Over the past decade, the question of the NF has loomed large in left circles. What does it represent. What sort of threat does it pose today? How should socialists deal with it!
These are the questions that have been a major source of debate on the left and led to numerous polemics. below, Bob Swart - leading anti-racist campaigner — looks at the experience of the past ten years and seeks to araw some conclusions Are there dangers in using the word A. If you read the radical press, you can often find figures from Enoch Powell Plan Paisley referred to as lo ine nev 'fascist'. The fact that such diverse figures can be labelled in this way is a sign of the confusion over the term used.
This can be dangerous. Careless definitions can actually lull' peopie as 1o the real dangers of a fascist threat when it arises. This is what happened in the 30s when the German CP labelled the Social-Democrats as 'social-fascists" and refused to unite against them in a serious struggle against Miner s blackshirts.
O. What are the conditions for the rise of mass fascist movement.
A. The most important point is that a mass fascist movement can only develop out of a serious delcal lor the workers movement. rascism linds is social base in the middle criticised as a "dead-end"
Action put forward their views.
Photo: Andrew Wiard (Report)
strata and unemploved who are 'squeezed' by the crisis and who are demoralised by the inability of the workers movement to solve it it is out of these demoralised layers that the fascists begin to recruit by posing as a radical alternative to the formulas of either the workers or ruling class parties. You can see that today with the attraction the NF exerts over young. unemployed worker youth.
It the workers' movement is bold. however in anting or a someon to the crisis. then many of these from the middle strata and irom the unempioved can be won to the Following the defeat of Labour in the last election, a major debate has opened up in the Labour Party. Both the polities and undemocratic manoeuvres of the Callaghan leadership have come under sharp fire.
What attitude should socialists take to this development? Is it a process to be supported and participated in or. on the contrary, to be Below, Steve Freeman of the SWP and Mike Rodney of Socialist Second. it is not according to the National Front march in London all nose perspective of socialism Q. Is fascism a threat today?
their 'No platform for Fascists' slogan out ine or government ference, this would not be translated into political power.
In effect, this means that rank-and-file socialists do the leg-work to delthe liberal-imperialist leadership... Hence, we must conclude that, despite the fact that millions of workers vote Labour and that the majority of its membership is working class, nevertheless the LP is a bourgeois party This conclusion has been proven time and again when the LP forms a governmen.
REFORMS?
The reformist socialists now realise that they will never gain real power in the party without reforming the constitution. They hope to transform Labour from a liberal-imperialist party into a bourgeois-socialist party. to achieve Inis, or course they need marxist activists to join Labour and help them to power. Hence the left-reformists now talk a great deal about "transforming' LaDour The danger for marxists is that they themselves may become so seduced by left-reformist sweet-talk rhat they become advocates of 'transforming' Labour. If you wish to follow leftreformists and start talking loosely of "transforming' Labour, then you ought to make it clear what is being transformed into what.
KEY TASK As the world recession brings new unicals to the working class, ll becomes increasingiy necessary to create a new political force. On the ngn, the lascists ale lying to create a new party founded on different theories, principles and methods to the Tories.
On the left, all marxists must take seriously the need to build a new party on different theories, principles and methods to 'labourism'. Such a party must be built on the historical and international experience of workers' struggles: for example, the Paris Commune, the Russian Revolution, and the Spangrow on ine lel anti-NF activity with the NF.
To read a lot of the 'left press" with vou'd think it was iust around the corner. That's wrong The major threat to the workers' movement today doesn't come from a small insignificant ultra-right group To pose the NF as a major threat can actually distract people from the real menace of the lories wo are seeking to attack the unions, create mass unemplovment. sharpen racist laws etc. Only if the Tories get away with these attacks will wide layers La workers party.
IN OR OUT and recruiting people.
become demoralsea and ine lascist.
The key task of socialists today is not to concentrate on the NF buton defeating the Tory affensive. Many so keen to mauice in - are reluctant lo get involved in a serious campaign, for example, to stop the racist laws (such as CARL).
O. Just the same, the racist and chavinist iraditions in the labour movement can be plaved on by the NF to gain support A. Of course,and this is why it is important to take up these issues which are breeding ground for the ultra-right. By building mass action against racist laws. against doullivl restrictions, one is undermining the potenual for lascism to grow in the future. It is much more important.
at this stage, than confrontations Nevertheless, the danger is that unless one stops them while they are small, it will be 100 late.
No-one doubts that the fascists will have to be stopped by force. The question is - by whom? The campaign led by ultra-left groups to break up the Nt's meetings etc 1s based on atolav wrong assessmen ol the situation today It may temporarily discourage the NF but it does nothing to eliminate the breeding grounds of fascism racism and chauvinism etc - which will provide plenty of future NF ish Civil War. Only such a party, founded on marxism, can be called A workers gert! weild aim. at some .. . ... I..: ..... the workers in the struggle for power. All marxists should agree on this, regardless of whether they think this or that particular group provides the best base for such a party.
Once we are clear that the LP is a bourgeois party, and that a key task is to build a marxist workers' party, then we can usefully discuss whether infiltrating Labour helps this objective. Certainly, infiltration may be a way of spreading marxist ideas It is a way but not the only way. The SWP was itself in the LP in the early 60s. Especially if you are a small group, Labour with its liberal attitude to 'entryists' provides possibly the best environment for survival and growth. However, there are also political dangers of adapting too much to left reformism if the political basis for membership is not made clear.
Therefore it may be useful to make a distinction between prin cipled and opportunist entryism. The former attempts to breakLabour Party activists from illusions in Labour. The latter provides new marxist arguments to reinforce illusions in Labour. It was this opp ortunist entryism that the article blackshirts in the East End in the 30s - that would be quite ditterent It is quite different for a few isolated groups, with no backing in the labour movement, to do so.In the first place, such 'vanguardist' actions only leave the mass of workers as 'spectators'. In the second place, it suggests that the left, instead of fighting for democratic rights. is seen as being involved in a campaign to destroy tem Our task is not to substitute for the workers movement. Our task is to politically win the workers' movement so that it can begin the job of eradicating the NF filth What about calling on the NF 10 be banned by the government?
That would be a major error. It would be a mistake to call on the government to suppress anyone's rights. The left will easily be the first to suffer any curtailment of democratic rights. Look what happened a few years back when the ANL made this call. All demonstrations - - of the left and • were cancelled.
Even if our meetings are attacked - as lney nave beel • calling or the government to ban the NF is still an error. Instead, we should call for the formation of defence guards. By posing the NF as the aggressor.
intent upon destroving democrati rights, it will be possible to win wide layers who will see these thugs in their real light was guilty of.
GUILTY of the LP (implicitly presenting i: as a degenerate workers' party in need of reform). Second, you forgot to mention that an important task today is to create a marxist workers party whose politics is opposed to bourgeois parties like Labour. Third, oy advocaling felorming Labour as 'the way forward for the labour movement', you have in fact become advocates of Tony Benn's line. It is on these three points that Socialist Action should clarify its positions.
We in the SWP are fully aware that in the LP there are many socialists honestly struggling for socialism. We also know that our formmulation of the LP as a bourgeois party may offend them, but it would be politically dishonest to soften our position or gloss over the class nature of the party in order to make ourselves more acceptable to those socialists moving towards marxism.
We do however believe that there is a real need for co-operation be tween socialists inside and outside the LP around issues of mutual concern (e.g. the NF at East St., the Brixton dole picket, immigration laws, the Right to Work campaign etc). Such co-operation, where possible, is of over-riding importance in the struggle against the