Who doesnt enjoy taking the piss out of the SWP.
Even SWP members enjoy taking the piss out of the SWP , at least i think they are taking the piss when they announce their policies using a Jack Dee style dead pan expression style.
Mark Steel used to be a member of the SWP , now he enjoys taking the piss out of them.
We went to see Mark Steel at the Fruitmarket as an early Mothers day treat for my Wife on behalf of my son who is going as well ( another Mud on your knees job)..I was hoping he did the pisstaking of the SWP gig rather than the regional accents one he did last time.
I first saw him at the Glasgow Pavilion a few years back at a fundraiser for the newly formed SSP ( Scottish Socialist Party) , it was a great evening , People from downsouth Trade Unions came to give goodwill and looked forward to monitoring developments in Scotland with view to set up something overdue and equivalent in England.
In the Scottish Regional Parliamentary elections the SSP scored a spectacular showing winning 6 seats as an anti-war sentiment as well as a backlash against the madcap cronyism and ideological corruption of New Labour swept the Nation.
It should have been the start of something big , but the old left disease of clutching abject humiliation from the jaws of the cusp of a progressive mass movement was to rise from the ghettos of worshipping an out-dated 19th Century concept of class war that barely defined Industrial Europe , yet alone the rest of the world.In one short Parliamentary term the 6 MSPs had been cut to a manageable Zero.
You would think that is that , the end of the story.But No , the SWP were there to pick up the pieces and extract the last remaining amount of piss and dregs , gather them together , repackage and make them into a Political Party.And so Solidarity was born.
If still born dead ducks are your forte then a close study of the short insignificant history of Solidarity is the template for you to follow.Tommy Sheridan would have been well advised to keep out of Politics and re-enter when the time is right.But he allowed himself to enter a Faustian Registry Office Wedding with the SWP.The SWP were not particularly aligned to him , nor he to them.What must have entered the minds of both parties was a marriage of convenience , he would get their undoubted skills as active on the street campaigners , they would get his undoubted Charisma in public street and Hall campaigning.
What we ended up with was the left doing the rights work for them by splitting themselves into two competing blocks , vying with each other to shatter the left into a thousand different pieces.And that is where the matter stands this day.
Anyway , back to pisstaking , Mark Steel was on fine form , for me he still done too much Regional accent and non-controversial gag-style humour and not enough Political and in-house left taking the piss out of each other anecdotes , But , all in all it was a great evening and a wonderful way to say thankyou for Mothers Day.
I met an old Pal there from the start of the Anti-War movement days prior to the Iraq Debacle , he had been a victim of internal left disputes and really enjoyed the gig , being able to relate to many of the situations related by Mr.Steel
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