Comrade Delta: The 2013 Crisis in Britain's Largest Far-Left Party

Telling the story of the infamous Comrade Delta scandal that has become synonymous with the Socialist Workers Party, this book details the year-long struggle for women's rights and democracy on the British left.

Comrade Delta recalls the sequence of events in 2013, when hundreds of members of the Socialist Workers Party learnt for the first time that their party had mishandled an allegation of rape. The accused was one of the party's leaders, and those handling the investigations - the leader's friends - humiliated the complainant, asking demeaning and sexist questions before clearing the accused of all wrongdoing. When members protested the decision, supporters of the party leadership sought to drive the dissidents out of the party. For 12 months, the conflict wore on without resolution as more and more information became known to the members and the public.

Based on documents held by fellow activists and interviews with more than 50 participants, including each of the main complainants, this book analyses the structures and personalities that made these failures possible - from shielding perpetrators to harassing victims and accusing critics of abandoning Marxism.