14.10.1999

No more walk-outs

Alec Walsh of the SP comments

What is the point of this October 16 meeting in Liverpool? Is it advocating more splits from the SP? If so, this should have been openly called for and the political basis of any split made clear. I would vigorously oppose more walk-outs from the SP - if comrades have principled differences, they should openly fight for them, but not breezily split a working class organisation. If there is no split, why are SP comrades being mobilised for it?

And on what political basis are some socialist organisations being excluded and others included? Haven’t we learned the lesson that any political group that starts with bans and proscriptions is useless to us?

We need open, inclusive and - if needs be - sharp debate on the crisis facing our movement and how to overcome it. That’s why the agenda of the meeting - which splits up the audience for long periods into eight different ‘workshops’ - identity politics, youth, colonialism and racism, new technology, etc - should be rejected. Only at the end of the day do we get onto the nub of what we should be discussing - ‘How should socialists organise today?’ Only two hours are devoted to this key question. It is bound to be squeezed for time at the end of the day. This raises doubts about the sincerity of the organisers - do they actually want an honest exchange of views about the crisis facing us or not?