27.11.1997

Congress paranoia

Simon Harvey of the SLP

Constituency party secretaries should now have received the final agenda for the SLP’s congress on December 13-14. It contains nominations to the NEC, motions and amendments, together with those ruled out of order.

There are seven amendments ruled out of order and 32 which have been allowed to stand. This means that only 39 constituency parties have bothered to submit amendments.

Amongst those ruled out of order is the proposal from Liverpool Riverside. This CSLP seeks to amend motion 16 on Ireland from the Marxist Bulletin-dominated Islington North CSLP. As with four other accepted amendments, Liverpool Riverside seeks to remove the protestant veto supported by the Marxist Bulletin, a position stemming from its Spartacist League antecedents. In addition, the CSLP wishes to add: “... we seek measures that promote unity of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish workers around the demand for a federal republic of England, Scotland and Wales and an independent united Ireland”. This has been ruled out on the false grounds that it “seeks to amend the constitution, clause XI (I), by means of a resolution”.

Clause XI (1) reads: “The party shall have regional parties including a Scottish regional SLP, Wales regional SLP and English county regional SLPs ...” I have no idea how anyone could construe the Liverpool amendment as an attempt to change this aspect of the party’s structure. It is clearly aimed at the UK state, not the party constitution. Scargill must be suffering from a deep paranoia if he sees a behind-the-back attempt to change his constitution here.

It is a great shame that this amendment has been ruled out of order. It could have given the SLP a clear republican minimum demand around which to organise - a demand which also supports the right of nations to self-determination. As it now stands, motion 16 should be opposed. While the four permitted amendments all call for the protestant veto to be removed, unfortunately three also uncritically fall behind the petty-bourgeois nationalist programme of Sinn Fein. The other amendment proscribes a “united, 32-county workers’ republic” as “the only lasting solution”. This ‘maximalist’ demand in practice falls short of support for self-determination and fails to offer a clear programme of action for British and Irish workers. Why stop at a workers’ republic? Why not say that world communism is the only lasting solution for Ireland?

In actual fact Ireland may not be debated by congress at all. As with the agenda for the first conference in May 1996, many of the more controversial motions have been put down the agenda. Given that only a handful of agenda items were debated at the founding conference, it is highly unlikely that even a majority of the 49 motions to congress will be considered. Any not reached during the business of congress will be remitted to the incoming national executive. Such a practice means that policy for the party will be decided by the leadership - ie, Scargill - alone and will not have been debated by the membership as a whole.

Needless to say, the attempt to keep contentious motions off the conference floor will not make the differences which exist in our party go away. Bureaucratically enforcing Scargill’s position will not produce the unity desired, but further consolidate the party’s character as a Bonapartist sect ruling over a demoralised membership.

Perhaps the first motion on the agenda to spark serious debate on the floor will be motion 19 from Selly Oak CSLP. Comrades may remember that one of the most controversial debates, and the closest vote, at the founding conference concerned immigration controls. An amendment from the floor proposed opposition to all immigration controls, not just ‘racist’ ones. It was narrowly defeated. Brian Heron argued tortuously that immigration controls were necessary to keep white South Africans out of a socialist Britain, while fellow Fiscite Trevor Wongsam was howled at by conference for falsely, and insultingly, claiming that all the black people who spoke were opposed to the amendment.

Current policy reads: “The SLP will ... re-examine in the cold light of day all existing immigration controls within the framework of establishing a humane and non-racist immigration system.” The Selly Oak motion calls for “opposition to all immigration controls”.

There are two amendments to the motion: one from Ladywood, the other from Dulwich and West Norwood. Dulwich’s amendment clearly displays the imprimatur of the Marxist Bulletin. It proposes changing the motion so that it calls for “opposition to all capitalist immigration controls”. In reality, this is a capitulation to the national socialist programme of the Scargill leadership. It is preparing ‘policy’ for an isolated ‘socialist’ Britain, rather than developing a fighting programme of action towards international socialist revolution.

The Ladywood amendment should be supported. Rather than changing the political intention of opposing immigration controls, it merely tidies the motion up so that it will read: “Conference resolves to actively campaign against all deportations and for the scrapping of all immigration controls alongside the key anti-racist, black and trade union organisations”.

The twists and turns of the Fiscites - the Fourth International Supporters Caucus - in their desperate attempt to maintain their alliance with Scargill continues. There are three CSLPs in central Manchester, which in fact meet as one. This political unit, which includes Rachel Newton and Trevor Wongsam, is under the political sway of Fisc. They have moved three amendments - on Ireland, Europe and defence of the SLP constitution. Clearly, these comrades are not politically stupid. These are three areas of central concern to inner-party struggle in the SLP.

Their amendment to the Economic and Philosophic Science Review’s motion on ‘defence of the SLP constitution’ is indeed strange. These Manchester Fiscites want to retain the witch hunt against the “continued presence” of CPGB and Workers Power sympathisers and wants to “expel them from the SLP”.

Their amendment “recognises the regretful necessity of taking punitive action”. At the same time it argues that “Socialist Labour must be capable of embracing the working class in all its diversity.” It goes on to state: “There will be all manner of opinions, concerns, experiences and traditions that will be expressed.”

This is transparent hypocrisy, aimed at shoring up their relations with Scargill, while at the same time trying to provide themselves with a get-out clause. On the one hand they want to show themselves willing participants in the witch hunt of democrats and revolutionaries in the party. On the other hand they seek to avoid the odium the witch hunt brings.

Clearly there exists a deep fault line in the ideology of comrades Sikorski, Heron, Wongsam and Newton. They gain honour from the past by identifying themselves with Leon Trotsky and his stand against Stalin. Yet today they seek power by kow-towing to Scargill, his socialism in one country, his reformist programme, his witch hunt and his paranoia, his ‘constitution’, his contempt for the elementary norms of democracy. In spirit and morality these Trotskyites closely resemble Beria.

Now to Europe. The contortions of these Fiscites is again painful. In an amendment to motion 34 from Darlington, which “rejects nationalist responses to the growth of a European state” and calls for a campaign for “a Socialist United States of Europe”, Manchester Withington “reaffirms party policy of withdrawal from the EU”. While paying lip service to European working class unity, these Fiscites also “believe we must retain the principles of national sovereignty and self-determination”. To call for ‘self-determination’ for a country like Britain is out-and-out social imperialism.

Left disunity

The SLP’s Trotskyites - Fisc, Marxist Bulletin and Socialist Labour Action -remain all at sea. Fisc is sticking with Scargill, although it has been suggested that Tony Goss is going head-to-head with Brian Heron for allegedly insulting Ann Goss. Meanwhile the Marxist Bulletin of former members of the International Bolshevik Tendency has been clumsily trying to establish itself as the hegemon of the SLP left. SLA has abandoned ship.

The arrival of a new grouping of SLP Republicans, as reported in last week’s Weekly Worker, seems to be putting the cat among the pigeons. The Marxist Bulletin is opposed to such democratic demands as the call for a republic and wants nothing less than ‘socialism’. In terms of Irish politics, the Marxist Bulletin opposes the slogan of a united Ireland, and supports a protestant veto on Irish self-determination. SLP Republicans are in favour of a united Ireland.

Despite these differences there has been talk of the Marxist Bulletin and the republicans - amongst others - forming a united bloc on democratic issues like the right of party members to publish minority views. Apparently, this has broken down because the Marxist Bulletin refuses to agree a common platform with anybody. However, its supporters expect any democratic bloc at congress to deliver its votes to them. This sounds like a continuation of their previous sectarian policy when they denounced the Campaign for a Democratic SLP at the same time as Scargill tried to ban it.

It is ironic that, while some left forces in the SLP labelled the CDSLP ‘splitters’, many seem to be considering ways of quietly decamping after congress themselves.

The CDSLP calls on all democrats and revolutionaries to stay and fight for the type of party our class needs.

Agenda

Constitutional amendments
Economic
Defence
Housing
Anti-racism
Immigration
Women
Education
The law
Trade unions
International
Ireland
Europe
Socialist News
Media
Youth
Travellers and gypsy minority
Defence of SLP constitution
Legalisation of prohibited substances
Motions ruled out
Amendments ruled out