The SWP is in trouble- good!
There were loads of meetings this weekend gone in London which the politically aware could have gone to. Funny, a fortnight before there was nothing to go to, as far as I could see. Anyway, the George Galloway/Socialist Workers Party cunning plan to get mosque attenders to vote them in, ie Respect, is starting to hit the buffers. This is a report from the most anti-Galloway group in British Bolshevism, the Alliance for Workers' Liberty:
Respect/ SWP in decline? Submitted on 19 November, 2005 - 11:42.
Selling Solidarity outside the annual conference, this weekend, of the George Galloway/ SWP coalition "Respect", I thought the crowd looked thinner, older, and more dispirited than at the "Respect" conference last year.
"Respect" insiders confirm this, saying that the conference is smaller despite last-minute efforts by the SWP to drum up people to attend as observers and fill the hall.
Meanwhile, the Socialist Party's annual weekend event (last weekend, 12-13 November) was bigger than previous years. About 500 there, and a lot of them young, according to AWLers who attended.
I attended one of these SP annual events a few years back - in 2001, maybe - and then the main session had just 90 people in the hall at its start (though it filled up a bit more as it went on).
Since then the SP has increased its numbers steadily, and this year perhaps a bit more than steadily.
Why? My guess would be that it's as simple as this: with the SWP's self-conversion into a fan club for George Galloway and Moqtada al-Sadr, the SP is now the most visible organisation in England and Wales promoting basic socialist ideas. If socialists plug away at the basics - paper sales, an organised presence on demonstrations, and so on - then they can recruit. And the more visible you are, the more you recruit.
Martin Thomas
"Basic socialist ideas" is good old Trotskyism, but at least the Socialist Party have got some councillors in Peckham & Coventry, while Respect only seem to elect those if the local mullahs give them the thumbs up. I think the SP also benefit from calling for "workers' MPs/councillors on a workers' wage", which chimes with widespread anti-fat cat sentiment. On the other hand, George G says that he needs an income of £150k per annum to function politically. I'm sure anyone the least bit politically active feels the same way as George!
PS When I spell check, Bloggers' suggested replacement for "Trotskyism" is "tortoises"...
Respect/ SWP in decline? Submitted on 19 November, 2005 - 11:42.
Selling Solidarity outside the annual conference, this weekend, of the George Galloway/ SWP coalition "Respect", I thought the crowd looked thinner, older, and more dispirited than at the "Respect" conference last year.
"Respect" insiders confirm this, saying that the conference is smaller despite last-minute efforts by the SWP to drum up people to attend as observers and fill the hall.
Meanwhile, the Socialist Party's annual weekend event (last weekend, 12-13 November) was bigger than previous years. About 500 there, and a lot of them young, according to AWLers who attended.
I attended one of these SP annual events a few years back - in 2001, maybe - and then the main session had just 90 people in the hall at its start (though it filled up a bit more as it went on).
Since then the SP has increased its numbers steadily, and this year perhaps a bit more than steadily.
Why? My guess would be that it's as simple as this: with the SWP's self-conversion into a fan club for George Galloway and Moqtada al-Sadr, the SP is now the most visible organisation in England and Wales promoting basic socialist ideas. If socialists plug away at the basics - paper sales, an organised presence on demonstrations, and so on - then they can recruit. And the more visible you are, the more you recruit.
Martin Thomas
"Basic socialist ideas" is good old Trotskyism, but at least the Socialist Party have got some councillors in Peckham & Coventry, while Respect only seem to elect those if the local mullahs give them the thumbs up. I think the SP also benefit from calling for "workers' MPs/councillors on a workers' wage", which chimes with widespread anti-fat cat sentiment. On the other hand, George G says that he needs an income of £150k per annum to function politically. I'm sure anyone the least bit politically active feels the same way as George!
PS When I spell check, Bloggers' suggested replacement for "Trotskyism" is "tortoises"...
posted by Anglonoel | 7:01 pm
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