Respect faces “oblivion” - George Galloway also suggests that his SWP “allies” are corrupt (giving internal Party jobs to political pals), interferes in internal elections and not pulling their weight in Council elections. He also gives the green light to the homophobes in Respect by condemning efforts to get Muslim Respect Councillors to attend the Gay Pride festival.Read it for yourself on the Socialist Unity blog, the 8 page letter that the Gorgeous one wrote to Respect’s National Council. Also, in the comments see the brief (but obviously p****d off) response by the SWP. It all appears to be genuine.
There are a number of weird and wonderful theories flooding the anti-Respect blogsphere at the moment about what the old rogue Galloway is up to with this blatant attack on his new comrades. I’ll give you my pennyworth as well.
Firstly, I loved the comment posted that Galloway (of all people) attacking the way that the SWP have tried to control Respect and the way they demonise anyone who disagrees with them, as a bit like “Yorkshire Ripper blasts Jack the Ripper”.
It has also been pointed out that Galloway is a life long Stalinist (“the worse day in my life was when the Soviet Union fell”). The Trotskyite SWP seems to have overlooked this basic fact. I suspect he has always despised the SWP and certainly his attack is reminiscent of the old CPGB attacks on “wreakers and splitters” (e.g. trots). I think that he has now calculated that the SWP have served their purpose and they either knuckle down to life under Uncle George or leave.
The Bengali community leaders who provide his power base in Tower Hamlets and elsewhere, now find the SWP repugnant and are fed up of being told what to do, especially over issues such as gay rights and trade unions. Equally, many idealists in the SWP (and there are a few) find the socially conservative business and religious side of Respect abhorrent. It is only the lust for power that has kept both sides together so far.
However, the Shadwell by-election which Galloway has made so much about was actually very important to him, since it seemed to show him for the first time that Respect could win (just) without the mass troops of the SWP. See the comments in his letter about the lack of campaigning by the Respect SWPers and their failure to attend the victory party. As someone else put it Jamat i islaami can now deliver the political letters and no doubt provide funds.
The Ealing Southall by-election a few weeks ago where Respect only got 3.5% is Galloway’s nightmare in his battle with Jim Fitzpatrick MP in Poplar and Limehouse. The Respect candidate by all accounts had no community support and all the SWPers did was to wind up and antagonise local people.
I reckon that Galloway is gambling that the SWP will back down and let him run the show. The present leadership of the SWP have invested heavily in Respect. Also, frankly there is nowhere else for them to go. The prospect of selling newspapers at street corners for the rest of your life must suck. Even if the SWP do leave, then some will remain (they have gone “native” and realise that the SWP is in a dead end) and their numbers will be made up from the rest of the extreme left who refuse to have anything to do with Respect because of the influence of the SWP.
We will wait and see.
p.s google "anathematisation"
4 comments:
John.
I am no lover of Respect, Galloway or the barmy SWP.
But equally I hold nothing but contempt for the MP who recently talked out the Agency Workers Bill and the Trade Union Freedom Bill.
This is the dilemma many genuine labour supporting trade unionists face, although I expect you will disagree.
If the left want to oppose a character like Fitzpatrick then the place to do it is inside the Labour Party and not within a squabbling group like Respect.
BTW, looks like you had a good holiday. Glad to see you back.
Ian
Hi Ian
Thanks the holiday was great – work tomorrow – ugh!
But you are probably right that we will not agree about Jim. I’ve not spoken to him directly about the agency workers bill but my understanding is that there will be a Government bill to protect agency workers in the “near future” (whatever, that means - I think it is a Warwick commitment?). Jim is a government minister but also someone from a genuine trade union background who has “worked for a living”, and done a real job. Galloway has never done a honest day’s work in his life. There is a difference.
The Trade Union Freedom Bill is more problematic. I think we are stuffed on this one.
The government believes that such a bill is electoral suicide. I don’t necessary agree. But, I ain’t going to go to the wall over this issue. Nor will the Labour movement. We need to keep pushing on this issue, we have had some successes. But, also we need to collectively think and debate about the future shape of our trade union movement. Which you and I (and others) have started to do.
The real overriding issue over Respect is that in a future general election we want to attack our real enemy which is the Tories and any such distraction as Respect could and will (no matter how marginal) help the Tories. I don’t think that the trade union movement will survive another 18 years of Conservative governments. Hobson’s choice on this one I think? What is the best way of influencing the Government? Pointing out that many trade union friendly policies will also be poplar with the voting public? New Labour for all its faults is not stupid.
I've made a similar critique on http://labourtrialbymedia.blogspot.com/
I think hes sent this out to distance himself publicly from the SWP.
I think hes sent this out to distance himself ......
Wish I could have been at the meeting (today?) with Galloway and SWP!
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