The left platform - Thank God its over

The recent split in the SWP ( the departure of sixty members of the faction 'left platform') which was precipitated by the resignation of long standing SWP member (many years on the central committee) Lindsey German, has been a very sad affair, an utter distraction from political life and from my blog.

I had high hopes of developing the my last theme about faith on this blog, but was otherwise occupied with the horror that was unfolding which was the left platform faction formed late last year and supposedly disbanded after the annual conference in January, coming to its end, this week gone.

The circle of around sixty people seemed to have varying views, but were united against the party and their 'political strategy'. I didn't get too involved in the discussions because I was finding it all very sad indeed, and am not sufficiently involved at branch level. However one of the themes that seemed to emerge time and again was about the anti-capitalist / anti-war movement which the left platform seemed to think was the force (movement of people with left leaning - save the planet - capitalism sucks type ideas became visible in Seattle in 1999, but probably started before then, with for example the french workers strikes of 1995) which could be wielded to somehow oppose the recession.

That idea is really quite daft, first of all it lacks the understanding about how that movement has changed, we no longer see the huge demonstrations that characterised that era and culminated in the great and massive two million strong anti - Iraq war march in 2003, although many millions would be in some way more open to radical ideas through the actuality of that movement particularly the young, the forces that made it then are not the same now. We cannot go backwards in time, any new force will have new characteristics developed by those who have nothing to lose but their chains, if there will be a new force like that of anti - capitalism, maybe that was completely unique and never to be repeated. It doesn't mean we still can't fight the system as we always try our utmost to do.

The other reason why the left platform's position on the movement is daft is because they seem to think the direction can be turned by people in the SWP. We are and were only a part of that movement, we do not hold those sorts of powers, even if it existed today like it did in 2003, we could not tell the movement to come here or go there, it was a dynamic movement, a coming together of forces, we were and are only a very small part of it. To think that we are it and try to emulate the spirit of it for our own ends is opportunism, and shallow.

Now it is all over and sixty have left, we can resume the fight against the bosses system, a system of inequality, injustice, oppression, fascism and war. Yes with slightly depleted forces, and I am sorry about that. However, I can resume an orientation on the question of faith and socialist politics again, hopefully in my next post. Phew.