The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is in such good agreement with
experiment that it is currently accepted as providing an accurate model of
reality, with the role of chiral symmetry breaking in electro-weak unification
regarded as one of its major achievements. This work focusses on weaknesses in
the algebraic formulation of the SM, especially the introduction of chirality,
which is shown to be inconsistent with neutrinos being fermions, and conflicts
with the experimental evidence that they have finite mass. The SM description
of parity is also shown to be erroneous. It is argued that these errors in its
algebraic formulation have had the effect of making theoretical extensions of
the SM impossible, as well as wasting considerable experimental effort in
trying to understand erroneous predictions of the theory.Comment: 7 pages. The paper was retitled to make it more explicit. Some typos
were correcte