02.10.1997
Scargill tightens his grip
As the SLP’s party congress approaches, Arthur Scargill is taking a leaf from Tony Blair’s book - by gagging debate
Arthur Scargill and the Socialist Labour Party leadership are gearing up for a smooth and orchestrated party congress in December. Resolutions from constituency parties and various party sections have now have been through the National Executive Committee net.
Accordingly, the resolutions - and nominations to the NEC itself - have been vetted in the bureaucratic manner with which Scargill’s administration has become synonymous. Constituency party secretaries have been sent the list of approved nominations from the NEC, along with the resolutions for congress which passed through the censor’s net. Interestingly enough, those resolutions which have been barred from congress have been included, with reasons for exclusion, in the most recent of the acting general secretary’s correspondence.
The NEC’s recent meeting was also meant to be considering further disciplinary action to take in the wake of the infamous ‘yellow sheet’ - issued by Scargill against the June 14 Campaign for a Democratic SLP conference - which he hoped would ban all organised internal opposition to the way he wants things run. Unfortunately for Scargill, his mountain has produced a mouse.
Since June not one disciplinary action has been taken against a member of the SLP. This is despite the fact that the NEC knows many of the people who attended the CDSLP conference. The witch hunter generals of the Fourth International Supporters Caucus (Fisc) and Economic and Philosophical Science Review even made ham-fisted attempts to plant spies in the meeting.
The ‘Statement to the NEC on the question of party democracy’, circulated by Swindon SLP and signed by many SLP members and various CSLPs against the draconian nature of the general secretary’s actions, has produced tame letters asking individuals whether they had really signed such letters and why. In true Kafkaesque style, members are informed that they are not meant to be communicating with other CSLPs directly, but should communicate through the national or regional committees.
However, this is hardly the draconian action which the ‘yellow sheet’ seemed to promise. From what I have heard, Scargill has had his hand stayed by the NEC. Hence the witch hunt continues, albeit in other forms. Denied an outright purge, Scargill seeks to oust various ‘undesirables’ from the party using typically devious bureaucratic ploys. Those who adopted a course of action aimed at avoiding the witch hunt have not escaped questioning or the latest form of voiding - ‘removal’.
The Marxist Bulletin, produced by former members of the International Bolshevik Tendency, put forward a slate of seven for NEC nominations in August around their self-styled ‘Marxist programme’. Now some on this slate have received letters from the acting general secretary questioning the constitutionality of the Bulletin, and consequently their nomination for the NEC.
There have also been recent moves to exclude people from the party due to alleged ‘non-payment’ of dues. This has included those who were presumed to be relatively ‘safe’ in the SLP. Roland Wood, a former political associate of Pat Sikorski and Brian Heron in Fisc, has received a communication informing him that due to “failure to pay contributions” to the SLP he is no longer a member of the party. The same fate has befallen Dave Osler. Others are rumoured to have been dealt a similar hand.
This despite the fact that both Wood and Osler put in considerable time and effort in producing Socialist News before it was moved to Barnsley. The action also represents a markedly cynical and inconsistent approach.
Some members who had fallen behind in dues received a letter from Scargill, dated late August, which requested payment of outstanding contributions in order for them to be financially “in readiness for the congress in December”. Amazingly, other SLP members received a different letter a short time later, informing them their membership had ceased due to non-payment. Wood and Osler fell foul of this second letter.
The ‘constitution’ also continues to be applied with great unevenness. Some party members are obviously more equal than others. The question does arise whether this signals a move by Scargill against ‘the Trots’ in general - including Heron and Sikorski - or whether Fisc has further acquiesced and taken part in the effective expulsion of former comrades and friends. Will Scargill support Roy Bull, the EPSR candidate, for the position of vice-president?
The weeks leading up to congress will begin to reveal more and more about the SLP’s crystallisation. Over the next two months, I will be considering the nature of the bureaucratic exclusion of motions and will take a look at those which are acceptable for congress. Any debate in the pages of the Weekly Worker over these issues will be more than welcome. I doubt there will be much room for debate in Socialist News.
Simon Harvey