Scottish Socialist Party report on SWP conference

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

(posted to apst by Alex Nichols)

Socialist Workers Party (England & Wales) Conference London, 18-20
October 2002

Prior to the start of conference two announcements were made, the first
concerned the poll result of Paul Foot, Socialist Alliance candidate for
the London Mayoral election. The conference was pleased to hear that he
received 13% of the vote beating the Greens and LibDems and only just
being beaten by the Tories. This was an excellent result for the
Alliance. Second announcement was that the Socialist Workers Party's
(SWP) 100-member national council will now be elected in its entirety by
the conference.

Previously only 25% were elected this way.

Saturday 18.10.02 First session introduced by Chris Harman.
War, Recession and Resistance.

Synopsis. Chris discussed the impact of the world economic down turn,
covering the situation in many countries i.e. Russia, Argentina, Japan
etc, pointing out that Britain was not immune to this down turn. He then
looked at the political implication of this crisis in terms of a rise in
parties of the Left and Right, allied to this is a rise in
anti-Capitalist movement.

One issue emerging from the new political and economic situation was the
rise in US imperialist hegemony, which is encapsulated in the war
against Iraq. The US see the way clear to achieve this due to the
weakness of it's rivals, i.e. Japan and Russia. The situation however,
is not clear-cut, as other capitalist nations are weary of this
happening. Also the situation in Britain with Blair's support for the
war and Bush is not as solid as he would like and could blow up in his
face. Leading the resistance to US hegemony and war is the anti war
movement the rise of trade union militancy led by the left TU leaders
and the up coming Fire-fighters strike. This represents an up turn in
the mood of the working class generally, and in the anti-capitalism
movement worldwide. The events of the 28 of September should be viewed
as a Genoa or Seattle for England and Wales. In summing up, central to
the work of the SWP over the next period will be the Fire-fighters
strike and the anti-war movement. This will be achieved by working in
their united fronts and using the Marxist Forums to spread the ideas of
the SWP. A note of interest is that it was acknowledged that prior to
this up swing many SWP branches were in the doldrums.

Speakers from the floor, reiterated Chris's, points.

Second session introduced by Chris Bambery.
After 28 September ­ building a new SWP.

Synopsis. September the 28 represents an up turn in the Left, out of
which the SWP should be able to organise and create a new party of the
left. The 28th was better than the anti-poll tax demo and lessons from
that demo should be learned. For example the organisers of that demo let
the opportunity to build an opposition to the Labour party slip through
their fingers, this should not happen now. Chris also rounded on any SWP
member who did not attend the demo going as far as to say that if they
did not attend they should not be members. He was also very critical of
the SWP of old; talking about dull meetings, poor relationships with
others and very low expectations in general. This was contrasted with
the new SWP which was vibrant, attracting new members from various

Third session introduced by Lindsay Germain. Our tasks in the Stop the
War Coalition.

Synopsis. The SWP played a central role in setting up the STWC which was
opposed by others, i.e. Greens, CND etc which are now part of the
coalition. Also the involvement of Muslims is regarded as being
fundamental to the anti-war movement. The anti- poll tax movement is
viewed as a model of how to build a successful united front movement,
however, there is a need to be wary of the STWC being pulled in a
rightward direction. The momentum needs to be maintained, and events
being arranged on the 31st of Oct should help this. Speakers talked
about plans for the 31st and about the impact of the 28th on people.

Sunday 19.10.02

Fourth Session introduced by John Rees.
Revolutionary party, broad party ­ where now for the Socialist Alliance?

Synopsis. There is a general growth world wide of radicalism and in Left
formations and the issue facing the SWP at the moment is, do we still
need an SWP type party or a broad-based type party like the SSP? The SSP
has been successful in elections, which is why others are looking to us,
however, their are other models which do as well in Europe. At present
the SWP see no reason for the SA to change from its present set up. This
is due to the role of New Labour which the SWP do not view as a wholly
capitalist party. They point to the role of the Tus within NL and do not
see NL as being fundamentally different from the past i.e. it is still a
reformist party. As this is the case there is no need to follow the SSP
in creating a new party. The role of the SA is that of a UF of a special
kind, which has done very well in elections, but they would not see as
expanding to create a new party. Their aim is to pull those still in New
Labour who are to the Left towards the SWP. Speakers on the session
included those from the SW platform of the SSP. Jill Hubbard, commented
that the SSP now see NL as an openly capitalist party and as such do not
wish to work with those still in NL. She sites the SSP attitude towards
George Galloway as being a sectarian one and says that the SSP is
turning its back on other groups and parties. A more detailed account of
Jill's analysis can be found in her contribution to the SWPs
Pre-conference document United Fronts: Still relevant today. Julie
Waterston in her contribution criticized reformists who turn their back
on NL; she pointed to the 40% of the NL conference that voted for the
anti-war movement. She also stated the revolt against Blair was huge.
Keir McKechnie commented that the SW platform is playing a key role in
anti-war work and sees UF work key to good turn out to demos.

Fifth Session introduced by David Hayes
The rise of the left trade union leaders.

Synopsis. This represents an up turn in the mood of the working class,
however, not all leaders are the same or have the same support within
their unions. They face pressure from both sides i.e. the rank and file
and NL. This pressure will determine the way in which they orientate in
the future. In the mean time there is a need to build support and
contacts within the TUs using the new rank and file papers. There is
also a need to build Fire fighters support groups. Also there is a need
to build broad lefts within TUs to support leaders and to ensure
pressure on them also.

Sixth Session Introduced by Martin Smith.
Organising the rank and file.

Synopsis. Key to rank and file work is the war and fire fighters,
combined with use of new rank and file papers. This should be linked to
building broad lefts in unions.

Seventh Session Introduced by Alex Callinicos.
The international realignment of the Left.

There is across the globe a period of regroupment occurring amongst the
Left, which also affects the SWP. The current situation means that the
old sharp divisions which separated the left in the past are not as
acute and therefore it is easier for groups to discuss and debate with
one another. There is, therefore, a need to look at how the radical left
is addressing the new situation and which model of regroupment should
the SWP follow. At present there are three types of regroupment. The
first type is represented by the LCR in Italy. This type is classified
as a lose reformation of the large and powerful Communist party in
Italy, this, however, has problems inherent in it causing huge swings in
orientation. The next type is the new creations typified by the SSP in
Scotland. This formation has been effective but no more so than other
left organisations in Europe. This type of organisation contains both
revolutionary and reformists elements, which can face huge difficulties
when confronted with an upturn in working class mood, as it will be
pulled in different directions.

The third type is to have a strong revolutionary party linked to united
fronts building a mass revolutionary party through UF activity winning
over people to the ideas of the revolutionary party. This is the method
that the SWP should follow. Speakers from the floor again included Jill
Hubbard, who reiterated the SW platform role in building many of the
successful elements in the SSP. There was mention of the direction taken
over the war and the election and the 'Bread and Butter' issues. I also
contributed to this debate. I said that the SSP was strengthened by the
introduction of the SW platform, and we welcomed the contributions made
by their members. I also said, however, that the SSP did not regard
itself as the only model of regrouping the left, it was up to each
country to work out how it occurred. I then went on to talk about our
'Bread and Butter' issues and how important they had been in building
our party when there was no impending war and the role we have played in
the anti-war movement in Scotland. I finished by saying that only
history would tell if our method was right or theirs, however, I hoped
we were both right. Alex Callinicos in his summing up acknowledged that
bread and butter issues were important otherwise they would not be
bothering with the Fire-fighters strike. He also stated that it was
perfectly on order for revolutionaries to work with in reformist parties
as long as they understood their role. In the end however, he reiterated
the role of the SWP in building a new revolutionary party was not using
the method of the SSP but by building the SWP and the UFs.

Monday 20.10.02

Eighth Session introduced by Chris Nineham

The European Social Forum and beyond.

Synopsis. This is part of an ongoing process across the world and will
be hugely important. Chris talked about the type of formations attending
and their political make up, and how each group would respond to
discussion and debate. He said that the war should be pushed to the fore
and that there would be a huge anti-war demo organised on the Saturday.
After Florence the UF work involving Globalise resistance should be
stepped up.

The rest of the day was taken up by sessions involving the SWP UF
organisations this included Student Work, Fighting Racism and Fascism,
and Marxist Forums.

Over view of the conference. The SWP is undergoing a period of
transformation, it is looking at how it can build a mass political party
in the new post-Stalinist era of regroupment. It clearly no longer
perceives the SSP as a model that it wishes to emulate and has initiated
new theories and bodies that they regard as being central to building a
model which has the SWP at its core. This includes, building United
Fronts, in many areas i.e. Globalise Resistance. Anti-Nazi league, etc,
linked to a big involvement in the anti war movement and the fire
fighters' dispute. Through Marxist Forums and their paper sales they
hope to bring people into contact with the ideas of the SWP, thus
building a mass party. They also at this moment do not believe that New
Labour are fundamentally different from any Labour Government of the
past, and will seek to build United Fronts with the party. They hope to
attract any remaining members into the SWP, particularly if a war is
called which would result in a haemorrhaging of New Labour members. They
view the Socialist Alliances in England and Wales as being a United
Front of a special kind and do not see them being transformed in to a
fully-fledged party, but staying as an electoral pact

Kenny McEwan (Scottish Socialist Party observer to SWP conference)

28.10.02.

--

Louis Proyect
www.marxmail.org



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