From Bill Hunter archives
With a general election looming the need for change, as with the 1997 general election against the hated Tory government, remains widespread today. There is a growing desire for a workers’ alternative to Labour, as Starmer shifts Labour further to the right creating a party barely distinguishable from the Tories. An alternative must turn to the working class – the International Socialist League (ISL) will fight fraternally in all kinds of working class alliances to build and assist the struggles of the working class. Editor
There was a landslide defeat of the Tories in the general election of 1997. However, the paradox was that it was a Tory defeat, but not a ‘New’ Labour victory. Most voters for New Labour were striking against the Tories and were not voting for the type of party and government that Blair and Brown intended to create.
After three years the New Labour government, declared to be setting the pattern for the ‘Third Way’ governments in Europe and noted for spin-doctoring, began to stumble from one disaster to another.
Marxists and revolutionary socialists in Britain need understand the type of leadership necessary to assist the development of an alternative anti-capitalist, real communist road for the mass of humanity.
The ISL believes with an upsurge of political struggle, which we are entering, a new workers’ party can emerge. A party communicating working class anti-capitalist perspectives has a place, with methods to fight and end capitalism with full rights to discussion and organisation.
There are differences between a revolutionary Marxist party, and, a workers’ party that is a broad alliance or united front of various anti-capitalist trends. The strategical aim of the ISL is the building of a revolutionary world mass party, to resolve the crisis of working class leadership – that is the central feature of our modern epoch, and the axis of the Transitional programme of the Fourth International.
The tactics for the development of such a party are determined by the stages of development of the working class. Discussion on tactics for building a revolutionary party begins by the questions facing working class – the only way Trotskyism can develop to real parties leading more sections of the class.
London elections
We supported the candidature of Livingstone for mayor and supported the trade unionists of the Campaign Against Tube Privatisation (CATP) standing for the London Assembly – finding ourselves in conflict with the London Socialist Alliance (LSA). London trade unions’ opposition to the Blair privatisation policy posed one of the biggest questions in the London election.
In that light, we see the mistake of the majority of Socialist Alliance organisations, in their failure to make agreement with the CATP on a joint campaign.
The CATP offered places in their list to the LSA, but this was rejected because of insistence on using the name of CATP. The issue of the ownership of the London tube and questions surrounding it, raised almost every sharp political question on which the mass of people criticise New Labour – ‘fat cats’ making a bonanza out of privatisation; deterioration of rail safety; issue of social ownership; and control of future London transport by powerful capitalist construction companies like Balfour Beatty and Siemens.
Failing to make an agreement with a movement which had support from trade union branches and the RMT London was a sectarian inward-looking mistake by the majority of the LSA. A united anti-capitalist campaign could deepen and help develop a principled unity struggle against Blairite anti-socialism in the unions.
The essential mass party of the working class with a necessary revolutionary internationalist programme will not be created in one leap. And this movement against capitalism is not going to organise immediately under a complete Trotskyist programme.
Our task is to make a bridge to it, as outlined in discussion on the method of the Transitional Programme, to influence its programme and organisation and proceed as a tendency with our own principles.
We must discuss programmes of action that can bring together the widest possible anti-capitalist movement, without giving up one jot of our principles, to enable close participation with others who are moving in a revolutionary anti-capitalist direction, even if they disagree with us on a number of important issues.
Our aim for a new party must be in a relationship with the working class, which must advance through all stages of its development, and bring the type of party that can take the workers to power.
If we are not to be just sectarian propagandists, we must go through several stages of principled alliances, united activity, fusions etc., with various degrees of agreement and programme – whilst maintaining our principled positions on which we differ with our allies.
