17.10.1996

Towards a mass socialist party

Joe Marino of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union has recently joined the Socialist Labour Party - the first trade union general secretary to do so. Peter Manson asked him about his move

Why did you decide to join the SLP?

There was no single reason - it was a cumulation of things: the drift away from socialism, the distancing of the unions, the failure to defend the NHS, and so on. All these things made me realise that nothing more could be done in the Labour Party.

How long were you a Labour member?

I was in the party for 29 years, apart from a two-year break when I was in Canada.

Did you always consider yourself to be leftwing?

I’m not a great believer in ‘right’ or ‘left’ labels. If people want to call me leftwing, that’s up to them. It’s true I’ve been associated with Militant and spoken on their platforms.

Have other members of your executive committee also joined the SLP?

Individuals at all levels in the union have been joining. I know of at least four out of the 16 EC members who have done so.

How do you see the SLP moving forward?

It all depends on the outcome of the election. There are two scenarios, and both must result in the SLP making advances. If, as seems likely, the Labour Party wins, the Tories could split asunder. There will be a hard core right wing, with the ‘left’ moving to the Liberal Democrats or even New Labour.

In those circumstances the Labour Party will be expected to deliver - I don’t just mean by people like me, but by all the people who voted for them. Their lack of policies will show through and disillusionment will set in.

If the Tories win - unlikely, but still possible - then it may well be Labour that splits. There are a lot of people hanging on, keeping quiet. But they are very unhappy with the way the party is going. A lot believe they will be able to shift Blair to the left once they are in power, but it is not only Tony Blair who has taken Labour to the right. The whole thing has gone too far. Now people like John Edmonds and Roy Hattersley, who were always thought to be on the right, are seen as the ‘left’. Even Barbara Castle.

Nothing like this will happen before the election, but afterwards all the frustration that is building up will burst out.

How do you think the SLP will do in the election?

I am not sure how many candidates we will manage to stand, but I think the results will be uneven. We will do well in certain areas. The SLP has done well in local by-elections, and I expect we will get some good results in the general election. I am under no illusions that we will sweep the board: I think most trade unionists and activists will vote for a Labour victory.

What sort of party should the SLP become?

We are aiming for a mass party - we don’t need yet another left sect. The Labour Party today is like the old Liberals were when Labour was born. We have got the chance to build a working class party.

Does that mean you see the SLP as a Labour Party mark II - a kind of leftwing version of old Labour?

Not at all. We need to move forward, away from the politics of old Labour. We need to take up the new issues, to champion the socialist alternatives. We don’t want another ‘left-centre’ party, but a living, dynamic organisation - we’ve had enough of bureaucracy.

We need a genuinely socialist party.