Private Eye and the SPGB

NEWS RELEASE

Date of Issue: 3 September 2015

SUBJECT: Reply to ‘HP Sauce’ Socialist Party item, Private Eye (No. 1400)

No, we do not have ulterior motives. We stood against Jeremy Corbyn at the General Election when he wasn’t standing for Labour Leader on the same basis that we oppose him now: his policies rely on the continued existence of capitalism, and therefore the exploitation of the working class to make profits. We stand, as you rightly observed, for the abolition of the wages system all together.

To that end, over the years, our members have donated money and time to the party. In 1951 we bought premises that now attract a considerable paper value (and which we have no plans to sell). We do not derive any income from our premises, and indeed they cost us money in taxation. In a property society we require funds and resources to make our case for the abolition of property society.

[Media Dept, SPGB]

The Private Eye Article

"IN THE hysteria provoked by the supposed far-left infiltration of the eternal Labour leadership contest, one sect of hardline pamphlet-pushers is staying resolutely on its street corner.

The 300-strong Socialist Party of Great Britain has launched a ferocious media offensive against Jeremy Corbyn, accusing him of being a capitalist shill keen to implement a "staid, unradical government" and Photoshopping his head on to ajar of Marmite "rich in BS policies - 100 percent capitalism".

Despite the revolutionaries' complaints that the Tory press's bogeyman is "just Harold Wilson warmed up", could the Clapham-based outfit have ulterior motives? Despite the party pushing for the abolition of banks and money, London's property boom saw the value of its HQ almost double between 2013 and 2014 to £900,000 - with cash reserves taking its total wealth to just under £ 1.3m. Its media spokesman protests: "We are not a charity, we are not giving it away to the poor, we are using it to propagate the case for socialism."

God forbid a politician comes along who wants to do something about the housing crisis and unearned income..."