28.01.1999

Disarray as Bull ‘resigns’

Simon Harvey of the SLP

Arthur Scargill rocked the Socialist Labour Party’s national executive at the weekend with a blockbuster announcement that Royston Bull, the “former editor” of the Economic and Philosophic Science Review, had “resigned” from his post as SLP vice-president.

But is it true?

Bull, who was not present at the January 23 NEC, had been referred to several times when, towards the end of the meeting, Scargill suddenly made the announcement. But he read out no resignation letter and refused to elaborate any details or allow any discussion. Within 24 hours every remaining party activist ‘knew’ that the vice-president had gone. Yet vice president Bull himself has issued no statement and is saying nothing.

After the December 12 NEC meeting Bull and his EPSR comrades on the executive made it known that they would fight Scargill’s ruling effectively banning them from expressing their views. The general secretary had forced through a resolution which demanded that the cut-and-paste weekly

“give an undertaking that it will not comment on the affairs of the SLP or carry contributions that may lead members to conclude that the EPSR is attacking or discriminating against women or sections within our society because of sexual orientation/preference and/or religion, etc” (see Weekly Worker January 14).

Clearly Bull was not about to shut up shop. His obscure bulletin had at last achieved notoriety through its circulation within the SLP, and some people - apart from the handful of EPSR supporters - were actually reading his catastrophist views. Why should the vice-president be barred from commenting on the affairs of his own party? The EPSR decided to challenge the ban using the party’s as yet untried ‘complaints procedure’. Bull was adamant that he could not accept the gagging order, and if it was upheld he would have to “review his position”. But he stressed that, even if he was forced out, the EPSR is still committed to Scargill’s party.

So it seems that Scargill has simply pre-empted the inevitable findings of the complaints committee - which will be stuffed with Scargill loyalists and sycophants. There is no way that it will find in vice president Bull’s favour unless the general secretary himself should decide to retreat.

The complaints committee - whose composition has still not been announced, but is certain to include Scargill himself - is going to be very busy. It is also about to hear a disciplinary complaint against four of Scargill’s former courtiers - Brian Heron and Carolyn Sikorski of the Fourth International Supporters Caucus (Fisc) and their allies, Terry Dunn and Helen Drummond. The comrades had dared to issue their ‘Appeal for a special conference’, which now has around 200 signatories. But the December 12 NEC passed another resolution instructing them to withdraw it on the grounds that “no individual member of the party and no group of individuals within the party” is allowed to circulate any document whatsoever. The show trial was set for Saturday February 13 after the Appeal Four correctly refused to comply with the NEC’s disgraceful and unconstitutional ruling.

The January NEC also dealt with the repercussions of the Fisc-led rebellion in London. The regional committee had declared that it would not contest the European elections in June unless Scargill overturned the result of the November 1998 special congress, which saw Bull depose sitting Fiscite Patrick Sikorski. Fisc suddenly ‘discovered’ the homophobic contents of the EPSR and called on Scargill to remove Bull. Predictably the NEC decided to impose its own list of candidates, headed by Harpal Brar, editor of ultra-Stalinite bi-monthly, Lalkar, but including Fisc ally Imran Khan. It remains to be seen whether comrade Khan will accept the honour.

In view of these developments you might have expected the Appeal Four to redouble their efforts. After all, king Arthur appears to have ditched Bull, as his former Fisc courtiers had demanded - a sign of weakness? Perhaps they would try to press home their advantage by attempting to mobilise the membership in their London stronghold?

Not a bit of it. Earlier this week, not one of the four turned up at the London regional committee (LRC) meeting. Carolyn Sikorski was known to be unwell, but none of them even sent an apology (comrades Dunn and Drummond are both committee members, while comrade Heron is the regional president). In their absence the meeting was chaired by Fiscite Bernard Gibbon. Another member of the Fisc B team, Colin Meade, gave a report on preparations for the Euro elections (which the LRC had been going through the motions of following, despite its threat of going on strike). When he was challenged by comrade Brar and Adrian Greenman of the EPSR, who argued in favour of the NEC’s decision on the question, comrade Meade simply declared he was no longer interested and walked out. He was followed soon afterwards by comrade Gibbon and co-thinkers, leaving a hard core of Stalin Society/EPSR supporters in control.

The SLP is visibly crumbling before our eyes.