The politics of the left in the UK

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

i had quite forgotten this stuff

[Richard Barrett]

I can understand their double-bind

Well yes. But someone should have looked at the larger picture and (for example) asked the victim of the (alleged) incident what course of action ought to be taken, because what ended up happening made the organisation look infected by cronyism and sexism, which (as far as this is possible when embedded in a society where those features are endemic) it actually isn't. The way this event seems to have split the party is I think indicative that there have been plenty of other internal tensions (eg. over the alliance with Galloway and Respect, or over the extent to which an organisation like the SWP should ally itself with Occupy and other comparable tendencies) contributing to a critical mass of disillusionment with the way it's been organised. I was an active member in the early 90s, until I left the UK, and I remain convinced that organisations like it might well play a significant role by keeping ideas alive and responsive and developing until such time as they might be needed, which could be tomorrow or in fifty years' time or whatever.

[ahinton]

Well yes. But someone should have looked at the larger picture and (for example) asked the victim of the (alleged) incident what course of action ought to be taken, because what ended up happening made the organisation look infected by cronyism and sexism, which (as far as this is possible when embedded in a society where those features are endemic) it actually isn't. The way this event seems to have split the party is I think indicative that there have been plenty of other internal tensions (eg. over the alliance with Galloway and Respect, or over the extent to which an organisation like the SWP should ally itself with Occupy and other comparable tendencies) contributing to a critical mass of disillusionment with the way it's been organised. I was an active member in the early 90s, until I left the UK, and I remain convinced that organisations like it might well play a significant role by keeping ideas alive and responsive and developing until such time as they might be needed, which could be tomorrow or in fifty years' time or whatever.

Whilst a comprehensive answer would inevitably need to be far longer than the question, to whom in particular and to what circumstances and actions/inactions in particular might you ascribe blame (if indeed balme there be) for the fact that no one seems to have looked at that larger picture or for those internal tensions that have arisen within SWP and their effect upon that critical mass of disillusionment with the way in which the party has been organised? Also, do you think that this disillusionment might in part be symptomatic of a more wide-ranging fragmentation within the various parties of the left in UK (including SWP)?

[Serial_Apologist]

i had quite forgotten this stuff

Great stuff thanks Calum!

Watching Lord Lambton in those clips I am reminded of a similar incorrigeable arrogance born of an upper class background whenever we see George Osborne and David Cameron interviewed, which we thought a thing of the past whenever we saw it sent up in the Bond movies of the 1960s. It's an arrogance you rarely see among Labour politicians, however misguided - only acute body language spelling out denial and discomfort.

[amateur51]

Great stuff thanks Calum!

Watching Lord Lambton in those clips I am reminded of a similar incorrigeable arrogance born of an upper class background whenever we see George Osborne and David Cameron interviewed, which we thought a thing of the past whenever we saw it sent up in the Bond movies of the 1960s. It's an arrogance you rarely see among Labour politicians, however misguided - only acute body language spelling out denial and discomfort.

Very good S_A - don't let's forget Johnson too.

[Serial_Apologist]

Very good S_A - don't let's forget Johnson too.

Too true, ams.

[jean]

So...why did practically nobody vote TUSC?

[Serial_Apologist]

So...why did practically nobody vote TUSC?

Had to look that one up!

http://www.tusc.org.uk

Labour were just 7 seats short of overall control here in Southwark, and they've done good stuff around here. As for the Euro election, I always vote Green.

[jean]

Had to look that one up!

I think they're the only left grouping left standing in electoral terms!

I hadn't realised the depths to which the SWP had sunk:

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/05/comrades-war-decline-and-fall-socialist-workers-party

[Serial_Apologist]

I think they're the only left grouping left standing in electoral terms!

I hadn't realised the depths to which the SWP had sunk:

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics...-workers-party

I had quite a few friends in it when I was in the IMG in the 1970s: there were good people. While I have my own misgivings about "democratic centralism", the SWP in its various incarnations was always more centralist than democratic, imo. Another thing was a negative reputation for taking over initiatives that were supposed to be equal terms united fronts, eg the Anti-Nazi League. Perhaps they met their nemesis with Respect!

[amateur51]

I had quite a few friends in it when I was in the IMG in the 1970s: there were good people. While I have my own misgivings about "democratic centralism", the SWP in its various incarnations was always more centralist than democratic, imo. Another thing was a negative reputation for taking over initiatives that were supposed to be equal terms united fronts, eg the Anti-Nazi League. Perhaps they met their nemesis with Respect!

Time there was when almost every demo I went on (that dates me!) was swamped with SWP banners. I recall them getting quite a ticking off at the start of at least one L&G Pride (as it was then) march.

[Serial_Apologist]

Got chatting to two lovely ladies on the Overground back from Dalston last night, and they handed me details of this demo taking place on Saturday the 21 June. From what I know they are connected in some way with the Occupy people:

http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk

Owen Jones, Caroline Lucas and Kate Smurthwaite on the speaker roster - as is Russell Brand, but the rough always goes with the smooth on occasions such as this.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

a polemic in favour of civic consciousness that derides the academic talking in tongues left

[ahinton]

a polemic in favour of civic consciousness that derides the academic talking in tongues left

Hmm - plenty of good food for thought there, in hat strikes me as quite an impressive example of how a survey of and commentary upon grave issues can be wrapped in pragmatic expression to good advantage and without sacrificing persuasiveness. Thanks for posting this.

[Serial_Apologist]

a polemic in favour of civic consciousness that derides the academic talking in tongues left

There are so many conclusions in this at odds with their premises, reached through accumulating heaps of verbal dung, that it's not worth blow-by-blow consideration. It's just dishonest defeatist nonsense, in my opinion, probably written by a jaundiced ex-Communist Party member who lost the plot somewhere around 1990 and 24 years on, meanwhile, having contributed nothing towards making the world a better place, just wants to pull the flush and bring the toilet cystern down on everyone's head, not just his own.

I almost mistook it for Peter Hitchens.