PHYSICAL ATTACK ON OPPONENTS AT 'MARXISM' 2003
A personal statement from Mark Fischer and James Bull of the Communist Party
of Great Britain
July 11, 2003

Comrades and friends,

We were physically attacked outside the morning plenary session of 'Marxism'
by up to seven members of the Socialist Workers Party. The attack was
preceded by orchestrated haranguing of us because of the content of a
leaflet we have distributed at this year's conference, 'The SWP's Clause 4
moment? No compromise on sexism and homophobia' (see www.cpgb.org.uk).

The actual attack was pretty limp and unserious. As far as either one of us
are aware, the SWPers did not actually manage to get a blow in on us, even
if that had been their intention. Instead, were attacked from various angles
by SWP comrades intent on tearing leaflets out of our hands, ripping up our
papers etc. While this led to some pretty comical-looking wrestling, only
people's dignity really took any sort of knock.

We believe the incident is serious for other reasons, however:

1. We suspect it was an attack effectively sanctioned by leading members of
the SWP. As we were getting papers and leaflets out of bags, comrade
Chris Bambery approached and told us that he would "take no
responsibility for what my members do to you today" because of their
supposed outrage at "the shite" in our leaflet. This is unacceptable, of
course. We think it is a requirement of the leadership of this organisation
to condemn physical
attacks on political opponents in the movement - including ones undertaken
by their own membership. Unless this is forthcoming, the movement is
justified in the presumption that the SWP actually *support* the resolution
of
political differences with fists and boots. The group did have a reputation
for this
sort of thuggery in the 1980s and 1990s, but its culture seemed to have to
moved on since its involvement in the Socialist Alliance.

2. It seems to us that the attack had all the hallmarks of an *organised*
provocation, not the spontaneous explosion of outrage comrade Bambery darkly
warned us of. The initial attack was led by women members, with a
tight ring of their male comrades around them. Both of us heard warnings
from the men - as *we* were being attacked! - along the lines of "don't you
touch her!" So, the plan was - women attack the two men, in the course of
the struggle to defend themselves the men do something against a woman that
then 'justifies' the blokes wading in.

3. Some SWPers actually took our leaflets, some bought papers. The snarlers
(not all of whom took part in the attack) were essentially middle cadre
SWPers, people who were not interested in what we *had* said in our leaflet,
what our arguments actually were. Instead, we had their faces - purple with
hyped-up rage in some cases - pushed into ours, their fingers jabbing our
chests and variations on two key accusations repeated at ear-splitting
volume: -

* "You call the SWP sexists and homophobes"
The leaflet actually warns that the SWP leadership is in danger of a
"*compromise* on sexism and homophobia" due to their pursuit of an
opportunist electoral alliance with a section of the mosque, not that the
*SWP* is a sexist or homophobic organisation. The leaflet states clearly
that "SWP comrades have a passionate commitment to the rights of women, gays
and lesbians - are these simply 'shibboleths' to be downplayed for electoral
expediency?"

* "You are *racists*. You don't want Muslims in the movement"
The leaflet actually underlines that "to march alongside those mobilised by
the mosque against the US-UK warmongering is good politics. What we object
to is not unity in action with non-working class forces, but the watering
down or abandoning of our *principles* for temporary advantage".

Of course, what we had actually *said* or believed was irrelevant. A layer
of SWP hacks had been mobilised (by elements in the leadership?) to try to
prevent critics of their organisation's dangerous new turn having *any* sort
of hearing.

3. This has dangerous implications for the Socialist Alliance project.
Already, we have seen the SWP 'clean sweep' in Birmingham and a partially
successful attempt to remove dissenters from positions of authority on the
SA executive. Are we now to expect that anyone who raises criticisms of
the SWP's new orientation to be physically assaulted and removed from
positions
of authority or perhaps from the alliance altogether? After all, apart from
indies such as Steve Godward, groups like Workers Power and the Alliance for
Workers Liberty also have their criticisms of the SWP's new orientation -
are they next for the rough stuff?

4. The last thing we would like to emphasise is that the SWP's violent
hysteria flows from a profound political weakness. If the organisation was
actually confident about its politics and the alliance with the mosques, why
react in such a brittle way to criticisms? The SWP leadership is aware that
in terms of Marxist principle and the history of our movement, it is skating
on very thin ice. *That* is why it is trying to paint any criticism, any
dissent as an act of "racism", something that must be met with physical
attacks and censorship.

As far as we are concerned, that can never work of course. We have the
*Weekly Worker*, we have our website, etc. The leaders of the SWP can never
shut us up. The people who ought to be really worried are SWPers themselves.
Is this the sort of reaction *you* comrades can expect when you develop
different ideas, when - horror! - you actually have temerity to *voice*
those criticisms? Be warned. Once you allow censorship against others, it is
only a matter of time before you feel the gag yourself.

For open debate!
Against violence and intimidation in the workers' movement!

Mark Fischer/CPGB London
James Bull/CPGB Manchester

POSTER ADDS:
whilst im not a CPGBer or a Trot im sickend that the SWP have started beating people up just because unlike the SWP they believe in womens & gays rights. This PHYSICAL attack is on top of the thuggery (INCLUDING physical) that the SWP try and dole out in Birmingham..rather than hand out leaflets like the poor saps above its about time that activists refused to be cowered just because the SWP scream 'racist' & 'islamophobe' every time people stand up to them...