500 new members for the SWP?
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Udo Erasmus
Well-Known Member
Sorry about the SWP/Solidarity confusion, given that FisherGate always refers to the majority wing of the Respect split as the SWP, I assumed he was playing the same game.
In an earlier article Galloway seemed to want Tommy Sheridan to stand, but given that his politics is the politics of big men, why would he support any other candidate that Solidarity might field? But it mainly seems that Galloway's decision is based on a loathing of the SNP.
Nationalism is a dead end and reactionary, but New Labour is not the alternative!
The thought of Chairman George:
http://tinyurl.com/6b4osp
“Glasgow East should send Margaret Curran to Westminster on July 24.”
http://tinyurl.com/5pr76s
“Margaret Curran, in trap three, who was formerly close to me, has metamorphosed from a butterfly into another New Labour caterpillar - dessicated, robotic and incapable of rallying anyone.”
Udo Erasmus
Well-Known Member
You might enjoy this from the Record:
"A BIZARRE fight has broken out between rival socialist candidates in the Glasgow East by-election. Solidarity claimed their candidate Tricia McLeish was "disciplined" by SSP hopeful and former MSP Frances Curran when they were at school together.
A Solidarity source said: "Tricia went to the same school as the SSP candidate. "Tricia was younger and was a rebellious mod who was often disciplined by the blazer-clad prefect Frances Curran. "Frances clearly showed early signs of collusion with authority. However, maybe the class rebel will win the final victory." Curran said: "I'm not even going to dignify that with a comment." Solidarity are the party set up by Tommy Sheridan after his bitter split from the SSP over his defamation court case in 2006."
"A BIZARRE fight has broken out between rival socialist candidates in the Glasgow East by-election. Solidarity claimed their candidate Tricia McLeish was "disciplined" by SSP hopeful and former MSP Frances Curran when they were at school together.
A Solidarity source said: "Tricia went to the same school as the SSP candidate. "Tricia was younger and was a rebellious mod who was often disciplined by the blazer-clad prefect Frances Curran. "Frances clearly showed early signs of collusion with authority. However, maybe the class rebel will win the final victory." Curran said: "I'm not even going to dignify that with a comment." Solidarity are the party set up by Tommy Sheridan after his bitter split from the SSP over his defamation court case in 2006."
JHE
.
Dunno, people can hope for all sorts of unlikely things, but I doubt he expects it.
A seat in the European Parliament, from east London, standing as al-Respeq, is a much more realistic prospect.
BTW, it's not entirely clear that there are any safe Scottish Labour seats any more.
Fisher_Gate
Active Member
This was 1999!
It's up to Galloway who he wants to support. Respect does not organise in Scotland and therefore should not have a line on Scottish elections - there may well be members who call for votes for Labour, SLP, SSP, Solidarity, CPB, SGP or any other left wing party. So long as they don't back the Tories or LibDems, I don't really care. I would think the SNP would be problematic, though there might well be some Respect members who might back them.
If I can bounce the question back, presumably Left Alternative has no line on it either and would not criticise a member who (say) backed Frances Curran?
Fisher_Gate
Active Member
Aberdeen South it was where the SWP stood in 1999 coming last with an impressive 206 votes. My memory was somewhat over optimistic.
So that's three SWP candidates in 1999 not two as Fisher Gate said.
Could it possibly be that Fisher Gate got it wrong ?.
...
Oops ... wretched Scottish Parliament web site had him down as "Socialist Worker" not "SWP" so I missed it in my search. Sorry, we are all fallible but some of us admit our mistakes.
I missed two others too (but spotted it before anyone else did!) so that's five SWP candidates in 1999.
Paisley South
Hugh Henry LAB 13899
Bill Martin SNP 9404
Stuart Callison LD 2974
Sheila Laidlaw CON 2433
Paul Mack IND 1273
Jackie Forrest SWP 673
Renfrewshire West
Trish Godman LAB 12708
Colin Campbell SNP 9815
Annabel Goldie CON 7243
Neal Ascherson LD 2659
Allan McGraw IND 1136
Patrick Clark SWP 476
dennisr
the acceptable face
If the SWP are not going to stand in elections, then what is the point?
They will achieve nothing by just having meetings and selling newspapers.
Somehow I don't see a revolutionary crowd led by the SWP, storming parliament and taking power.
Please tell me they don't believe that!
They will achieve nothing by just having meetings and selling newspapers.
Somehow I don't see a revolutionary crowd led by the SWP, storming parliament and taking power.
Please tell me they don't believe that!
audiotech
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The 500 figure was from last week's paper - before Marxism. There was also substantial recruitment at Marxism. Some of the 500 are former members returning while the majority are new to the organisation.
500 in 6 months, it will be 700 or so by the end of this month including the recruits at Marxism, is impressive for a small revolutionary organisation. Especially when you consider that 500 exceeds the entire membership of the vast majority of far lefts groups in the UK (the SP is the only other organisation bigger than that).
It is not massive when compared to the numbers who are members of the main parliamentary parties, and it is not a sign of imminant revolution, but no-one is suggesting it is.
It is, however, impressive growth in a period that, as yet, is not one of massive class struggle.
I wouldn't have posted a thread about this. But thanks to those who think we are important enough to seek to deride the 500 figure.
500 in 6 months, it will be 700 or so by the end of this month including the recruits at Marxism, is impressive for a small revolutionary organisation. Especially when you consider that 500 exceeds the entire membership of the vast majority of far lefts groups in the UK (the SP is the only other organisation bigger than that).
It is not massive when compared to the numbers who are members of the main parliamentary parties, and it is not a sign of imminant revolution, but no-one is suggesting it is.
It is, however, impressive growth in a period that, as yet, is not one of massive class struggle.
I wouldn't have posted a thread about this. But thanks to those who think we are important enough to seek to deride the 500 figure.
oh for gods sake .. SW have been saying this "We have just recruited blah blah blah new members" or "We have just sold blah blah blah papers .." ever since i first set eyes on it and sold it back in 1976 .. fundamentally it is just rubbish .. they take them in, almost all middle class, and spit them out, mostly embitterred and even more middle class
audiotech
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the numbers aren't really important it's what they do that's key. And they appear - most of them - to do very little except go to meetings and sell the paper once a week, maybe go on an occasional demo.
blimey, if you could extrapolate from what some tiny but hard-working groups have done over the years with the numbers of members the swp has we could have seen minor but significant social change. But it would have to have involved dropping all that Leninist nonsense - and there's the problem in a nut-shell.
blimey, if you could extrapolate from what some tiny but hard-working groups have done over the years with the numbers of members the swp has we could have seen minor but significant social change. But it would have to have involved dropping all that Leninist nonsense - and there's the problem in a nut-shell.
Naive
Is that not the SWP turn?
He hasn't responded yet as he's watching youtube videos of the ANL fighting back fascists from the 1970s.
Again.
Fisher_Gate
Active Member
How many of them are like Ahmed Hussain, Tower Hamlets councillor, who couldn't tell the difference between the SWP and the Tories? It sounds impressive until you realise the low political level of most of them and the fact that they do not last long.
If the SWP are a revolutionary party then how come they are so indisciplined that less than 1 in 8 of them followed the explicit instruction in party notes in 2005 to join Respect?
nightbreed
Im Bored
butchersapron
Bring back hanging
During the war...
What is puzzling, is why the SWP are throwing themselves into anti fascism?
Any benefit from anti fascist work, will go straight to the establishment parties, who the SWP are supposed to be seeking to replace.
If a SWP campaign succeeds in reducing the vote for the BNP in any said ward, the only winners will be the Labour party, the Tories or the Lib Dems.
As the SWP do not contend elections, so will get nothing from their work.
Indeed the rewards of any anti fascist work they may do, helps maintain the system they are dedicated to overthrowing.
Very baffling.
Any benefit from anti fascist work, will go straight to the establishment parties, who the SWP are supposed to be seeking to replace.
If a SWP campaign succeeds in reducing the vote for the BNP in any said ward, the only winners will be the Labour party, the Tories or the Lib Dems.
As the SWP do not contend elections, so will get nothing from their work.
Indeed the rewards of any anti fascist work they may do, helps maintain the system they are dedicated to overthrowing.
Very baffling.
JHE
.
They'll get what they usually want out of their campaigning antics: new contacts, a periphery, new recruits...
Anyway, they've got to do something that feels purposeful. Otherwise the members will get bored and sulky.
poster342002
PROPER leftwing socialist
audiotech
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audiotech
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*pats matt on head*
audiotech
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Not really.
In International Socialist Journal 100, John Rees said, “There are larger forces moving in society than any of the existing left organisations. We must either cut a channel that can allow these forces to rebuild a new left or we will, perhaps not many years from now, be looking at a resurgent right arising from the ashes of the Blair administration.”
Ironic really.
I think its their historical responsibility of the SWP insr stopping the fascists, as they did in the 1970s. Only a socialist organisation can stop them, and the only left party in england with the numbers to do anything about the BNP are the SWP- look at the 100,000 strong LMHR carnival
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