12.09.1996

Indecent call

Around the left

As we have commented many times before, the left in this country suffers from timidity and a lack of vision. Boldness and courage can be everything in politics - humbleness and ‘moderation’ can spell disaster. History is littered with examples which prove this to be the case.

An explanation for the left’s heads-down approach can be found in its relationship to the Labour Party (and Labourism) and the trade union bureaucracy. Decades of immersion in union machinations and of living under the shadow of the Labour Party have left some unable to fight for what our class really needs. This week’s TUC conference only helps to confirm this.

The Socialist Workers Party is a living embodiment of this conservatism, despite the fact that it believes in ‘revolution not reform’. A headline in the latest issue of Socialist Worker proclaims, “Maximum push for a decent minimum” (September 7). Sounds fine. However, this “maximum push” means meekly backing the Unison motion committing the TUC to £4.26 an hour minimum wage, a scandalously low figure which would leave workers in poverty. Yet Socialist Worker blithely states, “A minimum wage, set at a decent level, would begin to tackle the scandal of poverty pay.” Yes, maybe, but £4.26 is not a “decent level”.

For Socialist Worker, it seems, £4.26 is OK because it represents a less indecent level. As it explains: “Only one worker in ten would gain from a minimum wage of just £3 an hour. A minimum of £3.50 would help one worker in six. A massive one in four would benefit from a minimum of £4.26 an hour” (my emphasis). Even if that was true, what a low aspiration for a revolutionary party.

Militant appears to be bolder, declaring: “Fight for £6 an hour minimum wage” (September 6). However, this is only an ‘ideal’ and when it comes down to it “a minimum wage of £4.26 an hour will be a major step forward in eliminating low pay”. Militant wants a “national minimum wage to be implemented immediately by an incoming Labour government - but at what rate?

Then there is always Socialist Outlook. It cannot understand why John Monks is so loyal to Tony Blair and in turn why Tony Blair is behaving like a Tory. It points out that a TUC poll “showed how Blair and co could gain support by a more radical stand rather than their line of refusing to support workers in struggle such as those in the post and on the rail” (September 7).

It is kind of Socialist Outlook to give advice to Blair - but unnecessary. He knows exactly what he is doing, as 10 Downing Street beckons

Don Preston