17.10.2001

Socialist Workers Party Our biggest asset

As this Socialist Workers Party internal bulletin shows, the comrades are in a very upbeat mood - when aren?t they? The anti-war movement has provided a fertile fishing ground for their recruitment teams. Results seem excellent - though, as we know, there is always the revolving door problem. Not so long ago the SWP was boasting of 10,000 members. Every partisan of the Socialist Alliance will be pleased that the SWP, at the present time our biggest asset, is growing again. However, as shown by the virtual absence of the Socialist Alliance?s role in the anti-war movement, it is also right to characterise the SWP as our biggest problem. Presumably mention of the ?sectarians? who supposedly ?do nothing? is an indirect attack on fellow comrades in the Socialist Alliance. Yet the SA has the great virtue of turning everybody into builders because it is a common project and not simply about the attempt to build one sect. Another worry is that the SWP may now regard comrades such as our Socialist Alliance chair, Dave Nellist, as a ?sectarian? who talks ?a lot? but does ?nothing? and that is why the SWP was so determined not to have him it on the platform of the Friends Meeting House rally in London on September 25. As the leading faction in the Socialist Alliance, the SWP has a duty to build the SA, not least by ensuring that it takes initiatives and gives a political lead to the anti-war movement. To do that means drawing upon the energies and talents of all comrades.

After Brighton - all out October 13

Sunday?s demonstration in Brighton was fantastic! Despite the torrential rain, the media scare about violence and the attempts by the police to effectively criminalise it, some 7,000 people demonstrated in what was the first national demonstration in the war.

Added to this were the 1,200 people who attended Saturday?s Globalise Resistance conference. This provides a magnificent launch pad for the October 13 demonstrations called by CND in London and Glasgow. Across the country we need to be working with CND locally to book and fill coaches for October 13. October 13 can be absolutely massive. Every SWP member must be in London on the day.

Recruit, sell!

The SWP was central to building Sunday?s demo and was very important to the big SA turnout. The Greens pulled back under pressure from the media and the police. What passes for the rest of the left turned up in small numbers to sell papers but did not mobilise.

Thirty-eight people joined through the central recruitment team on Sunday and 12 on Saturday. At the University of Hertfordshire we sold 94 Socialist Workers and recruited 24 to the SWP. Twenty-three students joined at Northampton University with 43 SWs sold. At Luton University we recruited 19 students. This story is being repeated across the country. Across Leeds we recruited 89 students last week. At Sheffield University 47 joined and we sold 220 SWs! We can grow in every and any university, FE or school. Set up a Stop the War meeting, debate or teach-in or get a discussion at a school assembly.

But there are also older activists who are being pulled towards us. We should take time to sit down with such people and talk to them about joining. At the ICL factory Stop the War meeting in Manchester last week one person joined. People can see the role we are playing in mobilising. We need to combine that with a high stress on our ideas - we will not grow simply by being the best activists.

Four people joined at the 350-strong Manchester Stop the War rally. In Birmingham on Saturday we sold 184 SWs and recruited eight people. Eleven joined on the Leeds Saturday sale. Seventy SWs were sold at University of Central London, 58 at Atlantic College in Cardiff, 53 at Leeds University, 36 at Leeds Metropolitan University. As we write, we will have recruited between 250 and 300 people in the last week!

Things are shifting big time

When 250 people demonstrate against the war in Whitstable you know things are shifting! The mood over the war is changing. It?s clear that the US ruling class is divided about where and who to attack and about becoming embroiled in Afghanistan. The Arab states, Iran and Pakistan are all terrified of the domestic reaction to any attack on Afghanistan. Silvio Berlusconi?s attack on islam, boasting of the ?superiority? and ?supremacy? of western civilisation (sic), will increase tensions in the US-led coalition.

In Rome on Saturday 50,000 demonstrated at a march against the war called by Rifondazione. Two days before, 20,000 gathered in Naples in what was effectively a local demo against the Nato summit which was switched to Brussels. The anti-war message is getting across.

• Build for the October 13 London and Glasgow CND demonstrations. We want the maximum number of people there. In addition to trade union banners we want school students, pensioners and whoever making home made banners they can march behind.
• In every town and city we need to ensure there are united front Stop the War Coalition public meetings with big-name speakers. These should include an SWP speaker (see below - ring the national office), CND, Labour MP, trade unionists, Asian or Middle Eastern speaker, etc. We should propose that these meetings should agree/vote to affiliate to the national Stop the War Coalition. Set up a representative steering committee. These should not be dominated by sectarians/idiots.
• We need to give people activity. We should be building local workplace, college, school, community based Stop the War Coalitions. Get people out doing petitioning, postering, graffiting, doing street theatre, die-ins, etc. Be imaginative.
• In the colleges we need to be organising teach-ins and debates between pro- and anti-war academics. These can pull big numbers - over 100 came to a Stop the War meeting addressed by Rae Street from CND, a Green councillor and Michael Bradley of the SWP at University of Central Lancashire in Preston last Wednesday. In schools push for debates in school assemblies, through debating societies, etc. If we can?t get that organise a brief Stop the War meeting after school.

Don?t wait till Bush starts bombing to get activity underway. It is quite possible things could drag on while the US ruling class decide what to do. This gives us valuable time to build.

Build SWP groups

SWP groups need to meet weekly.

• We will not build a mass anti-war movement unless we are systematically building in a particular workplace, college, school or wherever else a group is centred on. We will not involve our members and supporters unless we are getting SW to them immediately it arrives on Wednesday. Each group should have someone who organises SW sales/distribution and someone who is the convenor. This comrade should be part of a district phone-tree (e-mail too but don?t rely on people opening their mail immediately) so that we can mobilise people quickly in response to events - particularly the start of US bombing. Let the national office/circulation know details of the group convenor and SW sales organiser (name, address, home and work telephone number, e-mail and mobile).
• We should be having regular SW district meetings on imperialism, islamic fundamentalism, etc. We need to arm our comrades, plus we need to discuss our work in the anti-war movement. Don?t drop these - regular SW meetings will pull comrades in and increase their involvement in the anti-war movement. In the colleges we need to meet as the SWP group at the start of the week to discuss SW sales, our intervention and recruitment, plus we need the weekly SW discussion group.
• At every anti-war movement we need a recruitment operation. We should have a district-wide recruitment team for rallies, public meetings, demos, etc. At the 300-plus Manchester Stop the War Coalition rally last Thursday six people joined - including an anti-racist from Oldham, a student at Bolton Institute who wants to start a Stop the War Coalition and two school students who are involved in the debating society and want to set up a debate on the war. On the 300-strong peace vigil in Manchester on Saturday 61 people joined.

Build the Stop The War Coalition

Over 100 students came to the first Stop the War meeting at University of Central Lancashire in Preston; 80 came at Kent University. Ninety attended the first Stop the War meeting in Aberdeen, where Mike Gonzalez was the keynote speaker; 250 came in Oxford, where Yuri Prasad spoke for the SWP; 40 came in Nelson. We need to push for local Stop the War groups to affiliate to the national Stop the War Coalition. Don?t fudge on this. It will create difficulties later.

Tuesday?s 400-strong meeting in London, called from the 2,000-strong Friday meeting, was addressed by Tony Benn, Jeremy Corbyn and Tariq Ali. Present were representatives of Aslef, the Greater London Association of Trades Councils, Trade Union CND, Nigel Chamberlain, CND?s national press and publicity officer, two NUS executive members and many more.

In a couple of places - Oxford and Newcastle - various anarchists and sectarians have argued against having an SWP speaker at the anti-war meetings. In Oxford it was non-party members who argued for an SWP speaker. We should not be defensive about this. We should argue on the basis of our record in initiating the 2,000-strong meeting in Friends Meeting House in London and the other activities.

Secondly, we should have comrades there representing trade union bodies, etc, and comrades who have done things against the war. The sectarians talk a lot, but do nothing. Lastly, we should win people in advance to our concept of the Stop the War Coalition.