A while ago, the biggest party on the revolutionary left, the SWP, suffered a split. The old leadership led by John Rees left to form the group Counterfire.

The party machinery and bulk of the SWP members are, however, with Alex Callinicos. Both of these grouups claim to be the authentic upholders of the International Socialist tradition (IS), a Trotskyist tendency formed by Tony Cliff. The IS tradition differs from most other Trotskyists in that they do not hold up the theory that the USSR was a 'deformed workers state', but instead uphold the theory that since Stalin, the USSR was 'state capitalist' and not socialist. The crisis of leadership in the radical anti capitalist movement on 'what is to be done?' shows the need of a British Lenin. But who is the British Lenin? Is it the SWP's Alex Callinicos or Counterfire's John Rees? or is it the Socialist Party's Peter Taafe? Or do we even need a British Lenin?