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What's the Spartacist League up to these days?

The39thStep said:
Ken Macleod, the author, was in the Sparts. He got kicked out of the IMG but I think there was always a question as to whether he was recruited to the Sparts whilst in the IMG or whether he was already a Spart and went into the IMG to recruit their members.
Here the Sparts take on the explusion of the 'Communist Tendency' https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/spartacist-uk/033_1981_06_Bristish-spart.pdf
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They were right about Khomeini, to give them their due. Not bad for a group that were like something out of the 1930s, and not in a good way.
 
spart-nk.jpg
 
Socialist Fight ( who take some beating on the loony tunes front) had a similar position on the Goddard case. In fact after a speed read of Socilaist Fight they are worth a closer look, Barking.
 
The39thStep said:
Many many moons ago when I was at North London Poly in the Harrington Out Campaign the Sparts used to send about four or five members ( there were two Americans and a couple of well meaning but clearly barmy new recruits ) to any meeting we had. As they had some people working on the Tubes their slogan was something like 'Only the organised power of the London Underground Workers can stop fascism by a General Strike' . Which a) wasnt true and b) very unlikley to happen. After a while people occupying began to get fed up with them and put a motion up for them to leave. I put a counter motion up for them to stay and join the occupation but that they had to join in a play a full and equal part not just come to meetings. They said they would agree to this no doubt dreaming that they would play a leading role .They did .We put them on toilet cleaning duty. 'Cleanliness is next to Trotskyism ' I told the meeting. They loved it.
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Blimey. That takes me back. I wasn't at NLP, but came along a couple of times with my uni crowd. It got quite lively one day when the bailiffs came in iirc.

That same day, I was called over by some comrades to check out a bunch of likely looking guys lurking nearby - people couldn't decide whether they were NF or Red Action, and I was the only one there who knew the Red Action guys. It was Red Action. They left us students to it when it became clear that the NF were a no show.
 
When I was member of the SWP (shudder) I went to a community centre to book it for a meeting. I got chatting to the lovely, white haired old lady who was the caretaker, looking like the sort of person who plays the sweet old granny in an ad. She then announced she was a member of the New Communist Party and told me quite fiercely that Stalin was misunderstood and following his principles had guided her life. Despite being about 80 I think she was one of the NCPs youngest members which is why they folded shortly afterwards.
 
Grump said:
When I was member of the SWP (shudder) I went to a community centre to book it for a meeting. I got chatting to the lovely, white haired old lady who was the caretaker, looking like the sort of person who plays the sweet old granny in an ad. She then announced she was a member of the New Communist Party and told me quite fiercely that Stalin was misunderstood and following his principles had guided her life. Despite being about 80 I think she was one of the NCPs youngest members which is why they folded shortly afterwards.
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I went in holiday with them. They ran cheap coach tours to Eastern Europe and Italy. Fine times were had, until the tour leader announced the discussion night on why the invasion of Afghanistan was a revolutionary act.
 
belboid said:
I went in holiday with them. They ran cheap coach tours to Eastern Europe and Italy. Fine times were had, until the tour leader announced the discussion night on why the invasion of Afghanistan was a revolutionary act.
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Was that 'Yorkshire Tours'? I went with them on a coach/ train trip to Moscow. It was run by a couple from Huddersfield who used their links to East European states to book cheap travel.
 
belboid said:
I went in holiday with them. They ran cheap coach tours to Eastern Europe and Italy. Fine times were had, until the tour leader announced the discussion night on why the invasion of Afghanistan was a revolutionary act.
Click to expand...
I used to listen to Radio Moscow on shortwave, and I remember their broadcast the night the Red Army left Afghanistan - they focussed on the women's militias that were (apparently) forming up in Kabul.
 
Grump said:
Was that 'Yorkshire Tours'? I went with them on a coach/ train trip to Moscow. It was run by a couple from Huddersfield who used their links to East European states to book cheap travel.
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I didn’t think it was called Yorkshire Tours, but could well have been. Huddersfield definitely sounds right.

(Progress Tours springs to mind)
 
belboid said:
I didn’t think it was called Yorkshire Tours, but could well have been. Huddersfield definitely sounds right.

(Progress Tours springs to mind)
Click to expand...
Seem to remember that it was Progressive Tours, but may have also gone under the name of Yorkshire Tours for some reason. Although I could be wrong.

I tried to get on one of their trips to the USSR around 1990-ish, as they were incredibly cheap, but they'd gone bust. I think that when the old couple either died or got too old some of their kids tried to keep it going for a short while.
 
I knew a bloke who went to Albania with them. The company's advice was no beards allowed and bring a table tennis ball as there were no sink plugs. I think visiting a carpet factory was one of the excursions.
 
The39thStep said:
I knew a bloke who went to Albania with them. The company's advice was no beards allowed and bring a table tennis ball as there were no sink plugs. I think visiting a carpet factory was one of the excursions.
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One of my supervisors went on a tour of Albania - the highlight of her tour was a visit to a collective farm milking station where the cows were played Scarlatti, to increase milk yields.
 
RD2003 said:
Seem to remember that it was Progressive Tours, but may have also gone under the name of Yorkshire Tours for some reason. Although I could be wrong.

I tried to get on one of their trips to the USSR around 1990-ish, as they were incredibly cheap, but they'd gone bust. I think that when the old couple either died or got too old some of their kids tried to keep it going for a short while.
Click to expand...
Progressive! That's the buggers
 
The39thStep said:
I knew a bloke who went to Albania with them. The company's advice was no beards allowed and bring a table tennis ball as there were no sink plugs. I think visiting a carpet factory was one of the excursions.
Click to expand...
A friend did a very similar tour except he got an excursion to a cement factory.
 
For those of us of a certain age.....



what were the Albanian's known as? We had one at LSE. Can't for the life of me remember.
 
Grump said:
When I was member of the SWP (shudder) I went to a community centre to book it for a meeting. I got chatting to the lovely, white haired old lady who was the caretaker, looking like the sort of person who plays the sweet old granny in an ad. She then announced she was a member of the New Communist Party and told me quite fiercely that Stalin was misunderstood and following his principles had guided her life. Despite being about 80 I think she was one of the NCPs youngest members which is why they folded shortly afterwards.
Click to expand...
New Communist Party is still going !
It does, as far as I am aware have 'younger' members; an old associate who now works for CWU is a supporter, he must be in his early 50yrs now !
www.newworker.org | The New Communist Party of Britain | 13th April 2016
 
Speaking of “one loon” parties...this thread has confused me so far (as far as I can be bothered to read it) because...when I was a student, circa 1984-1985, I had a lot of friends at PNL and in the anti-fascist campaign centred around Patrick Harrington. On all the demos down Holloway Road there was always, always, one nutty man with a HUGE Spartacist League banner. Does this ring bells with anyone? Anyone know who he was? I always assumed Spartacist League were this one nutty guy. IIRC he also might have connected himself, via another banner (or maybe the same one) with ASLEF.

Anyone an expert on Spartacist history?
 
The39thStep said:
Many many moons ago when I was at North London Poly in the Harrington Out Campaign the Sparts used to send about four or five members ( there were two Americans and a couple of well meaning but clearly barmy new recruits ) to any meeting we had. As they had some people working on the Tubes their slogan was something like 'Only the organised power of the London Underground Workers can stop fascism by a General Strike' . Which a) wasnt true and b) very unlikley to happen. After a while people occupying began to get fed up with them and put a motion up for them to leave. I put a counter motion up for them to stay and join the occupation but that they had to join in a play a full and equal part not just come to meetings. They said they would agree to this no doubt dreaming that they would play a leading role .They did .We put them on toilet cleaning duty. 'Cleanliness is next to Trotskyism ' I told the meeting. They loved it.
Click to expand...


And, woo fuck, having now read the thread I’ve come across this. I swear there was only one not five but you’re right about the LT thing.

Out of interest, feel free to PM me, or not, with who you are. My long term partner now was either VP Kentish Town or Women’s Officer back then if you remember. My best mate was Fuse editor, then VP Ladbroke House.
 
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