When I used to sell The Scorcher in Cardiff on The Hayes the SWPers would be opposite trying to flog Socialist Worker AfteR an hour or so the fulltimer would turn up, take the money and after a decent interval stick the unsold papers in a wheelie bin. No doubt he would make up the financial shortfall himself and bask in the ’37 papers sold in Cardiff’ account in the next SW. My mate was so desperate for money one saturday he got the papers out thhe wheelie bib and sold them himself to get the money.
There was usually a petition to sign as well……..something innocuous about racism or world peace…….and if you refused to sign there might be a daring follow up……’so you’re not against racism then’………..once uttered with disastrous consequences to my comrade Doc Whelan.
Paper selling is now consigned with democratic centralism to the wheelie bin of history. It gave the party members something to do but it never changed anyone’s mind but they kept on at it. If you are especially cruel you can stiill subscirbe to News Line and have some WRPer pop it through your letter box three times a week. Oh how the heart must quicken at a new subscriber in Penge.
I wonder how many Class War stalwarts dragged themselves out of bed for yet another paper sale buoyed by the knowledge that they could safely spend 10% of the takings on lager?
Is that not money well earnt and spent then? Better than funding some Central Committee’s beano to Cuba or some other ‘socialist paradise’…
I would love to know where the SWP gets its cash. Certainly not from its risible paper sales, and not much from membership subscriptions. I suppose the remmants of ‘democratic centralism’ will ensure we never find out just where the money comes from, though I’ve got a sneaking suspicion full timers get more from the TUC and the London Assembly than we’ll ever learn. And how many full timers are there, how much do they earn, how do they keep it coming?
And how much of the frenetic Trot support for the Livingstone election campaign was really about keeping their snouts in the public trough?
I’ve been a Unison member for decades, and while the unionn claims to be too broke to sustain a strike for more than 30 minutes they seem to have limitless funds for propping up SWP front groups and SWP led projects.
Perhaps this what the ‘united front’ is all about, it’s simply a shakedown.
A former member of the SWP once told me the Party sets a tithe on their employed members. If I recall correctly it used to be 10% of income.
Dave Nellist was born and raised in the next village to me. I always recall that when he came back to his dad, Jack, at holiday time from Lanchester College, the local chippie didn’t have to scrounge papers for wrappers from locals as there were enough unsold Militants to keep them going for weeks……..
Lol I expect his head is still ringing from Docs response. I remember some years ago I was in a good mood on a Saturday lunchtime and thought I would actually talk to the SWP paper sellers in Kingswood (Bristol). Within 5 minutes some people I had known for years on their way to the football (Twerton Park when the Gas didn’t have a home) were standing at the bus stop nearby and started calling out to me. The Trots were horrified and asked “How do you know them: They are fascists they have a go at us every fortnight”. Knowing these were sound l people I made my apologies and joined them. The “fascist piss taking” turned out to be the response “no thanks I’m working class” when invited to buy a copy of Socialist Worker.
Selling Class War on a march in South London in 1986 ish (i think) for boycotting South African goods sticks in my mind.Ian gave me a massive bundle of papers to sell.They all sold and my friends and i couldn’t find Ian to pass the money over so it was all spend on booze.The rest of the day was a haze the only memory being smacked by a Jamaican lady on the tube for swearing!! I was only 14 at the time. Great times!
With the internal collapse of SWP and Ingsoc generally – it could be argued there is still a place for paper sellers. CW was a marmite paper with the punters but always sold out. Fond memories of Newbury where it was accompanied with the clarion ‘Hang the Queen!’, this resulted in either ”Yeah I’ll have one of those mate” or pandemonium and scuffles with Barbour clad monarchists
where does the swp get its cash?
the main way must be the members they have a sliding scale even unemployed must pay i think ten pound monthly. i wish i knew where i kept the membership leaflet i had with the scale on.
they also tend to set up campaigns that will attract funding from the unions but i dont think that these will provide them with much income other than that it means some of there members dont have to work but can then work on campaigns full time and pay section of wage to swp.
I never took a great deal of notice of the swirps but the recent crisis has revealed that they have various legacies inc from Paul Foot so they have a lot of money. I expect that will mean that the CC will fight tooth and nail to hang on to the bank accounts, in a democratic centrist vanguardy sort of way.