SWP plan Seattle in reverse for Labour conference
Whoever | 17.08.2001 13:50
The Socialist Workers Party/Globalise Resistance have made it clear that they are against any attempt to disrupt or blockade next month’s Labour Party conference in Brighton.
Speaking at a public meeting in Brighton to build for their 30th September protest in Brighton, Chris Nineham of the SWP/GR said that “it would be wrong to close down the Labour conference” because it would “isolate us from potentially massive support”. He said that “lots of people in the Labour Party are trying to stop the Blairites taking over” and urged people to “give encouragement to those in the Labour Party fighting Blair”. He argued that attempting a blockade or any action against the conference would be “a tactical disaster” that would “give the media an excuse to call us mad extremists” and “massively demobilise the protest”.
Guy Taylor, SWP member and GR’s full-time organiser, said that “direct action doesn’t have to be confrontational” and declared GR’s counter conference and protest at last year’s Labour Party conference a great success that should be built on because “nothing happened”.
In Seattle, thousands of workers left a boring union march to join anti-capitalists in confronting police and closing down the WTO meeting by force of numbers. This resulted in a major, practical success for our movement. The SWP, who describe themselves as “the only people with an overall strategy for the anti-capitalist movement”, seem intent on doing the very opposite at Labour’s conference - convincing anti-capitalists to avoid “confrontational” direct action and join a march to nowhere with a few union banners instead.
The SWP are entitled to put forward their views. But anti-capitalists involved in direct action should be clear that these views represent a clear attempt to pull back our movement into legalistic, dead-end ‘protests’ that achieve nothing - and to destroy the militancy and vitality of our movement from within.
Guy Taylor, SWP member and GR’s full-time organiser, said that “direct action doesn’t have to be confrontational” and declared GR’s counter conference and protest at last year’s Labour Party conference a great success that should be built on because “nothing happened”.
In Seattle, thousands of workers left a boring union march to join anti-capitalists in confronting police and closing down the WTO meeting by force of numbers. This resulted in a major, practical success for our movement. The SWP, who describe themselves as “the only people with an overall strategy for the anti-capitalist movement”, seem intent on doing the very opposite at Labour’s conference - convincing anti-capitalists to avoid “confrontational” direct action and join a march to nowhere with a few union banners instead.
The SWP are entitled to put forward their views. But anti-capitalists involved in direct action should be clear that these views represent a clear attempt to pull back our movement into legalistic, dead-end ‘protests’ that achieve nothing - and to destroy the militancy and vitality of our movement from within.
Whoever
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