29.01.2004

John Rees airbrushes out history

Rees' speech, while full of Panglossian optimism about the big time for the left (read, for the SWP), was actually an epitaph for the SA. Marcus Ström was there

For the "first time in decades", there will be a progressive "electoral alternative" in June's elections to the European parliament and Greater London Assembly. This is the newspeak of Respect and the words come from none other than John Rees, leader of the Socialist Workers Party, and self-anointed number one candidate for the West Midlands.

In his closing speech at the Respect convention, comrade Rees effectively airbrushed out of history all the left electoral interventions of recent years, including those by the Socialist Labour Party, Socialist Party/Militant Labour, Communist Party of Great Britain and, last but not least, the Socialist Alliance itself, on whose executive comrade Rees sits. His speech, while full of Panglossian optimism about the big time for the left (read, for the SWP), was actually an epitaph for the SA. While perhaps not killed off, the Socialist Alliance is being cryogenically frozen, as Respect takes over its role as an electoral front - but held in reserve just in case the new coalition fails too. Yet, like Austin Powers, the danger is the SA could be hopelessly out of date and not at all groovy, baby, once brought back to life.

This speaks volumes about the SWP's attitude to electoral activity and to the unity of the socialist left. The SWP treats such adventures lightly. Rather than providing serious, long-term engagement with the working class along principled socialist lines; rather than a means to unite the whole left around a coherent Marxist programme in order to forge the weapon needed by our class (ie, a Communist Party); the SWP views elections as just its opportunity to break into the mainstream. To that end any principle can be junked. Parliamentary cretinism par excellence.

We saw in reports of the SWP's closed annual conference that the new coalition was intended to leave "the sectarians" behind (Weekly Worker November 6 2003) This is clearly code for barring the critical voices in the Socialist Alliance from Respect. The SWP dare not say the SA has been a failure. Yet the truth is, if the SWP had taken the bit between its teeth and fought for consistent partyist unity; if the SA had been at the forefront of the anti-war movement; then there would be no need for something as bland, amorphous and unappetising as Respect.

Comrade Rees had the temerity to declare that Respect not only brought in new layers from the anti-war movement, but actually united "the majority of the socialist left". To adapt a phrase from the front page of last week's Socialist Worker, 'Unity? My arse!'

The overwhelming majority of those attending the Alice in Wonderland event last Sunday were members and sympathisers of the SWP. The "majority of the socialist left"? Where was the Labour left, the trade union awkward squad, the Morning Star's Communist Party of Britain? Where was Peter Taaffe's Socialist Party? What about the smaller groups: Workers Power, Alliance for Workers' Liberty and so on? They were either not there or have quickly departed. Perhaps that was the aim of the SWP after all. Relaunch the SA without the left and without the politics.

Toby Abse, a supporter of Socialist Resistance, quipped after the conference, that what we saw was the SWP unite with itself. Comrade Abse is one of many SA independents and Resistance supporters who are now unwilling to have anything to do with Respect. The Socialist Alliance is to play no role in the new formation - other than keeping quiet. Attempts by leading independents to affiliate the SA to Respect got short shrift from the SWP. At the SA executive committee meeting on January 3, SWP members, including Rob Hoveman, Jeannie Robinson and Simon Joyce, argued against any direct affiliation. Comrade Hoveman said that the SA "did not have enough coherence to act inside the coalition". Comrade Will McMahon and his friends in a newly launched pro-Respect platform want the SA to be the "socialist current" within the "left coalition"; the SWP clearly has other ideas.

Holborrow: awfulIn perhaps the most awful speech of the day, Paul Holborrow, Lambeth SA and long-term SWP hack, spoke against the need for elected Respect representatives to take a worker's wage. He said that Respect was not a socialist organisation, nor should it be; thus to have 'socialist principles' in its declaration from the start would be a mistake. He said that Respect could not be socialist in the way that, say, the SWP was. In other words, it is the SWP's job to be the socialist current in the new populist movement.

This is clearly the SWP's perspective. Yet this stands in sharp contradiction to the claims of SWP and its allies within the alliance. The SWP's Rob Hoveman has insisted Respect is "absolutely" socialist. SA chair Nick Wrack declares its founding document to be "implicitly" socialist, while comrade Alan Thornett (International Socialist Group) thinks it is "essentially" socialist (comrade Thornett's effusive participation in the SWP-led standing ovation at the close of the convention was embarrassing to witness).

This is the two-faced nature of opportunism. Talk left, act right. It's already socialist, that's why we should have absolutely no socialist principle in it! Leave the socialist principle to the SWP and its recruitment machine.

At the CPGB aggregate the day before the Respect jamboree one comrade mused that even the SWP would find it difficult to muster much enthusiasm for the Respect project. At the close of the convention, amid the whoops and hollers more akin to a christian revivalist sect, that was shown to be completely untrue. Perhaps it is appropriate that in Nick Wrack's email report to SA members he inadvertently called the new organisation "Resect".

The SWP will go through the motions with the Socialist Alliance. Yet clearly SA branch meetings will now be considered an unnecessary diversion in the lead-up to the June's vital elections. The SA's annual conference on March 13 will only consider motions on the Respect coalition and methods of election to the executive. Chances are the whole day will be a charade. The SWP will ensure that. We shall, of course, strive to coordinate with those individual socialists who remain in the SA. But communists have no wish to haggle over a corpse.

We shall energetically work in Respect and seek a wider audience there for what is needed: a mass working class alternative to both Labourism and the non-class politics of populism.