MICHAEL FOOT history repeating itself HUGH SCANLON — his response to the TONY BENN - extols the virtues of doing is Britain Going?, further progress of varieties of short-bills.' Skinner?
The present wave of industrial struggles has, not unnaturally, excited socialists. Discussions in and around the headquarters and newspaper offices of the far-left organisations abound with anaologies. It is therefore necessary to make an important distinction between the present wave of militancy and all those that have preceded it this century.
The difference is that the present struggle takes when the sixth Labour Government this century holding office. -Labour furthermore held office for eleven of the last fifteen years. This situation offers Haly opportunities to revolutionary some dangers.
LABOUR FOCUS When the Tories are in office the struggle has an automatic COON Donnical focus for organised workers: to replace them with Labour. When Labour is in office a mass struggle the forces on the left of social democracy CENTS happened partially in 1969 when the CP and left trade union leaders launched an offensive against the In Place of Strife proposals)
lack any political focus whatsoever. 'BRITISH PIGEON fanciers', wrote Trotsky in Where 'by means an selection, achieve special varieties, with a continually shortening beak. But there comes a moment when the beak of a new stock is so short that the poor creature is incapable of breaking the egg-shell, and the young pigeon perishes, a sacrifice to compulsory restraint from revolutionary activities, and a stop is put to the The response of left social-democracy to the present crisis reveals that fanciers Wilson and Callaghan have shortened their beak to such an extent that the species appears to be on the verge of extinction. But what would happen if pigeon Benn were mated with pigeon place has as farce.
the CrISIS. The artificial strength of the British working class has probably never been greater. This has resulted in an amazing cultural-political offensive by the ruling class and its ideological extensions.
One of the most popular CONCH DOREEN Stoppard's Night and Day. It is directed against trade unions in the name of freedom'. acclaimed theatre critics. Then there is DUTCCSS S novel, enemies without any - LABOUR'S INDEPENDENT WEEKLY corporate PEERAGES plays Tom In the unprecedented "individual The play has been THOSE recent 1985. It identifies its reached finesse crisis was to accept a peerage lorry drivers opposed to the strike. Further spice was added and-file left by showing housewives attac king pickets. Just as the pickets began to reply the sound faded.
withstanding face of this lenged by assault the traditional left leaders of the workers movement are either Labour MPs. accepting peerages (Scanlon) or extolling the virtues of passive dination acquiescence (Benn). The press Market. of left social-democracy pathetic ebb.
Entering the pages of Tribune and demagogy.
nothing these days is like visiting mortuary. It is there-vamped which, if detends traditional feeling left social-democratic positions with much greater verve and The present crisis finds the Tribunites in a state of utter Bevan's bio- accelerate grapher is now the Leader of the House of Commons. His the flights of sophistry have made policies him a leading apologist for the Government. Government. He proves with every passing day the truth of SOULS adage that history repeats itself the second ment have . The left in the Parliamentary, souls insignificant factor. The ranksocial-democrats contine themselves, essentially, to asking what they think are embarrassing questions Callaghan's freeze, Dennis Skinner's barbs notwent unchalthe left. Owen's support for the Shah elicited virtually nil response from left The only issue which incites them to insuboris the And here, too, the only alternative they offer the workers is national chauvinism say They "What can we do?' a left-wing MP will ask in the middle of an argument. There is a growing of helplessness and demoralisation. They accept Callaghan's logic that any opposition means a Thatcher government. But this logic has been disproved. For what will the process returning a Tory government is and economic of the Labour The Labour left in parliabecome damned imprisoned within the outside parliament.
In the period 1970-74 when the Tories were in power a new current appeared in the Labour Party. It was not part of th Tribunite caucus. It considered itself more radical and direct.
main inspirer WaS Tony Benn, who went out of his way to identify himself with some workers' struggles. Donning a cloth ied shipyards he went une occupied on the Clyde and marched on anti-Tory demonstrations.
COLLAPSED The Labour Party itself moved to the left. Propelled into power by the 1974 miners strike, the Labour Government saw the appoin ment of Foot to the Cabine The Economist predicted that neither Foot nor Benn would stay long in office as Labour was bound to move rapidly to the right. It was wrong on the first count.
As the left trade union leaders acquiesced in the social contract, Benn felt that political project had collapsed He now accepted demotion in the Cabinet without resigning He had abandoned any notion La fight back against Government policies The lack of any organised fightback by either Benn or the Tribunites has seriously demoralised many Labour supporters. The Tory thus goes unanswered on every front.
As to the MPs who ask what can 'realistically be done, we veni the following An alternative election manifesto should be prepared which capable of enabling activists to answer the Tory attack.
REFUSE In addition, left-wing Labour MPs should organise an opposition in parliament to campaign against the Government's economic policies. They should refuse to vote for the Budget. They should withdraw support unless military aid to the Iranian army is stopped should demand the withdrawal of troops Ireland and the repeal of the racist Immigration Acts.
They should utilise the limited weapons of the party (Tribune, Labour Weekly) to project their ideas. But most important of all they should organise an opposition to the Government in the party and the country as a whole. Public meetings should go hand-in-glove with speaking to meetings of shop stewards committees, This is not only desperately needed at the moment. It is the best possible way in which to prepare for a fight against a future Tory government. For Callaghan has virtually ensured (In the next months Socialist Challenge will spell out what economic alternative is needed to meet the crisis.)