Socialist Workers Party (United Kingdom)
| Socialist Workers Party | |
|---|---|
| founding | 1977 |
| Place of foundation | London |
| Headquarters | London |
| newspaper | Socialist Worker |
| Alignment |
Socialism Unorthodox Trotskyism |
| Colours) | red |
| International connections | International Socialist Tendency |
| European party | European anti-capitalist left |
| Website | Socialist Workers Party Online |
The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is a political party of the radical left in Great Britain , Trotskyist- oriented and sees itself as standing in the tradition of revolutionary socialism .
history
The roots of the Socialist Workers Party lie in the Revolutionary Communist Party , founded in 1944 and active until 1949 , especially the circle around Tony Cliff . After they broke up, the circle around Tony Cliff re-formed in the Socialist Review Group , founded in 1950 , to which Michael Kidron , Seymour Papert and Stan Newens , among others , later joined. In 1962 the group renamed itself International Socialists . In the 1960s, IS worked with the British Young Socialists in the Labor Party and the non-partisan Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament , and was able to recruit many members from both. After various internal differences and splits in the 1970s, it was renamed the Socialist Workers Party in 1977 .
In response to the increasing gathering of right-wing extremists in Great Britain in the late 1970s, the SWP, supported by some trade unions, prominent individuals (e.g. Peter Hain , Neil Kinnock , Brian Clough ) and other groups, was the initiator of the nationwide anti-fascist alliance Anti-Nazi League (ANL ). With the decline of the National Front after the 1979 election, the ANL's activity became less central and was disbanded in 1981 (in the 1990s it was reactivated under the name Unite Against Fascism).
In the 1980s, the SWP limited itself mainly to propaganda campaigns. So, z. B., at the beginning of the British miners' strike in 1984/1985 , the SWP initially limited itself to political support for the strikers but, as the struggle dragged on, it threw itself into the work of the numerous local solidarity committees. In the 1990s the SWP cooperated with other groups in protests against the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and with the emerging anti - globalization movement. From 1999 the SWP participated in the 1992-2005 electoral alliance Socialist Alliance .
At the beginning of the 21st century, the SWP was part of the so-called Respect - The Unity Coalition , an electoral alliance founded in England and Wales in 2004 , which won a seat in Parliament ( George Galloway , who is not a member of the SWP himself) and a small number of local councils (several of whom are members of the SWP). In the mid-2000s, however, the alliance split, with one part ( Respect Renewal ) being led by George Galloway, the other ( Left List ) being mainly made up of the SWP. In Scotland , the SWP existed as a platform within the Scottish Socialist Party in the early years of the new century , but decided to leave the SSP in August 2006 to organize itself as part of the independent new political grouping Solidarity, led by Tommy Sheridan .
In the SWP there is, on the one hand, the Industry Department, which coordinates political work in the labor movement, and, on the other hand, the Socialist Workers' Student Society, which provides several groups at universities. The SWP participates in various alliances, in particular the Stop the War Coalition against the Iraq war. At the international level, she heads the Trotskyist organization International Socialist Tendency . At the European level it is a partner organization of the European anti-capitalist left .
Web links
† Sinn Féin's MPs do not take their seats in Westminster