27.03.1997

Socialist Labour candidate’s branch disbanded

Vauxhall Constituency Socialist Labour Party

In the wake of the NEC meeting this month, the acting general secretary of the Socialist Labour Party has sent the secretary of VCSLP the letter reproduced below.

This outrageous act sets yet another new precedent in the SLP. It is the first time that a section of the party formed under the statutes of Scargill’s constitution has been disbanded. As it stands, all those who have been working under the VCSLP - over 40 members - have not simply been suspended: they are not recognised as members of the party. This is a bureaucratic imposition of Kafkaesque proportions.

As you can see from the letter, no concrete reasons are given as to exactly how the CSLP has breached the so-called constitution. It is not clear how the CSLP can be reconstituted when all those living in the constituency are not considered members. And what of those members of the branch who live outside the constituency?

In previous correspondence from the acting general secretary, it has been alluded that by discussing draft political manifestos, which were developed at a time when there was no national manifesto, the VCSLP was acting in contradiction to the draft constitution. It was pointed out to the NEC that there had been no vote taken on any of the drafts, and indeed, the CSLP agreed to lay these documents on the table and treat them as discussion documents.

The NEC’s decision must be vigorously opposed by all members of the party. This is clearly an attack nor just on one section of the party, but on all who would develop positions which do not meet the total approval of the NEC and its general secretary.

Such a situation is not acceptable in a democratic workers’ party. It is an action which is comparable to that of the Labour Party in relation to a constituency party in Leeds which opposed the imposition of a New Labour candidate by Walworth Road. Has the SLP broken from Labour merely to form a Labour Party mark II?

It is pleasing to hear the comrades in Vauxhall are continuing to meet. They are refusing to bow down and be atomised by the NEC decision. As far as we know, not one person who resides in the Vauxhall constituency has so far received the letter mentioned by Scargill. They have received a copy of his letter to comrade Paton through normal branch mail-outs.

In response to the disbandment of the VCSLP, the comrades are sending a call out to all SLP members to rally to their support, nor just as an act of solidarity, but to defend the entire party against such bureaucratic manoeuvres. Who knows which CSLP could be next?

At their last meeting, Vauxhall members agreed to host a national meeting of SLP members to discuss this latest action and to rally support for democracy in the party and for the local Vauxhall election campaign. The meeting will be held on Sunday April 13 in the constituency, which is in the Brixton area of London.

The Vauxhall comrades overwhelmingly decided to continue to support their candidate, Ian Driver, in the general election. Comrade Driver has stated that he will remain the SLP candidate in Vauxhall, and this has received the approval of the NEC and the acting general secretary. If the candidate can be recognised, why not the CSLP? The NEC’s bureaucratic action must not be allowed to sabotage the election campaign.

As a lead-up to the April 13 meeting and to the October conference, the constituency SLP calls on all other branches and CSLPs to pass the following motion:

“We call on the NEC to immediately reinstate the Vauxhall CSLP which has been undemocratically disbanded. There needs to be a full investigation of the various allegations made against the CSLP and some of its members, with the results of the investigation open to all SLP members. The final decision on the future of the CSLP should be made at the party conference in October.”

Comrades must rally to Vauxhall’s defence. The struggle around its status is not limited to that CSLP alone. It directly affects what sort of party the SLP becomes. Comrades would not allow such an outrage in their union. We cannot allow it to happen in a new workers’ party.

Martin Blum

March 16 1997

Dear Kirstie Paton,

I am writing to inform you that the SLP National Executive Committee at its meeting of March 15 1997, decided unanimously to disband the Vauxhall CSLP as a result of the continual refusal to accept and abide by the constitution and policy decisions of the party.

The NEC will take immediate action to reconstitute a constituency party in Vauxhall and issue invitations to those individuals residing in Vauxhall who do accept the constitution, policies and programme of our party. The NEC decision means that no person holding a party card in the Vauxhall CSLP will be accepted or recognised as a member of the party, and decisions on individual party membership will be taken following the reconstitution of the CSLP.

I am sending a copy of this letter to every person who - according to our membership records - resides in the Vauxhall constituency.

Yours,

Arthur Scargill
general secretary