmund Standing on the Socialist Workers Party[2] |
The Socialist Workers Party (nope, no apostrophe) is a far-left British political party. It publishes a newspaper called Socialist Worker, which also has an active website. It's a bit nutty.
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[edit] History and views
The party was founded by Tony Cliff (born Ygael Gluckstein). During World War II Cliff wanted the Nazis to win, hoping that an Axis victory would result in a revolution in Britain. He urged Jewish students not to join the war effort, and was interned by the authorities as a result.[3]
The Socialist Worker website published an article by George Galloway praising Hezbollah. "I have no hesitation in saying that Hizbollah is not and has never been a terrorist organisation", says Galloway. "It is the legitimate national resistance movement of Lebanon." [4]
A number of prominent Unite Against Fascism members are part of the SWP, and have been criticised for turning that group into an SWP appendage rather than a non-partisan anti-fascist group.[5]
A chap named Martin Smith was once national secretary at the party; according to Andy Newman of Socialist Unity, he was forced to step down after sexually harassing a female SWP member.[6] He was also convicted of assaulting a police officer during an anti-BNP protest.[7]
In June 2013, Socialist Worker ran a piece defending six Islamic extremists who attempted to bomb an English Defence League rally. The author argued that the planned attack was "a reaction to discrimination" and "an act of despair against racist thugs", is therefore more justifiable than right-wing extremism.[8]
[edit] Rape accusations
In January 2013 Socialist Unity posted a transcript of an SWP conference revealing that Martin Smith had been accused of rape and sexual assault, and that the SWP appeared to set up its own makeshift court to try him rather than report him to the police. According to one member, identified in the transcript as Sarah B, the party had "no faith in the bourgeois court system to deliver justice". One woman whose name was removed when the transcript was posted commented that a number of people in the disputes committee had close working relationships or friendships with the accused.[9]
A number of members resigned or were expelled as a result of the scandal.[10][11] Linda Rogers of the SWP's Edinburgh branch was one of those who condemned the party leadership's handling of the affair;[12] "I have also faced the argument that the DC has investigated 9 rapes in the past", she commented after writing a letter to the central committee. "I believe this argument is put forward to reassure comrades of the competency of the DC. I don't find it reassuring in the slightest; in fact I find it terrifying."[13]
SWP members critical of the Central Committee's actions formed a faction named the Democratic Renewal Platform.[14] Meanwhile, five hundred others signed a statement supporting the Committee;[15] "I can only imagine what she must be feeling about the CC getting five hundred signatures from party loyalists to affirm the DCs decision that she wasn't raped", said one former SWP member of the alleged victim.[16]
In March 2013 a woman came forward claiming that another senior SWP member had raped her in 2011; after she reported the incident within the party, the alleged rapist was suspended and encouraged to read about women's liberation, but was not reported to the police.[17]
More stories came out in due course. One anonymous woman who was in the party at the age of 18 recounted how members of one regional branch, in their thirties and forties, would host parties at their homes. Most of the attendees were teenage SWP members, some as young as 14, attracted by free food and cheap alcohol. There, the partygoers would play bizarre games involving passing chocolate cake from mouth to mouth, or a variation of Twister in which players had to partially disrobe and have themselves rubbed with baby oil every time they made a mistake. At the time she had been seeing a married SWP member who was ten years older than her; when their affair came to light within the party, she found herself slandered as a "mentally disturbed heroin addict who had relentlessly pursued him" and told to relocate to another branch, while the man was let off. "The rationale... means women in the party can never be treated fairly and young women are especially vulnerable", she commented.[16]
[edit] Not as bad as
They use the Not as bad as argument in respect of many positions. Palestinian nationalism not as bad as Israeli nationalism. Labour Party government not as bad as Conservative Party government is the other main one. Many Middle Eastern regimes are regarded as not as bad as United States occupations.
[edit] See also
- Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
- New Communist Party of Britain
- Socialist Workers Party (US)
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ http://www.progressonline.org.uk/2013/01/18/the-swp-and-all-that/
- ↑ http://edmundstanding.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/on-dishonest-quote-mining-and-false-accusations-of-bigotry/
- ↑ http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/4363/full
- ↑ http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=9334
- ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/may/15/theswordofrespectandthes?INTCMP=SRCH
- ↑ http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=7996#comment-340869
- ↑ http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=22359
- ↑ http://howiescorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/now-socialist-workers-party-gives-us.html
- ↑ http://www.newstatesman.com/laurie-penny/2013/01/what-does-swps-way-dealing-sex-assault-allegations-tell-us-about-left
- ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ranks-of-the-socialist-workers-party-are-split-over-handling-of-rape-allegation-8448429.html
- ↑ http://www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/944/swp-why-i-am-resigning
- ↑ http://www.leninology.com/2013/01/letter-to-central-committee.html
- ↑ http://internationalsocialismuk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/can-swp-deal-with-rape-allegations.html
- ↑ http://internationalsocialismuk.blogspot.de/2013/02/statement-of-democratic-renewal-platform.html
- ↑ http://averypublicsociologist.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/support-for-swp-central-committee.html
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 http://averypublicsociologist.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/sexism-and-abuse-of-power-in-swp.html
- ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/09/socialist-workers-party-rape-kangaroo-court