On those who are leaving the SWP and other thoughts

Ladies and gentlemen, there has been much talk about those who are leaving the SWP rapidly and in droves, including Ian Birchall, biographer of SWP founder Tony Cliff.

Some speculate whether this will result in the SWP's final demise, after its long and mostly parasitic existence. The SWP is something the progressive elements of Britain can really do without; one protest group even destroyed an unmanned SWP stall down near Sussex University; I myself am quite tired of the SWP gatecrashing demonstrations and marches.

As I have said before, the SWP are not real socialists and contribute nothing useful to the British left. The newest socialist alliance, Left Unity, has wisely not let the SWP itself inside but rather those members who have renounced the SWP; the exodus is largely because of the Comrade Delta scandal. I am glad for those people who have left and renounced the SWP, and I hope that as many of them as possible will come and join the Green Party (as long as they respect core green values), and still remain progressive activists.

I have also heard that less than two years on from its introduction, Michael Gove's free schools project-designed fundamentally to remove schools from democratic control and accountability-is falling apart at the seams in many areas. As a key example, the Discovery New School, a free school opened in Sussex two years ago, will close down next year because of the terrible quality of its education; a free school in Derby is facing closure for the same reason. Pressure from parents in Barking and Dagenham, London means a referendum on academisation will be held across the borough and it should go against academisation. These are just a few examples of how fundamentally unworkable the free school programme is and how communities like ours can fight back against it.

Alan.


Comments

  1. Jake Welsh3 January 2014 at 18:02

    I highly doubt anyone from the SWP is likely to join the Greens but hey-ho.

    ReplyDelete

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