Reidski, by way of making Patti Smith's number one fan extremely jealous with his report of attending last night's Meltdown to see Patti Smith and Steve Earle in concert, mentions bumping into Martin Smith, National Secretary of the Socialist Workers Party, who apparently is an old college chum of Reidski's. (Who do you support in the Boat Race, Reidski?)
Maybe Reidski sank a few too many beers with Martin reminiscing about various sit-ins from their college days - think Porterhouse Blue with a Billy Bragg soundtrack - so I'm sure he will correct the mistaken impression given in his post that the picket outside Bookmarks was in protest at the SWP's supposed promotion of Zionism. It was in fact a protest organised by the group Jews Against Zionism against the SWP decision to give Gilad Atzmon, someone who has: " . . . distributed Holocaust Denial literature by Paul Eisen (‘The Holocaust Wars’) which clearly supports the view that there was no deliberate extermination of the Jews or anyone else by the Nazis." a platform at both Bookmarks and their forthcoming Centrism.
Interesting to note that Martin Smith dismisses the protestors as nothing more than "ultra-left nutters". One of the people protesting outside Bookmarks at the SWP's decision to invite Atzmon was Hilary Rose. Mmm, I wonder if this is the same Hilary Rose who, alongside her partner Steven Rose, speaks most years at the SWP's annual Recruitathon, and who was mentioned as recently as the June 4th in the pages of the Socialist Worker in positive terms, in connection with a debate organised in Leeds between Norman Geras and herself over the issue of whether or not the AUT should boycott certain Israeli universities?
Martin Smith's name rings a bell as well. Once I had established it wasn't this Martin Smith (that's especially for Will Mackem) I suddenly remembered where I had spotted his name before. This wee gem from the vaults of the Weekly Worker where Martin interviews Eric really does go down as a classic in my ongoing compilation, provisionally entitled: 'If the SWP didn't exist, Chris Morris would have to invent them.'
Martin Smith: "This is not a court and I won’t have this minuted."
Absolutely brilliant.
4 comments:
I didn't spend any more than a couuple of minutes in the company of said Mr Smith - and I certainly didn't share any pints with him.
I was not a college chum of his - he used to accost me in the corridor after lectures cos, unlike him, I would challenge the liberal lecturer's interpretation of certain Marxist texts and opinions.
The college was Thames Poly (now the University of Greenwich), so there were no blazers or old-school ties.
I never attended any sit-ins, cos I always thought them to be a pile of shit.
Right, now that I got that out of the way - thanks for clarifying the reasons for the picket and who organised it.
No, I remember you mentioning that you went to college in London. Just my wee joke ;-)
Have you had a read of that Martin versus Eric thing from the Weekly Worker, yet? I know you have to take everything printed in the WW with a pinch of salt, but I remember being in stitches when I originally read it at the time.
Could you actually imagine what it would be like living in a society run by the SWP Central Committee? Doesn't bear thinking about.
It's a hilarious on first skim - and don't even start to think of what life would be like under the SWP!
On a serious note, is it merely wishful thinking on my part or do others think that the SWP are on the verge of implosion?
I definitely think that the SWP are living in interesting times. What is seemingly their best breakthrough in recent years - the election of Galloway for Respect in Bethnal Green and Bow - could be the thing that tears them apart.
However, they have such a machinery and structure in place - a la the MIllies and the old WRP - that it would be a few years before one really saw them coming apart at the seams.
I'm sure it must be the case that for many of the upper echelons of the leadership - German, Rees, Callinicos, Bambery etc - consider that this may be their last chance of a significant political breakthrough. Though I do take most things written in the Weekly Worker with a pinch of salt, I definitely agree that the SWP's core membership is shrinking and it's certainly the case that the SWP are suffering from the laws of diminishing returns.
First the misnamed anti-capitalist movement from a few years back, and now the anti-war movement have not thrown up by any means the same number of fresh recruits that old campaigns and social movements threw up in the past for the left. An SWP leadership made up of recruits from the late sixties, early seventies must be looking on and wondering what the hell is going on with so few people signing up. How else can you explain the SWP - who dismissed participating in elections for a whole generation - suddenly embracing electoralism in the fashion that they have?
It says something when the SWP has placed all its hopes on a hack like Galloway, and the distant hope that PR will be introduced in General Elections, thus opening a wee window of opportunity for them to win seats in the same fashion as the SSP in Scotland, and the LO and LCR in France.
It'll end in tears.
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