Post A Follow Up Discussion Page
Posted by an Stephen on 14th October 2000
Hello SP member,
I am an ex-member of Militant but have been a member of Red Action now for almost twice as long as I was in "The Tendency". I will deal with the last and most Utopian part of your contribution first. The scenario that you paint of workers 'splitting with Labour', 'followed by the unions', to form a 'mass party' which will sweep them to power and socialism... you only missed out the glorious 'world revolution' that Grant, Taffe (and Nellist & Sheridan) were promising "within the next 5, 10, 15 years" for the last 60 years, in Grant's case, 40 in the case of Taffe, 30 years for Nellist and almost 20 in Sheridan's case. It is a dreamworld that is more reminiscent of the 'armagedon theories' of over-zealous religious sects than working class revolutionaries.
Let's also be very honest about the actual state of the SP and it's parent body the grandly titled, 'Committee for a Worker's International' (CWI), which has split and re-split over the last few years. What faction are you a member of? Obviously one of those that still claims the majority CWI faction in Scotland and which politically dominates the SSP. There also exists a Taffe faction (the minority in Scotland) who comically see themselves as the CWI's true heirs in old Alba. Two Trots in the same room would end up creating three factions, one for each other and the other one for the room itself!!!
Now for a more positive view of your organisation: you are right to say that in some areas (although it has seriously declined since my days in the organisation) Militant/CWI/SP/SSP, or whatever else you are calling yourself, does have a better working class composition than most other "socialist" organisations. However, their class composition is steadily being diluted by their orientation away from the working class towards students, white collar sections, and green politics.
The SSP in Pollock is a quite different beast from the SSP in most other areas of Scotland. Sheridan built his personal and political base by championing the causes of the local working class people in the area. After his radicalism over the Poll Tax got him elected as a councillor, he continued to build a strong local team around him that actually did deliver significantly in terms of the housing and social needs of his constituents.
The failure after that was to largely abandon the proven success of such community politics in other areas in the simple belief that securing Sheridan's electoral base was the all-important issue. That old "Beacon" theory... Tommy "the worker's tribune" becoming a socialist "beacon" to the rest of the working class. This approach, which is to basically play on the 'fame' (or notoriety) of an individual personality, will only achieve limited success unless it is backed up by bodies on the ground making gains for the working class in other parts of Glasgow - and indeed Scotland.
Look at how quickly the Liverpool "beacons" collapsed after Hatton's heyday. In politics, like football, you are only as good as your last game. Sheridan has done extremely well for himself and his party and he undoubtedly represents a section of the working class that in areas of Glasgow had been previously unrepresented. But one wrong kick of the ball could bring the walls of his little empire crumbling down around the SSP, especially if he loses sight of his core constituency and becomes instead pre-occupied only with the needs of the party (and by default, the rest of the left in Scotland) rather than the needs of the class he represents. The SSP needs to repeat on the ground in other areas what it has already achieved in Pollock. Advice? Keep your eye on the ball and your feet on the ground, Tommy.
Dave Nellist & Co are in a similar position. He also represents some of the most disenfranchised sections of our class at the same time as he is trying to provide the English left with much needed leadership. It is a balancing act that should surely be weighted towards the working class and not towards pleasing and sucking up to the snobbish and abstract political attitudes of the SWP.
Red Action watches the developments within Trotskyism with interest. We have actually written about the progressive nature of some sections of the SP & SSP in past issues, at the same time as criticising their shortcomings as well. Their break with Labourism and their serious attempts in some areas to orientate towards the working class is something that we applaud. Making the break with Labourism is the first step. Re-orientating exclusively towards the working class is the next.
Dave Nellist and Tommy Sheridan might not be 'the last of the socialists' but they are certainly part of a dying breed. Unless, of course, the proponents of "socialism" finally realise that there is going to be a fight for the 'hearts and minds' of their traditional working class constituency. Socialism at the last London elections got it's lowest vote since it's foundations of 100 years ago. Socialism isn't around the corner and it is delusional to argue that in the face of reality. The whole of Europe is shifting rapidly to the right and there is no written law that the working class will automatically vote "socialist". Far from it.
The coming fight will intitially be about breaking the working class from labour, but ultimately the biggest fight in working class areas will be between the forces of reaction and fascism and those of progress and, yes, maybe even "socialism".