Regarding our discussion of the other week, there are some cracks of the top of the SWP in the UK now:
MARK BERGFELD’S RESIGNATION LETTER FROM THE SWP CENTRAL COMMITTEE
FOR SWP MEMBERS ONLY. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE OUTSIDE THE PARTY. DO NOT
PUBLISH ONLINE.
On Monday 4 February I resigned from the SWP central committee and from
my role as a national student organiser for the party. I would like to
outline my reasons for this decision, which was not one I took lightly.
As comrades may be aware, I have disagreed with positions taken by the
central committee, and more recently by the national committee, over the
handling of the dispute concerning Comrade Delta.
I made no secret of these disagreements at our national conference, and
debates at that conference were in my view conducted in a comradely and
fraternal manner. Despite misgivings, I agreed to serve on whichever CC
slate was elected.
Since conference, however, there have been a number of developments
that run against both the spirit and the letter of the decisions taken
there. These developments have not just made my position on the CC
untenable. They also threaten the integrity of the party. This has left me
with no choice but to resign from my positions in order to voice my
concerns to the wider party membership.
At conference we decided to “draw a line” under the dispute and move
forward in a spirit of unity. Instead the CC has decided to “draw a line”
right through the middle of the party. It has misinterpreted the vote over
the disputes committee report as an “exoneration” of [Delta] and as an
expression of total confidence in the disputes committee process.
The effect of this, consciously or otherwise, has been to exacerbate
the tensions that existed inside the party prior to conference. More
worryingly, differences over the dispute are now being dressed up and
rationalised as political differences. This threatens to severely distort
both our perspective and our wider political practice.
What has happened in the student office since conference is a case in
point. Up until the days immediately before conference, the CC did not
express any concerns with the student office, its work or its political
direction. Now the CC warns that students are “pandering to feminism and
autonomism” and insists on the need for a sharp “ideological turn”.
This change in direction is based solely upon the CC’s position
regarding the dispute. In my view, the charges of “feminism” and
“autonomism” are baseless. Their aim, consciously or otherwise, is to split
the party. Instead of addressing the widespread concerns over the way in
which the dispute was handled, the CC has attempted to shut down discussion
and create artificial political divisions over it.
Here’s just one minor example of this. One of our leading student
activists was barred from standing again for his position on the NUS
national executive committee. The only reason given for this decision was
his disagreement over the dispute. This CC decision was sprung on him two
days before the nominations deadline. It ignored negotiations with other
left forces in the student movement.
We cannot dismiss the widespread and serious disagreements over the
dispute, its handling and its fallout somehow amount to a “break with the
IS tradition”. Nor can we pretend that these disagreements stem from a
rejection of revolutionary socialism or of Leninist democratic centralism.
The new CC is set on a course that will do immense damage to the party
and its work. If it pursues this direction further the inevitable result
will be an irreparable breakdown in relations within the party and with
wider forces on the left. This has already created huge damage among our
student groups. It now threatens to spread much further.
I still believe it is not too late to reverse this course. I continue
to be an active member of the Socialist Workers Party. I continue to fight
for socialism from below and for the revolutionary party as a tool for
working class self-emancipation.
In solidarity,
Mark Bergfeld
mxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com
7 February 2013
FOR SWP MEMBERS ONLY. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE OUTSIDE THE PARTY. DO NOT
PUBLISH ONLINE
MARK BERGFELD’S RESIGNATION LETTER FROM THE SWP CENTRAL COMMITTEE
FOR SWP MEMBERS ONLY. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE OUTSIDE THE PARTY. DO NOT
PUBLISH ONLINE.
On Monday 4 February I resigned from the SWP central committee and from
my role as a national student organiser for the party. I would like to
outline my reasons for this decision, which was not one I took lightly.
As comrades may be aware, I have disagreed with positions taken by the
central committee, and more recently by the national committee, over the
handling of the dispute concerning Comrade Delta.
I made no secret of these disagreements at our national conference, and
debates at that conference were in my view conducted in a comradely and
fraternal manner. Despite misgivings, I agreed to serve on whichever CC
slate was elected.
Since conference, however, there have been a number of developments
that run against both the spirit and the letter of the decisions taken
there. These developments have not just made my position on the CC
untenable. They also threaten the integrity of the party. This has left me
with no choice but to resign from my positions in order to voice my
concerns to the wider party membership.
At conference we decided to “draw a line” under the dispute and move
forward in a spirit of unity. Instead the CC has decided to “draw a line”
right through the middle of the party. It has misinterpreted the vote over
the disputes committee report as an “exoneration” of [Delta] and as an
expression of total confidence in the disputes committee process.
The effect of this, consciously or otherwise, has been to exacerbate
the tensions that existed inside the party prior to conference. More
worryingly, differences over the dispute are now being dressed up and
rationalised as political differences. This threatens to severely distort
both our perspective and our wider political practice.
What has happened in the student office since conference is a case in
point. Up until the days immediately before conference, the CC did not
express any concerns with the student office, its work or its political
direction. Now the CC warns that students are “pandering to feminism and
autonomism” and insists on the need for a sharp “ideological turn”.
This change in direction is based solely upon the CC’s position
regarding the dispute. In my view, the charges of “feminism” and
“autonomism” are baseless. Their aim, consciously or otherwise, is to split
the party. Instead of addressing the widespread concerns over the way in
which the dispute was handled, the CC has attempted to shut down discussion
and create artificial political divisions over it.
Here’s just one minor example of this. One of our leading student
activists was barred from standing again for his position on the NUS
national executive committee. The only reason given for this decision was
his disagreement over the dispute. This CC decision was sprung on him two
days before the nominations deadline. It ignored negotiations with other
left forces in the student movement.
We cannot dismiss the widespread and serious disagreements over the
dispute, its handling and its fallout somehow amount to a “break with the
IS tradition”. Nor can we pretend that these disagreements stem from a
rejection of revolutionary socialism or of Leninist democratic centralism.
The new CC is set on a course that will do immense damage to the party
and its work. If it pursues this direction further the inevitable result
will be an irreparable breakdown in relations within the party and with
wider forces on the left. This has already created huge damage among our
student groups. It now threatens to spread much further.
I still believe it is not too late to reverse this course. I continue
to be an active member of the Socialist Workers Party. I continue to fight
for socialism from below and for the revolutionary party as a tool for
working class self-emancipation.
In solidarity,
Mark Bergfeld
mxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com
7 February 2013
FOR SWP MEMBERS ONLY. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE OUTSIDE THE PARTY. DO NOT
PUBLISH ONLINE