Swansea: Corbyn rally attracts turnout but many can’t get in

    At the end of the Swansea Corbyn rally last Saturday we had nothing left to sell or hand out! A dozen Socialist Party members on our party and Young Socialists stalls sold around 100+ copies of the Socialist, distributing bundles of Socialist Party, Socialist Students and Young Socialist leaflets and signing up those interested in finding out more about our socialist programme. We also raised money for our Fighting Fund.

    The Corbyn supporters attending this ‘invitation only’ rally frustratingly had to produce photographic identity and email tickets in order to gain entrance to the relatively small venue, which had been kept secret until Friday evening! Inevitably, this meant some supporters were searching the streets of Swansea on Saturday morning trying to locate the vaguely advertised ‘city centre’ venue, which was actually on the sea front. Others were refused access after failing to produce the necessary documentation.

    Instead of a closed rally of already committed Corbyn supporters, a well publicised, open air rally would have attracted thousands more from across south west Wales and could have been used to further energise and enthuse floating voters for Corbyn’s radical and popular manifesto.

    Unfortunately a small band of Brexit Party chanting members attempted to disrupt the rally from the outside but were overwhelmed by the huge number of Corbyn supporters unable to get in.

    It was clear, on the evidence of the support we received on the day from working class Corbynista Labour Party members, that the Socialist Party would be enthusiastically welcomed to join with them in the future as part of a democratically transformed, federal Labour Party fighting for a socialist future.

    Alec Thraves