11.04.2001

And

Bright young things

The Workers Power group appears to going through something of a mid-life crisis. Like some ageing Lothario it has been - without much success - chasing the bright young things of the anti-capitalist movement. The result is an unedifying mix of patronising and dumbing down.

The March edition of Workers Power is a treat. As well as confirming the general trend within the organisation, WP has taken to running some very bizarre by-lines.

Favourite by far must be:
"Is the left chronically addicted to bureaucracy? Are the anarchists doomed to sandal-wearing irrelevance? What really happened with the Samba Band?" (I kid you not.)

Puts me in mind of the 80s American sitcom, Soap. Can't wait for the April issue to flop onto my doormat.

Selective amnesia

April's edition of the SWP's Socialist Review concentrates - unsurprisingly - on New Labour's four years in office and looks forward to the next four.

Comrade Lindsey German is given the task of assessing what awaits us economically post-June 7. The comrade correctly condemns the "pitiful" minimum wage of £3.70 introduced by the Blair government and its "nearly as pitiful" increase to £4.10.

However, comrade German appears to have forgotten that not so very long ago the SWP threw their weight behind the demand for (a pitiful?) £4.26!

When I sought to get the backing of my union branch executive committee for a minimum wage based on what workers need rather than what the trade union bureaucracy was prepared to demand, it was SWP comrades who scuppered the attempt.

Given that the Socialist Alliance is committed to £7.00 - and possible even £7.40 by the time the election is called - can we expect some explanation from the SWP?

Competition time

1. Who, in an introduction to AY Badayev's book, Bolsheviks in the tsarist duma, condemned the Labour Party leadership for:

"... subordinating every activity to the need to win parliamentary seats"?

2. Who objected to her local Socialist Alliance taking a positive stance on abortion and calling for the abolition of the monarchy because it would alienate - and presumably lose the votes of - anti-abortionists and royalists?