NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE SOCIALIST
ALLIANCE



A report from Tony Greenstein




About 60 voting delegates attended the National Council of the Socialist Alliance last Saturday (19 July 2003).


There were four resolutions, one from the SWP, which defended their position, mainly by asserting that those who were ‘opposed’ to the unity resolution cannot hold office in the SA and which, inferred that all those opposed to alliances with Imams and Mosques were anti-Muslim.


There were 3 resolutions opposing what the SWP had done in packing the Birmingham SA AGM, deposing Steve Godward as Chair (and also vice-chair of the SA nationally). These were from Workers Power, Leslie Mahmood and a lot of other individuals in the SA and an ISG motion from Birmingham Erdington.

It can be fairly said that the SWP were extremely uncomfortable, not least their bete noir, John Rees. Rees failed to explain why he didn’t have the courtesy to keep Birmingham SA informed about his negotiations with the CPB (Morning Star) and the Birmingham Mosques and why had refused to provide a written report about the negotiations.


Mike Lavallette, the SWP councillor for Preston is clearly not one of the greatest thinkers on the left. He was quite blunt about it. What is being proposed in Birmingham is what happened in Preston. His view was that if you don't wish to liase with the Mosques you are anti-Islamic.


All the motions were defeated fairly narrowly – about 33-27 votes and so the SWP agreed to withdraw their own resolution. John Rees sought to pretend that the proposed link-up with the mosque was no different from that which occurred when socialists worked with Jews at the beginning of the last century vs. racism and fascism. It was left to myself as the last speaker to point out that communists and socialists had indeed worked with Jews in fighting fascism in the East End, but that they had approached the Jewish workers and their organisations (there were Jewish trade unions at that time). And that the first fight they had was against the Jewish Rabbis and bourgeois Jewish institutions such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews which sought to hold back the struggle against fascism (the Board called on Jews to stay indoors at the Battle of Cable Street in 1936). What the SWP were doing was in essence linking up with the Islamic Rabbis! And thereby reinforcing the ties that bind radical young Muslim youth to their community elders.


All for the hope that the SWP may be the beneficiary of bloc votes from the mosques. As such this is a clearly cross-class alliance, and not even on a specific issue but on a programmatic approach, as any election must be.


Another feature of the SWP’s approach was it ascribed to people like Steve Godward positions they didn’t actually hold. Steve had never suggested he was opposed to the unity motion put forward at the SA Conference. I personally was because, as I said at the time, it meant all things to all people and as we’ve seen has allowed the SWP to construct alliances with all sorts of non-socialist forces. What the crimes of the Birmingham SA were was to question Rees and the SWP’s approach to the mosques, their proposed
electoral alliances and their INTERPRETATION of the motion in question. Because they weren’t completely prepared to support whatever the SWP demanded, they had to be removed. This is the SWP’s conception of
the Socialist Alliance and it is no surprise that not only Workers Power has now left but many individual members have also done so.


For those who are not prepared to loan out their brains indefinitely to the SWP Central Committee, independent socialists in the SA are now preparing to organise a conference in the Autumn to regroup those socialists who do believe that the left in Britain. A minor point was the fact that the International
Socialists Group was hopelessly split down the middle, with Stuart Richardson of Birmingham being openly reprimanded by Terry Conway. Alan Thornett, the guru of the group, had supported the removal of Steve Godward from his position as Vice Chair of the SA and he abstained or voted against 2 of the 3 anti-packing motions. Other comrades in the ISG supported at least the Leslie Mahmood resolution.


Alan Thornett came up to me angrily outside the meeting to question why I was representing Brighton SA. He didn’t seem to understand that Brighton SA has never elected or mandated delegates and has always agreed that whoever was available to go could represent the group. Presumably Alan Thornett didn’t like my contribution, which is not surprising given that he was so obviously uncomfortable having to emit even the slightest criticism of the SWP’s tried and trusted tactics of packing meetings and removing those who disagree with you, even in the case of Birmingham SA a member of the ISG! It’s very difficult for a lapdog when owner kicks you in the teeth for not wagging your tail furiously enough.