Socialist Alliance
Which way will the SWP jump?
THE LONDON SOCIALIST ALLIANCE (LSA) is potentially the most interesting development on the left in Britain since the formation of the Scottish Socialist Party. Alan Thornett looks at the issues involved and the role of the Socialist Workers Party.
In the past many socialists have been put off long term involvement in organised politics by the divisive sectarianism of the British left - something for which all far-left currents bear a degree of responsibility.
That is why the remarkable unity which has developed in the LSA seems like a breath of fresh air. Suddenly, instead of stressing what divides us, the organisations involved - the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), the Socialist Party (SP), the Alliance for Workers Liberty (AWL), Workers Power, the Independent Labour Network (ILN), the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the International Socialist Group (ISG) - are seeing consensus grow about the best way to get things done.
The most surprising, and important, component of this, given its size and history, is the SWP. This organisation has clearly made a sharp turn outwards, and seems to be involved in an ongoing discussion about what it all means.
Previously the SWP's hallmark has been to take up political campaigns either exclusively in its own name or through organisations which it controlled.
Now it has begun to operate through open united front campaigns and to co-operate and collaborate with the rest of the left.
This important shift in attitude is reflected not just in the SWP's involvement in the LSA but around other campaigns such as that against WTO and in opposition to Russia's war in Chechnya - although in a more partial way. This change has potential consequences for the future shape and strength of the left in Britain.
This change directly reflects current political reality in Britain. Blair's rightward avalanche means that socialists are leaving the Labour Party in increasing numbers. In Labour's traditional heart lands voters are no longer turning out, and many trade unionists are looking for an alternative.
In addition, the introduction of Proportional Representation in a number of elections gives a greater chance for candidates to the left of Labour to actually be elected
All this has opened up space to the left of Labour. The left cannot afford to miss this opportunity, particularly given its decline over the past 10 years, a decline which has been uneven but dramatic in absolute terms.
Unfortunately the left has, up to now, been outflanked. Outside of Scotland, this new space has been filled by the Greens and the nationalists - who have positioned themselves to the left of new Labour for that very purpose. Yet most of those dissatisfied with Labour are socialists with a natural affinity to an alternative socialist project.
There is more than one reason for this failure of course, including the lack of a track record by the left in the electoral field. But the principal answer must be the chronic divisions within the left and its inability to put forward an attractive socialist alternative.
People are looking for answers and what they see is splits and divisions. Unity, therefore, is key, since the sum of a united left is much greater than the sum of the constituent parts.
This opening up of space to the left of Labour - which reflects a developing crisis of labour representation - has been developing since the election of Blair as leader of the LP and the defeat of Clause 4.
This was what brought Arthur Scargill's Socialist Labour Party into existence, albeit at a premature stage. Later it led the Militant to change its name to the Socialist Party - with the aim of developing a broader organisation after they were scandalously denied membership of the SLP by Scargill.
Both of these initiatives foundered. The SLP became a victim of the politics of Scargill and those who aided and abetted him (and should have known better). The SP failed to build a broader organisation and eventually turned back to building itself as a far-left group
But the SP did continue with the more open relationship with the rest of the left. It continued to lead Socialist Alliances in various parts of England, Scotland and Wales. Most of these were embryonic bodies but represented the green shoots of socialist recomposition in this new situation.
In Scotland the situation was qualitatively different, particularly given the role in the anti-poll tax movement of Scottish Militant Labour's (SML) leading activists, and led to the foundation of the SSP last year with the former SML at the core of it.
Several Alliances stood in the European elections, but in London such an initiative was torpedoed by the decision of the SLP to stand a slate with Scargill. This split the unity of the left and led the LSA (rightly or wrongly) to disband.
But now we are at a new stage. The Blair project, and the disaffection it generates, is more advanced now. The crass gerrymandering in the election of Labours candidate for Mayor exacerbated the process.
When the London Socialist Alliance was reformed last year, with the object of standing a slate for the London Assembly it was a qualitatively different body to its predecessor - although it contained most of the same organisations.
This new strength was also due to the attitude of the SWP, which had stayed controversially outside of the Scottish Socialist Alliance and the SSP - and still does.
Perhaps it has learnt the lessons of Scotland in its new attitude in London - certainly it has made a new level of commitment this time round. This has resulted in the rapid development of the campaign with close day-to-day collaboration between the organisations and individuals involved -with the 1,000 strong meeting on February 22 the high point so far.
There, responding to Ken Loach's challenge about how good it was to be on the same platform as an "old state capitalist like Paul Foot", Foot responded by saying that it was about time we got rid of the divisions and sectarian ghettos of the past.
The other very positive feature of the meeting was the way campaigning was strongly projected. The Alliance is not mainly about getting votes, but about posing an active alternative to new Labour - and again the SWP were important in this.
Most of the organisations involved have been on a learning curve as far as how to work in a campaign like the LSA is concerned. And some of the new non-sectarian ways of working are only being partly achieved.
The SP in particular has got itself into a twist over the Campaign Against Tube Privatisation (CATP) (see p23).
The SP has remained a part of the LSA, and have a candidate, but will only support the LSA candidates at constituency level not on the all-London top-up list.
But it is not just that. It seems likely they would have pulled back anyway, even if the CATP issue has not come up.
They have found it difficult to find a way of building their own organisation in the same way as before at the same time as building Socialist Alliances as well.
But their shift is a problem for everyone. The SP are the second biggest of the far-left organisations, and their full involvement is very important to the LSA.
Most of the organisations involved accept that there have to be new ways of working if the LSA is be successful. And a lot has been achieved.
On LSA stalls most of the literature is in the name of the Alliance, at LSA meetings most are identifying themselves as Alliance supporters rather than from the component groups.
The SWP has been a part of this shift, although perhaps not all their members have caught on yet. They have a particular responsibility not to dominate things or impose their own culture as the largest current involved.
And the changes need to go further. The LSA needs to let its hair down a bit. It needs to be open and pluralistic and seen to be so. We need enough organisation to create a democratic forum for discussion, whilst having an open door to new people and new ideas and even new forms of organisation.
The big unanswered question is where is all of this leading. What, for example, will happen to the London Socialist Alliance after the elections?
It is clear that some of the smaller organisations see this as the start of a longer term process; but the SWP has not yet made up its mind.
We hope they will come down in favour of continuing to work with the rest of the left in this new way - and there are positive signs. Certainly they seem to have decided that they want a continued relationship with LSA supporters after May.
But if things started to dissipate after the London Assembly elections it would be a great pity, since the crisis of labour representation won't go away.
The possibility of a new party to the left of Labour, whilst not possible at the present time, could be posed at anytime particularly if there were significant developments in the LP in the form of either expulsions or defections.
The political preparation for such a new party has to take place in advance, given the potentially important role the far left could play within it.
The crucial factor about such a party would be its broad character - a federation in which the existing left organisations could participate with their own politics and publications.
It could not be just a coalition of the far-left: it would have to be broader than that or it would be nothing. And the old sectarian top-down structures, with a guru handing down the message will have to go.
None of this diminishes the role the far-left would have to play in such a party. And given that the anti-Stalinist left is now the mainstream of the far-left the preparation for such a party is an important political task.
All this implies that the very encouraging developments which are taking place around the LSA and other campaigns must be built on and developed. Far from disbanding the LSA in May, we should develop it further and make it the basis of further initiatives. After all it seems that the General Election is not that far away.
And most important of all for the development of a real alternative to new Labour is that the new ability of the left to engage in united action is preserved and developed.
And the role the SWP decides to play in such a process is probably the biggest single factor in its success.