SOME COMRADES have asked if we should reconsider our attitude towards an electoral pact with other organisations of the revolutionary left. In practice this is raised only in connection with the International Murxist Group, since 'the other organisations which have run candidates in the past, the Workers Revolutionary Party etc.. are interested.
The IMG on the other hand is making the issue a central feature of its propaganda and is directing 90 per cent of this propaganda at Socialist Workers Party members and sympathisers. At Stechford, IMG members distributed leaflets al Paul Foot's meetings which deplored competition between Paul Foot and Brian Heron (IMG candidate) and concluded:
"The IMG repeats its call to the SWP to discuss with us the possibility of united tar let siates in toe colng cicagons and especially in the General Election. All fisunity in the future. They had pre viously called for a joint candidate in Stechford, a joint slate in the GEC Well, why not? We are certainly in favour of joint action with everyone in the working class movement, whether Labour Party members, Communist Party mem bers, independents or whatever to fight the fascists, to fight hospital closures, to bert the social comes, HaD so pu and se forth — always providing that it is action, We CODE TOWEr OT WAS TO REC propaganda. We put forward our own ideas in our own paper. The distinction is obvious enough.
Unity in action with everyone who can he pulled in to support the particular action, irrespective of their views on other matters. Independent expression of our own ideas at all times. We don't stay out of any senuine working class struggle and we don't make our participation condifinal on others agreeing with us. At the same time, we don't hide or dilute our politics or pretend to be other that me dustrial action and hostility to the SWP.' How does this apply to parliamentary словят кстовапопиту шестусова з parliamemary elections at present is: escotially a propaganda operation; means of contacting people and involving Tem In some O our avies 8nG 01 recruiting. judge our saccess for failute in a centest pe members recrusted contacts made. Socialist Worker readers rained and so on and mot mainly by voters gained.
Of ourse, it is very pleasing if we get a better than expected vate, a little disappointing if we get a lower iban expected vote. But it is not the main thing, We are not partiamentary roaders.
Even in circumstances where there is a serious prospect of winning a parricular contest, this remains crue, It would be very uselul for propaganda and, indeed, purposes revolutionary MP, even better to have 1g revolutionary unity. The International Marxist Group and Big subjeot from the IMG.
submit a different text or alter the existing one:
in order to make available these views to our readers.
several. But this will always be secondary to huilding the party in the workplaces, to fighting for leadership in the day-to-day struggle of working people and inside the the unions. Our aim in contesting parliamentary elections is to build the SWP.
Wedo not put the emphasis on getting the biggest possible vote for the "far left" Protest votes, and that is what is boile poken of, are not without significance ut they are incomparably ass imponar than building the party. Where does this leave us with respect to the IMG? Since many of our members do not come into contact with this organisation, it may be useful to say a little abour it.
The IMG regards itself as a Trotskyist and is rare to ine biggest of the various bodies claiming to he the Fourth International, IL CINImS ED have 680 members. The IMG differs from us politically on a number of matters for example, it regards Russia, China, ctc., as workers" states, although degenerated or actormeu, and 1s keen on sons uke "the sliding scale of wager, open the books and so on.
But the most importaat difference, l believe, is not chese disgreements but the approach to building the revolutionary Dariv, The IMt puts the emphase On building blocs, fronts, alliances, etc. other organisations, and what it calls tbe broad vanguard' (ie. unaffiliated left wingers) and within these blocks etc., it hopes to establish its own 'hegemony" meaning dominance. It hopes to dominate a sort of left coalition which will develop. it hopes, into a party The IMO regards the SWP as the bigeest obstacle in its path rightly so in view of the relationship of forces tries hard to use other (non-IMG) peaple to put For unless growth of the SWP can be checked. their Socialist Teachers Alliance in opposition lo Rank and File from which the IMG teachers splici The STA includes a faie nomber of noe-IMG people, mostly to the right of the MILE ON RAVINE COME DUE OLDSEI denounced RaF people as 'sectarians' a writer in a recent issue of the IMG'S paper, "for the SWP/RaF to break out of its sectarian polities, ackowledge the STA as a lorce win coual a nor greater Influence both in Loodon and nationally. and unite to win a massive vote.." elc.
But we were united in RaF until they split. In fact the STA is an unstable alliance held rogerher by unofficial industrial action and hastility to the SWP. Its leaders regard R&F as tending.to adventurism' — as in the "no cover' campaign and put nearly ail An important question contronting socialiets-in Britain is that of Flame have approached the Socialist Workers Party for an agreement on participation in the next election. No reply hag been received to this letter or previous communications.on the What has appeared is an article by Duncan Hailes in the SWP's internal bulletin stating his views on out proposale. Given the lack of response, we informed the SWP comrades that we would print the Hallas article untess they wanted to No reply has been received. We are therefore prioting tho Hallas article from the internal bulletin (not a notmal procedline)
their emphasis on work in the union machine. It runs candidates agains RaP candidates in union elections After the recent National Union of Teachers tbe IMG claimed that • definitel: replaced RaF as 'the main tendency' on the left and bad 50 delegates ‹15 recruited at conference). The real significance of the right on all important issues. The STA is, to adaptation to rightwing dominance, a soft option for soft lefts.
Similarly, a Socialist Students Alliance has bees set up (on much the same basis) as a rival to che National Organisation of International Socialist Students and the IMG paper tells us the SSA has now replaced NOISS as the major force after -Those made for many other "fronts" the EntLe nas sponsored over the wears. The SSA ran its own slate against NOISS (as well as the Broad Left and the Tories) at the recent National Union of Srudents LOTECTCILL There is no Socialist Engineers Allianee or Socialist Electricians Alliance but char is only because the IMG has few people in do support the "indopendent Broad Left' paper Engia eering Voiceagainst Engineers Charter). To the recent Transport and Geceral Workers Union general secretary's election, the TMG called for a vote for Thornett, not Riley. Where the IMG has no possibility supports" SWP efforts. The Right 1D Work Campaign is a good example.
And it is not unfair to say that IMO support for the Right to Work marche last year was of the sort that Lenin callec support as the rope supports the tab being hanged". . For weeks on end, the ING naper carried attacks from all and sundry on the "bureaucratic', "sectarian" and of course, politically hopeless R TW leadership, complete with atrocity stories.
Red Weekly sees this sort of thing as important. Nearly every issue contains attacks on the SWP (three per issue is the norm) alongside calls for 'urity"?
Compare the absence of atlacky on the IMG in Socialat Worker.In spire of our forehearance, they concinually denounce the SWP as sectarian. Now we learn that the IMO is going to launch a new pape called Socialise Challenge, which will also serve its various front organisations -these include a Scotish Socialist League and an Asian Socialist League (in Birmingham) as WE SUG WHETHE Aliances. Jewill, so Red Weekiytellsus, 'be a non-sectarian polemical paper', Thereace no prizes far guessing who most of the Polemics wE be auneu all Some of our comrades understandably get indignant abour this kind of thing, but we should not take it too seriously, It does us licle damage but to reply in kind would do us much more damage. Hiding your politics, sailing under false colours, never unity proposals have to be seen against What the IMG has in mind is not a prances arrangement that socks to avoid. or at any rate minimise, the Srechford-type sitiation of two far left candidales. What they are after is, as they admit, a "joint slate a common ninitorm, and a united campaign — not not only an eiectoral An article in Red Weekly on the Freuch municipal election agreement between the far left groups puts the line very clearly: While Lutte Ouvriere inicially saw the agreement as requiring only joint electeroi work, the LCA (the French IMG) join platform... Our comrades also argued CACH Ocumu electoral arena, to build theimplantation of the revolutionary organisations, They [the IMG] believe that the way forward is argument... about pollcies between people who regard themselves as revolutionaries. We left that kind of behind years ago: thing Now this is Bonsense. Eirber there is basic agreement ahour buiding the party - Is which case the organisations ought lo unite in a single party — or there is not, in which case they calmiol burld the implantation. How can se build jointly with the IMG when, wherever they bave strength, they build blocs against us, with forces to the right of us? To repeat, we are out to build the revolutionary party not to maximise the vote by alliances which binder building.
Is actual unity Feasible? The dilTerences on Russia etc. are, in principle, containable within a single democratic-centralist orgnaisation provided thar there is an agreed approach to building the party in the working class.
In the past, the MG has pur the emphasis on work everywhere enceps in the working cinss, but in the last few years it has changed its line and says it agrees WHEN USED This. Onlontunaccis ir nas moved well to the right at the same time and thinks in terms of hlocs "independents' who have official posi tions, racher than building real rank and file movemscals.
Another problem is thar the IMO is a coalition of permanent factions (tbey cail them tendencies), a state of affairs they regard as positively desirable, and are noe likelyro accepe demacratic centralism as we understand it they want to stay affiliated to their Fourth But the bane difficulty, I believe, is that most of them do not want unity at all bu oniy "unity maboeuvrer" to try and SECEDEED Their problem is that we would bave a buge majority in a united organisatioo. I we accept, , as we must, that they seriously believe in their own political conceptions, then their attitude is ubderstandable.
Understanding, however, is not the same thing as weakness and it would be both weak and extremely foolish to give countenance to these unity manoeuvres Tbe IMG has developed a theory to says that it is 'sectarian" to put the empbasis on huilding the revolutionary Unfortunately the present sectarian course of the SWF placed the needs of their organisation above the best interests of the working class, says Red Weekly This goes down well with people who like to be on the left but don't waat to commit themselves to an organisation. It is not so new citber.
Years ago Trotsky wrote of the SAP, a left breakaway from the German Social Democrats, that when they criticise the "party egoism" of the Social Democracy and of the CP: when Seydewitz (a SAP ander assumes us lat so far as he 15 concerned "ebe interests of the class come before the interests of che party", they only fall into political sentimentalism or whar is worse, behind this sentimental phraseology they screen the interests of their own party. This method is po Food. Le Interests or tae class canot o formulated otherwise than in the shape of defended otherwise than by creating s party.
That is our position and it used to b the nossbon of the MO 100, We Star from a profound conviction that the problem of carrying our a social trans formation in Bricain requires above all the building of a mass revolutionary party wrote Pat Jordan, then National Sect present rage ta be led the present fragmentation arising from the lack of such a party. Once the process of building the revolttionary party proceeds beyond its embryELSE tendency clearly establishes its hegemony in theory and practice — regroupment will commence.
This was written, in part, to defend the MG's rejection of the proposal to unite the two organisations into a single party which was our policy in 1968 and 1969. In those days, they believed they conld build their organisation faster and better than ours could be built. Then we would unite when they had the majoricy. In the creat we built and they did not — they are bite stranger now thao ibey were then. One reason is that we turned our backs on sectarian bickering and they did nor.
Jordan also deak, in this article or 'Unitt and Seckriscism': winh the sort o approach the IMO now has, the method frangbt with dangers. Ir is one thing to organise a carpaign on a single issue such as Vietnam, wbere for revolutionaries the Issue is cienr cur. bur another thine onc one attempts ro cover a whole series of questions, each of which can give rise to political and cactical differenoes."
This was directed agains various "independents" and lefts wanted a bloe rather than a party. The IMG has changed its line because of ou growti, its marked inferiority ro the SWP and its unwillingness to go for real unity An elecroral hilar of the sort they propose "front' & out of the question. We figh There isa fundamentalissue involved. We know that the revolutionary party can only avovement in workers suraggies, by drawing in workers thraugh those struggles. In these terma the IMO is ircelevant in most cases.
They believe that the way forward is argument polemnic is the word they use -about policies between people who regard themselves as revolationaries. We left tha kind of thing behind years ago Socialist Challenge will be replying to Duncan Hallas's article next week
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The Socialist Teachers Alliance is an unstable alliance held togetherby dislike of unofficial in-
WE LEFT THAT KIND OF