made an ultraleft turn away from the Labour Party that the movement collapsed and the right gained the upper hand.
In 1938 Stafford Cripps was expelled and his Socialist League disbanded. And after War Bevan formed an oppositional parliamentary group - the 'Bevanites' which included Michael Foot and Harold Wilson and was witch-hunted out of existence.
Bevan developed
huge mass support. His group was persecuted in language that is becoming familiar again - for being a 'party within a party.
But Bevan could not develop a valid socialist alternative faced with the Cold War and the collapse of union militancy during the early years of the postwar boom. In 1957 he capitulated, turned on his supporters, and renounced unilateral Tessa van Gelderen looks at two of these episodes and argues that the left today, faced with a new onslaught, should learn that it must fight every inch of the way: whichever section of the left is under immediate attack, the real target is the whole of the left.
At the same time these past experiences have shown how important it is to turn towards the unions and to extraparliamentary working class struggle. Socialist Challongo 24 June 1982. page 8 act of any organisation, themselves pitted against the ecutive machine.
sion of the in his biography of Bevan.
Party of the agents of capitalism' million members total trade union membershin both organisational and strength.
1927, 150,000 were represented.
policy and the leadership of the party.
effective found hopelessly Ex- Movement Michael Foot writing on the deciSocialist League to disolve in 1937 to avoid expulsion ty' Labour At its September 1926 conference capitalism, the mood was to 'cleanse the Labour The right wing's offensive continued with tne ald or te union block vole. The communist-led Minority Movement in the trade unions continued to 1926 it had nearly UlIC — a quarter of the une Its leadership, its programme and its outlook linked it to the National Left Wing, which in 1927 increased in political Trade union support grew for the right of the Communist Party to affiliate, and at the NLWM's second annual conference in September members More and more Labour Party members were disgusted at both the They wanted to change the party in a millant, direction. Conference declared: "The Left Wing consists of sympathetic Labour Parties and left wing groups who are pledged to work for a left wing programme. It is not part of the objects of the left wing to create splits with the Labour Party nor is it under the domination of any political paropposed 'watering down' policy accommodate or the explusion of any section of the working class from the Labour Partv The NLWM was composed of hundreds of thousands of independent socialists: but its history is very much the history of the Communist Party, founded in 1920. Right from the beginning it considered affiliation though not without dissent from leading communists. In fact Lenin, Trotsky and the whole Comintern leadership had to argue against its early sectarianism.
At its founding conference most spoke against affiliation, against advice from Moscow although the vote was narrowly passed in favour. The first application was phased to invite rejection. When rejection was the Communist of September wrote: 'So be it. It's their funeral, not ours.' But one week later, under pressure from the Comintern the same paper argued that 'it is the duty of the communists to work are. well-worded Labour leaders was published rebutting its accusations of subversions and arguing that the Labour Party should adopt revolutionary methods to achieve its ends.
Over the next two years the CPGB made a serious effort to break from its sectarian past. They agreed to endorse united front tactics with T A Jackson's tamous cal to take the Labour leaders by the hand in order to later take them by the throat.' By August 1922 withdrew all candidates it had been planning to stand against Labour The party's new attitude was explained thus: "The Communist Party cannot oppose the Labour Party insofar as it is the party of the workers any unions as such; but it can; as it does with the trade unions, fight the reactionary junta and seek to transform the Labour Party into an instrument of revolutionary progress.' Support for Communist Party affiliation to the Labour among trades councils and unions, in particular Federation.
was wacre ine masses reply to accept biography of Bevan.
and Palme Dutt was the CPGB division the workers solidation ship'.
oppose the trade worthlessness candidates Party grew Labour.
the Miners sequences. virtues ... Aneurin Bevan one of the few members of Parliament who were not prepared tamely this paralysing dispensation.' Michael Foot writing on the Unity Campaign of January 1937 in his But alas this was not to be. Instead the position put forward by a minority in the CPGB, led by Harry Pollitt adopted. For them it was a period of 'increasing between the mass of the workers and the reformist leadership expressed in the leftward advance of and the rightward conOI lne reformist leaderInstead of fighting for a return of a Labour government 'in order help the workers by their own perience to convince themselves of the of reformism' as the majority argued, the Communist Party was to stand a maximum number of opposition to The final resolution paid no heed to the role of the left wing inside the Labour Party with disastrous constand on the Malvinas war to launch his own 'bloody little war' in the Party. He will move against Militant.
The ultimate aim right is throw policy gains disorganise and break-up socialist left. The blow against Militant is a blow aimed at the gains of the mass movement against the Tories.
Behind the action against Militant is the build up to strike at Benn and the current he leads in the Party and the unions. And it is this current, above all others, whose organisation and activity guarantoes Labour and EEC, incomes of Labour's back unions, and vital to the spects. struck filiated organisations condemnbasis.
from the YS, unions and activists trade under attack. Get speakers along union policy of opposition to the policy and the of Militant is the defence of the whole of the Labour left and its support in the AND the policy gains so only the pro- movement • Take a resolution through all • Build sections of the party and all afing the Militant report, rejecting the implementation of any action either locally or nationally on its • Organise local rallies, speakers real to mobilise support for the current trade union battles. The theme of these meetings should be 'Fight the Tories and their allies in the labour movement. ' For it is strength of the mass which will throw Foot's challenge back in his face.
the national YS demonstration against Tebbit 16 in Liverpool. This demonstration links the present trade union battles and defence of the YS against the effects of the At the heart of our policy to defeat the witch-hunt is the desperate need to link the struggle to the battles now on to defeat the Tories. These battles have the power to defeat Thatcher and blow Foot's offensive to smithereens.
The Labour's right that they will not be able to offer the ruling class a stable and reliable government, and therefore be forced to rely on a left inclined labour movement for their political fortune. Their attack on Militant is a sign of their good intentions. Look, saying, a Labour government will radical solutions to the crisis. We can put our house in (capitalist) order.
But at the same time as the right try in the final tory. had enough they are the pressure for them. Tony for socialist policies.
reverse radical policies, or move against the socialists they break up what chance there is to mobilise in the working class for a Labour vic The labour movement have of Callaghan and Healey to last them a life time.
Foot and Healey have already made their choice. The left must make theirs. The right have made it clear that they are prepared to turn the party over to the inquisi tion rather than fight the Tories. The left must organise to stop Benn must against Foot as the first step in organising the ranks in the fight