Don't join the SWP

Join the Socialist Wankers Unity Respect Collective (Marxist Anarchist deviation)!

 http://www.geocities.com/socialistworkersunity/policies.htm

We are the only ones that are true to the principles of the great leaders - Bob Marley, Stalin, Lenin, Castro, Che Guevara, Dalai Lama, Arthur Scargill, Malcolm X, Red Robbo, Pol Pot, Bob Mugabe, Swampy and ZAPATISTA!

I think that the above analysis of the way the SWP operates is about as accurate and concise a one as you'll ever get.

Having dealt with them in my own locality (although never having been a member), I wholly agree with the view of them being out to actively co-opt/infiltrate any activist groups seen to be moderately left leaning in their worldview, as they quite effectively destroyed the local student anti-war group with the in-fighting they caused by their petty power manouvers, and therefore in the process silenced any type of credible independant voice that the student population in our area may have had on the subject of the Iraq War.

Hell, with these guys about, who needs to worry about Special Branch psyops, as they're pretty good at doing the Police's job for them!

I too have always been deeply suspicious of their top-down approach to organising themselves, with their anonymous central committee, because I too have read the history of Communism and know how that ended up.

It's worth noting though, that they've been heamorraging members over the last couple of years, due to many people (like yourself) becoming disillusioned with them.

As for George Galloway, well, I used to think he was alright, until I discovered that he was linked to the oil for food programme, that the Respect party are rumoured to have embezzled money from the Socialist Alliance, and that he is ultimately only interested in looking after his own political career.

Does he deserve any votes?
Frankly no.

It's also worth noting that the Animal Rights movement has not suffered at all from infiltration by the SWP. The main reasons being that in the SWP's version of Socialism non human sentient beings don't appear have rights, and that the Animal Rights movement has been resilient enough to stand up to far worse infiltrations (by MI6 and the like) than anything they could throw at it, meaning that even if the SWP tried their luck they would be told in no uncertain terms to fuck off.

As for saying that the only local 'alternative' you have to the above slightly sad old blighters is voting for the Lib Dems, well, you could find like minded people and start up your own campaigning group(s).

Just don't invite the SWP to your meetings.

umm, I'm not a big fan of the SWP, but that site is really bizarre. It seems to range from suggesting there's no racism in Britain to acusing the SWP of uncritical support for the Cuban revolution, which is so far from the truth, as they don't even have critical support (unfortunately)

Dear All

further to my exploration of the impact of a Galloway/Respect victory in Bethnal Green & Bow the results of this search on Galloway's voting record between 2001-2005 is interesting:

Civil Partnership Bill - 12 Oct 2004 - Division No. 256

George Galloway - ABSENT

Categories of civil partners other than same sex couples - 9 Nov 2004 - Division No. 314

George Galloway - ABSENT

Categories of civil partners other than same sex couples — Schedule 28 — Consequential amendments: Scotland - 9 Nov 2004 - Division No. 315

George Galloway - ABSENT

Relationships (Civil Registration) - 24 Oct 2001 - Division No. 41

George Galloway - ABSENT

Adoption and Children Bill (Programme) — Consideration and Third Reading

George Galloway - AYE

Adoption and Children Bill — [2nd Allotted Day] — Applications for adoption - 16 May 2002 - Division No. 244

George Galloway - ABSENT

Adoption and Children Bill — [3rd Allotted Day] — Clause 131 — General interpretation, etc. - 20 May 2002 - Division No. 246

George Galloway - ABSENT

Adoption and Children Bill — Suitability Of Adopters - 4 Nov 2002 - Division No. 345

George Galloway - AYE

Local Government Bill — [2nd Allotted Day] — New Clause 11 — Repeal of Section 2A of Local Government Act 1986 - 10 Mar 2003 - Division No. 109

George Galloway - ABSENT

SOURCE:  http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=1354&dmp=371&display=motions


I think the almost complete absence of any support for gay rights while as an MP between 2001-2005 is a very ominous track record for gay and lesbian people living in Bethnal Green & Bow. By not voting at all he was actually aiding the opponents of equality and change. If he wins the election here and attacks on gay and lesbian citizens by far-right islamic radicals like al-Muhajiroun and Hezb-ut-Tahrir who believe that homosexuals "must" be killed increase, will he just turn his back? He has actively sought to keep on the side of moslem fundamentalists to the detriment of other members of the local community who need an MP's support.

Another good reason to reject the Galloway Nazi party.

I cant believe the ridiculousness of some of the people who rant against the SWP....i think 'horny jamie' needs a reality check:

there have never ever, ever, ever been people in the SWP called 'captains', this is a figment of 'horny jamies' imagination.

And im sorry but you totally discredit yourself when you say your local SWP was run by a group of 'militantly nepotistic lesbians'. one question: if your not a homophobe then why raise their sexuality?

comparing george galloway to the Nazis (a la Nick Cohen in the Guardian) is truly Orwellian....he has been the best opponent in Parliament of a bloody, muderous, imperial war. A preventive attack no less which was the hallmark of Nazism. The respect coaltion actually has the most ethinically mixed number of candidates of any party in Britain. Again War=peace, ignorance=strength, and respect=nazis.....
WAKE UP, or get some help, im mean seriously!

Gosh, lots of attacks on the SWP / Respect / Galloway just at the time when they might be about to take a seat off a loyal pro-war Blairite. What an amazing coincidence!

James F you are a berk or more likely a friend of the war mongers Arronvitch Cohen and Bethnal Green & Bow MP Oona King.

You say you were in the SWP for a year and didn't get to know the name of committe members. Well then, you can't have been reading the paper which you claim you spent so much of your time selling.

The idea that the SWP brought down the anti war movement is the opposite of the truth. The convenyor of StWC, the single biggest mass movement un British history, is the SWP's Lindsay German. I will leave it the women to take you on about your sexist language.

Perhaps the SWP could be characterised as ultra left and therefore by some with a limited vocabularly as extremist. But your characterisation of the 'radicalised muslim community' as such indicates that you probably have not had a conversation with a Muslim for years.

That you characterise Muslims as extreme right wingers and imply that Galloway's election will cause ethnic problems shows that you are selling the same filthy lies as the imperialist stooges named above.

That you want radical change and advise people to vote Lib Dem shows you up as a bar room bore. And the Lib Dems have not a hope of winning Bethnal Green where the Tories had twice Lib votes in the last general election.

Galloway stood against the war for three years and you come back with AWL-Cohen statistics about his voting record on pedestrian parliamentary issues.

Anybody who badly wants real change should work to get Galloway's motor mouth operating in Parliament, where he can get exposure for the fine work he does in the cause of real Socialism and Peace.

i bet that james supported the war,

tthinks that all muslims are extremists

is a secterian

also if you did not like or thought selling the socialist newspaper, why did you do it?? w

In all likelihood the above article is probably electioneering black propaganda.

However, my previous comment was based on actual events and therefore I stand by it.

Personally I'm all for Gay Rights, and shall leave it at that.

However, it still stands that there are aspects of the SWP that lead them to be both coercive and cynically manipulative of other activist groups - I say this because I've seen them do it firsthand.

On the other hand, love 'em or loath 'em, they do get people on the streets, and the reason they manage this is because they know how to coordinate their efforts on a national scale in a fairly coherent way.

I'm not saying this makes them wonderful or worthy of our open arms, what I am saying is that there are lessons to be learned from analysing the methods they use to achieve this end goal, whether you agree with their politics or not.

And it's worth pointing out (in the wider context of mobilising people) that it's not all about them using bully-boy tactics either, so they must be doing at least something right somewhere somehow. Even the most cynical of you reading this would have to admit that.

This, by the way is not a party political broadcast from an SWP member either, as I've never ever been interested in becoming one of their precious little inner circle of 'comrades' as I've always thought that was quite a school playground approach to politics ('You're alright, 'cos you're in my gang'), alienating more people than it convinces.

It's a commentary from someone who has observed how they operate on a local level from fairly close quarters (and from the orbit of many different campaigns over the years).

My point is that, even if we all hate them, there are still lessons to be learned, both in how to mobilise large numbers of people, but also how not to conduct yourselves when liasing with other groups who are supposed to be your allies.

It's all about the ZAPATISTA yogurt sandle growers don't you know?!

We say we aren't communists, but we can always be seen wearing "Che Guevara" t-shirts from GAP, and waving hammer and sickle banners, or standing next to them, at "mass action" demo's with other like minded anarchists/marxists/socialists (same thing really!).

True anarchists would have a lot of time for Maggie Thatcher as she was against big government too. That's why the Socialist Workers Unity Collective (Marxist-Anarchist deviation) is the only true Socialist anarchist grouping in the movement. Not to be confused with the Socialist Workers Party or the Respect Unity George Galloway (Brackets) Coalition of course.

For gods sake you lot stop arguing - it's all about rats - get out there and vote!

How the Bakunin could Thatcher have been against "big government" when she spent years as head of an, um, big government.

Not to mention her obsession with increasing police powers and mobilising the full force of the State against miners/trade unionists/black people/anyone else she didn't like.

Remember, toerags - right wing "libertarians" are only consistent in one area - THEY LIE.

As for the SWP its the same as any other lefty sect - some members are alright, and some are right tossers.

It doesn't actually signify anything.

As anyone who was around it knows, despite being routinely spied upon by the copppers, and even a corporate spy. RTS was NEVER infiltrated by the SWP

All of you are obsessed with the SWP.

You talk about the SWP more than the SWP does.

You denounce the SWP more than you denouce Blair.

And Indymedia provides a nod and a wink for it all...

If you've read all the attacks on me written above then please take the time to read what I want to say in my defence.

I expected I would receive personal abuse and vitriolic attack for saying what I said. It didn't stop me though, which is a good thing and I am sure you would all appreciate that I won't be cowed by people when expressing my own experiences and opinions.

For the record I was a member of the SWP from 2000-2001. I never renewed my subscription. I wanted to get involved in debating ideas and finding ways in which we could really seek to ferment change and radicalise the people to take action. Alas, the SWP was not interested in this, merely in making sure it's paper sold and that people held banners with the SWP logo on them to make any demonstration look like it had been organised entirely by them.

It is true, Reclaim the Streets is probably not a very good example, at least in it's early days, but they (SWP) were certainly there handing out the plakards with slogans on them far removed from what the people attending a RTS demonstration were there for.

SWP was caught on the hop by the massive spontaneous Anti Capitalist movement of the mid 1990's. It was clear they piggy backed on that bandwagon to promote their own narrow interests and by doing so put off many people who did not agree with the bland propaganda they put out and did not want to appear to support it. Each person attending was there for their own reasons...not for the SWP's.

I would like to attempt to explain my fears about a moslem backlash in east London which will be caused by Respect. I know that any commentary on this is automatically attacked by some as "racist". As for the comments that I have "not talked to a Moslem for a year"....well I met my dealer last night and last time I checked he was a moslem. And several friends at work are as well, not to mention a few former lovers. I am patently not racist. I am just afraid because there are many people in Tower Hamlets who are moslems who are racist and exhibit extreme bigotry to anyone else who is not a moslem.

I have lived in Tower Hamlets since 1997. I am a gay man. I don't openly exhibit my sexuality, it is my own matter, but other young men have an uncanny way of telling if someone is gay or not. In 1998 I lived on Valance Road in a block called Hughes Mansions. The same block that Oona King got attacked at with shouts that she was a Jew...these same lads who lived there set fire to the door of my flat because I was "probably" gay. That same year me and two friends, one female, were badly beaten up just off Brick Lane for the same reason. So I moved. At the next address I lived at only a few streets away a different Asian gang targeted me, this time for being a "white bastard". One night I left home and found a young man outside waiting with a sword. I called the police. After this I was frequently targeted whenever I went to the shops, first for being white, then for being gay. I had people shout at me threatening to murder me and that I would "burn in the black fire". I was chased by a gang armed with knives. Eventually I was afforded police protection and had to move again. I have seen two pubs burned down because people did not want alcohol sold on their streets (The Queens Head - now demolished, and Pride of Spitalfields - now refurbished). They were a calculated and deliberate attack on the minority white community around here with the intention of intimidating and showing who's boss.

If any of you have ever been on the receiving end of genuine death threats, who were totally terrorised and unable to leave their own home - even during the day - you would understand my concerns about the passions being enflamed at the moment around here (Bethnal Green & Bow). I think George Galloway himself is now beginning to understand the true situation in Tower Hamlets considering the reception he got yesterday.

There are some extremely intolerant people around here who would not be bothered if they were called homophobic, racist and violent. Just because they are Asian does not make that ok. I condemn all racism, intimidation, intolerance and hatred wherever it comes from - especially because I have been a victim of it.

I don't think affording equal rights to people regardless of the sexuality is a pedestrian issue. It is human rights. I checked out those voting records because I was considering voting for George Galloway...but seeing his complete lack of support for those bills in parliament makes me think that if I or any of my gay friends were attacked by homophobes around here then our new MP George Galloway would probably do and say nothing about it for fear of angering his moslem electorate.

I am a product of my own life experience and my experience has taught me that all this talk about the war and about the killing of moslems is winding a lot of teenage boys up and encouraging some people around here to want to take revenge - even on people like me who UTTERLY condemned the war and did everything I ever could as an individual to try and stop it.

That is why I am scared of George Galloway. There is more at stake here than just a feather in the cap of a single politician, it's actually badly effecting ordinary people's lives.

PS - I am not a member of MI5....jeez

I'd like to agree with the article by the former SWP comrade but just emphasise that these tehnocratic, jumped up, middle class power trippers are much worse than he makes out. In fact he puts a rather glossy veneer on their true activities. I think he's trying to pull the wool over eyes about the dangerous virus that the placard waving, take-over intruders really represent. The SWP are nothing less than a cancer introduced into the bowels of the genuine spontaneous masses and unless the cancer is surgically removed with a hot scalpel we are all doomed, doomed, and make no mistake. In the branch I was in, the men all spoke with puffy, posh accents and actually thought their reactionary, Trotskyist, polluting ideas could bring about revolution, when in fact we know that's a joke because we know what happens when these elitist, totalitarian bum-suckers get into power and ruin everything. They'd just sit around drinking champagne and get louder and louder in their drunk, poncy accents and we'd have to do em over cuz we're much tougher than them. They are soh sectarian too and want to take over everything. I used to run my own sandwich stall and the bastards took that over and now I'm on the dole because of the meany, puffy, woofy, ploppy pooies. And all the SWP girls aren' really girls at all, honest, my mate told me and he doesn't lie (he's got a real Yorkshire accent, so there!) because they'd just keep really quiet if they were and wouldn't make so much noise, always shouting their android mouths off when their leaders tell them to. They're such sheep! We have to understand they can't think for themselves like you and me. Perhaps they are special needs (only joking!)but theyy are all so smelly and never wash their feet and pick their big middle class noses in their castles in the country and eat the bogies. Yuk I hate the smelly bellies. I'm serious they're the biggest problem since the atom bomb and Margaret Thatcher combined. We have to defeat them or we'll never get anywhere. To all free-spirits and genuine proletarian fighters everywhere, hurrah, hurrah.