A critique of the Socialist Workers Party
Published by Socialist Publications Ltd
November 2008
The Socialist Party in England and Wales, and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) are the two largest organisations on the ‘Marxist left’ in Britain. Therefore, in a period when the left in general has been weakened – as a, consequence of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the ideological offensive that flowed from this, combined with the neo-liberal fuelled boom – there are many who argue ‘why can’t you forget your differences and combine to unite yourselves and the left in a real alternative?’
Socialism and Left Unity, by Peter Taaffe, attempts to answer this question.
Peter Taaffe is the General Secretary of the Socialist Party and a member of the International Secretariat of the Committee for a Workers’ International. Editor of the socialist newspaper Militant from its inception in 1964, he was one of the five Editorial Board members of the paper expelled from the Labour Party in 1983. Since the formation of Militant Labour, now the Socialist Party, he has been its General Secretary. He is the author of several books including Liverpool: A City that Dared to Fight, The Rise of Militant, Empire Defeated – The Vietnam War, Cuba: Socialism and Democracy, 1926 General Strike: Workers Taste Power and Marxism in Today’s World.
