Letter to The Socialist:

Peter Taaffe's Reformism

20 April 2006

The Editor,

On 22 Feb BBC Radio 4 broadcast a programme on the Militant group in the 1980s. The programme ended with a short exchange - the interviewer asking Peter Taaffe about his views on the relevance of revolution in 2006.

Interviewer: “You still think the revolution will come?”

Taaffe: “Well, what do you mean by revolution?”

Interviewer: “The overthrow of capitalism.”

Taaffe: “Well yes, the change in society, established through winning a majority in elections.”

I have asked various Socialist Party members about this explicit reformist statement by the leader of their international tendency. They have assured me that the Taaffe quote was edited to remove revolutionary content and that there would be a correction. It is true that Taaffe's final sentence does sound as though it may have been cut short. While I struggle to think what magic words he could have spoken to transform this abject reformism into a revolutionary perspective I gave your comrades the benefit of the doubt and decided to wait for a correction.

Patience is of course a virtue, but two months have passed since and still no correction - in either your press or your online material. Can I therefore assume that you do in fact endorse Taaffe's reformist statement, as it was broadcast?

Alan Davis

Posted: 07 May 2006