This resolution does not attempt to give a history of our work in the Socialist Alliance (SA) or a thorough perspective for the development of a new mass workers’ party. It should, therefore be read in conjunction with other material. However, it is necessary here to briefly reiterate the reasons why we are no longer part of the SA.
We were the major force behind the initiation of the SA in the mid-90s. The SA aimed to bring together different socialist organisations and individuals on the basis of the maximum possible unity, whilst at the same time preserving the rights of all those who participated. Although the forces that were involved in the SA, other than ourselves, were very small we persisted with the SA because we saw it as a force which might play a certain contributory role in the development of a new mass workers’ party.
Labour’s backward transformation
The struggle for a new mass workers’ party is a key issue for us. As we have explained for almost a decade, the Labour Party has been transformed from a bourgeois workers’ party (that is a party with bourgeois at the top but has a working-class base, and is therefore susceptible to pressure from the working class) into a fully bourgeois party.
This has left an enormous space in society – there is no longer a mass party which is seen, in any sense, as a party that represents working-class people. The ground will be prepared for a new mass party by a combination of big events and the intervention of active socialists; particularly ourselves. The formation of a new party will primarily be an objective process.
On the basis of their experience of struggle fresh layers of the working class will draw the conclusion that they need their own political voice. Initially this is likely to be on a partial, local or single-issue basis; but it is out of this process that, at a certain stage, moves towards a new party will be taken. One of the critical tasks for Marxists in this period is the fight to speed up the formation of such a party by popularising socialist ideas, campaigning in the trade unions, and by standing in elections. We have done this very successfully – we now have six councillors elected and our members were behind two of the three resolutions calling for the loosening of links with Labour that were passed at national trade union conferences last year.
We also played a key role in the SA. At the last GE our candidates achieved three of the five highest votes received by the SA. However, we have had to conclude that the SA is now little more than a front for the SWP and therefore that it is no longer possible for us to take any part in the SA. Since the SWP joined the SA, as the numerically largest organisation (although certainly not the most effective) in the SA they have been able to ride roughshod over the rights of all other forces within it. This process reached was qualitatively completed with the SA conference on December 1 last year at which the SWP once more used sheer weight of numbers; this time to force through a constitution which, given the current makeup of the SA, enshrines under SWP control all crucial decisions within the SA. By contrast we argued for a constitution based on a federal, inclusive approach. However, we did not make the adoption of our constitution a prerequisite for our continued participation in the SA. On the contrary, we were willing to accept a whole number of different compromise proposals, which, while far from ideal, would have allowed the continued development of the SA. However, the SWP would accept nothing other than their own constitution – voting down even the most minor amendments. We have therefore had no choice but to declare that SA is no longer, in any real sense, an alliance but in reality the electoral front for the SWP.
Welsh Socialist Alliance
The SWP faces a less favourable balance of forces in the Welsh Socialist Alliance (WSA) and consequently has had to adopt a more cautious approach. They were forced to withdraw proposals for a new constitution prior to the WSA conference on 19 January but will now prepare to reintroduce it at a special conference later this year.
It is not guaranteed that the SWP will succeed in reproducing their control of the SA within the WSA. For the time being the Socialist Party (Wales) continues to work in the WSA and campaigns for an inclusive, federalist alliance.
Our exit from the SA, on December 1 last year, did not in any way indicate a turn towards isolationism or an unwillingness to work with other forces on the left. On the contrary, we will continue to strive for the maximum possible principled unity between ourselves and other socialists and working-class activists. The only way it is currently possible to do this effectively is by being outside of the Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP)-dominated SA.
Such a formation is highly unlikely to play any positive role in the development of a new mass workers’ party. The SA is currently almost entirely empty of fresh workers or youth and, given the SWP’s approach, it will not be able to attract them in significant numbers. Unfortunately, it is more likely to alienate those workers it reaches than to encourage them into political activity. Nonetheless, given the vacuum that exists, the SA could have some electoral successes. However, for the SA to take on real flesh, in terms of active working class members, a change in the undemocratic approach and arrogant attitude of the majority of the leadership of the SA would be necessary. Of course, if this were to take place we would alter our attitude to the SA accordingly.
The negative effect of the SWP’s role in the SA is not only the question of their fetish for centralising the SA under their own control (although the failure of Scargill’s SLP graphically demonstrates how an undemocratic approach can alienate potential support from fresh layers of workers and youth). The SWP’s undemocratic approach is related to their utter failure to understand the nature of the period and the tasks that are facing Marxists.
Whilst the SWP do not accept that the nature of the Labour Party has changed fundamentally they, nonetheless, have a dim understanding that there is now a huge space to the left of Labour. The SWP, and their supporters, see the SA as the force that will inevitably fill that space (at least in an electoral sense). This is despite the fact that the SA is currently an organisation with around 2000 members which received a modest average 1.72% across 92 seats in the General Election (GE). Incredibly, they seem incapable of grasping that there is more to filling a space than declaring that you have done so. They have no comprehension about how events will unfold. Crucially, the fresh layers of the working class play an entirely passive role in the SWP’s schema for the future. The SWP, and their supporters in the SA, imagine that winning important sections of the working class is simply a question of winning high-profile individual lefts, who will ‘represent’ working-class consciousness. When faced with groups of workers or anti-cuts campaigners who are taking real steps towards independent political action the SWP-led SA have had an arrogant and dismissive approach; demanding that the workers in question stand under the banner of the SA, and refusing to support them unless they do so.
Given the nature of the SA it is not sufficient for us simply to cease to take part in it. We also have to warn workers about the undemocratic nature of the SA and explain clearly why we, along with a layer of other independents within the SA, had no choice but to leave. For example, when support for SA candidates comes up in TU branches we should not automatically give our backing regardless of the candidate’s record, programme and attitude to democracy. Of course, there are undoubtedly still genuine individuals and groupings within the SA, who are unhappy with the direction the SA is taking. We should make it clear to these individuals that we think that they are making a mistake staying inside the SA, and should encourage them to leave. Even if they are unwilling to do so at this stage, we should continue to maintain a friendly relationship with these individuals and groupings.
The end of the SA as a genuine force does not mean we are turning away from alliance work. On the contrary we will continue to pursue it every way possible. Concretely, this currently means taking the following steps:
We have written to the SA demanding that they open negotiations for an electoral agreement in this May’s local authority elections with ourselves and all other forces on the left. They have agreed to a meeting. We will vigorously pursue this at local and national level.
Wherever, there are genuine forces, whether on a local or national level, which wish to take part in real alliance work on a united-front type basis; we will participate enthusiastically. This may involve individuals and groupings coming from the SA, which we welcome. However, it will, at a certain stage, also involve fresh layers of workers and activists moving into struggle for the first time. For us this latter group are crucial.
More independent candidates?
The development of groups of workers taking the decision to stand in elections is connected to national developments in the trade unions. The statement by John Edmonds that if New Labour continued with privatisation the GMB would sponsor ‘independent’ candidates in this May’s elections shows the pressure that the trade union leaders are under.
It is true that he later retracted this statement, although an unnamed GMB official was still quoted as saying that GMB members would find themselves ‘unable to support Labour candidates’. We will continue to campaign within the trade unions for the political funds to be used to support candidates who represent trade union members interests. We will also actively encourage those groups of trade unionists that will take Edmonds statements more seriously than he does and want to either stand in elections or support anti-cuts candidates. The ‘free the funds’ campaign has written a letter for use with all public-sector trade union branches for this purpose and will also produce a petition, and organise a campaign of speaking at trade union branches on the issue.
Encouraging groups of workers to take independent political action is not just a question of propaganda; the propaganda of the deed is also important. We are the only organisation on the left in England and Wales with elected councillors. The fact that a majority of voters in a local area can be convinced to go out and vote for a socialist candidate inspires a layer of workers and youth well beyond our own ranks. The fact that all six councillors have an exemplary record of fighting against cuts has an even greater effect. Of course, whilst their record on campaigning issues, is to some degree responsible for their initial election success, all of our councillors also prioritise campaigning to popularise socialist ideas.
Four of our six councillors are up for election this May. There can never be any guarantees of victory in an election, but our first priority must be to do everything possible to ensure they are re-elected. We will also stand candidates across the country. However, we are not yet in a position where any more than a small minority of workers will vote socialist automatically or simply because they receive a leaflet. The lack of a mass left alternative to New Labour, general disillusionment with mainstream politics, and the likely extremely low turnout in May’s elections, means that much of our potential support will not vote at all unless we discuss with them and convince them. Therefore, we should not spread ourselves too thin in these elections, but should stand in areas where we have a base. Of course, our aim cannot just be to win votes; we also have to recruit to our party in every seat where we stand, nonetheless it is vital that we strive to win a credible vote in every seat that we stand in. On a national basis we need to decide where we want to stand now, and begin public campaigning as soon as possible.
We will stand in these elections as the Socialist Party (although we will have to have ‘Socialist Alternative’ on the ballot paper in England). Of course, this does not mean that we will be unwilling to take part in wider electoral agreements. Wherever there is the possibility of a broader slate of ‘anti-cuts’ candidates we should pursue this vigorously. In most cases where this takes place, it will be possible to stand as clear Socialist Party candidates as part of a broader anti-cuts slate. Even where there is not an anti-cuts campaign we will strive to reach an electoral agreement with other socialists; including the SA. In order to achieve an electoral agreement we will, of course, considering compromising over which seats we stand in. However, we will not allow any organisation to dictate to us, as the SLP attempted in the past. It is important we decide early on which seats we want, and begin working in those areas.
The struggle for working-class representation
To conclude, we are confident that, in the coming months and years, we will see the working class move into action on a mass scale. The fight for a new mass workers’ party will form a vital strand in those struggles.
Under such conditions, whilst the first steps towards such a party may well prove partial and complex, they will nonetheless dwarf all the small steps taken in that direction so far. The SWP takeover of the SA is one extra complication on the road towards a new party, but historically, like the failure of Scargill’s SLP, it will prove to be a minor one. We will continue to argue for electoral agreements between socialists.
We will support every step towards independent political representation taken by sections of the working class. That means that we will continue to support workers’ and community activists taking to the electoral plane. We will also continue to lead the struggle in the trade unions for the breaking of links with Labour.
Crucially, we will continue to contest elections ourselves, and will step up the drive to increase the membership and influence of our party. The greater degree to which we succeed in this, the greater degree to which we will be able to influence, and quicken, the struggle for independent representation of the working class.
