the Socialist Party

[Anonymous]

 

It’s a shame the Socialist Party exists. I am not referring to the SPGB but to the Socialist Party. It’s Socialist Manifesto is nothing of the sort. I sent the following  to them and I am awaiting a reply.

 

“To the Socialist Party 

Hello

When I first found your website I was full of hope: A manifesto for socialism!! But then your actual election manifesto calls for capitalism without cuts, more jobs for the workers (I dont want a capitalist to employ me, I want to be free from wage labour) and the taxation of the super rich!! Are you serious? We will still have the super rich after you have found me a job? Sounds like wage slavery.  Marx explained more than 100 years ago how Capital, wage labour and the market causes misery for the working class. Any Socialist manifesto should call for the abolition of capital and wage labour

 

thanks,

“

[DJP]

I think this was touched on in the past but not sure how far it was pursued. Can’t we bring a case against them (SPEW) for identity theft? We are registered with the electoral commision as ‘The Socialist Party’ after all.

[ALB]

There’s no copyright on what a political party calls itself. All there is is a degree of protection for the name that can be put on the ballot paper where we are “The Socialist Party of Great Britain” (and various variations of this, including “The Socialist Party (GB”)) and they are “Socialist Alliance” (and various variations of that, including “Socialist Alternative – Save Our Baby Unit”).But that’s not the real problem which is political rather than legal. I’ve just checked with the site of the Electoral Commission and here’s a list of registered parties calling themselves socialist:Socialist AllianceSocialist AlternativeSocialist Equality PartySocialist Labour PartySocialist People’s PartyScottish Socialist PartyRepublican Socialist PartySocialist Party (NI)There’s also the Socialist Workers Party (which is not registered).You could send the same email/letter to all of them as their programmes are more or less the same as that of SPEW (keep a society divided into rich and poor but tax the rich to provide jobs and benefits for the poor). You can find their addresses on the Election Commission’s site. It would be interesting to see if they any reply and what they say.

[Anonymous]

I realise there has always been parties with the word ‘socialist’ in their name but  you have of late referred to yourseves as ‘The Socialist Party’ rather than the SPGB.  This stands out amongst the likes of  ‘Socialist alternative’ and ‘Socialist Worker’ but could be confused with ‘the Socialist Party’. They even use terms like ‘genuin socialism’, then call for more jobs for the workers and taxation of the super rich. The effect is to push back class consiousness. Unlike the SPGB I can imagine myself supporting a reform but I would never call it socialsm. It would be a desprate struggle for a few more crumbs or a bit more freedom under capitalism

[ALB]

I see what you’re getting at but it’s a cross we have had to bear over the years. Fifty or so years ago the journalists at the Daily Express were instructed to always refer to the Labour Party as “the Socialist Party”. Of course there’s no point in Tory papers doing that now as everybody can see that Labour has nothing to do with socialism.

TheOldGreyWhistle wrote:

Unlike the SPGB I can imagine myself supporting a reform but I would never call it socialsm. It would be a desprate struggle for a few more crumbs or a bit more freedom under capitalism

We’re not against either a few more crumbs or a bit more freedom. It’s just that, as a party, we campaign only for socialism. What we are against is the policy of reformism not necessarily against all reforms as such. And of course like you we’d never call any reform, however desirable or welcome, “socialism” or “socialist”.

[Author]

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