Andy Newman is defending the SWP’s decision to expel Clare Solomon from its ranks.
I hope you’ll excuse me a little Beavis and Butthead moment here:
Now, for historical reasons, the SWP have a tradition of not allowing permanent factions. That is their business, but that formal position doesn’t mean that internal debate does not exist; and one of the characteristic features of the SWP is the horizontal networking that goes on between established activists, complementary to the formal communications structures.
I thought that the whole point of the SWP was that it offered “horizontal networking” opportunities to those who might otherwise go without them.
