05.06.2002

Cymru gone

The recent schism on the editorial board of Welsh Socialist Voice and the decision of Cymru Goch not to reaffiliate to the Welsh Socialist Alliance has once again caused speculation about the viability of the SA project in the principality. The 'departure' of CG comes as no great surprise to anyone at all acquainted with the politics of the WSA (see Weekly Worker May 30). Frustrated by its inability to win the WSA to its left nationalist perspective of an independent socialist republic, CG found little reason to continue its participation. For the past 18 months the role CG members have played in the WSA has been negligible. Refusing to participate in either the general election campaign and subsequent parliamentary and assembly by-elections, CG has for a long time been a semi-detached part of the alliance. As long ago as September 2001 CG was publicly counterposing its aim of a Welsh Socialist Party with that of the WSA. It said then: "We have devoted much of our energies over the past four years to the WSA, but the main players in that alliance, the Socialist Workers Party and Socialist Party, seem to be wedded to a line handed down from London that insists there will be no significant broadening or deepening of the alliance" (Weekly Worker September 6 2001). In recent times the only area where CG has made a positive contribution was in the setting up of Welsh Socialist Voice. With one member on the editorial board, CG showed clear commitment to this venture. Indeed out of all proportion to its influence in the WSA, CG managed to set much of the tone of WSV. The reason for this had much to do with the SWP's initial lukewarm response to the creation of the WSA paper. However, this very quickly turned to outright hostility towards the publication. Those SWP members that supported WSV found themselves isolated, as its leading cadre laid into the recently created newspaper (see Weekly Worker May 2). It soon became clear that the diversity of WSV was too much for the SWP to take. Indeed it appears that its anti-WSV campaign has been orchestrated in recent weeks by none other than some of its leading central committee members in London. Consequently, a spat took place between SWP members of the editorial board and other members about the content, which led to the resignation of the non-SWP members. In public, the SWP is still careful not to completely rubbish WSV. This is why it backed a CPGB motion at the last national council to reaffirm support for WSV. Yet I have learnt from a national officer of the WSA that the remaining SWP members of the editorial board intend to publish one further edition of WSV in its present format, then it will change to an anodyne two-page newsletter. The SWP will have effectively achieved its aim of killing WSV. That the non-SWP members of the editorial board chose to resign is disappointing. Rather than fight to defend WSV, they appear to have calculated that the SWP's attempted censorship of certain articles submitted (such as an article from the CPGB on the euro) demonstrated that the WSA is nothing more than an 'SWP front'. Unfortunately, rather than seeking to mobilise the ranks (albeit small) of the WSA against the SWP thought police, the majority of them have sought instead to drift away from the WSA completely. Particularly disappointing was the resignation of Steve Bell, a leading independent and the WSA candidate in Torfaen at the general election. He has now signalled his intention to quit the WSA completely, demoralised by the behaviour of leading SWP members. Sadly, it appears that CG's rupture with the WSA has brought out a most sectarian response from certain quarters. Over the bank holiday, CG organised a successful three-day 'Stuff the jubilee' event in Pontypridd. Amongst the speakers was the Scottish Socialist Party's Alan McCombes, who spoke to about 40 people on the Sunday. Yet his visit to the principality was completely ignored by both the SWP and Socialist Party. No doubt their boycott of his meeting was fuelled in part by the fact that comrade McCombes had agreed to speak at a CG event. Or perhaps both the SWP and the SP were engaged in militant republican activity elsewhere. Cameron Richards