Trot Watcher When I joined the IMT, I found myself in this strange environment with which I was both personally, and, as it would turn out, politically incompatible. It was inevitable that it would all end in tears and that, as with so many other times in my largely depressing life, separation, ostracism and anger all round … Read more
I often wonder when I will ever fully recover from cultism, if ever. I was in the International Marxist Tendency for only two and a half years, but those years were the most traumatic and psychologically damaging of my entire life. I have never had such an intense experience in my 22 years of being … Read more
Ian D. Thatcher’s 2003 biography of Trotsky is a work of genuine historical scholarship. In contrast to the hagiographies of Trotskyist sects, and the impressive but biased account by Isaac Deutscher, Thatcher’s work is a measured and objective assessment of Trotsky’s political career. It also includes incisive observations on Trotsky’s writings and political analyses in … Read more
No sooner did the CWI under Peter Taaffe split than those who left Taaffe’s dominion decided to have a split of their own earlier this year. In a couple of articles online, here and here, those departing the new organisation give their reasons why. It seems that the leadership of the new organisation has learned … Read more
Recently, the IMT held its World Congress, which takes place every two years (the organisation alternates between holding a ‘School’ and a ‘Congress’ every year). It boasted that it was its best Congress ever, with 2,800 comrades across the world in attendance. Of course, due to Covid-19 it took place entirely online, and therefore these … Read more
Recently, it has emerged that the Labour Party NEC plans to vote to proscribe several far-left groups within the Labour Party, including my former cult, Socialist Appeal, the British section of the International Marxist Tendency. The group has no influence within the party and comprises only a handful of members, so this will make little … Read more
We are constantly told that the reason why Marxist regimes degenerated is the ‘backwardness’ that existed in those countries. The working-class was not big enough, industrialization had not proceeded far enough, most of the population were still peasants, etc. This excuse is always trotted out by Trotskyists to excuse the failures of the Russian Revolution, … Read more
The Socialist Equality Party, led by the cult leader David North, is among the most prominent faces of Trotskyism internationally. Its website, the World Socialist Website, has a gargantuan output of articles containing a Marxist analysis of films, books and world events. I have been in awe of just how much stuff they put out. … Read more
I am pleased to announce that an interview I did with Steven Hassan on my time in the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) has been uploaded to YouTube. He has also done a wonderful blog post about my experiences. I encourage everyone to watch it and share it widely. I would like to publicly thank Steve … Read more
Trotskyist cults are known for lying about their membership figures. They have good reason to. Given the gap between their minuscule size and their brazen boasts of their indispensability, they have every incentive to falsify their figures so as to make themselves out to be bigger than they actually are. Someone from the IMT once … Read more