by Ellen Kenyon-Peers, Waltham Forest Socialist Party
Waltham Forest Socialist Party was glad to welcome 20 people to our first meeting of 2025. Camden and Haringey Socialist Party member Nick Auvache spoke brilliantly about ‘What Brexit means: British capitalism and the bosses’ EU in crisis’, which set the tone for an engaging discussion in the room around the 2016 European Union referendum.
In the discussion, we were able to point out how the Socialist Party campaigned, independent of the official Leave and Remain campaigns. Some of our newer members were surprised that the Socialist Party had run a socialist and working-class campaign to leave the bosses’ EU, even asking if we regret this position in hindsight.

Our speaker reminded the room that David Cameron’s austerity Tories led the Remain campaign. A workers’ Brexit could have split Labour and the Tories, creating space for a Jeremy Corbyn and trade union-led left-wing exit of the EU.
This serves as an important reminder that some newer Socialist Party members are being introduced to the socialist arguments around relatively recent events for the first time. Several were not old enough to vote when the referendum was held, and were largely unaware of debate in the workers’ movement around leaving the capitalist, bosses’ EU.
In Waltham Forest, Labour’s failure to deliver has undoubtedly resulted in some previously socialist-curious and Socialist Party-curious people to seek out an alternative. We need to demonstrate to these people that we are a fighting organisation week-in, week-out – ready to take the struggle to the streets, and get stuck in with local campaigns.
The important questions being posed by these new people are central to our programme of Socialist Party meetings in Waltham Forest. We must revisit what our role has been in recent history.
In addition to improving attendance in branch meetings, we are also happy to see new people joining us for campaign activity on stalls and picket lines. Long may it continue.
Read more – ‘Socialists and the EU referendum’.