Socialist Party (England and Wales)

Socialist Party Socialist Party
Party leader	Peter Taaffe
vice-chairman	Hannah Sell
founding	1991
Headquarters	London
newspaper	The Socialist
Alignment	Trotskyism Socialism Marxism
Colours)	Red White
International connections	Committee for a Workers' International
Website	www.socialistparty.org.uk

The Socialist Party (German "Socialist Party") is a Marxist and Trotskyist political party in England and Wales . It is the successor to the Militant Tendency founded in the Labor Party in 1964 . In addition to the weekly newspaper The Socialist , she publishes the monthly magazine Socialism Today . She is a member of the committee for a workers' international , her German sister organization is the Socialist Organization Solidarity (SOL) .

Politics: Support for trade unions and working class

The Socialist Party supports the trade unions in their struggle to secure wages, jobs, working conditions and state welfare.

The Socialist Party is calling for a minimum wage of £ 8 and a minimum wage of £ 320 for low earners. It stands up for the rights of workers and trade unions.

In order to achieve full employment, she demands a “35-hour week with full wages”. The Socialist Party intends that workers receive a reduction in weekly working hours without losing their pay. This is said to mean that instead of increasing working hours, companies are forced to hire more workers in order to maintain their production capacity.

The Socialist Party argues that any large company (e.g. multinational corporations) complaining of economic difficulties in introducing shorter working hours should disclose their books. These should then control trade unionists elected by the workforce and check that they are correct. If the workforce finds that the company lacks the necessary economic resources, then the company should be nationalized under the management and control of the employees.

The Socialist Party also calls for a massive increase in government spending on "health care, housing, education, childcare, leisure and community facilities", as these facilities are vital for the population. In addition to supporting the working class, expanded public welfare should also aim to increase employment. The Socialist Party argues that “if the bosses think they cannot afford these improvements, then we cannot afford capitalism either.” It concludes that in such a case capitalism is unable to provide and through the basic needs of the population a planned and democratic economy under workers management and control must be replaced.

In 2010, the Socialist Party helped found the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC). Since then, its members have been running for TUSC in local and parliamentary elections. After Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labor Party, Peter Taaffe told political magazine New Statesman in an interview that “Jeremy is a radical socialist and our party is a radical socialist party.” The Socialist Party exists still as an independent party. In November 2016, 75 longtime members expelled from Labor for membership of the Militant Tendency, including Peter Taaffe and former House MP Dave Nellist , applied for re-entry into the Labor Party. At the same time they called for the Socialist Party and other left organizations to be given collective membership in the Labor Party.

Web links

• Socialist Party website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Interview with General Secretary Peter Taaffe at www.sozialismus.info. October 27, 2015, accessed May 8, 2016 . 
2. ^ Hannah Sell: Support the campaign to read with expelled socialists. November 16, 2016, accessed November 18, 2016 .