A critique of the Socialist Workers Party: 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.

Once again, many thanks to Kevin Parslow who has researched and typed this material ready for publication...

World capitalism and, along with it, diseased British capitalism have entered its worst period of crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s...

The Socialist Party in England and Wales, and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) are the two largest organisations on the 'Marxist left' in Britain...

The SWP today finds its ideological roots in post-1945 British Trotskyism, which split into three main trends...

If they were to answer that North Vietnam was more 'progressive', then how to explain their position at the time of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, when the liquidation of the planned economy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union was, for them, not a great negative historical turning point...

The SWP's increasingly opportunist turn in this century has been accompanied by an exaggeration of the importance and the scale of practically every social movement that has taken place in the last decade...

To many who experienced the past sectarian behaviour of the SWP combined with abstract propaganda - 'One solution, revolution!' - the seeming metamorphosis to a 'broad' approach in this decade was a revelation...

An examination of their role in a number of key industrial battles in the past number of years shows how flawed is their method, both in winning support for their point of view but also the lack of understanding in the relationship between ad hoc unofficial union organisations from below...

The issues of racism and fascism, and how to combat them and the far-right British National Party (BNP) - which has, in its leadership, fascist elements - has recently assumed greater importance in Britain...

Despite the constant intoning of support for the 'united front' tactic, the Socialist Workers Party has misapplied this idea and burnt its fingers...

The clash between the central leadership of the IST - notably the Socialist Workers Party - and their one-time American 'section' the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) also highlighted the deficiencies in their intervention in mass movements...

We have sought to demonstrate in this analysis of the past and present policies of the Socialist Workers Party, that unless they change they will be found wanting in the new period we are entering, both in Britain and internationally...

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