Militants campaign for readmission to Labour

The campaign by the former Militant Tendency to get their members (or at least 75 of them) readmitted to the Labour Party continues unabated as they pick up support from...themselves.

According to the latest post on the Socialist Party website signatories now include:

Janice Godrich, PCS president; John McInally, PCS vice-president; Fran Heathcote, Katrine Williams and Marion Lloyd, PCS NEC; John Reid, transport union RMT NEC; Suzanne Muna, general union Unite NEC; Jane Nellist and Simon Murch, teachers' union NUT NEC; and Ian Hodson, bakers' union BFAWU president.

All these people are members of the Socialist Party. Yet the comrades continue to proudly proclaim 300 people have signed their petition, which isn't that many given the size of the Corbynista movement.

The attempt by the Socialist Party to present leading trade unionists as something other than their own members is not just laughable but frankly quite pathetic.

With Ted Knight returning from the political grave the last thing Labour needs is the old Militant Tendency in it's ranks. 

The Walking Red - Ted Knight Returns

The news that Ted Knight has returned to politics after being elected as Chair of the Gypsy Hill Branch of the Labour Party has both shocked and excited Trot Spotters around the country, especially as not many people knew he was still alive. A former leader of Lambeth Council he is best remembered for his role in being found guilty of "wilful misconduct" by auditors and was one of 31 Councillors forced to repay lost interest through a surcharge.

Knight was also renowned for his connections to Gerry Healy's Workers Revolutionary Party and it's predecessor the Socialist Labour League. Knight was expelled from the Labour Party in 1956 for his involvement in the SLL which was a "proscribed" organisation. Knight returned to Labour in 1970 through his meeting Ken Livingstone.

Livingstone, Knight and McDonnell were all involved in the production and promotion of  the newspaper Labour Herald which was printed on the WRP's presses and had a similar political line to Healy on a whole range of issues. Knight and Livingstone regularly addressed WRP meetings over the years until Healy was expelled by his own party for sexual abuse.

Even then Livingstone was happy to to write an introduction to Healy's hagiography after his death, praising the abusive charlatan in no uncertain terms:

Paul and Corinna have been friends of mine for over 13 years. When they asked me to contribute a foreword to their biography of Gerry Healy I was delighted. At a time when political memories are growing increasingly short, it is good that the effort has been made to record the life of Gerry Healy, a revolutionary Marxist who had a massive impact on the working class socialist movement, in Britain and internationally.

The fashionable obsession with the "end of history" is no more than a disguise for jettisoning valuable common experiences and major contributions made by revolutionaries such as Gerry Healy. Naturally this suits those who would like to bury for ever the memory of his unique concept of political work.

I first met Gerry Healy in 1981, shortly after I became Leader of the Greater London Council and was immediately captivated by his vivid recollection of events and personalities on the left. He had recognised the changed political climate which enabled Labour to take control of County Hall, and that we were using the immense resources of the Greater London Council to support those struggling for jobs and other rights.

Gerry Healy saw that it was possible to use the GLC as a rallying fortress for Londoners who were opposed to Thatcher's hard-line monetarism. Contrary to the image spread by his opponents, I was impressed by the non-sectarian approach that the News Line took on the reforms the GLC introduced. News Line's coverage was thorough and objective throughout our struggles. Given we were under siege by the Fleet Street press, it was a relief to pick up the WRP's paper in the morning! The GLC's public relations department usually put the News Line articles on the front page of the daily press cuttings bundle.

The first discussion I had with Gerry Healy made a great impact on me. Coming from a party where long term thinking is usually defined by the next opinion poll, I was challenged by the broad sweep of his knowledge and the freshness of his approach. He knew how to operate in the political present through his understanding of the movement of economic and social forces.

Although we were in totally different political organisations, Gerry Healy always tried to find a point of connection with the world in which I moved. He did this because he wanted to find ways of working with the left in the Labour Party on common issues and principles. But he never laid down conditions. He accepted that there were fundamental differences between us, but they should not prevent us from collaborating against the Tories. It was a refreshing change from the world of intrigues and back-stabbing politics of the Labour Party. That is why I felt happy about speaking at News Line rallies, even though I came under a lot of fire from those like Dennis Healey within my own party.

During the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Gerry Healy and the News Line worked with a group of us in the Labour Party to end Labour's silence on the repression of the Palestinian people. In the aftermath of the slaughter of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shattila camps, we succeeded in winning the recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organisation as the sole legitimate representatives of the Palestinian People by the Labour Party Conference of 1982.

Gerry Healy and I both endured great upheavals during the 1985-1986 period with the Tories abolishing the GLC and the WRP torn apart by a major split. We lost touch for a time, but renewed contact a few years before he died because of his work in the USSR. I was happy but not surprised to discover that we had reached similar conclusions about the dramatic changes in the Soviet Union during 1987-1989. Our last meeting in the summer of 1989 was devoted to a long conversation about the significance of perestroika and glasnost. We both knew that the events in the Soviet Union would change the lives of everyone in the world, and especially those involved in socialist politics.

The other area we had a close understanding about was the role of the secret services in Britain. We knew that joint campaigning between genuine Marxists and socialists in the Labour Party was viewed as a dangerous threat by the intelligence services. In particular, contacts between us and national liberation movements such as the Palestinians drew even more attention from the British state.

My own research and experiences have strengthened, not weakened, my conviction that MI5 considers even the smallest left organisation worthy of close surveillance and disruption. Given the pivotal role of Healy in maintaining contact with Yasser Arafat's HQ through the WRP's use of the latest technology, MI5 clearly felt that they had to stop the growing influence of the WRP. I have never changed my belief that the split in the WRP during 1985 was the work of MI5 agents.

It was a privilege to have worked with Gerry Healy. I know this book will give those who did not know him an opportunity to understand his contribution to the working class revolutionary movement.
Of course the WRP has long gone except for a tiny rump around Sheila Torrance who still publish the News Line..daily.

I wonder how long it will be before Red Ted writes for the daily News Line?

Musical Interlude- I Eat Cannibals

I'm not in the mood for politics tonight and have been trawling You Tube for old songs we seem to have forgotten. I chose Haysi Fantayzee for Facebook and Toto Coelo for the blog.

Ahh the memories....

The Corbyn Christmas Single, no really...

They've marched through the streets holding pictures of Corbyn "Soviet" style, set up a fan club called Momentum, produced t-shirts, jumpers and god knows what else so the release of a Christmas pop single comes (almost) as no surprise.

This may be a family blog but for f*cks sake Labour is doomed.....

Personally I though it should have been Steptoe & Wine but then I'm a sarcastic old reactionary git!

The SWP & Militant at Prayer

The two main Trotskyist organisations outside the Labour Party have been rallying today. The Socialist Party has had the first day of it's Annual "Socialism" affair where the activities consist of being lectured at by the leading cadres on the need to build the Socialist Party. This year of course the former Militants have applied "en-masse" to rejoin the Labour Party.

The Stalinist Morning Star wryly commented that this was just a publicity stunt to coincide with their annual bash. However given most left leaning individuals are all heading to Labour to back Corbyn and are more likely to back Momentum. Mind you the old Millies have little time for Jon Lansman and his merry men.

However Peter Taffe the General Secretary of the Socialist Party has made it quite clear he wants to join Labour to "purge the Blairites", so Momentum will have to wait it's turn when the Millies return.



Meanwhile desperate not to be forgotten the Socialist Workers Party had one of their Unite the Resistance meetings today. Originally scheduled to attend and speak was one John McDonell but he pulled out after facing criticism about sharing a platform with the highly discredited SWP. "Comrade delta" & all that.

According to their website:

Up to 300 trade unionists and activists from around Britain gathered in central London today,Saturday, at Unite the Resistance national conference.

That's actually not very many given their previous assertions of attendance by thousands, but then the SWP is not very good at maths not even being able to accurately count it's own membership which has suffered as the result of several splits in recent years firstly over "Respect" which led to the creation of Counterfire and some Scottish group (whose name escapes me) that seems to have faded away.... and secondly the delta affair itself which saw the party tear itself apart as members left in disgust over the treatment of women and the issue of rape.

The SWP have never recovered and continue to be shunned by most. They got one new member at the time, one Jane Aitcheson who having been deposed by her comrades in the Socialist Party from a comfy position as PCS DWP Group President defected to the SWP. At the time I did write to her to tell Jane not to do it, but guess being a "right-winger" in PCS at the time held no sway. Never mind, Ms Aitcheson has her moment with UtR:

Rounding off the day Jane Aitcheson and Julie Sherry from Unite the Resistance spoke at the final rally.

Jane said the conference had been a perfect antidote to a week that could easily demoralise people. She paid tribute to the people in the US that have taken to the streets to protest against the outcome of the presidential election.

She argued for the same kind of action here to challenge austerity and inequality in society.

That'd be lot's of whinging, futile protests and a few smashed shop windows then.

Meanwhile Corbyn and his three pounders continue to make Labour unelectable. Did you see the fool hide from a reporter on ITV? Pathetic. 

Not fit to run a whelk stall.

Breaking News: Militant applies to rejoin Labour

As if the Labour Party did not have enough problems to contend with at the moment it appears that 75 members of the old Militant Tendency, now organised as the Socialist Party have submitted a joint application to the Labour Party National Executive.

These include Peter Taffe, the General Secretary of the Socialist Party and Dave Nellist a former Labour MP who organised a group of Militant councillors in Coventry for several years (under the banner of Socialist Alternative) until they were all wiped out in the local elections.



There was a hard long battle to remove these parasites from Labour back in the eighties when Militant was a much larger and stronger organisation than it is today. They became infamous for bankrupting Liverpool Council and using taxi's to send out redundancy notices to workers.

Since those days the group has split asunder with the Scottish Militants going there own way to electoral oblivion under Tommy Sheridan. The founder of Militant Ted Grant split with around 200 or so members to form Socialist Appeal which remains buried and semi-hidden in the Labour Party.

  

The Socialist Party is believed to be around 2,000 strong and currently has the controlling influence over the largest of the civil service unions PCS, though the unions size and influence has declined somewhat under their tenure.

The organisation has been in alliance with the Socialist Workers Party and RMT union in trying to build an electoral alternative called the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition which has proved a road to nowhere.



The Socialist Party is affiliated to the Trotskyist Communist Workers International (CWI) whilst its rivals in Socialist Appeal run the International Marxist Tendency (IMT).

With the rise of Corbynism it is hardly surprising that the old Militant Tendency would wish to return but Labour members should be aware it is a distinct, separate political party with it's own structures policies and international affiliations and is thus it's members automatically ineligible for membership.

Stop the War - Israel Britain Alliance

Via Sussex Friends of Israel



One of those times that we need you all to do your bit. We need you to send the following letter encouraging your own local MP to attend an upcoming debate on the Balfour Declaration. Please take literally a few seconds to ensure your voice is heard in Parliament. By signing this letter you will NOT be added to any mailing lists. You will NOT receive any future emails because you signed it. Your details will NOT be seen by other groups ororganizations. Simply click on the following link, add your name and postcode and everything else will be done for you. As the debate is imminent your help is time sensitive so please add your name today!

Parliamentary friends of Israel have secured a debate in the House of Commons to celebrate the Centenary of the Balfour Declaration.

It will take place on Wednesday, 16 November at 9.30am in Westminster Hall.

Working with the Israel-Britain Alliance and their partnership network, which covers every part of the United Kingdom, we have seven days to contact our MPs and let them know that we want them to attend this debate and celebrate this important event.

We shouldn't forget that it was the British Government that was the first major power to recognise the Jewish peoples' right to self determination.

That recognition came in the shape of the Balfour Declaration.

A letter dated 2 November 1917 from the British Foreign Secretary handed to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland by Lord Rothschild.

Debates like this don't happen very often - we have a short window of opportunity to encourage Parliamentarians to attend this debate and support Israel.

Please click on this link - https://www.israelbritain.org.uk/SFI/ and show your support for Israel.