Socialist Resistance

An archive of socialistresistance.org, 2002–2022

Are we really so ultra left?

Socialist Resistance no14  |  page 23

This is scanned newsprint, not web text. The original PDFs carried no text layer at all, so every word here was read off the page by OCR. Expect dropped opening letters, run-together words and wrong characters. There was no contents page to cut the paper up by, so the articles were found from the size of their headlines: a headline may carry its kicker, and where an article ran beside a boxed panel a few lines of the neighbour can appear. The scanned issue is the authority; this text is here so the words can be found at all.

I QUESTION the characterization in Jane Kelly's article, Building Respect, of those of us who fought to uphold the programme of the Socialist Alliance - People before Profit - as ultra-left.

What exactly is Jane saying? Is she saying that the Socialist Alliance has been ultra-left for the last 4 years for standing in elections on this manifesto?

Of course, our election leaflets did not present the entire manifesto and nobody at the National Convention was suggesting that Respect's election publications should do so either. But People Before Profit was in the public domain as our election manifesto for all to see. Ultra-left?

Are the Scottish Socialist Party ultraleft? They stand on an explicitly socialist platform and make great play of their position of a worker's representative on a worker's wage,' a position that we ultra-lefts' argued for at the National Convention.

What about Rifondazione Comunista? Well, with a name like that....not even the 'ultra-lefts' proposed such a name, just that R should stand for Republican.

We all know that the idea behind Respect is to engage with wider layers of radicalising workers, youth, black and ethnic minorities (not just Muslims) emerging around Stop the War, trade union struggles and many other issues.

But what has stopped the Socialist Alliance doing this before? Ultra-leftism? A programme which is too socialist? I don't think there is any evidence for this.

The problem has been the lack of commitment in many places to build the organisation in these campaigns and in the community, and, in particular, the fact that the largest organisation, the SWP, was absolutely committed to building itself, not the Socialist Alliance. Turning to the SR position on asylum, in a box in the same article. First I think it is essential that this be a position on immigration and asylum. We must defend the rights of all migrants not just asylum seekers. The 2003 Annual Conference the Socialist Alliance adopted a position which included:

• To argue for and help organise inside the trades unions on the basis of defiance in the face of implementation of immigration legislation.

• To work with others to unionise undocumented migrants.

• Campaign for equal welfare and civil rights for-all regardless of immigration status. The last demand is a generalisation of your point 5 to all migrants. The first two are crucial questions for socialists to take up in the trades unions and ought to be included, especially in the light of the Morecambe tragedy.

Yours in solidarity David Landau PS very pleased by the article on antisemitism. be cut for space reasons. We welcome letters of up to 400 words. Longer letters may You can email us, or post to PO Box 1109 London N4 2UU EDITORS:, Terry Conway, John Lister, Liam MacUaid. EDITORIAL BOARD: Mandy Baker, Julia Brandreth, Paul Brown, John Bulaitis, Andrew Burgin, Kathy Lowe Pauline Roland, Piers Moystn, Karen 'Toole, DESIGN: Pete McGreal and John Lister SPONSORED BY: International Socialist Group, Socialist Solidarity