I strongly suspect the individuals who compose the self-recruiting permanent faction who have run the IS/SWP pretty much since its formation in Cliff's front room, are stuck now in the swamp created by their own collective authoritarian mindset. The people on the CC apparently believe that they , like Cliff certainly did himself, are in direct touch with the "dialectic of the inner dynamic of history" - or at least "channelling lenin" , a bit like the Pope and his supposed direct line to God (though in this case at least God has apparently just told Benedict to "fuck off now before all that abuse cover up stuff overwhelms you and you're too far gone to do much more than dribble incoherently in your cups "). This being the case (known in Far Left politics as "Cliff and Gerry egomania disease") how can they be "wrong" about organisational structures, democratic procedures, political tactics, rape tribunals, etc ? The "problem" (as also always claimed by the Blairites when the electorate gave them a kicking) must simply be one of "poor presentation". So, the solution is to deviously and bullyingly try to "manage" the presentation problems, and of course GET RID of those few deviants who have the temerity to question the way the IS/SWP has always been run. It's quite obviously a sad rerun of the last crazed few years in the bunker of the leadership clacque of the WRP. It'll take a few years, but the SWP is toast -- doomed to a slow death by a thousand desertions and expulsions, until only a handful of very old politicos will be left raging at the world alongside their sacred death mask of Cliff.
As an aside , like a lot of old ex SWP expellees I've had a certain "car crash voyeur" fascination with the crisis as it has unfolded. There's been a lot of interesting, and even politically insightful stuff been generated by the SWP's current plight across the blogosphere. However in case we think that the now inevitable collapse of the SWP in the longer term will in itself sort out all the lunacy lurking on the Far left, think again.For instance I've been struck by the high level of SWP leaks to the "Socialist Unity" website, and the often interesting discussions on same. I've also been surprised at the quite extraordinary crap background politics of some of the leading lights behind that site. "Andy" himself , whilst pontificating pompously about the SWP's lack of internal democracy, appears to be a dedicated apologist for both stalinism ( the "socialist states" )AND the Catholic Church hierarchy ! His recent blog on the Pope's resignation must make any radical socialist reach for the sick bag. Ironically much of the political theory of the SWP is, in comparison, many light years MORE PROGRESSIVE than this bonkers stuff. So the eventual disappearance of the SWP wont in itself guarantee that Left politics in the UK wont continue to be dominated by politicos fundamentally attached to authoritarian belief systems and theories that will continue to isolate us from the mass of ordinary sane working class people.
