http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=125017

http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=125084#2766953

He takes up the patently false comment by Oakes that Gerry Healy was framed on sexual abuse charges.

You’re mistaken about the mathematics: 10m is two thirds of 15m.

Secondly, on THPS, it wouldn’t be the first time health authorities have been mistaken about a chemical (remember thalidomide?). It is linked to health concerns in the US.

I suggest you do a bit of investigation, starting with the Four Corners report here.

Firstly, your math is completely egregious. How does half of 10m (5m) become 2/3? That’s 1/2.

Secondly, you mention Tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium sulfate(THPS). Which non-existent health problems do you speak of when “In 1995, the EPA of the United States ratified it with zero toxicity and awarded it with US Green Chemical prize.”?

You are irrational.

Similarly the WRP and SLL had a reputation for thugishness and violent action against opponents, but this isn’t really addressed in the book. I wasn’t around then and don’t know exactly the extent to which violence was employed, but Dave Douglass talks in his memoirs about SLL members roughing people up in Newcastle in the 1960s and a friend was beaten up in Brixton in the 1980s by WRP members who were supporting Lambeth mayor Ted Knight against local squatters. Perhaps Mitchell’s position in the party meant he wasn’t aware of such activities, but given the party’s rough treatment of opponents and “defectors” who opposed their line during Healy’s time perhaps it wasn’t so surprising that the party imploded in the way it did.

Lastly, the lack of reflection and insight into things such as why the party aligned itself with Gaddafi and Hussein (misguided anti-imperialism, money?) and what Mitchell made of their downfall along with other questions about Healy’s legacy, the nature of authoritarian partys, etc make the book feel somewhat shallow.