Red Action

For the Croatian group, seeRed Action (Croatia).

Red Actionwas a Britishleftistpolitical groupformed in 1981. It became known for violently confronting groups such as theBritish National Partyon the streets, and for being the main organisational force behindAnti-Fascist Action.In 1995,The Independentestimated that it had between 20 and 30 branches with 10–15 activists in each, and the paper stated that the group "enthusiastically espouses the use of violence"; it also set out links between Red Action and theIrish republican movement,and stated that members operated primarily in large cities such asLondon,Manchester,LeedsandGlasgow.

The group was formed byactivistswho had been expelled from theSocialist Workers Party(SWP) for their involvement in alleged "squadism"(violent actions againstfar rightracist groups).The expelled activists regrouped around a paper namedRed Action.After several years, the group became more interested in theelectoral process,and it joined theRed Frontelectoral alliance in 1987 and theSocialist AllianceinEnglandandWalesin 1999.Red Action members then left this organisation, along with theSocialist Party,citing the domination of the SWP over the organisation. Some Red Action members went on to found theIndependent Working Class Association.

Further reading

• Mark Hayes "Red Action - left-wing pariah: some observations regarding ideological apostasy and the discourse of proletarian resistance" in Evan Smith and Matthew Worley, eds,Against the grain: The British far left from 1956,Manchester University Press 2014
• Stott, Paul "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction: two responses on the British left to the rise of identity politics – the cases of Class War and Red Action"Twentieth Century Communism,Volume 9, Number 9, August 2016, pp. 96–120(25) Publisher: Lawrence and Wishart; DOI:https://doi.org/10.3898/175864316815923542

External links

• Red Action archive
• "Left Wing Political Pariah": history of Red Action by Mark Hayes
• Red Action material at Libcom
• As Soon As This Pub Closes - Red Action sectionsatirical profile by John Sullivan