It will be interesting to see how this issue is handled next weekend. The individual membership loss is pretty consistent everywhere. In Scotland the SLP had to 'import' party names from south of the border for May's elections to the Edinburgh parliament. Even in Yorkshire, considered by many to be Socialist Labour's heartland, many branches have folded completely. For instance 18 months ago there were 19 members in Bradford.
Today there is no organisation in the city.
Well before the Fisc- EPSR fiasco disillusionment had set in. In Bradford members were shocked when a candidate was parachuted in for the May 1997 general election in the shape of Abdul Khan, who claimed to represent the Kashmiri Workers Party in Britain. He was foisted on the Bradford West constituency without any consultation with the local branch. In fact 'comrade' Khan had previously been a Conservative Party member. The 1,551 votes he won for the SLP came overwhelmingly from his personal supporters.