Workers Press no. 29

workers press The daily organ of the Central Committee of the Socialist Labour League PUBLISHED FROM TUESDAY TO SATURDAY • NUMBER 29 • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1969 PRICE Bd.

INCORPORATING THE NEWSLETTER •

Big support 'Wrong for state to intervene'

EDITORIAL

C.P. covers for London up for

A. E.F. REJECTS GOVT.

rent rebels' miners' By Peter Read leaders TENANTS and workers packed the Bow County Court in East London for the second

STANDARD INQUIRY

day running on Tuesday in support of four THe communist party Natona Mineworkers out support of the Billingham Daly imposed Creases Basing men vote of the miners' over d yeal agu bernation Stalinists now

SUIKC

Lac down rank- THE AMALGAMATED Engineers and Foundry.

nope to side to stay Firemen criticize ana-me call vorkers, the majority union at Standard-Triumph's § Goudie, moval or valy and rora argued out and re-establisn ine Merseyside plant, has refused to co-operate with the served too leadership as betore he scottish area delegate government's court of inquiry into the ten-week-old union leaders conference Monday legality Workers' Press correspondent passed a resolution dis- strike there over lay-off and bonus pay.

DETERMINED

FIVE HUNDRED men unomcial strike at ine bu By our Industral reporter other members the lingham Chemical works o abuse lobby union's leadership, the British tan have voted to stay out until seven men executive we hand delegate com North- West's THE BARRAGE of eggs, sacked under a new produc Arthur terence last week councilman tomatoes, flour and tivity scheme are reinstated also dis- The conference Hearsev Insisted nat screwed-up union leaflets sociated IrOm as oscated one meal basi was wrong for the state to on a meeting barnsley which drove leaders or the r 2 month dison impose Fire Brigades Union out of the weekend attended Di intervene and Scottish miners. morally-binding were sacked. Tuesday night's meeting o These resolutions, of course, London firemen to disputes marks a attempt by the At on cou official leadership to

T&GWU

re- new stage in the struggle of lower-paid workers. cent months, file Like the is lilal miners and the the Daly-Ford con

'BAD OLD DAYS'

you Have lo dustmen, in implacable confice with bination at the top of the decisions', he said on Tues a proposa aay nient Area president but causate acadete seanion ported that Mr Hush oth 'left' and righ to there in reass McGahey, a leading Com- Party pressed to Hearsey so stand.

munsl membel, 'Justice strongly that the rent sor have the seen a lavour or the ine taker at the conterence Backed According to Morning 'fully Star agreed' with the condemnation backed him because th of the personal attacks primarily his responsibility ahead with nd made ors Barbar those It is important to note th ence national sec- general e was serv party Lawrence relaly dis- this Must Goens so ute signi Firemen's leaders retreat from the platform under a barrage of flour, tomatoes and eggs.

agree WILl. Lawrence Tuesday Mr Daly is a good general believe Combine backing

DUL

This Scientifie

A.T.U.A.

"Tribune' supporter Athens court martial sup- secretary Deportation the FBU'S World tor Sill Strikers Veral sere ary ports the demands of the meetings ry, t ther Scottish miners 43 years jail present citterences Will l threat to

NORTH KENT

future Labour government and

BETE

next week. the trade unions' Yugoslav for student Thursday, November 6

THIS SATURDAY

8 p.m. attack' quite absurd Lean votes or tol girl strikers scuicials cannot be long not country are expected to heroine Deal respon back rkers are fed up to their what nap• Workers' Press reporter

ALL TRADES UNIONS ALLIANCE

penea, wao does. Fireman wored girls This attempt to slight the 'The Common Market'

NINELY

Yugoslav TWO GIRL students, Kalliope Tzembelikou and Margerita miners WhO cal have been threatened with Thursday, November 6 e sentenced by special Athens military court Dalv's removal will back.

8 p.m. 17 and 15 years' imprisonment deportation if they con- fire. Who's horrid of the rubbish.

Everyone that the tinue on strike with 400 operase CP is more interested in High Road, N.W.10 es then tell te Lincolnshire wOrKers, 'future relationship' than

P.S.F. EQUAL

union claimed on i nurs- students in a previo

LUTON

Brigades Committee. word hor These were ady.

NCB.

Wood, British Railways

BONUS CLAIM

Labour government and trigge Big 'No' years contrad the trade unions' It is becoming Remand for Real and former blastru Steel Fisherse lanet cal Thursday, November 6 clear that the i's general secretary Jose Fade Ya it 23, and hears mi elikou will face List 8 p.m. removal Park Socke sent strike mobers mand Many The the come it thousanas miners set. hi chine or decent rent ate Will on V carried One girl

COVANIKE

through It reflects nghung exerted bi tot and given an utmastum 'Crisis in motors- onlv Dav. but his stalln

MOTOR WORKERS'

ist cover-up men in the what next back home to Yugoslavia.

• PAGE 4 COL. 1 →

Loyalty Thursday November 6 But they steadfastly refused 7.30 p.m. Union officials are asking Young Socialists

CONFERENCE

lennam ralace

• PAGE 4 COL. 8 →

GRAND XMAS

Newcastle electricians act against their release

BAZAAR

dinen la, sec- merger plan Saturday, Nov. 29 All car, car delivery and components NEARLY of coll winders ai the Newcastle worrs of workers are it to a moto Govt. welcomes A. Parsons, Ltd., staged a workers' conference Canning Town Public Hall this week nas started operating an over.

Nixon speech over merger plans. rempt to bring presire forks in a furthe Digbeth Civic Hall, Digbeth doors open 12 noon sew? knit? paint? cordabour available in makes you Wiened the factoryan

BIRMINGHAM

Ir Dan Edwards, ETU di towards our bazaar? division is moved to Se Saturday, November 8 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

totate ago don rict secretary, commente jumble? next held ! Write for credentials to R. Parsons "the" Us stresident's Feebles of Edinburgh Help us raise the money for our daily paper— 21 Strawberry peace lebask bie cy Blackbird Leys, Oxford plans. Mothers 'S Newcastl Newcasti strated for ani hous the company Heaton Work.

THE WORKERS' PRESS

Nixon has decided I to end. The Electrical Trades Union ine war througn to

workers press The daily organ of the Central Committee of the Socialist Labour League

NUMBER 29 • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1969

PRICE 6d.

PUBLISHED FROM TUESDAY TO SATURDAY

•

INCORPORATING THE

Big support

EDITORIAL

'Wrong for state to intervene' C.P. covers for London

AEF"

Remer up for

A. E.F. REJECTS GOVT.

rent 'rebels' miners' By Peter Road leaders TENANTS and workers packed the Bow County Court in East London for the second

STANDARD INQUIRY

day running on Tuesday in support of four THE Communist Party the National rent rebels. Mineworkers The four are alleged to alla have withheld of the Billingham openly mn support real creases imposed by the discredited Dan leader ship. Council Greater Londor Basing themse ves on the men vote over a year dru termination of the miners strike, the Stalinists now reserved his to slap down rank- THE AMALGAMATED Engineers and Foundry- to stay Firemen criticize for workers, the majority union at Standard-Triumph's moval of Daly out Merseyside plant, has refused to co-operate with the leadership as The Scottish area government's court of inquiry into the ten-week-olo union leaders Monday Workers' Press correspondent passea a resolutor als strike there over lay off and bonus pay.

DETERMINED

noticial strike at the certain elements wno 1n- volved themse ves in der of the other members By our Industrial reporter sonal abuse ungham . works national British Titan have voted to union's leadership, nicials at the lobbyof the outcome of the national delegate con- until seven North-West's executive slay THE BARRAGE of eggs, ference last week. sackta under a new proque councilman flour NT ArChin tomatoes, and The conference "also dis- uvity scneme are. remstated Hearsey insisted that it st the hist screwed-up union leaflets aS operated on a meal lain was wrong for the state to which drove leaders of the impose weekend intervene and Fire Brigades Union out of rent.

TICI

Scottish solutions Tuesday night's meeting of morally-binding These resolutions, of course, to disputes. was no stopped now, When London nremen marks a member bee altempl new stage in the struggle complained of leadersms "he imacations. in re. the Big out of plained cent months, of giving evi- assert over ol lower-paid workers. dence to an inquiry is that the raNK ane trikes follows Like the miers ano the

'BAD OLD

boost the Dav-roro com•

DAYS'

dustmen. Tremen are now night's rejection by bination at the top of the cisions', he said on Tues.

in implacable conflict wịth their burezucratio loadere hose sacked Area resident Michael Scanis reported thoMs Hugh both 'left" and right. McGahey. , a leading Com- reposed to Hearsey's stand.

'Justice' have the strike made olicial Move : conference Backed According They. men en see this sere i lie Slal the call theft ot yesterdach the 'stive is done, backed him be sase the die WILl Conachlalol the she sato make a stand Dersonal allack. prima to his responsitia the introduceses the unIon leadersniD and made specinc reler. On the pattern Or the cord ence to to note that those made 1 Monday the national general sec- trade Minist, " leadership tish Titan. ren this Lawrence Waldis- we with Lawrence Firemen's leaders retreat from the platform under a barrage of flour, tomatoes and eggs.

Which of course, Mir Day s Tuesday night. believe Combine backing This Scientific

A.T.U.A.

'Tribune' supporter Athens court martial Deportation tenants World for S-ll. strikers general secretary, is promis Fose of the demands of the meetings of the left Scottish miners .. The 43 years jail weekly Tribune'. will in press sconce ben postponed unti threat to present annerence.

WORKERS

future Miners have made not innuence

OUT

Labour government and iF movementi relationship." ' st tne resday to join th For Yugoslav Mc ranew to descride the nade ions Binee in support he com for student call for Dalv's re- Thursday, November 6 the Scanlon,

THIS SATURDAY

moval "personal Standard-Triumph attack' is quite absurd. girl strikers Leyland Workers to outioli General of Wellington the secretary General Comich sit euntry are expected « heroine does re pan- back teers arched te to their Workers' Press reporter

ALL TRADES UNIONS ALLIANCE

does? This ad

WILLESDEN

no cil thi a Support attempt

NINETY

Yugoslav girls "The Common Market' TWO GIRL students, Kalliope Tzembelikou and Margerita have been threatened with strikers. Thursday, November 6 Daly's removal will back- Yaran were sentenced by a special Athens milltary court deportation if they 8 p.m. Con on Monday to terms of 17 and 15 years' imprisonment nre 400 Everyone that the Willesden Tradass and Labour tinue on strike with cal Who's next Cr is more interested 1n High Road, N.W.10 These linco inshire workers, cade imposed on th Tuture re anonsniD Thurs- union claimed on imposed

P.S.F. EQUAL

with Dav than in clear. Sheffield Uni- real day. ino the tord a preVIous Labour government and

BONUS CLAIM

strugge with the NCk British recitray Leonard Big 'No' The con ato are on It is becoming increasingly the trade unions Neal and former or The Long. clear that the demand for Thursday, November 6 lay struck. omen al first met Tor blow not simply many ark Squa itself, but oh Rigas Ferrais carried only

COVENTRY

through fighting not student group opposed had me tound to

MOTOR WORKERS'

'Crisis in motors- only Daly, but his Stalin- agreed to and what next?' given cover u Il buc i strikes Loyalty back home to Thursday November 6 * Bur they steadfastly refused 7.30 p.m. Themselses hers Young Socialists Union oicials are asking

CONFERENCE

›ydenham Palace Hot

• PAGE 4 COL. B →→

• PAGE 4 COL. 2 →

GRAND XMAS

Newcastle electricians act against release

BAZAAR

ion be re British Tabec merger plan Saturday, Nov. 29 All car, car delivery and component NEARLY 60 coil winders at workers are invited to a motor Govt. welcomes Newcastle WOrKS Or We workers' conference larsons Lia. stared Canning Town Public Hall this week one-day strike ten themselves Digbeth Civic Hall, Digbeth doors open 12 noon Nixon speech over merger plans. clearly completels

BIRMINGHAM

can vow sewe knite Dalate nake something for our Bazaar?

THE

LABOUR

est com rive something towards our bazaar ?

to Saturday, November 8 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Nixon s sip is make the the best Bazaar ever held 1 tin of grocery? jumble? to create unem. the" Peebles of Edinburgh Thed Coll he taster same the war the decided Nixon

THE WORKERS PRESS

PAGE TWO

IN AUGUST 1969, the British Communist Party published a 60-page booklet by Betty Reid entitled 'Ultra-Leftism in Britain'.

Though she touches on the activities of anarchist and 'Maoist' groups, Reid's main concern is to discredit Trotskyism in general and the Socialist Labour League in particular.

Starting today, the Workers Press will publish five extracts from a larger work dealing with all the main principled differences between Trotskyism and Stalinism.

The extracts we are publishing here will deal with five specific issues raised by Reid's attack on the Fourth International : 1. The Popular Front and the Transitional Pro- gramme of the Fourth International.

2. The Second World War: The Stalin-Hitler Pact.

3. The Second World War: 'The Big Three'.

4. British Trotskyism today: Stalinism and the Re- visionists. 5. The fight for alternative leadership: The Stalin- ist record-and ours. berlain-Attlee is a govern-

FROM JUNE 22, 1941,

ment of full and unlimited British Stalinism re- war.' imperialist (Palme vealed its counter-revo- 'Labour Monthly'.) Dutt, 1940: lutionary, anti-working July 'Churchill and Chamberlain unite in com- class nature as never mon defence of their iden- before. țical imperialist and class interests. (Palme Dutt, First let us make the Trot- 'Labour Monthly'.) skyist position clear. November 1940: . the role The war of the Soviet Churchill, the of embodi- Versailles, ment of is the Union against Nazi Germany main basis of support for was a progressive war, a war Germany. Hitler in which 'Labour every class-con- (Palme Dutt, Monthly') scious worker, every com- October 28, 1940: 'Let it not munist and socialist wished that Churchill be forgotten to see the Soviet Union as himself declared as far back the victor. as 1937 that:— will not if pretend that, had This position was shared by between Com- to choose the Fourth International and and Nazism munism by all British Trotskyists.

would Commun- choose The real of the essence ism" ' Worker') ('Daily question was never should the (After June 22, 1941, it was Soviet Union defended, be 'forgotten'.) very quickly defend it but how best to December 1940: '. whenever against imperialist aggression.

Churchill speaks or acts, The Fourth International suffering and death are the insisted that only the working results, exactly the same as class, fighting as a class on an when Hitler speaks or acts' could scale, international (H. Pollitt, 'Labour the forces provide to crush Monthly') imperialist attacks on the So- January 1941: the per- viet Union. of the Churchill- spectives That does not, of course, Roosevelt victory, as they alliances rule out pacts take shape, grow more and capitalist with But states. more to resemble the per- when Lenin undertook such a spectives of Hitler's new diplomacy of the policy, the order; the same men toil- Soviet Union was subor- the same men in jail, ing, dinated to the world revolu- the same men as puppet tion. viceroys; only the apex of 1922 treaty with Ger- The the yramid, of the name many did not prevent the In- the irm, is different' (Ivol Ger- ternational preparing the Montagu, 'Labour Revolution, even though man Monthly'.) Lenin -hoped to break up the May, 1941: 'By every device anti-Soviet imperialist front of publicity and flattery the with this treaty. great bubble of the Chur- chill reputation was inflated Workers first for to become the mascot the ugly visage of finance- Lenin valued his 'treaty' capital. All his previous re- working with the German cord as the arch-enemy of class and the German section the people, as the leader of of the Communist Interna- reaction, as the imperial- tional far higher than the Red ist adventurer and gambler 'understanding' with Army's with blood and treasure, General Prussian Staff. the and hero of a hundred fias- That was the way of Lenin oshe is cosse crushing of and the Trotsky: always of the ruthless crushing first, and then working class the General Strike, of the on a world, and not a national the Soviet Union, war on scale. of the crusade against In- We shall from the of rove dian freedom, of the lead- Stalinists writings the ership of diehard Tories, of themselves that the British of Mussolini the eulogies Communist Party did not put and fascism • were cov- the Soviet Union first when it and assumed ered over to supp seeded urshi. be forgotten. (Palme served firstly the inter- 'Labour Monthly'.) Dutt, of British imperialism, ests, They very soon were. and through it, the Kremlin, "The official par- not the Soviet Union. June 1941: - ties in parliament see no al- And shall we also prove ternative to Churchill; and that in supporting Churchill's for call unconditional this is their real failure.

sur- the British Stalinists It is clear that the only way render', more difficult the of this present made even out УСТУ of serious situation is for the terrible task revolution- aries and anti-fascists in Ger- working class end the "Coalition"? policy of (D. many. N. Pritt, 'Labour Monthly'.)

What had the British Com- munist Party to say about Churchill and his class before Thrown out June 22, 1941?: ( October 7, 1939: "The struggle Much to Dutt's embarrass- of the British people against ment, no doubt, this article the Chamberlains and still on after the was sale Churchills is the best help British Stalinists had become to the struggle of the Ger- advocates of the greatest Hitler!' (CP mans against coalition with Churchill.

Manifesto.) of the After the invasion June, 1940: 'And it is a meas- USSR by Hitler, this correct, ure of this bankruptcy that class analysis of Churchill and be alternative could 110 his Party was thrown out of found save to plunge deeper the window. into the morass of the same Harry Pollitt, the Stalinist policy, and to replace the Bungler Chamberlain by who bragged that he 'neither the Gambler Churchill. knew nor cared' how long the The outcome of its forma- Stalin-Hitler Pact talks had tion can only lead to yet been in progress displayed ars two the disasters for equal indifference to the nen now grealer people, to new crises and equal desperation. position adopted by his Party: new Govern- that The new Coalition the fact of Churchill-Cham- Churchill government has ment Lenin valued the German working class and the German section of the Commi Army's understanding with the Prussian General Staff. Above: F than the Red observers at German army manoeu vres in 1928.

WORKERS' PRESS

"The wright, Second Front'.) shortcomings the AlLy due covernment

HOL

ChurChi. It was argued. DUt The healthy instinct of al working class and democratic opinion, noval of the calling the Munichite Minis demand, for 1UL weakening, of strengtening, national unity' (Palme butt "Labour Monthly'. December But that could not be taken unt must attacked the other hand, there are voices neara on une lett and the working-class movement which seer this demand to an attack that churchti declare Churchill Moore-Brabazon must and the treated as equal, • Lilal 21m must Thererore une hringing down of the bresent government ectabiich ment of government of the fulfilment of strument British-Soviet Alliance. the Three' (1 to r) Churchill. Roosevelt and Stalin who met at he "iig unis cemano enters InLO ver Talla in 194. dangerous territory

SUCH

a change could tact On v change from the prin- anti- nore dubious (Our em- representatives. ..! onasis.) Graduated Churchill In Dutt's eves. had graduated from neing the main support for Hitler 'the principal representative in the ace oh stains. spare boosted of their submissiveness Churchill " vents ... have proved the correctness the general line of the Communist Party, their changed its policy the liance with the Soviet Union. t tackeftist untenanc urged [So had Hitler his time.] auestion whether the Commu- elements in the labour move- Since this issue is the de.

nist Party has Changed also. interesting ema mattere today stains ment. Communist to narrow minds that are diplomacy was always the de. Partv and the National kront cisive for Dutt over- all other issues, This wavered line never that these throughout the rest of the war making British Stalin attitude ine common experience or oul Coverl workers had plans continue evervdav Cass-ConscIous even the militant left at the present Chance has come luv [94 .)

nauonal government previous defeat of Nazis with our moment to the Churchill gov- alter the the analysis Churchill. ernment. (proving that the war against • Labour Monthly It is clear that the only way out of this present very serious realise. situation is for the working class to end the policy of " Coalition." and

CHURCHILL

to take the leading rôle in building a powerful independent popular

COALITION

canable of winning widespread sunnort from, all opposition sectione the mass of the people. On that basis there could be established a Gov- —and the ernment that would immediátely carry out the obviously necessary

ALTERNATIVE

measures. watre these necessary measures l

Đ.N. PRITT

We want to deal with some of the difficulties that are said to stand in the way of our Party members when thev take part in by-elections and recommend the people to vote for a Government candidate who happens to be a Tory. the Hitler was not the main issue). Pollitt this is a auestion for We give most 'narrow minds'. wholehearted sunnort to the Stalin wanted Churchill Rritich Stalin The class nature of the war Chuephill anyaramant romain -co the every measure it adopts in the ists had to work out ways of fulfilment of this policy saving him. In the same pamphlet, Pol- ('Labour Monthly August, Nationa be Tha CDR can. litt chelle out what was 1941) ference May was of 1047 Ôtolinict strategy tho for the adamant support rest of the war: No criticism "Thora ran he only one con. "The government Chunnhill sideration, people whathar By November 1941, the representative na- defeat Hitler Stalinists had dronned Aven covertly endeavour marginal they tha criticiamo sabotage British and s made of Churchill in the early The Pact. Soviet Kritish-Sover weeks of the war: tory and Churchill This is why a fight for WAKening the neonle the people regard the government would mast the national front Prime Minister as an exponent national "inity support gov- Churchill'c of He political aim must ernment all measures for therefore him? Wain- to men around common victory. behind Nutt waiahed Pollitt, claimi toat Churchi Pre- of hia support

B.B.C.-1

for Now Churchil the 9.38 a.m.-12 noon. Schools. 12.30 Farm Management. snearheadi struggle against With Hitlar. "Tha Chueshill anyarnman! has now signed a Pact of Al- 6.00 Nationwide. 6.45 The Newcomers. 7.05 Top Of The Pops. 7.30 Dad's Army. 8.00 Softly, Softly. Main 8.50 The er. News and 9.10 Sportsnight With Coleman.

1019 In A Class Of Their Own: Him truino Scotland: Makes A 12.02 a.m. Epilogue News Headin Good Teacher? 10.45 24 Hours. 11.30 Weatherman. van we realiam Norti 11.32 Car-Wise. argine porn mesas BBC.1 except wait and we ems folin Mp.m. Madands Today, Look E6., on of the Communist International far high of Akava. Hindanhura with Rusa strengthening of the Churchill (Way to Win' government.' p. 9.) Mick Bennet of the YCL became so lyrical in his praise of Churchill that in his anxiety quote from to one Churchill's speeches, he made nonsense of his own Party's position at the time the speech was made: "Two years ago the Prime Minister, in the critical days of Dunkirk, made a speech which found an echo in the hearts of every lad and girl: "We will fight on the beaches.

We will fight in the hills"' etc, etc. Poor Bennet! When Churchill made this speech, the Stalinist line in- sisted that the war was im- perialist, and that those 'lads and girls' who rallied to Churchill's war speeches were dupes of imperialist warmon- gering. Small details like this, or what Pollitt termed 'matters interesting only to narrow minds', never bothered Stalin- ists at any time. Their job was to serve the Soviet bureaucracy.

that involved calling If Churchill a Nazi one day and and an anti-Nazi the next, so be it. Whenever Churchill came under attack for seeking too much power • in the Cabinet, the Stalinists were the first to defend him: 'In the debate, great play was made of the idea that Churchill is doing too much.

His opponents want him to give up the Ministry of De- fence. What is the real reason for this move? The answer is simple: it is to separate the government from the armed forces so that pro-fascists can carry on intrigues to sabotage the Second Front. : • The Prime Minister Britain must also be in charge of Britain's defence. To put some- one else to do this job would be to convert the Prime Min- ister into a rubber stamp. ..!

New depths Every meeting of the 'Big Three'-Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin - spurred on the British Stalinists to new depths of class collaboration.

Churchill's alliance with the Soviet bureaucracy, backed to the hilt by Pollitt, Dutt and Gollan, gave the British ruling class a powerful weapon in its fight to exploit the working class at home and the colonial masses in the Empire. Stalinist support for Chur- chill and the 'Big Three' was uncritical: "The people must be roused to support and strengthen the government. Sustain Churchill in carrying out the Anglo- Soviet Treaty and in opening the Second Front!' (Harry Pollitt: 'Speed the Second Front' July 1942. Our empha- sis.) In the General Strike of 1926, Stalin's foreign policy demanded that the British Communist Party call for 'All power to the General Council'.

In 1942, with even official strikes opposed by the Com- munist Party, Stalin's diplom- acy now led to the slogan 'All power to Winston Churchill!': 'The recent conference be- tween Churchill and Stalin is of tremendous importance at this moment. We shall need to back it up by ensuring that national unity shall be strengthened in Britain. . . : ('Victory, Peace, Security' p. 54.) Even Pollitt, hardened op- that he was, portunist be- trayed a little unease with this line: To those who attempt to score a point against us by saying: there is no talk of re- volution at our congress, or the gib use of the revolution- phrase, let us proudly ary reply: 'What we are fighting for constitutes the greatest revolution of our time; to rescue our country from a state of economic backward- ness, to make it the finest in Miss the modernization o he world

B.B.C.-2

11.00-11.20 a.m. Play School.

7.00 p.m. Teaching Adults.

7.30 Newsroom and Weather.

8.00 Call My Bluff. 8.30 The Money Programme.

.10 The Canterbury Tales 10.00 One's A Crowd 10.50 News Summary and Weather. 10.55 Line-Up.

I.T.V.

11.00 a.m.-12 noon Schools. 1.40- 2.58 p.m. Schools. 3.40 Habatales and Snip and Snap. 3.55 Face Of The Earth. 4:15. News Headlines.

4.17 Diane's Magic Theatre. 4.30 Crossroads. 4.55 The Adventures Hood. 5.20 Magpie. Of Robin 5.50 News. 6.03 Today. Peyton Place. 6.35 7.05 The Thursday Film: 'Un- certain Glory starring Errol Flynn. Nearest and Dearest. 9.00 9.30 This Week. 10.00 News At Ten. 10.30 Cinema. 11.00 Tales of Edgar Wallace.

12 midnight Miscellany. British capitalism, has been the goal of British Stalinism ever since. here underline the Let us point we have already made.

The Stalinists, up to June 1941, opposed any participa- for tion support or coalition government by the working class and its organ- izations. They stated quite bluntly that the role of the Labour leaders was to tie the working class to the capitalist state and the employers: Hammering It has been the deliberate policy of dominant sections of the Labour leaders ever since the war started to damp down working-class activity, but es- pecially since Labour entered Churchill-Tory the govern- ment. ..? H. Pollitt, 'Labour Monthly' December 1940.) Only one month before the turned into super- Stalinists coalitionists, in May 1941, Dutt was still hammering away at Attlee and Bevin: "The breaking of the policy of coalition with the enemies of the people, the independ- ence of the working-class or- ganizations, the fulfilment of the role working-class of Yorkshire 11.00-11.38 a.m. Schools. 1.40-2.58 p.m.

Schools. 4.00 Houseparty. 4.15 News Headlines. 4.17 Diane's Magic Theatre.

4.30 Arthur. 4.55 The Forest Rangers.

5.20 Magpie. 5.50 News. 6.00 Calendar Strather Cargo. 6.30 Castle Haven. 6.55 Nearest Strange 9.00 and Dearest. 9.30 This Week. 10.00 News.

10.30 Cinema. 11.00 The Contenders. 11.55 Late Weather. Westward 11.00 a.m.-12 noon Schools. 1.40-2.58 Schools. Westward Headlines. 4.0 Peyton Place: 4.38 The News Gus Honeybun Show. 4.50 The Flaxton Boys. 5.20 Magpie. 5.50 National News.

6.00 Westward Diary. 6.20 Pett Subject.

6.35 Crossroads. 7.00 Curtain Raiser. 7.05 The Thursday Film: 'Marines Let's Go' starring Tom Tryon and David Hedison. 9.00 Nearest and Dearest.

10.00 10.30 9.30 This Week. News. Cine 1. 56 Satter. 11.00 Seaway. 11.50 Faith For Life. Anglia 10.58 a.m.-I2 noon Schools. 1.38-2.58 4.05 Castle Haven. 4.30 Schools. p.m. Anglia 4.35 Sean The Flaxton Boys. 6.20 Arena. 6.35 Crossroads Anglia. "The Iron Mistress' starring Alan 1.00 Ladd and Virginia Mayo. 9.00 Nearest and Dearest. 9.30 Week okers This 10.00 10.30 Cinema. 11.00 News. Wild. 11.30 Reflection. Thursday, November 6, 1969 leadership for all sections of the people against the big propertied and financial inter- ests, and the winning of power into the hands of the people-these are the tasks today? ('Labour Monthly'.)

If the struggle for socialism, for power, was the task of the day in May 1941, why was it not brought nearer and made more urgent by the entry of the Soviet Union into the war? The greatest blow of solid- arity that could have been struck on behalf of the em- battled Soviet workers and peasants was to demand what Dutt demanded before June 1941, that the Labour leaders leave the imperialist Churchill cabinet, the cabinet that Dutt rightly states was Hitler's best ally, and begin a campaign in working class for class solidarity with the Soviet Union. How this was to be done is, of course, another question and we shall return to it in summing up the Trotskyist position on the war. But there could be no ques- tion of effective class solid- arity with the Soviet Union while the British ruling class remained in control of the basic industries, the war Tyne Tees 11.00 a.m.-12 noon Schools. 1.40-2.58 p.m. Schools. 4.13 North East News- 4.17 Sara room. 4.15 News Headlines. and Hoppity. 4.25 Mr Piper. 4.53 North East Newsroom. 4.55 Ivanhoe. 5.20 Magpie. 5.50 News. 6.00 Today At Six.

6.30 Peyton Place. 7.00 Marcus Welby MD. 8.00 Man In A Suitcase. 9.00 Nearest and Dearest. 9.30 This Week. 10.00 News. 11.30 Late News Extra. 11.47 Opportunity Knocks.

Grampian a.m.-12 noon Schools. 1.38-2.58 10.58 Schools. 4.15 News Headlines. p.m. 4.17 Diane's Magic Theatre. 4.30 The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 4.55 Ivanhoe. 5.20 Magpie. 5.50 News.

6.00 Grampian News. 6.10 The Double Life of Henry Phyfe. 6.35 Crossroads.

7.00 Adventure! 9.00 McCue's Music.

9.30 This Week. 10.00 News. 10.30 Cinema. 11.00 Parkin's Patch.

Scottish P... Schools. 4.20 Scooland tarly.

Scotland National Them Searest. 930 This Week. 0000 News.

and (oieWide1100 Late Call. 11.05 10.30

ORKERS' PRESS

Second Front'.) a right-wing cliqu he healt Instinct or al and working class pinion nationa Labour 1941.) December But that could not be taker too lar must Churchill attacked: hand, whole that crunchti which declare Churchil ana Moore-Drabazor effective strument for the fulfilment of british soviet Allance retry into very 1 nis aemana only mean a Nazism to far dubious representatives... phasis.) Graduated Churchill ad graduated tes being the Hitler for nain support the principa representine anti-Nazism' have prosed tal correctness general line of the Communist Party parucularly not the Nazi and independent uppor from could be established a Gov. there ediately the obviously necessary measures? he difficulties that are Party members when and recommend the andidate who happens talin wante -so the British Stalin- Ists nad to work out ways ol saving him. The CPGB Con- May ference of was adamant its support Churchill: «The Churchill governmen representative is the tional [i.e. class] unity for fulfilment of the aims of briusn-soviet racu weakening 12.02 a.m Weather and 1an. A reland ews Healings. outh and West 6.00645 pich Sou Yeather Marionwide, t0% Weather. strengthening of the Churchill government.' (Way to Win' p. 9.) Mick Bennet of the YCL became so lyrical in his praise of Churchill that in his anxiety to quote from one Churchill's speeches, he made nonsense of his own Party's position at the time the speech was made: "Two years ago the Prime Minister, in the critical days of Dunkirk, made a speech which found an echo in the hearts of every lad and girl: "We will fight on the beaches.

We will fight in the hills", etc, etc. Poor Bennet! When Churchill made this speech, the Stalinist line in- sisted that the war was im- perialist, and that those 'lads and girls' who rallied to Churchill's war speeches were dupes of imperialist warmon- gering. Small details like this, or what Pollitt termed 'matters interesting only to narrow minds', never bothered Stalin- ists at any time. Their job was to serve the Soviet bureaucracy.

If that involved calling Churchill a Nazi one day and and an anti-Nazi the next, so be it. Whenever Churchill came under attack for seeking too much power in the Cabinet, the Stalinists were the first to defend him: 'In the debate, great play was made of the idea that Churchill is doing too much.

His opponents want him to the Ministry of De- give up fence. What is the real reason for this move? The answer is simple: it is to separate the government from the armed forces so that pro-fascists can carry on intrigues to sabotage the Second Front. • .. The Prime Minister of Britain must also be in charge of Britain's defence. To put some- one else to do this job would be to convert the Prime Min- ister into a rubber stamp. ..: New depths Every meeting of the 'Big Three'-Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin — spurred on the British Stalinists to new depths of class collaboration.

Churchill's alliance with the Soviet bureaucracy, backed to the hilt by Pollitt, Dutt and Gollan, gave the British ruling class a powerful weapon in its fight to exploit the working class at home and the colonial masses in the Empire. Stalinist support for Chur- chill and the 'Big Three' was uncritical: "The people must be roused to support and strengthen the government. Sustain Churchill in carrying out the Anglo- Soviet Treaty and in opening the Second Front!' (Harry Pollitt: 'Speed the Second Front' July 1942. Our empha- sis.) In the General Strike of 1926, Stalin's foreign policy demanded that the British Communist Party call for 'All power to the General Council'.

In 1942, with even official strikes opposed by the Com- munist Party, Stalin's diplom- acy now led to the slogan 'All power to Winston Churchill!': 'The recent conference be- tween Churchill and Stalin is of tremendous importance at this moment. We shall need to back it up by ensuring that national unity shall be strengthened in Britain. ..: ('Victory, Peace, Security' p. 54.) Even Pollitt, hardened op- portunist that he was, be- trayed a little unease with this line: 'To those who attempt to score a point against us by saying: there is no talk of re- volution at our congress, or the gib use of the revolution- ary phrase, let us proudly reply: 'What we are fighting constitutes the greatest revolution of our time : to rescue our country from • a state of economic backward- ness, to make it the finest in the world. ..: (p. 56.) This, the modernization of

B.B.C.-2

11.00-11.20 a.m. Play School.

7.00 p.m. Teaching Adults.

7.30 Newsroom and Weather.

8.00 Call My Bluff. 8.30 The Money Programme.

9.10 The Canterbury Tales.

10.00 One's A Crowd 10.50 News Summary and Weather. 10.55 Line-Up.

I.T.V.

11.00 a.m.-12 noon Schools. 1.40- 2.58 p.m. Schools. 3.40 Habatales and Snip and Snap. 3.55 Face Of The Earth. 4.15. News Headlines.

4.17 Diane's Magic Theatre. 4.30 Crossroads. 4.55 The Adventures Of Robin Hood. 5.20 Magpie.

5.50 News. 6.03 Today. 6.35 Peyton Place. 7.05 The Thursday Film: 'Un- Glory' starring certain Errol Flynn. Nearest and Dearest. 9.00 9.30 This Week. 10.00 News At Ten. 10.30 Cinema. 11.00 Tales of Edgar Wallace.

12 midnight Miscellany. has been British capitalism, the goal of British Stalinism ever since. Let us here underline the point we have already made.

The Stalinists, up • to June 1941, opposed any participa- tion for or support a coalition government by the working class and its organ- izations. They stated quite bluntly that the role of the Labour leaders was to tie the working class to the capitalist state and the employers: Hammering It has been the deliberate policy of dominant sections of the Labour leaders ever since the war started to damp down working-class activity, but es- pecially since Labour entered the Churchill-Tory govern- ment.. : H. Pollitt, 'Labour Monthly' December 1940.) Only one month before the Stalinists turned into super- coalitionists, May 1941, still hammering Dutt was away at Attlee and Bevin: 'The breaking of the policy of coalition with the enemies of the people, the independ- ence of the working-class or- ganizations, the fulfilment of role of working-class Yorkshire 11.00-11.38 a.m. Schools. 1.40-2.58 p.m.

Schools. 4.00 Houseparty. 4.15 News Headlines. 4.17 Diane's Magic Theatre.

20 Magpie 5:50 News 6.00 Calendar .20 Magpi 6.30 Castle Haven. 6.55 Cargo. Nearest 10.30 Cinema. 11.00 The Contenders.

11.55 Late Weather. Westward Westward Gus Honeybun Show. 4.50 The Flaxton p.m. Boys. 5.20 Magpie. 5.50 National News.

6.00 Westward Diary. 6.20 Pett Subject.

7.00 Curtain Raiser. 6.35 Crossroads. 7.05 The Thursday Film: 'Marines Let's Go' starring Tom Tryon and David Hedison. 9.00 Nearest and Dearest. 9.30 This 10.00 10.30 Week. News. Cinema. 11.00 Seaway. 11.50 Faith For Life. 11.56 Weather. Anglia 10.58 a.m.-12 noon Schools. 1.38-2.58 pingila Schools. 4.05 Castle Haven. 4.30 4.35 Ne. 4000 The Flatten Sean The Boys. Leprechaun. 4.50 5.30 Magpie. 5.50 News./ 6.00 About 6.20 Arena. 6.35 Crossroads.

Anglia. Alan 1.00 The Iron Mistress starring Virginia Mayo. 9.00 Nearest Ladd and and Dearest. 9.30 This 10.00 News. 10.30 Cinema. 11.00 Wild. 11.30 Reflection. Thursday, November 6, 1969 for all i leadership sections of the people against the big propertied and financial inter- and the winning of ests, power into the hands of the people-these the tasks are today' ('Labour Monthly'.)

If the struggle for socialism, for power, was the task of the day in May 1941, why was it not brought nearer and made more urgent by the entry of the Soviet Union into the war? The greatest blow of solid- arity that could have been struck on behalf of the em- battled Soviet workers and peasants was to demand what Dutt demanded before June 1941, that the Labour leaders leave the imperialist Churchill cabinet, the cabinet that Dutt rightly states was Hitler's best ally, and begin a campaign in working the class for class solidarity with the Soviet Union. How this was to be done is, of course, another question it in and we shall return to summing up Trotskyist the position on the war. But there could be no ques- tion of effective class solid- arity with the Soviet Union while the British ruling class of the remained in control basic industries, the war 11.00 a.m.-12 noon Schools. 1.40-2.58 p.m. Schools. 4.13 North East News- oom. 4.17 Sara Piper. 4.53 North 4.55 Ivanhoe. 5.20 Magpie. 5.50 News. .00 Today At Si› Peyton lace. 7.00 Marcus Welb Nearest and Dearest. 9.30 this Weebo News. 11.30 Late News Extra. 11.47 Opportunity Knocks.

Grampian Scottish Superman. 5.20 Magpie. _5.50 Feature Nom: News. 6.35 High Living. 7.05 starring •For Them That 9.30 This Week. 10.00 News 9.00 Nearest and 9.30 Thursday, November 6, 1969 Stalinism. Backdrop 10 British From tor. the Franco Soviet Pact May 31931 Stalin and Chechill! General Secret.

with future succi ssor forces and the banks. armed The first step to a genuinely socialist war against fascism demanded a struggle against the British ruling class and its imperialist war policies.

1941, Again, before June the British Communist Party had repeatedly argued along these same lines. Against the social-democratic line that the British war against Germany just because was 'democratic' Britain was over 500 million state (with colonial slaves) and Germany fascist, the Stalinists hit was some very telling back with blows : Opposite •Fascism is only one ex- pression of this basic world conflict of capitalism and socialism. If the fight against fascism is falsely isolated from this world conflict, and is made the cover for the fight of one imperialist state against another imperialist state, then it turns into its opposite and becomes in fact assistance for the extension of fascism and reaction in all countries and for war on socialism' (Palme Dutt, 'Labour Monthly', May 1940.) (Our emphasis.) Neither did Dutt at that time fall for Dunkirk mythology: "The press bathos about the "little island" facing "alone" the embattled Nazi power over all Europe must not blind us to the real titanic dimensions The completely opportunist line of the Co In 1940, they considered him 'the main su their aim was to strengthen the Churchill I. R. Campbell against him in the Gener: of this world imperialist con- flict.' Dutt also demolished the of the so-called other myth 'people's war' against fascism: 'British imperialism is not yet so weak or so bankrupt as is sometimes suggested, nor so unprepared and completely planless as it is sometimes will- ing to see suggested, in order to whip up the enthusiasm of its people in the belief that they are conducting a "people's war" in spite of and against the will of their reluctant rulers' (Our emphasis.) Never did Dutt so effectively demolish the position his own Party was soon to adopt; that the working class, through the coalition, forced a 'people's' and 'anti-fascist' character on the war against Hitler despite the imperialist aims and nature of the British ruling class.

"Daily Worker' of In • the January 6, 1941, Dutt lashed the government again: 'Support of this Churchill coalition can bring nothing but catastrophe to the people of this country. They have noth- ing to offer but ruin, destitu- tion and enslavement' In 'Labour Monthly' of the same month, Ivor Montagu exposed the 'anti- phoney fascist' nature of the war: 'The "New Order" that the Anglo-American coalition pro- poses to establish by force of arms is, in fact and already, taking shape as simply and as concretely as that of Adolf Hitler' Same theme The same theme was ex- panded at much greater length by Palme Dutt in the March 1941 number of 'Labour Monthly' : *Fascism has become in com- mon usage either a general term of abuse for every form of violence or reaction [the Stalin- 'social fascism' was ist term the worst example of this type of thinking] or as a general descriptive term for German and Italian imperialism, against im- which Anglo - American perialism is conducting war for the domination of the world.

the "fight against 'Hence fascism" is presented as identi- cal with the fight of Anglo- American imperialism agaınst German-Italian-Japanese im- perialism.' This is an excellent descrip- tion of Dutt's own line after a line he very June 1941, capably pulled apart only a few months earlier: 'Fascism, in place of being seen in class terms, is identi- fied with a specific imperial- ism, and behind the cover of this substitution the class able to deliver • his enemy is offensive.' Dutt concludes with a warn- ing to the working class: It is urgently necessary that socialist and trade every unionist should realize clearly what is happening and make a stand before it is too late, if they are not to see their organ- izations handed to over a capitalist totalitarian system, their rights and freedom de- stroyed in the name of the for freedom, and the battle "New Order" finally blossom- ing in all its glory as the British version of "national socialism"? (Our emphasis.)

This great clarity the on imperialist nature of Churchill's war makes Dutt's and his fel- low Stalinists' betrayal all the greater when the time came for swing the working them to class in behind the war. Marxism was but a veneer for opportunist politics, whether the line was 'left, as from 1939 to 1941, or right, from 1941 till well after the end of the war. Before coming to the Stalin- ist policy in the factories, which was one of unashamed strike-breaking, scabbing and production boosting, we must expose their anti-Soviet posi- tion on the war itself. Stalinists today claim that their pro-Churchill line after 1941 was determined by the need to defend the Soviet Union. This is a lie. In his pamphlet 'A Call for Arms'. Harry Pollitt makes this quite clear : 'It is not a question now of asking any British workers to defend the Soviet Union, but of defending themselves along- t line of the Communist Party is shown in their attitu im 'the main support for Hitler'. In 1941, after the Y n the Churchill government. Above: in 1951, the Com m in the General Election.

The policy of the British Communist Party concluded by the 'Big Three' seen above v side the magnificent defence Union that the Soviet is making. ... (p. S, 194 --Our emphasis.) It is impossible to be more explicit. Pollitt and all his fellow Stalinists backed the war from an imperialist standpoint, and relegated the central question, the defence of the Soviet Union, to a secondary place of importance. In this quotation, the de- fence of British imperialism is given preference over and not just equated with, the defence of the Russian Revolution.

The same can be said for the Stalinist for the campaign 'Second Front'. Reid makes the following comment on Trotskyist oppo- sition to this imperialist plan: ... when the urgent need was the creation of a second European front to complement the incredible struggles on the Eastern front, the Trotskyists argued against this because it "boss class would be to get armies on the continent to hold back the revolutionary European workers" Instead they called for "socialist a appeal" to workers in Germany as the only way to struggle against Hitler.' (p. 13.)

Here we have a classic ex- ample of two main features of British Stalinism that were nourished in the war. Firstly, its opportunist line on the capitalist state. Stalinist support for British troops in Ulster is predated by at least 25 years. Reid clearly believes that the British army is not 'a boss class army', that it is either a neutral force simply representing and de- fending 'Britain', or even an army that can be made to fight on behalf of the working class.

• we have ex- and secondi pressed by Reid British Stalin- ism's nationalist, anti-German which has poisoned whole class against their class brothers in Germany. we wonder, What, would Reid say to the following ex- cellent refutation of the Stalin- ist line on the 'second front' the German working and class?: 'Nor is it true ... that this international character of the movement is negated by the difference of conditions in Britain and Germany, since the working class and democratic movement is still legal in Britain, despite limitations and threats, while in Germany it has to operate under condi- tions of illegality. Were such valid, then the an argument Russian working class could have played no role in 1914- 1917, whereas, in fact, they led the international movement.

... the danger is rather that our movement may not develop rapidly enough for the pace of advance on the con- tinent . . . The apologists of imperialism... dilate on the menace of Hitler military a victory to the interests of the international working class. But they completely ignore what the world domination of Anglo-American reaction, whose victory their policy is promoting, means for the wor- n in their attitude to Churchill.

941, after the Yalta Pact, in 1951, the Communist Party stood

WORKERS

oy the Bis Coe men are wis diated come a by tal kers of the world. Rather than Pla pat a they stic iace lie deavour a fantastic and pioneers of a popular • More than spread abroad that an army of invasion being prepared ne to thi ded for use spi intended for tact Hitler regime appearm unhe and strateg appears and • But assume that the socialispread ofitle jigsaw becomes a rational Pallell, 'In such a situation of gen eral disorder, with civils stil poity themed ala eoples of Euro the and strangull: For in fact the army Betrayed the sain man at as betrayed Stalinists saw before it needed strangling.

concludes which ter-revolution in curone.

The have DrIusA wish Lulpi... Who wrote these excellent lines, exposing we in advance 101E palme bruary boss (Labour Monthly', Like all things the Stalints were sect other ing al unis time, it was thrown al slallll s an This means a posit most appropriate action, in in Monthly for October, 141 Reid evades the central point Stalinist was the oppose British assistas Union every case should be supported the following point Nazi-atet he signing Nazi-Soviet suine tactics ill wallac " ne and and arance to. morrow menace Leningrad o] to hinder sending of solde ener supplies. himsel Inas constrained supplies De- ence or Marxism', p. 37. the combina- it we reverse tions of imperialist powers, British Lila effort, strike tactics

Thursday, November 6, 1 armed torces ano the t soclallst had repeatedly argued these same ineg une unal une some very blows : Opposite pression ol Connet capilalsın une lgnl fascism is it turns into its oppos ecomes ın tact assıst: extensior oI TascIs in all countri reacuon wat on The press bathos abo "little Tacine to the real titanic dim of this world imperialist con- flict.' Dutt also demolished the other myth of the so-called 'people's war' against fascism : imperialism is not 'British vet so weak or so bankrupt as is sometimes suggested, nor so unprepared and completely planless as it is sometimes will- ing to see suggested, in order to whip up the enthusiasm of its people in the belief that they are conducting a "people's war" in spite of and against the will of their reluctant rulers? (Our emphasis.) Never did Dutt so effectively demolish the position his own Party was soon to adopt; that the working class, through the a 'people's' coalition, forced and 'anti-fascist' character on the war against Hitler despite the imperialist aims and nature of the British ruling class.

'Daily Worker' of In the January 6, 1941, Dutt lashed the government again: 'Support of this Churchill coalition can bring nothing but catastrophe to the people of this country. They have noth- ing to offer but ruin, destitu- The pi tion and enslavement'. conclu In 'Labour Monthly' of the same month, Ivor Montagu side exposed the phoney 'anti- that fascist' nature of the war: 'The "New Order" that the makir emph. Anglo-American coalition pro- It i poses to establish by force of explic arms is, in fact and already, Pol taking shape as simply and as Stalin concretely as that of Adolf an im Hitler: relega the Same theme Unior impor The same theme was ex- In panded at much greater length fence by Palme Dutt in the March given 1941 number of 'Labour just e Monthly' : of the 'Fascism has become in com- The mon usage either Stalin 'Seco violence or reaction [the Stalin- Rei ist term 'social fascism' was comm the worst example of this type sition of thinking] or as a general descriptive for German term was t and Italian imperialism, against Europ which Anglo - American im- the ir perialism is conducting war for Easte: the domination of the world.

argue 'Hence the "fight against would fascism" is presented as identi- armie cal with the fight of Anglo- hold American imperialism against Europ German-Italian-Japanese im- they perialism.' appea This is an excellent descrip- as th tion of Dutt's own line after again: June 1941, a line he very He capably pulled apart only a few ample months earlier: Britis 'Fascism, in place of being nouri. seen in class terms, is identi- Fir: fied with a specific imperial- on th ism, and behind the cover of Sta this substitution the class troop enemy is able to deliver his by a offensive.' clearl Dutt concludes with a warn- army ing to the working class: that i It is urgently necessary that simpl every socialist and trade fendir unionist should realize clearly anks. army uinely what is happening and make a on be stand before it is too late, if An gainst they are not to see their organ- presse nd its izations handed over to ism's capitalist totalitarian system, policy their rights and freedom de- 1941, whole stroyed in the name of the Party «class : battle for freedom, and the along in Ge "New Order" finally blossom- Wh ing in all its glory as cratic Reid British version of "national gainst celler socialism"' (Our emphasis.)

cause ist li cratic' This great clarity on the and imperialist nature of Churchill's nillion class? war makes Dutt's and his fel- rmany 'Ne low Stalinists' betrayal all the ts hit interr greater when the time came for telling them to swing the working move class in behind the war. differ Britai Marxism was but a veneer for opportunist politics, work whether the line was 'left', as move Britai from 1939 to 1941, or right, world threa from 1941 till well after the and has 1 end of the war. gainst tions Before coming to the Stalin- I from ist policy in the factories, an a Russi nd is which was one of unashamed ght of have strike-breaking, scabbing and 1917, gainst production boosting, we must • then the is expose their anti-Soviet posi- e and tion on the war itself. ce for Stalinists today claim that that n and their pro-Churchill line after devel s and 1941 was determined by the pace Palme need to defend the Soviet tinen , May Union. imper This is a lie. mena t time In his pamphlet 'A Call for victo Arms', Harry Pollitt makes interi gy : ut the this quite clear: But alone" 'It is not a question now •of what asking any British workers to Angl r over nd us defend the Soviet Union, but whos nsions of defending themselves along- prom t line of the Communist Party is shown in their attitud im 'the main support for Hitler'. In 1941, after the Ya n the Churchill government. Above: in 1951, the Com in the General Election. n

ORKERS' PRESS

y by the foreign policy of Stalin and the agreements ar : the Yalta Conference in 1945.

than would take this factor into account. у en- tastic Then the question of which • the class rules the army and the Wall factories is raised by the work- pular ing class in developing such a strategy. Effective aid to the Soviet litary Union would only have been aised really possible through policy WOr- kers' control of the manufac- ing a ture and dispatch of arms, • The ensuring that they went to road their right destination. on is factory Trade union and • the committees had to insist on I win the opening of the firm's books n the frequent checks to make ny is against war profiteering.

in in- The nationalization of the rman arms industry under workers' ategy control had to be raised—-as it pside was before June 1941 by the it the Communist Party-and devel- after Hitler f the ution itain- , and tional gen- ading pular 1 and a my of could over lding urope cialist it the • pre- ibera- appen R. Palme Dutt, editor of 'Labour Monthly'. !

Italy, had graduated from being the main support that to 'the principal representative of anti-Nazis rayed the space of one year. his oped into an all-round cam- econd paign for the nationalization , tell- of all key sectors of industry, transport and finance. class, In the army, political de- • two mands such as the election of rven- officers by the men, the aboli- • will tion of separate messes, etc., itself the right to political discussion coun- agitation on the nature and aims of the war: all these е по things had to be and were ne of fought for by the Fourth Inter- national in Britain. ellent Our opposition to the war vance of British imperialism was not class a negative one, as Reid implies.

tsky- As far as our limited resources Dutt. and the anti-Trotskyist witch- ruary, hunt would permit, we devel- oped a campaign for inter- orrect solidarity national with the • say- colonial and German people irown against both British and fascist talin's imperialism, side by side with a call for class solidarity with : con- i the Soviet Union independent , com- of Churchill and Kremlin dip- ament lomacy. front, What was the Stalinist line of in the mines and the factories?

in the As we have already stated, the it was 100 per cent counter- revolutionary, Palme and in its abour essence, anti-Soviet. 41. Before the invasion of the point USSR, the British Stalinists had oppo- out for the defence of stood ne on the right to strike, and against at the the policy of trade union col- ppose laboration with the employers Soviet for higher production, indus- kes in trial conscription, etc. : orted. 'How do the new regulations owing affect the working class and igning the capitalist class? Is there t, on equality of sacrifice? Is there any guarantee that the capital- ce to- ists will not exploit the situa- ad or totalitarian state P British tion course ], the 'Right in the foreground of orkers the new regulations is the ecisive right to conscript labour...

hinder This problem .. also faced and the Nazis and they solved it in Hitler a way not dissimilar to that ed by being adopted here.' (J. R.

on to 'Labour Monthly, Campbell, pplies, July 1940.) n the The Daily Worker' was equally outspoken in its de- reason ncrete fence of militant trade union- otage. ism in wartime: ropose 'Today trade unionism is at n De- the cross roads. Strikes are .) illegal. Wages and conditions are declining. The vigour of nbina- the movement is being sapped.

ers, it • In the name of a would war British fascism, that "evil against thing" is spreading its wings • con- in Britain itself just as it did uction in France. . . . (October 8, Soviet tactics 1940.) he agreements and pact Campbell made the same point in the October number of 'Labour Monthly' : 'One can advance to fascism on the basis of regimenting the working class for the carrying out of the imperialist war to the bitter end. This is the policy that the General Council of the British Trades Union Congress is helping to carry out.' Dutt was just as firm on the of basic trade union defence rights: "The Labour organizations have not been dissolved; in- stead, the workers find the in- dependent functioning of their organizations paralyzed by their own leadership. The right not been des- to strike has fascist troyed by a enemy; instead, the workers find their abour Monthly'. In his eyes, Churchill he main supporter for Hitler tive of anti-Nazism' all in the leader, as Minister of own Labour, instituting the legal prohibition of strikes. ... The "war for democracy" is in fact hastening at a lightning pace the process of fascization of all the countries of the capital- ist world insofar as they are drawn into the orbit of the : ('Labour Monthly', war. December, 1940.) Wal Hannington, veteran campaigner on behalf of the unemployed and also a leading AEU member, called at this time for militant class action against the employers and the government: 'The present class collabora- tion of labour and trade union officialdom is compelling the workers to make their own organized efforts to defend their conditions. The more the A delegation of Soviet union bureaucrats 1 Sir Walter Citrine (right). Stalinist class- Soviet entry into the war.

trade union leadership forsakes the class struggle, the more does the responsibility for leadership fall upon the shop stewards and factory commit- : ('Labour Monthly', tees... • February, 1941.) Lastly, _D. N. Pritt. He was Labour MP, then a but, as faithfully hewed the always, Kremlin line : 'There are some people in this country who believe that it is necessary for the working class to sacrifice everything to win the war and who have been misled by the speeches and appeals of those to whom sacrifices but war brings no rather , p. 155.) Pritt's 'some people' were soon joined by hiraself and the leadership of the British Com- munist Party. In the October ' Labour 1941 number of Monthly, an entirely different trade union strategy was un- folded: "The Shop Stewards will tackle production in the fol- lowing way: '1. Win the workers in every factory for maximum effort.

'2. Demand the right to play Joint Production Committees in every factory, with workers and management represented.

*3. Get the workers to work the maximum hours compatible with health and efficiency' (Walter Swanson, etc., etc. convenor, Napier's shop stew- ards.) This drastic reversal of policy from being among the keenest opponents of speed- up, overtime and strike bans to their most fanatical advo- required careful pre- cates, paration if the Stalinists were not to become totally isolated from the more militant wor- kers who had previously fol- lowed their lead. As it was, many workers left the Party after June 1941 as a result of its capitulation to the trade union right wing, the bosses and the government.

Commented Coun. Jack Owen in the September 1941 'Labour Monthly' : "The workers watch, pretty closely, the actions of the mili- and this gives us one tants, opportunity. I, myself, favour our own individual and steady increase of work-but quietly —not in the sense of "tearing things up": that will never do.

You know the name we have for that sort of individual in the shop. He is associated with price-cutting and we cannot eliminate that feeling towards him, even amongst ourselves, in the first five minutes. But a quiet going ahead will un- doubtedly have a marked effect for, such is the interest in the work of the Communist Party, and such is the influence of their members, that they all intentions, and know their steady application to them will carry weight. 'If the 600,000 members of the AEU alone were to put on a spurt, equivalent to an extra five minutes of work per hour, on a 60-hour week it would yield extra work to the equiva- lent of 47 fully-equipped fighter planes or three million aircraft "cannon" shells.

'If we start in this way, it does help to remove what is a the "left- danger fostered by ist" type of person, that is, to just criticize the management and refuse to do anything until the cause of the criticism has been removed. ... One stum- bling block to individual effort today is the fear that in going in this way we are in- ahead viting price cutting and also helping the boss to make more profit. •Now I know it is not easy for us to get used to this new situation clearly before us in the first few moments. But sit down in a quiet corner and "have a good think". Think the terrific power of over Hitler ... think of his threat to this country... • Not only were the Stalinists putting themselves forward as pace setters for the boss in the factories, it was posed to the working class purely in terms of the defence of Britain, and not the Soviet Union.

The

USSR

used to was justify the line only to Party members. For the workers as a class, the line was to sweat it out for the Empire. The anti-strike line of the Stalinists was particularly hated by the miners. Before June 1941, the CP had opposed the speed-up and line of the NUM anti-strike right wing: "They slogged away, day in, day out, without rest. Acci- on bureaucrats touring a British arms factory with TU • Stalinist class-collaboration in the factories reached dents increased as the pace became hotter. To ask for a rest was to be called a fifth columnist, holding up the national effort; to take a holi- day was a punishable crime.

... Ownership must be taken by the state with the participa- They tion of the miners... must fight against such ideas as that put forward by Mr W.

Lawther: "There is no question of two different sides in this industry today. • "Owners of pits, miners and officials are all on one side". Working miners know that the mineowners have not changed their spots.' ('Coal: A Policy'. CPGB, January 1941.)

'All on one side' was Stalin- ist mining policy with a vengeance once the 'Big Three' had given the green light for strike-breaking in Britain : •... we want to stress "combined of the urgency operations" by the govern-

PAGE THREE

ment, the coal owners and managements, the people and the miners jointly to assure that coal in abundance shall be obtained to carry out the defeat of fascism.' (Or as Mr W. Lawther put it: 'Owners of pits, miners and officials are all on one side'.) This new policy for the mines was spelt out at the 16th (1943) Congress of the CPGB by Pollitt. The same Congress also praised wartime anti-working-class legislation: Development of war-time legislation which, while placing restraints [!] on workers, has features, in- certain positive cluding the guaranteed week, enforcement of union rates, workers to appeal right of against dismissal, etc.' These words sound familiar -as indeed they are. The present Labour govern- ment has used the same smooth talk in trying to sell their an +- working-class policies to the working class. British Stalinism was already pursuing this line well before the election of the first major- Labour government in Another resolution approved Congress-on at the same wages--reveals a similar affin- ity with current right-wing TUC policy: *Congress believes that in framing their wage policy, the unions must take into account the consideration of the specific problems of a war economy' In other words, 'voluntary incomes restraint', the policy of Woodcock, Feather and company. But as we have said, it was in the mines that the Stalin- ists had their most bitter clashes with the working class.

The most disgusting and cynical statement of all was surely that made by the Stalin- ists on September 18, 1942, in a special resolution on pro- duction: 'Coal production in the in- by dustry can be increased regular working of all shifts available, eliminating all avoid- able absenteeism, continuation of work after fatal accidents, and the relaxation of over- time restrictions to ensure that all faces are cleared daily ..?

(Emphasis added.) Despite its truly formidable record of betrayal and class collaboration, this instruction to miners to ignore the death of their brothers, and to con- tinue working as if nothing had happened, is without doubt the most treacherous of British Stalinism's many counter-revolutionary deeds.

It undoubtedly earned it the undying hatred of many miners, and • class-conscious demoralized and confused thousands more. And what is equally to the point, it contributed nothing to the defence of the Soviet Union. development of The powerful working-class move- ment against Churchill would have proved to the advanced German workers that the British working class were not united behind the anti- German, imperialist war aims of their ruling class. The victory of the miners against the in the struggle coalowners would also have been a victory for the Ger- man working class, and, by the same token, a blow struck against Hitler's war on the Soviet Union. Stalinist strike - breaking helped to line the working class up behind Churchill, and provide the Nazi propaganda machine with the argument that all Britain was united in its hatred of Germany. not only The Stalinists strengthened Churchill and his class in Britain, they factory with TUC general secretary ictories reached its height after the helped the Nazis to overcome the class struggle within Ger- many, and thus weakened the Soviet Union in its struggle for survival against German imperialism. Counter - revolutionary in Britain, where it worked act- ively consciously to strengthen British imperialism, Stalinism played the same role on a world scale in the period of revolutionary following the break-up of the Axis Empire. As always, it was Kremlin diplomacy, flowing from the interests of the privileged that de- Soviet bureaucracy, political line termined the followed in Britain. Pollitt, and Gollan Dutt subordinated the British Com- munist Party to the anti- working-class strategy of the 'Big Three', never to the re- volutionary interests of the British working class.

Thursday, November 6, 1968

PAGE FOUR

POWER MEN

Scanlon Jones

MUST FIGHT

and the

LABOUR CUTS

Morning Star' MILITANT POWER station workers are to lobby By an Industrial correspondent pay talks between their union leaders and the Elec- Council tomorrow. tricity By John spencer

PLESSEY, WIGAN

The lobbyers expect to be backed up by 24-hour stoppages at a number of stations. Workers at Coleshill, Fulham and Hams Hall have already decided to strike.

Strikers want Several stations have inded the lower des fort le ale and in bain to over- responded to the protest

A.E.F.

unions. improving industrial Wilson' official support relations the trade since Jackere trying

RISES WON

reacher. do, their demands

• FROM PAGE ONE

In fact, of course, lower-paid керк, Опсе have bet dile cast bureaucratic told ments bel holiday ported volved. exuld week s WIGAN'S 1,200 Plessey strikers met yesterday to con- trade unionists more pay 1o1 sall-work. Дашу the in Shefield on Sunday. sider the next steps in tel gal or a sos. tell leaderships government to stop strikes.

Leaders ot the tour main union pay rise. The repot, yhie inevitably well power From a special correspondent sophead to intoda Wilson's Despite

WON'T ACT

Jones's moves from women said, helped to pre- Sche arded not sut pay 1s only one of th issues at stake here in- arrived position Ordeat of 1969, But Tone the Ford with its penal tnat unel weeK-ola suIKe a der a not pete p • Тos то крін General ties for stri This Where does Mr Jack Jones, is now completely sold forthcoming improving industrial rela Instead his enould to state fond it is tripeople ate unions efforts to the malamated. Sales up

ITALIAN STRIKES

Army backing Western bank led by To dies al workas he union chiets base thei the and raise The Elbour or by i a Wesser thre Wigan plants. for right-wing loan endangers Church hone a prone of Some 500 est years to return to

-THE POPE

oficial backing to the strike

TURNED DOWN

investments Chilean year's 5 per cent turned can anterne Yugoslavian Last More paid on the basis o- hit by Incomes tivity deal. productivity Should

SPEAKS

strike candidate Clyde economy cent. than fact it went up by more Wave somen, s. for instiles. Poltical Correspondent backing are vera one in to a veer.

By a forelon correspondon raise magent red to POPE PAUL took a hand in the class struggle on Monday when he spoke out against At Hams Hall, where a loca DANGERS FACING the Yugoslav economy the harmful effect the current Italian strike wave is having on those not directly Mons involved the land are highlighted by the announcement in Bonn Involved In tue dispules.

for B.P. demanding the closing- between Women's and on Monday of a new loan being floated by a The A station is the Ho iness be the is p bes. By Robert Black referring to the Vatican's consortium of western bankers Bristol recently acquired interest men Unprincipled The new the group, in Fiat? of sing chaos es council International Investment Ion leaders ers bargainthe

LOWEST

When the Lancia car firm Company LYDESIDE stewards of t Yugoslavia difficulties, into fitters reject Stewards claim that Plessey Yugoslav (IICY) is made up of ten on t toi Fixas known Yallall i Agnelli Yugoslav unprincipled banks, with a can Ils snares al bargaln • Prices, bonus scheme capital of three million approach.

FROM PAGE ONE

alstribulne inem une receiving Approval sought million A he for stair 20 or mis nishe tha clergy personal uDDer relations dollars. the ntemationa Grangemouth £65 crease without striper cent in sat Wigan use. ter Yes. Corp. New yugoslav embassy to In- Finance refinery site: It of fit's main motives fo Prom our own reporte When otives mine stand alisten sites york two mulion colars became Alfred various continental Euro- Agnellis desire supporting Firemen district organ. the 500 sacked follow emerged, regiment demand tan approval for ing the recent ilE some of it was Dean banks toul The and a 1C W all lavou Japanese had

BATTERY

the left, Parties

FROM PAGE ONE

bank (500,000 dollars). front against their wilack to and Comes Pope to drop the 'emed return to block th didate agree on a joint

DEAL

"slavest charter ald the consortium is said to be to hadlated trier, mate fine mee se neat. e socialist Allenited behin

TWO

mouth as they left the meet- foreign companies in Yugo No intention headquarters.) Communist patty play, slavia Callaghan — who was v into the announced cell battery subsi i reat were sad to se ttached in In each diary company strings the thr bas were worked sone ahead. One un- negotiating with the fire- sted 32nd and gth respec- Bers Dress also he years ago. Mostar and Titograd. Is going tO Logic with the Varch sol Reactionary colow could conceivably cover cerns. that only the FBU wo It is this agreement, This is exploitation ol Ted the Ae Flat worke es visit to Belgrad Corporation has ofte Шак sultants, On eve of salary talks workers press Productivity trap ahead for Labour of the Wazi Pearly after 1930 teachers By Mark Jenkins hist al treedom as subtle victory re- meeting etween be chiefs forms, neonomically switched to "deprived areas.

caucanon and Wilson admits

ORDER THE

In a tranparent Leachers unlon. sixtiform colle che plan for ducatina respondine one bea likely ove. en ten grans none what 3 that he 1944 Educatio E.E.G. T00d une cam lor a rlso-a-yea

DAILY

interim salary increase. abolition penditure y comes a call for more Dro- in N.Z. price rise and "cost eftec & higher t went nation's neelanced against the in education. By 1969

NOW

ent of the ON! was a skimphasis on knowledge By a polltical correspondent had the right to s election they al anteded on soul. Unless the wealth of th what cang ration simply 11101 саллої expec achieved entry. "Council for Education

WITH

Zealand's ld dissuade Iceberg tip Election OR al Advance'. eneraber for three Et for three month! within the subjects there would b ee the nation" need largely National (Tory) Party is be Laziness I would like to subscribe to Workers' Press for Sining the Marret tentative proposal the the Savour Party under willian's Calcisco three o this forgiven if Teachers. can *in amencost of food i inter laziness a tackies of death of • To the their leadersn or Norman NIk educationyices for the a House of Repre million a year and seats to gain to ma Shat flamers Name teachers she must Constant Cuts Address. cuts of the Wilsor deal on the interim salar His most relevant i am arks he British Published leaders shabby Cop ham Clanster, Corn, sir. r: 0192020809 for effectiveness montes arter Hoped productivity education needed in Prime Minister Tories Holyake. really