British Communists still in trouble TEm CONGRESS Communist Party of Great Britain, held last November, accepted a new draft of the Socialism. In this Fashion, the CPOB donned the incorporating many lormulatios recentiy develoded by Ine French. Spanishand Italian CPs. The question arises: to what extent has this helped to resolve the crisis facing the CP in all arcas of its work?
A recent mectiag of the Party Executive GORDON MoLENNAN Committee, the first since the Congress, gives an indication of just how little progress been made (see "Comment', 21 January 1978).
A call went out to the CP membership 10 prepare for a General Election over the coming months. However it is likely that the Party will only be able to field around 30 candidates This will probably be less than half the number thar Socialist Unity and the Socialist Warkers Party will stand, The votes for the candidates of SU and the SWP in last year's local and byactage were chide than the avcrage candidates. champions socialism thus face her men raped gloomy prospect being overshadowed by the ultra-left' on bourgeois electoral terrain.
ARiCa controms many Cr mutant i ether to continue tailending left social-democracy, or The rensions and divisions in the CP's work On WETTeR oppression are such that the Executive Committee searching unilvie campaignine issue to overcome the "sectional attitudes and differences of view' which have held back the full support that should have been given to some of the women's The Executive Commitree assessment of the 35th Congress was one of a great advance for ou party! , which probod and deepened our understanding of many of the most important questions of the revolutionary Britain'. Even to CP members, this is clearly MEHTSPUSE Since the Congress a debate central to the process dominated the letters colmtin of the Morning Siar. Under the head re al arnomit Pach members have been discussing the relationship on issues such as wages, and tbe fight for socialiin. This is a question which should bat been at the centre of the 'British Road" debate and resolved at the Congress In a major article. Jack Woddis, head of the international department, writes: "The problem we face is not that of having too many industrial actions for higher wages; it in the fnilute, so far. left, including Communist Party, to find the most effective political understunding in the midst of its →V* the struggle For Lylorming emphasis in original). That the CP faces a crisis Togramcand undeniable.
Up to the fall of the Heath Government in 1934, the CP was in the forefront of every major opposition to "In Place of Strife" through the fight against the Industrial Relations Act, and Heath's incomes policy, the CP put their Broad the EEC referendum, where the CP was part of an and-monopoly alance aeainst entre to the Common Market. But throughout this period the Party failed to grow.
During the first major upsurge of working ciass struggles since the Second World War, the CP in fact continued an almost uninterrupted decline. The situation which confronts Party members today 1s militants they want to bring into their ranks prefer to remain outside.
A series of important CP leaders in the trade Tocher, Dave Bowman, Bernard Panter, Farreily, Cyril Morton, and now David Bolton. The split which produced the New Communist Party has further weakened the CP in the white collar sector unions such as UCATT and the AUEW. Broad Left formations dramatically.
The root of the CP's failure? lies in its tell. reformist progrartime, working class, within the framework of the capitalist trategy" advanced by Bert Ramelson, in a recent special series of Morning Star articles starts: "Expand the economy and modernise it. Increase wilees social services spending. no link which connects demands such as these with exponés of capitalion and the propogenda for socialism. The working class has fought i has throughout its existence for hetter terms for the sale of its labour power, for better working and living conditions. The task or socialists is to find ways for the trade union struggle to be transcended into an anti-capitalist struggle. For us the trade union struggle, on wages, conditions or jobs is linked to the struggle for working claws power the for process in has responsins for the cupatussi coss wan the capitalist class. We thus reject ail talk of the working class accepting any responsibility for that crisis. Such a method working class, placing no reliance on the trade The carry through the struggle.
method was not invented by Trosky with the "Transitional Programme' of 1958; it was first developed at the Fourth Congress of economic sims: Communist 1977 the distant future.
struggle: SERIE monitoring inflation.
where many of the Par NALGO and the CPSA. In the have declined which centres on BETSUS. STEERSI and so on. There is collaborate austerity policy plan, Derck through system 1,000,000 cars SHUU subsidises the price:
the working class as a demands such as Executive Contritte "Import controls crats and "marker forces"?
the Betish rubog ciass. based Incidentally this ration control Purdy 1 / 35 the programmes of Social Democracy, which had a list of minimum demands "for today" and maximum demands (Le. socialist) relegated to In the fish: for hieher wases we advance the the demand for increnses to be protected through being linked to rises in the cost of living. Inflation is a product of the capitalist system, which is not the responsibility of the workins class. Therefore working people should not pay for the problems of the hourgeoisie by having 'extensions their wages cut. The question is then posed ol who determines and controls the price indes We fight for the trade process Leyland.
BERNARD PANTER, ex-CP member anions to do this, on an index of items of proposals of the Andretti Government in Italy to exchide certimo items from the waer indes that the Italian CP was recently prepared to when promoting A graphic example of the limitations of the CP's refotatist programme 6 tbe present British Leyland crisis, In response to Edwardes CP sation to he turned convenor, calls for any reorganisation to based on selling 1,000,000 cars, which is the capacity of the existing workforce and plant This is completely copian. In the short term could only be sold on the reduced. This would require a slasbing of wages The alternative to the capitalist rationalisation of Edwardes cannot start from criteria of market share of profitability; it has to start from the needs of the Leyland workforce, and whole, who bear respossibility for the failure of this capitalist enterprise. Instead of participating with the employers in discussing how many redun dancies, or how great a speed-up. Leyland shop stewards should be taking a leaf from the book of Lucas Acrospace Combine, which produced a workers plan of alternative production, for which their workforce and plant could be used. The Communist Party's programme suffers not just from the merbod of the reformists, it import controls. AL the thar are an assertion of the democratic righr to exercise some mensure of social control over matters hitherto left entirely in the hands of multi-nationals, EEC hureau: The CP thus proposes that workers ally Group. themselves with their capitalist exploiters in demanding that these problems are exported anto the backs of workers in otber countries The fight for import controls hides the role of Party' and instead feeds national chauvinism which is already enough of a probien in the British working class, ted for Naim's decades on Empire, King and Country. The hinks herween 'amport controls and innig are too abvious to need The From within the CP. critics such as David London N1.
that: -Simply to JouL groundswell ol popular discontent over pa and denounce incooks boldies as uncondi tionally anti-working class does not help to win understanding that volunary pay planning matched by extensions of social control ove всопоту company, industria], community and national levels, must be part of any viable alternative programme," (Morning Purdy argues that workers should accept cuts extensions of socal control over the control cconomy. This s lie askine a condemno man to discuss what method he would prefer to be exocared by, It falls into the same argument as used hy the capitalist class and their Labour lieutenants who argue that we lace a nationa crisis in which we all have to make sacrifices Purdy proposes we accept sacrifices, but as for 'extensions of social control" in serura. This is unrelated to any fight for workers control -for free access to information by the unions, the opening of the books, the development of THEATRISE WOKER plans, ee. What Purdy means is that the working class should fight for participation un the capitalist decision making The clearest indictment of this is again British The Communist Party. recent convers to the haht for democratic riebts never took the issue of participation to the shapfloor at Langhridge to ask the membership if they wanted it. Now after two vears of tame participation under the Ryder plan, we have Micbiel Edwards te organising Leylands at the Uaf workers" jobs Participation has aided Edwardes' лОс Leyland workers!
These facts reflect the permanent character of the malaise which affiets the Commune Party, There-clection of a Labour Goveroment in 1974 and the integration of tell social-democracy (from parliament and the trade unions) within the overall projects of Wilson and Callaghan, have imposed severe strains on the CP seoloey. For the perspective of a let government consisting of Labour lefts and CF MPs is a completely utopian hope, In fact the CP's strategy appears to be totally unrelated to the developments in British politic Asa small, cadre organisation it should have left social-democratic reformism and linked up with forces fighting against class collaborationism. It refused to do so, thas exacerbating its crisis of perspoctives. powerful, any serious left social democrat wil For in a country where social democracy is prefer to join the parent organisarion.
The main attraction of the CP in recent years has boea for intellectuals who have found that it was possible to debate and discuss important issues within the party's press. Many of these issues were not related directly to the CP: political line, but nonerheless it appeared to be à better option than the syndicalism of the Ta: left. Given the recomposition which appears to be taking place at the moment. even on the intellectual front, the lar left could, it it puiled inself out of its rut, outdistance the CP. Then its crisis will become containable.
Hot oll the press is International the quarterty theoretical joumal of the International Marxist Festured Is a hitherto unpublished Deutscher Engels and The Russian Revolution', and one by Norman Geres on Lenin, Trotsky and th Other articles Include one of William Thompson on education, a resiew of Tom Ralysis of the role of the Communiet Party in Break-Up the National Union of Studenis.
Internationa costs 50p and is arallable from Other Bookshop, Stroet,
SOCIALIST CHALLENGE, 16 February 1978 page 8