21.08.1997

SSA’s sectarian approach

Dave Spencer, chair of the July meeting of the Coventry Socialist Alliance, takes issue with a resolution passed at the SSA’s June 14 annual conference

We read with some alarm at our July meeting the resolution moved by Tom Delargy and passed unanimously at the Scottish Socialist Alliance’s second annual conference on June 14. As we understand it the resolution states:

1. That the Socialist Workers Party assist the Blairites, the Tories and the SNP and that their policies are now and are always likely to be ‘ultra-left’.
2. That the Socialist Labour Party are ‘reckless splitters’ and responsible for all situations where socialists stand against each other in the general election, ‘north and south of the border’.

In our view this resolution shows a sectarian approach and is hardly likely to build trust and cooperation on the left. This is particularly so when the SWP are exhorted to “wake up” and the SLP to “grow up”. It seems that the SSA think they have a monopoly of maturity and wisdom. In addition, to our knowledge the SLP did not stand candidates against the SSA in Scotland; and south of the border it is a matter of opinion not fact as to why socialist candidates stood against each other.

We recognise that resolutions can get nodded through at the end of a conference when everybody is tired. Nevertheless, we note that it was passed unanimously without dissent and must therefore reflect a general opinion.