I agree that that the Martin Smith issue has been used as an excuse to attack the SWP. The SWP handling of the case was less than perfect but it was the first time it had had to deal with such an issue at this level. Besides if any criticisms should be raised they should be raised against the leadership not the membership and certainly not through arbitrary attacks against those that may have even voted against the motion at your conference.
But please remember that it is not all anarchists, just a minority, usually aligned to intersectional politics ( well actually not even that. What they practice is a bastardised version of intersectionalism that basically allows them to throw the terms misogynist and rape apologists at any one they don't agree with; this is not what Kimberle Crenshaw intended).
The left is very split at the moment but there many groups coming through like the E15 mums, the New Era Estate and the London Black Revolutionaries for example that are revitalising activism. Just because we are in different groups doesn't mean we can't work together. This isn't about our own interests or egos, this is about saving all the post war social progress that is now being dismantled by the Tories and that other lot. Lets get together and get the revolution going then we can discuss the finer points of theory, which let's face it points us all in the same direction; an inclusive , caring society.

Hi please realise that this is not al anarchists.

there are reasons to hate the swp, and not just the Martin Smith affair.
The SWP try to take over everything, and direct it to promoting the SWP.
In short, they are annoying and stop any genuine movement from emerging.

what a joke, the SWP calling on people to engage in 'principled criticism' when they don't have any principles themselves.

The SWP are a dying force, and we dont need Callinicos and his crew, or any of their shitty spinoffs, such as RS21, Counterfire and all the other crap.

We need libertarian socialism, not a reshaped authoritarian socialism that is so 20th century.

History shows Anarchists cannot trust 'Communists'. Why should they be trusted now. If you know that Communists will not betray Anarchists, supply proof of this.

GPD

The SWP are sneaky, underhand, and uncomradely in their actions with other groups. That people have jumped on them so hard over the rape case is a reflection of this. The SWP want a revolution on their own terms, anything that deviates from that by so much as one iota is, to them, counter-revolutionary. That's why they sabotage anything that threatens their dominance around issues like anti-racism. We would all be a lot better off without their ideologically motivated backstabbing, and their awful of habits of parachuting into working class areas where they aren't known, hi-jacking protests and campaigns, and alienating people in their wake. Absolutely awful group. Good riddance to them!

the swp has been part of the left, of anti war, anti cuts, and anti-capitalist struggles for a long time. without them it is fair to say, these movements would not have taken root. the swp have worked very hard for the working class, and we ought to be grateful for what they've done.

a strong swp is good for everyone except the ruling class.
the swp is a revolutionary party.
without a revolutionary party, there is no revolution.

The only place on google where that quote is attributed to Callinicos is Indymedia. When and where did he say it?

Many of the criticisms of the SWP that were contained in Monopolise Resistance 2001 still stand, and we need to be wary of them and their tactics.

But the attacks on individual activists remain unacceptable.

hi,

the above quote by Callinicos comes at very the end of this talk,' is the far left in crisis?' literally being ' join us, the truth is you need us'.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W_LFjDUwqI

Callinicos gives a good riposte to all the anti swp arguments in this talk, and finishes with this line.

the anti globalise resistance stuff is so outdated and misrepresents the swp.

the reason people who are slamming the swp is because the swp are swappies, a sub type of Trot.
a swappie is there to co opt movements into promoting the swp and supporting left labour.
the WRP were big and collapsed into smaller sects, and the swp has gone the same way.

flush the swp down the toilet and wipe your arse with the socialist worker, cheaper than toilet paper these days!

Oh p-ur-lease, troll elsewhere.

It really isn't possible to imagine a more gross caricature of what a cardboard cutout anarchist might say the space lizards in the SWP think about anarchism.

It's just a windup.

Anybody who thinks the masses are just waiting for a lead from a few thousand anarchists and socialists should lay off the mulled cider. Have any of us been able to reverse the decisions to call off strikes over pensions? Have we been able to create a revolt against austerity? Our class is bleeding and in the absence of a fightback we end up tearing lumps out of each other.

Think of the big movements of the last 30 years such as the miners' support network, the poll tax, Stop the War. These weren't creations of "the left," they were mass responses to events. Some defied any attempts at "leadership" in others the big left groups gained influence by virtue of having a national organisation. Would anybody really claim that the poll tax riot was led by Militant or that two million responded to an SWP call to protest Blair's wars?

If you want to wank about Kronstadt or whose founder was the most misogynistic, feel free to misrepresent and distort each other. But please don't get in the way of the boring slog of rebuilding the local networks of solidarity and protest that might one day be the basis of a new class offensive.

Of course, it's possible there is no hope and the best we can do is split into ever smaller groups that squabble over fewer and fewer activists.

Happy New Year!