Party & Programme
End the cycle of splits
24 May 2012
If the left is to build a serious political organisation it will have to facilitate internal dissent, writes Mike Macnair. And that will require both majorities and minorities to act responsibly
SWP and freedom of speech
16 Feb 2006
Michelle Euston reports on the Socialist Workers Party's rally 'Socialists and the Movement' in London, while Ted North attended the event in Sheffield
Respect after George Galloway's celebrity bid
16 Feb 2006
What will happen to Respect when George Galloway "retires from politics" in order to "speak, write, read, relax, love"? Ian Mahoney reports
Salma Yaqoob's motion to Respect national council
09 Feb 2006
Points 2a through to 2d were passed
Left merger still on hold
09 Feb 2006
"An absurd fratricidal war" - this is how the political magazine Der Spiegel describes the current difficulties hampering the creation of a new left party in Germany. But the root of the dispute is not absurd at all, says Tina Becker: it centres on the important question of government participation. By employing a range of bureaucratic manoeuvres, the WASG leadership is now trying to silence its own opposition that demands the party take a principled stand against accepting ministerial posts - while the SWP's German section sides with the right
Respect Party Platform founding statement
09 Feb 2006
Statement of objectives
Rough ride for Rees
09 Feb 2006
SWP leader John Rees was only adopted as a Respect candidate after strong objections from a sizeable bloc of Bengali members. But the drive to turn him into a political celebrity is unmistakable. Dave Jacques reports
'Big brother' fallout creates divisions
09 Feb 2006
Respect is an inherently unstable political formation, writes Alec Long. And the cracks are beginning to show
Freedom of speech still in danger
02 Feb 2006
While Blair's defeat over religious incitement is to be welcomed, the new law could still be wielded against the working class, writes Peter Manson. That is why it is appalling that George Galloway and Respect were New Labour's only allies in the Commons
Security, control and principled debate
02 Feb 2006
Does our paper's fight for transparency in the workers' movement play games with "people's lives and livelihoods"? The letter below from Mike Davies, a member of the left nationalist group, Cymru Goch, makes that charge. Mark Fischer replies
What's principle got to do with it?
02 Feb 2006
At the 'Defy section 9' conference in Manchester, the comrades from the SWP again tried to prevent the meeting from taking principled positions on the question of immigration, reports Dave Isaacson
Rein in Galloway
02 Feb 2006
George Galloway might think that by paying back part of his parliamentary salary he can take some of the wind out of his enemy's sails - but his gesture exposes again the fact that his appearance on Celebrity big brother had everything to do with advancing his reputation as a media personality and very little with Respect or working class principles, says Tina Becker
Victim of 'democracy'
26 Jan 2006
SW Kenning comments on SWP paranioa and the witch-hunting of one of their own members
Making a difference?
26 Jan 2006
Salma Yaqoob's politics have more to do with mainstream liberalism than with socialism, says Alan Fox
New SA council meets
19 Jan 2006
The first meeting of the Council of Socialist Organisations was held on January 14. The council was set up by the Socialist Alliance at its conference last November. Its aim is to provide a forum for discussion and coordination between SA affiliated organisations, local SAs and the SA executive. Pete Mc Laren reports
Completing Marx's project
19 Jan 2006
Communist Party comrades in London recently began a collective study of Beyond 'Capital', written by Michael A Lebowitz. The author argues that Capital, taken alone, is one-sided, given Marx's intention to also write a book on wage-labour. The incompleteness of Marx's work has helped produce a left whose theory is distorted and characterised by economism and programmatic narrowness. Mark Fischer spoke to the comrade in Venezuela, where he currently lives. He began with a description of his personal evolution as a communist