18.04.1996

Organised chaos

Party notes

There was a time when I and others in the Party regarded the Revolutionary Democratic Group’s notion of ‘anarcho-Stalinism’ as pretty wacky. In fact, the category has a sound Leninist heritage and describes a real phenomenon.

Take, for example, the Socialist Labour Party’s conference on May 4. This meeting is supposed to represent the exercise of democratic control by the SLP’s membership over their party. The SLP has been promoted by leading figures such as Bob Crow as different to ‘new’ Labour in that its rank and file is “in control”.

Anyone who has actually been involved in the pre-conference discussions and preparations will know that this is claptrap.

The May 4 conference will be presented with an array of policy documents. Essentially, these are warmed-over versions of the papers presented to the March 2 conference of the SLP. As we reported at the time, the conference was significantly to the left of the political positions advanced in these reports.

The workshops established at this conference were meant to continue meeting to further develop the politics of the new organisation. In fact, a handful have met once or twice since. Furthermore, meetings have been convened behind the backs of left dissenters, pressure has been applied to drop revolutionary positions from statements already produced and certain ‘awkward’ papers simply not circulated.

Cynically, the most recent SLP membership letter speaks of the “rich discussion and debate” that “many” members have been involved in. This - they ‘hope’ - will mean that the conference papers “do not require much further amendment”! Clearly, some comrades in the SLP want a conference of the membership: others want a politically mute rally.

Thus the May 4 conference will be presented with perhaps up to 20 papers, none of which have been democratically debated or formulated by the membership of the party. The conference is convened for just one day and will be lucky to have four full hours for its work (including the inevitable platform speeches, of course). Verbally, SLPers have been informed that each paper can have a mover and an opposer. Presuming five minutes each as a minimum, this alone could account for over three and a half hours of conference time!

Without a challenge, the May 4 national meeting will be chaos. The forces involved in organising it - centrally the Fourth International Supporters Caucus (see back page) - have a history of these sorts of wrecking activities in the workers’ movement. The leadership and the cliques within it are the only forces allowed to organise politically. Factions like Fisc have attempted to keep the membership atomised, fearful of voicing disagreement and essentially subservient to the leadership as presently constituted. This is a contemptible role for those who call themselves revolutionaries to play.

Communists at the conference must take every opportunity to challenge this bureaucratic fiasco. We should not have illusions that the meeting can be transformed into a genuine forum for the discussion of party policy: elements on the Steering Committee have already ensured that this time it is impossible. We can however help to positively cohere and organise the revolutionary wing of the SLP nationally. This will be a powerful blow for democracy in the new party.

Mark Fischer
national organiser