Lewisham Momentum meeting, 2017, before the split
In 2018, there was a concerted campaign, led by Stalinists, to take over the Momentum (Labour left) group in Lewisham, South East London, and purge the existing officers and activists - resulting in a split. This campaign, assisted by the Momentum office, was accompanied by a shocking wave of slanders, abuse and attempted bullying against those who resisted the purge drive, and Workers' Liberty members in particular. Both the politics involved and, perhaps even more importantly, the culture of behaviour were appalling. All this did real damage to the left in Lewisham and more widely.
It is not pleasant to look back at these things, but it is important to learn the lessons. As we said at the time:
"The people who feel despair that the left can get to this point also need to look at how these divisions have been created: in the first place by Labour’s right wing and secondly by the left, absorbing the methods and attitudes of the right, shutting down debate in Momentum and turning a blind eye to political thuggery."
So what happened is not lost we gather here some stuff from the time giving an overview and explanation.
• “Momentum left resists drive to purge” - our report of the 23 April 2018 meeting where Lewisham Momentum split, the struggle around it and the issues
• Video and eye-witness reports of the farcical meeting the Stalinist splitters held to establish their group, plus text of the established Lewisham Momentum group's formal complaint to Momentum nationally
• “Momentum’s gift to the right in Lewisham” - report in The Clarion magazine (May 2018)
• ”Lewisham Momentum has been split – all Momentum groups and activists should be very concerned” - the established group's summary of what happened and the issues (May 2018)
• “The return of Stalinism on the British left?” - report and analysis on the Bob from Brockley blog (May 2018)
• Open letter from the established Lewisham Momentum to the new group proposing cooperation and discussion (not replied to) (May 2018)
• Report of attack on young socialists at the Marquis of Granby (September 2018)
• Report of a young woman comrade being assailed and abused in her workplace (April 2019)
• ”Violence in Lewisham Momentum” - report of physical violence against one of our activists (August 2019)
See also, on the wider political culture behind the campaigns of slurs and lies:
• “The inverted pyramid of fake politics” (February 2018)
• "Witch-hunt tries to prohibit radical ideas" (February 2018)
• "Workers' Liberty: who we are" (June 2018)
• Statement from editorial board of The Clarion about Red London campaign against one of its editors (October 2018)
• "Fake news inside the left" (November 2018)
• Dossier on the Red London group, including their involvement in the Lewisham events (January 2019)
• The story of the St George ribbon (which Lewisham Momentum organisers wore at their AGM!) (May 2019)
