Comrade Delta goes to university

The saga of Martin Smith took a fresh turn today as his placement at Liverpool Hope University became public knowledge. A feminist campaign Angry Women of Liverpool have put up posters under the Socialist Wanker banner "outing" Smith and suggesting a connection between his funded PhD course and another of the SWP's professors, a certain Michael Lavalette.

Michael Lavalette is best known as the sole local Councillor belonging to the Socialist Workers Party in Preston, though it has to be said he has stood for election under a couple of labels (Respect and Independent Socialist) but never as an SWP candidate. That he is a University Professor was not known to me, but apparently he is head of the Social Work, Youth and Justice Department at Hope University.

That Smith is at University at all seems to have quite rightly caused more than some consternation amongst concerned women's groups is hardly surprising. However he appears to have been given a "funded" PhD course and the presence of a leading member of the SWP on campus has raised eyebrows as to the veracity of his award.

There is no evidence given that Professor Lavalette has in any way abused his position as the authors of a report on-line allege, (which I have not linked to for legal reasons) but it should come as no surprise to either Smith or Lavalette that many will conflate the two.

I am informed that getting one of these funded places (I also wasn't aware such things still existed in these days of student loans) is a big commitment on the part of the University concerned and there are procedures in place to ensure transparency.

Nevertheless this appears to be an issue that will not simply go away. Local activists have begun a campaign not only to remove him from Hope University but also to keep him out of "activist circles".

Of course it does need to be pointed out that Smith has not actually been convicted or even charged with any crime and no doubt this puts the University in a difficult position given the notoriety of the individual concerned.

However, one does have to ask what Smith was thinking by becoming a student. The effects of the SWP crisis hit university politics in a big way. Surely he should have realised there would be some adverse reaction?

There will be more to come on this story of that I am sure.

Unison United Left splits over continued involvement of SWP

Whilst members of the Socialist Workers Party continue to squabble over control of the corpse of the organisation, the continuing effect of the Martin Smith affair continues to have an impact elsewhere on the left and in the unions. Back in February the SWP were firmly rebuffed over the issue of rape apologism at the Unison Women's conference, the details of which you can find here .

The SWP hold leading positions inside a number of broad left type formations inside the trade union movement including the Unison United Left. A number of well known activists have decided to quit the organisation as they can no longer work with the SWP. They have issued the following statement:

We are UNISON activists who are committed to organising a democratic rank and file organisation within our Union, not least because we believe that such an organisation could maximise the effectiveness of the Union’s opposition to all forms of oppression. We have involved ourselves with UNISON United Left because we have believed that it has had the potential to become such an organisation. We have decided that at this point it is necessary for us to resign from UNISON United Left. This is not a step we have taken lightly – we have been committed to the project of building a vibrant left movement within UNISON for many years and we believe this is needed more than ever at the moment, given the scale of the attacks on UNISON members across all sectors and the failure of the UNISON leadership to mount a sufficient challenge to this government.

However, we feel that within any left movement certain basic principles must always be upheld, one of which is a commitment to fighting for women’s liberation and against sexism, and it is clear that in the United Left we are working with some people who have betrayed this principle in a very serious way. We are speaking of supporters of the leadership of the Socialist Workers’ Party, who have stood by the leadership of their organisation over the past year as details have emerged of the rape and sexual harassment of female members of the party, and the utter failure of the organisation to support these women and to take appropriate action against the perpetrators. We do not propose here to go into detail about the specifics of these cases – details are available in many places for people to find, and we are happy to speak individually to anyone who wants more background and evidence for our claims.

We feel that remaining in an organisation with and supporting (ie in internal unison elections) those who support the leadership of the SWP In their denial and cover up of rape allegations would betray the principles of a safe space for women which should be at the centre of our rank and file organisation of UNISON. The cover up and trivialisation of rape is not compatible with a commitment to left wing politics, and it is not possible to see those who do this as part of the left. We are committed to encouraging more women to be part of the labour movement, and we think women should be able to expect rank and file trade union organisation to be a safe space. The SWP is clearly not an organisation that is safe for women to be part of, and will not be until it takes serious steps to become one. The attitude the party has taken to the rape cases endangers female members of that party, and women in general.

We will continue to work alongside all members of the left within UNISON who do not take the position of the leadership of the SWP, in order to further our common aims, and we will look to create organisational spaces for this kind of work to happen. It is vital that the rank and file UNISON members organise within UNISON for the reasons outlined above and we will seek to create an organisation that organises electorally, works with the wider left in the union, supports disputes and campaigns throughout the union, an organisation that is a space for women. We will seek to endorse candidates in elections who stand up for the socialist, feminist, anti-racist principles that should be common sense on the left.

We believe that rank and file UNISON members have an opportunity to organise to realise the potential of our trade union to defend our interests, including by resisting all forms of oppression. Developments in the SWP have highlighted that UUL, as an organisation in which avowed supporters of the leadership of that Party are prominent, cannot realise this potential. We call upon all UNISON activists who are committed to building an inclusive, democratic rank and file organisation to sign this statement, resign from the United Left and to join us in building such an organisation.

Signed:

Marshajane Thomspon Chair of UUL

Jon Rogers UUL National Committee UNISON NEC (pc)

Terry Conway UUL National Committee

Andrew Berry UUL National Committee

Mark Boothroyd UUL

Steven Ellis London UUL

Naomi Bain London UUL

Lynne Moffat UUL

The SWP does not belong in the Labour & Trade Union movement and members of similar formations in the unions such as PCS Left Unity should break with this degenerate organisation.

Asian victims of sexual exploitation are being neglected

Media release by the Muslim Women's Network UK

Research published today by Muslim Women’s Network UK (MWNUK) reveals that Asian girls are being sexually exploited and authorities are failing to identify or support them. They are most vulnerable to offenders from their own communities who manipulate cultural norms to prevent them from reporting their abuse.  This has lessons for all communities – sexual predators tend to target those closest to them.

The report, ‘Unheard Voices: The Sexual Exploitation of Asian Girls and Young Women,’ is based on 35 case studies from across England submitted in a call for evidence.  The majority are Muslim with almost two thirds of British Pakistani heritage.  

Key findings from the research include:

·       Asian victims of sexual exploitation are being overlooked by front line agencies and little if anything is being done to identify them so they can be helped

·       The majority of victims reported to the researchers were between 13 and 14 years old -the oldest was in her 30s with a learning disability

·       At least a third of the victims had suffered sexual abuse when they were younger

·       Blackmail connected with shame and dishonour is often used to control victims

·       The offenders were most often from the same ethnic background as the victim and in two thirds of the cases, perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage

·       The perpetrators were of Afghani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, White and Mixed backgrounds

·       86% of the cases involved men operating in groups, with some involving online grooming

·       Some victims were unaware of the extent or the different ways in which they were violated or by how many men due to drugs and alcohol

·       Attitudes amongst Asian and Muslim communities are mainly dismissive or disbelieving in relation to child sexual exploitation.

Key Recommendations

Although the research focuses on Asian Muslim victims, it provides lessons for all.  MNWUK makes the following key recommendations:

·       The Government and local agencies must produce plans to ensure the better identification of and intervention and support for all Black and ethnic minority children and young people suffering from sexual exploitation

·       Specialist, culturally sensitive helplines should be set up for Black and ethnic minority children to report abuse

·       Communities must prioritise the safeguarding of vulnerable girls over the protection of honour.

Shaista Gohir, Chair of MWNUK, lead researcher and author of the report, said:

“This report challenges the stereotype that child sexual exploitation is a racial crime in which Asian offenders target White girls only.  The findings indicate that Asian girls are even more vulnerable than White girls to exploitation by Asian predators - they are considered a ‘less risky’ option because they are less likely to report abuse due to shame and dishonour.”

“We can’t say from the research that child sexual exploitation is more of a problem in Asian or Muslim communities but what we can say is that Asian or Muslim victims often fall through the net. Their abuse goes unreported and they are not provided with the support they need. The sad reality is that sexual predators come from all backgrounds and tend to target those closest to them.”

“While we must be careful not to provide a false perception that grooming is restricted to Asian communities, cases involving Asian offenders must not be swept under the carpet either.  Communities under the spotlight must accept they too have networks of paedophiles operating among them.   Silence in the name of avoiding shame and preserving honour is so powerful that it is allowing men to continue operating with impunity and further fueling sexual violence against girls and women.”

“I hope the findings act as a catalyst for others to act because there are people in every community who commit such abhorrent crimes.”

Children and young people who are affected by abuse or exploitation can call Childline for advice and support 24 hours a day on Tel: 0800 1111.

Adults who need support or information, or are concerned about a child or young person should call the NSPCC helpline on Tel: 0808 800 5000.

For support following sexual violence or assault visit www.rapecrisis.org.uk  or Tel: 0808 802 9999 (12-2.30pm and 7-9.30pm).

MWNUK can also be contacted on 0121 236 9000 / 07415 206936.  In an emergency dial 999.

A new report from the Muslim Women's Network UK shows just how vulnerable to sex crimes the government has left young women of color.

UK: Step Up to Protect Women of Color

Please sign the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/301/882/297/uk-take-action-on-sexual-exploitation-of-minority-girls/?z00m=20647504

Labour, liberty, progress and a cuckoo in the nest

With the continuing attacks taking place on the hard won reforms of the NHS, working people's rights and the welfare state, the Labour Party remains the sole vehicle through which the forward march of the coalition can be halted. As the recent attacks on the father of the Labour leader Ed Miliband shows, the forces of conservatism are ever seeking to undermine the opposition by "any means necessary". 

Ed is to be applauded for standing up to the press over the record of his academic father whose books, regardless of Marxist leanings, were an example of modern democratic thinking within their own time. The Labour Party must maintain this stance and not allow tactics similar to that of the forged Zinoviev letter published back in the twenties to damage the party's chances at the next election.

At the same time as Labour takes the painful road to modernisation of its politics into the twenty-first century it must not allow the politics of the old and discredited Stalinist era to take a foothold in its roots. The Mail's latest wheeze has been to pick up on a story already taken up on this blog and elsewhere about the selection of Andy Newman as a Labour candidate in the moribund Chippenham constituency.

The modern voter will not be drawn to a man who speaks of liberty as if it is something to be taken lightly. Yet Andy Newman is a creature of the failed "socialisms" of the past showing his leanings through such bizarre statements as:

If we set to one side the issue of personal liberty, the [Berlin] wall was a great success.’

This represents just one aspect of a political activist who remains part of the anti-democratic far-left through the Socialist Unity website. Here the politics of totalitarianism are still revered, along with much else that the voting public will find distasteful. In a recent edition he uncritically reprints the views of the Chinese Government (one of the great bastions of modern democracy) over the US Government shut down. Frankly though that is the least of the concerns that Ed Miliband should consider from the latest of his candidates.

The thoughts of Newman are Legion. 

On trade unions (since he is a member of the GMB, his fellow members should note that he views trade unions as a hindrance to his political ends if they are not in the "right hands" like those Communist controlled ones in Cuba):

It is not unusual for socialist governments to have a tension with trade unions, and to expect the trade unions to prioritise increasing production for the common good, trade unions who impede the advance towards greater equality may clash with the government.

For good measure he doesn't like other members of the Labour Party being free to express their views either, as Luke Akehurst writes on Labour Lists when comrade Newman spoke of the need to ban Progress:

The trouble with the GMB is that the extremist tail has wagged the moderate dog. The anti-Progress motion was moved by Andy Newman, ex-SWP, ex Respect, stood against Labour as a “Socialist Unity” candidate for Parliament in 2005, only rejoined Labour in 2010.

But when brother Newman moved his motion not one person got up at the GMB Congress to say this is sectarian, extremist nonsense, and to call out his political track record.

Of course Newman's political record has been volatile in recent years through a seeming transition from the Galloway/SWP Respect Party, of which he was an Executive Council member.  This includes an unholy alliance with reactionary clerics. Newman has published a series of articles by extremist writers including those who eulogise the misogynist and anti-Semitic cleric al Qaradawi such as former member of the Workers Revolutionary Party, Bob Pitt. 

Newman promotes Pitt's usual pro-Islamist drivel on Socialist Unity:

...people of faith who wish to accept the scripture, and yet to avoid those parts which nowadays are repugnant have to find circumlocutions.

The traditional historical role of the Islamic law was to raise the evidential bar so high that the sanctions would not be carried out.

There are obvioulsy still highly probematic aspects to these teachings, but there are processes by which religious faiths accomodate to liberalising social mores, and Qaradawi is a liberalising figure within that context.

I see Respect as seeking in a very mature way to use its limited leverage to move forward the whole left.. Andy Newman (November 2009)

Newman's political stance remains firmly within the Galloway milieu as he writes:

My own characterisation of Respect is that it is a broadly labourist party that gives expression to anti-war and anti-imperialist sentiment that cannot find electoral expression through the Labour Party..

Written in September 2012, some two years after his departure, this shows his "break" with Galloway to be far from complete. He does go on to say they should not have stood against Labour in Manchester (though he would have to say that if he didn't want to get expelled from the Labour Party) but does not call on them to  actually work for a Labour victory, simply implying they have the same interests.

Newman's blog Socialist Unity clearly acts as a vehicle for the gorgeous one and defends his every twist and turn as he does here over Julian Assange. Disgraceful stuff. But he's not very progressive or supportive of gay rights either as he muses in a piece about Peter Tatchell in which he repeats Scott Long's lies that Peter Tatchell used the libel laws to silence his critics. That is wholly untrue, and it was disgraceful that these allegations were repeated on Socialist Unity:

 ...Scott Long’s article is worth reading for a discussion of the politics of gay rights advocacy groups in the West, who transpose Westernised politics of identity onto other societies, without due regard for the political consequences and human cost.”

Over at Left Futures  in April of this year Newman rises to the continued defence of Galloway:

George is a robust politician, and he understands more than most the ruthless nature of the game. It is a contact sport, and the fact that the simplistic, media-created simulacrum of Galloway has become a pariah is not a fair reflection of the real life George Galloway, a man of considerable talent and principle.

Alan A recently blogged here about Socialist Unity's support for Galloway's documentary designed to attack the former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair. 

Andy Newman is clearly promoting an agenda based on Respect's politics inside the Labour Party.

The man's political views are not compatible with that of the modern social democratic party that Labour has become. Ed Milband has acted wisely against the Mail. Now he must take action to prevent the return of the militant types into the ranks of Labour.

Andy Newman is not a suitable candidate for the Labour Party and how someone with his background was so quickly adopted as a candidate should be of concern to the Labour Party leadership.

I'll leave you with a couple of "Newmanisms" to ponder on whilst you drink your cocoa. 

On Chairman Mao:

[I]t is a travesty to paint Mao as a monster like Hitler, which is what Jung and Halliday do. Mao’s government failed to deal effectively with a famine, but they did not do so deliberately, and even with the famine taken into account, overall life expectancy and standards of living rose dramatically during the period of Mao’s rule. Mao never carried out a campaign of mass terror like Joseph Stalin.

On Iran: 

It would be foolish to deny that there is a legacy of an ideological support for egalitarianism in Iran, following the influence of Ali Shari’ati in the revolution; and that support for sovereign state independence has allowed Iran to support redistributive social policies that would be outside the Washington consensus.

This article was originally published at Harry's Place 

Comrades still at war....................

There's still two whole months to go until the Socialist Workers Party has its early conference. There remain two "Internal Bulletins" to be leaked (the second will be out shortly) but to keep inveterate "trot-spotters" entertained the latest edition of their "theoretical journal" International Socialism has just been published with the following two contributions.

The first is from members who "wish to disassociate themselves" from the Callinicos/Kimber piece in the last edition (if they were really serious about that they would have left by now) but here is a taster and a link to the full article:

“The politics of the SWP crisis”-a response

by Jim Wolfreys, Colin Barker, Louis Bayman, Simon Behrman, Anindya Bhattacharyya, Estelle Cooch, Neil Davidson, Hannah Dee, Jacqui Freeman, Amy Gilligan, Mike Gonzalez, Mike Haynes, Jonny Jones, Andy Stone, Dan Swain, Megan Trudell, Alexis Wearmouth and Jennifer Wilkinson

As members of the editorial board of International Socialism we wish to disassociate ourselves from the recently published article, “The Politics of the SWP Crisis”, written by the journal’s editor and the national secretary of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP).¹ It purports to offer a summary of the recent disputes that have divided the organisation along with an overview of the party’s trajectory over the past decade. The article’s account of both processes is partial and misleading. More than this, however, we believe that the political stance adopted by the authors will, if left unchecked, destroy the SWP as we know it and turn it into an irrelevant sect.

The authors find much that is “shocking” about the dispute. They bemoan the “falsehoods” that circulated about it and the fact that people behaved “shamefully” or “outrageously”. Yet their anger is exclusively reserved for the way details of the case filtered out to the party membership and the public at large. They have nothing to say about the treatment meted out to the two women complainants, nothing to say about the campaign orchestrated by leading party members to undermine them, nothing to say about the denigration of these women as “jilted lovers” and “liars” carrying out a vendetta against a CC (central committee) member because they were motivated by “feminist”, “autonomist” and “movementist” deviations.² Indeed, the authors have nothing to say about the second complainant at all, aside from an oblique reference to “a subsequent hearing”. She remains, as far as they are concerned, invisible.

Read the rest here 

Oh and it wasn't published without comment from the Prof and his batman as the following shows:

Can we move forward? a reply to Wolfreys and others

Charlie Kimber and Alex Callinicos

This journal is committed to acting as a forum for the debates that have developed within the Socialist Workers Party over the past year. The reply that Jim Wolfreys and other members of the International Socialism editorial board have written to our article on the politics of this crisis is a contribution to that debate. These comrades are all members of the faction that has existed-in defiance of the constitution and traditions of the SWP-since February this year. They are motivated by extreme hostility to the SWP leadership, which they seek to justify by an interpretation of the charges of serious sexual misconduct laid against a leading party member (who resigned from the SWP in July).

This comrade, then on the Central Committee (the party’s leading body), was accused of rape by a woman comrade, W, in September 2012. We italicise the date, because contrary to some of the falsehoods currently circulating, this was the first time that rape had been alleged against this comrade. The Disputes Committee, which was charged with investigating the case, eventually concluded that he had not committed rape (something the comrades glide over) and that sexual harassment was not proven.

But there was a prehistory to the accusation, as a result of which conflicts developed from the start. 

Read the rest of this here

The Guardian newspaper has picked up on this in it's diary:

As you get older, a wise man once said, you don't stop making mistakes; you merely strive to make fewer. And there was reason to hope this might apply to the Socialist Workers party. But it ain't necessarily so. Having triggered outrage and internal strife close to meltdown with its handling of an allegation of rape by a junior member against a senior one, the party appears to have repeated its mistake. Another detailed complaint from a member after an incident at a party, another internal investigation – yet again no apparent inclination to refer the matter to the bourgeois police. Here we go again.

The Socialist Party don't seem to be much happier in their own rather (albeit less squalid) internal disputes. Bruce Wallace reports on threats of expulsion against him in the latest edition of his (sometimes self indulgent but intelligent) blog Marx Returns from the Grave

I was attempting to defend the ideas of Karl Marx,  comrades certainly weren’t willing to listen or engage with the arguments and mere denunciation was definitely sufficient!

A string of comrades, many very experienced and stalwart comrades, one an ex-flatmate, who I have known for many, years got stuck into me.

A string of epithets were thrown at me; “dogmatist”, “fundamentalist”,”doctrinaire”,”sectarian”, “ultra-left” and, of course “undialectical” (three comrades) were the order of the day. Did any comrades, with the exception of young Wayne Scott, attempt to take seriously the content of the document “What are the causes of the current capitalist crisis” and answer with a serious counter argument? Well of course not as the stacks of evidence in the document could of course be wrong. The document was just a string of historical quotations put forward as an argument  pronounced somebody and figures from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis for example were probably doctored anyway as Peter Taaffe pointed out that in Marx’s day we had honest factory inspectors but no equivalent today!

One of the best bits was in a mounting peroration of denunciation of this blog at the end. Apparently, according to an old party lag, the name of this blog itself  meant that I actually thought I was the reincarnation of Karl Marx returned from the grave! The title of the blog, as I have pointed out, comes from a paper by the Italian Marxist economist  Guglielmo Carchedi with a similar title. This comrade, who said he didn’t even read blogs or use social media, said that my attacks “must stop”!

There's an old (albeit Stalinist) joke that if you put three trots in a room you get two parties and a faction.

They got that right!

Your support needed for EP report on women’s sexual and reproductive rights

Cross-post from the National Secular Society

Next Tuesday (22 October), the European Parliament will vote on a report on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights that has been put forward by the Parliament's Women's Rights Committee. The report comes as part of a major initiative by pro-choice MEPs, and seeks to help promote the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of EU citizens and beyond.

Its call for convincing and positive action to promote SRHR comes within the context of virulent anti-choice opposition in several EU countries (e.g. Spain and Hungary) as well as within European institutions (e.g. the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Committee of Social Rights and in the Parliament itself).

During the committee stage, the report met with opposition from a group of conservative MEPS. They tabled a vast number of amendments, most of which sought to restrict the reproductive and health rights of women. Many related to the protection of the human embryo (relying on the controversial ECJ Brüstle decision) and the extension to the scope of conscientious objection. These amendments were rejected however, with the report instead noting the role of conscientious objection in denying many women access to reproductive health services, such as information about, access to, and the purchase of contraception, prenatal testing, and lawful interruption of pregnancy. The report highlights the need to regulate and monitor the use of conscientious objection, so as to help guarantee that reproductive health care is provided as an individual's right.

It recommends that high-quality abortion services, as a human right and public health concern, should be made legal, safe, and accessible to all within the public health systems of EU States.

The report also stresses the importance of providing comprehensive and non-discriminatory SRHR information, education and services, through a rights-based approach, that promotes a positive view of LGBTI persons, and helps in the fight against stereotypes and all forms of gender violence.

Despite the Women's Rights Committee rejecting the conservatives' amendments, we understand from MEPs that religious groups have been vigorously mobilising and lobbying MEPs to vote down the report.

In response, the European Humanist Federation (EHF) has been asking people to write to the MEPs of their country in order to urge them to vote in favour of the report on the 22 October, in order to block further anti-choice opposition and to ensure that the European Parliament commits to promoting the basic rights of women in terms of their sexual and reproductive health. You can find a copy of the EHF's model letter here.

This approach helped ensure the adoption of another report relating to the rights of women at the European Parliament. On Tuesday 8 October, the Parliament adopted a report relating to the largely unreported but significant problem of gendercide (a term referring to the systematic, deliberate and gender-based mass killing of people belonging to a particular sex – mostly commonly female infants). This report was aimed at combatting gendercide whilst preserving a woman's right to access sexual and reproductive services. It affirmed that gendercide remains a crime and a severe violation of human rights, and focused on the core and root reasons of gendercide in societies: son preference, gender inequality and rooted patriarchal culture.

During the legislative process, opponents to women's rights and gender equality in the European Parliament attempted to hijack the report by arguing that only by restricting access to sexual and reproductive health services altogether can we eliminate gendercide and pre-natal sex selection. They intentionally conflated abortion for the purposes of sex-selection with coercive abortion, forced abortion, and voluntary abortion. They argued for a cut in all EU funding to SRHR, a restriction to women's access to SRHR services, and tabled a number of anti-choice amendments.

Thanks to a mobilisation of progressive forces in the European Parliament, supported by several NGOs such as the EHF, Catholics for Choice and the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, most of the conservative/religious attempts to weaken the report were defeated.

Jesus and Mo

The latest Jesus and Mo cartoon is posted for your amusement.

You can find their website here.