Hasn't 'Gorgeous' George Galloway decided to scrap Respect because the other members were not giving him enough? Respect, that is?

Apparently some of them thought there should be some form of democratic accountability in the decision making of Respect. Of course, as a hardline Gallowayista, George will have none of that social democratic nonsense!

Even without "Gorgeous George" there were always going to be problems with a "coalition" of this nature. I know members of the Socialist Workers' Party are pretty experienced when it comes to the old "my enemy's enemy is my friend" routine, but even some of them must have choked over joining forces with the Saddam Hussein Fan Club.

Perhaps it's time for the long awaited revival of the Workers' Revolutionary Party - where are Vanessa and Corin Redgrave (AKA "the downtrodden masses&quot when you, errr, need them.

I can't be the only one who has fond memories of their occasional encounters with us proles - a group of them turned up on a march during the Miners' Strike - "hey, Tarquin, where have you been?" - "oh, we borrowed Lucinda and Sebastian's place outside Arles for the summer - super!!!" (The names have been changed to protect the guilty, but you get the idea.)

They certainly knew how to come up with a catchy chant on demo's - none of yer "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie; Out, Out, Out" for them.

One in particular is etched on my brain cell:

"Reformism is no solution, forward with the revolution - build community councils!!"

This caused a certain degree of confusion for members of the Welsh contingent, for whom community councils are a sort of Rural Welsh parish council.

Sadly they never really recovered from the scandal involving their guru, Gerry Healey, who took a very close interest in the "political education" of some of the youinger and more attractive female members.

Still, given the virtually indentical nature of our main parties, there must be at least a hope of a return to the heady days of the early eighties, when you couldn't pass a benefit office without seeing rival newspaper sellers from at least half a dozen different factions, all clearly hating each other's guts. Their idealogical differences revolved around conflicting interpretations of what Trotsky actually meant by &quot;salt and vinegar on everything and have you got any batter bits?&quot; in a St Petersburg chip shop in 1913 - the main schism being between the views of Rosa Luxembourg (a popular pre-war radio personality - think of a revolutionary Marxist Sue Lawley) and Gramsci, who was errrr, Italian.<br><br>Post edited by: HOOP, at: 2008/02/19 18:25

I must admit I was a bit put off by the Telford SWP when it became apparent that one of the leading lights in it had bought his council/TDC house in Stirchley, I think, under the dreaded Thatcher Right to Buy legislation waited a while and sold it at a vast profit and bought himself a delightful and very expensive bungalow with the proceeds in Wellington.

There's nothing like having principles, is there?