18.12.1997

Royston’s day fails to dawn

For the briefest of moments last Saturday fortune appeared to smile down on Royston Bull. The Economic and Philosophic Science Review’s quack historical-materialist and Socialist Labour vice-presidential candidate threatened to become the stuff of history. It was not to be.

After the Fiscites announced their intention to decline positions on the NEC, Bull’s heart must have missed a beat. With Pat Sikorski out of the way, only Alan Gibson of the Marxist Bulletin and the unknown John Willock stood between Bull and an exalted position in King Arthur’s court. He was quickly brought back down to earth.

Faced with sharing power with a revolutionary or an eccentric, Scargill acted. It was unfortunate but, declared Arthur, if needs be the positions would be left vacant. Royston’s day failed to dawn.

Down but not out, Bull returned to the fray the following day. With fellow EPSR members from Tooting, Bristol and Leicester he sought to place the ad hoc witch hunt against revolutionaries and democrats on a firmer footing. Under the slogan of ‘building and strengthening the party’ he moved to expel “members and sympathisers” of the CPGB and Workers Power.

Unfortunately for Bull his desire to ratchet up the attacks on democrats did not meet with platform support. The fragile NEC bloc requested that both EPSR motions be remitted. An only-too-willing loyal Bull acceded.

The sycophantic hyper-loyalty of the EPSR group is in stark contrast to its attitude 12 months earlier. The abuse it now directs against the ‘Trot wreckers’ was then aimed - in equally long and ranting diatribe - against Scargill and the leadership. Its supporters were renowned at branch meetings, not for denouncing the left, but for their predictably frorthy attacks on the NEC. Lack of democracy was condemned. Today it is those who demand democracy who are condemned.

Twists and turns in its ‘party’ line are nothing new for this distasteful outfit. However, its about-face appears to have brought its rewards, as leadership-loyal EPSR delegates were sent to congress from several parts of the country. The group formed a bloc of around 20.

Bull dreams of using Scargill to build his chamber-of-horrors version of Stalinist autocracy: then he can deal with the ‘queers’, ‘perverts’ and ‘wreckers’.

Andy Hannah