Launch a mass broad socialist party led by revolutionaries
by Steve Wallis
20th January 2006
In the recent Bolivian Presidential election, union leader Evo Morales was elected with over half the votes, the first time this has ever happened. The 7 January report of this victory in Socialist Worker (the newspaper of the SWP), said that Morales was a candidate of the MAS but failed to mention what MAS stands for – Movement Towards Socialism! Clearly the SWP leadership was worried that mentioning that the party has “socialism” in its name would undermine their argument that it is necessary to hide socialism when standing for election in this country, as they are doing with Respect.
Morales’ victory was a consequence of the general strikes, demonstrations, occupations of workplaces and street blockades, which erupted earlier in 2005 calling for the nationalisation of gas and oil. In Britain, mass movements of working class people will be necessary for a left-wing party to similarly come to power but we need to prepare the ground now by establishing such a party. Labour is now a party of big business like the Tories and Lib Dems, and there is so little difference between Blair, Brown and Cameron that a big vacuum exists which a new party could start to fill.
In deciding to appear on Channel 4’s Celebrity Big Brother, Respect MP George Galloway has swiftly gone from hero (due to his barnstorming appearance in Washington in front of the Senate committee that accused him of profiteering from Iraq’s oil-for-food programme, where he pointed out live on TV both sides of the Atlantic that US “defense” secretary Donald Rumsfeld met Saddam Hussein to sell him arms) to laughing stock. He has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons, accused of bullying “glamour model” Jodie Marsh and imitating a cat! Appearing on the programme with a Page 3 model had already caused some of his Muslim constituents to demonstrate against him (which he was unaware of since he is cut off from outside events inside the Big Brother house), and perhaps his decision to behave harshly towards Marsh was influenced by him trying to ingratiate himself with those opposed to the portrayal of women as sex objects (particularly Respect’s Muslim base). Some of Galloway’s allies have complained about censorship but Channel 4 spokespersons say that they warned him he would not be allowed to use the programme as a political soapbox. On the few occasions his political talk has been broadcast he has been far from astute, siding with fur-wearing Pete Burns against vegetarian Marsh and saying that Saddam Hussein was not hated by his own people (if he really thought that, he could have explained that it was due to the sanctions imposed by the West). The SWP have criticised Galloway’s decision to go on the programme, which they only had 24 hours notice of, but they are standing by him.
Galloway has a big ego and with his conscious mind he is probably mainly motivated by boosting it and actually becoming a celebrity. However, deep down in people’s brains, coming to the surface sometimes for some people (especially those involved in politics) are considerations about how to help your own real side in the class struggle, the working class or big business – depending on whether you want a world based on cooperation rather than competition. There are infiltrators on both sides within every organisation of more than a few people. It appears that Galloway has switched sides on more than one occasion in his life – from big business (when he met Saddam Hussein and praised his “courage” and “indefatigability”) to the working class (when he exposed Rumsfeld), and back again before Big Brother.
It was clear that Respect was in crisis from the fact that its membership, at about 4,000, had hardly changed between the 2004 conference and the latest one in November 2005, despite Galloway getting elected at the general election and then appearing in Washington. Galloway attracted big audiences but people weren’t as keen on joining Respect without it being clear what it stands for. Additionally, the SWP are very intolerant of criticism within Respect.
The Socialist Party (formerly the Militant Tendency), which I was a member of for about eight and a half years from when it was leading the mass non-payment campaign that defeated the poll tax until if opposed the setting up of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), recently launched the Campaign for a New Workers’ Party (www.cnwp.org.uk). Particularly due to Respect’s crisis, this is the most promising route to a broad socialist party led by revolutionaries like the SSP. It is organising a conference at the University of London Union (on Malet Street, London NW1) on Sunday the 19th of March. Even if that conference doesn’t launch a new party, it should plan a timetable for one to be established.
The attempt to win mass support should not entail hiding revolutionary socialist politics, pretending to be in favour of gradual change via reforms (which can never lead to socialism since they are replaced by counter-reforms during recessions). The broad socialist party should have open factions (like the SSP’s platforms) and members should be encouraged to state which platforms they are members of when writing articles in the party’s newspaper or speaking at meetings. I would attempt to unite all revolutionary socialists within the party in a single “Revolutionary Platform” in favour of the party adopting revolutionary socialist politics.