Letters

Griffin flit

The political world in Manchester is fairly small, so it was intriguing to hear on the grapevine that Phil Griffin, the Socialist Labour Party’s North West organiser responsible for disbanding the Greater Manchester branch, has done a flit.

Apparently on his month long summer vacation, of which he informed no one, but just disappeared into the apolitical ether, he found love. And true to style, while many SLP comrades await urgent replies and information, he has uprooted and moved to Greece.

Of course Griffin will not be missed by any right-minded democrat, but further news suggests that before he becomes too comfortable in his new nest, a court order could call him home to sunny Manchester: Stockport CSLP, and the notorious Royston Bull, has again raised its head in a case over allegedly unpaid money and slanderous allegations.

Peter Kay
Manchester

One fight?

Enclosed is a copy of a leaflet which, according to a report given by a Socialist Outlook member to the steering committee of the Greater Manchester Socialist Alliance, was distributed at the door of a Campaign Group public meeting in Manchester on September 11. One of the leafletters was Trevor Wongsam of Gorton CSLP - a supporter of the Fourth International Supporters Caucus.

I doubt very much whether comrade Wongsam would be agreeable to giving an interview to the Weekly Worker on the prospects for SLP/labour left “work together”. If he can be drawn out in any other way, we will attempt to do this and let you know the results.

“The Socialist Labour Party was set up on May 1 1996. Many in New Labour and the unions said, ‘Wait until after the election.’ Now the Tories are gone: down and defeated. We all know that change is desperately needed. And now the way is clear for a really radical government.

But so far the New Labour government has lived up to its promise to do nothing to challenge inequality, privatisation, unemployment and the ‘fat cats’. Blair’s watchword in society is no change.

The opposite is true inside the Labour Party. Blair’s party ‘reforms’ now amount to the most dramatic change that the Labour Party has faced since its foundation. If Blair succeeds with this agenda the result will be catastrophic for the working class movement.

The internal struggle in New Labour at the moment is of key importance in this fight. Socialist Labour gives full support to socialists in the Labour Party. The question is, for how long can this carry on being worthwhile?

Every socialist and trade unionist will need to decide: do we believe that the internal battle in New Labour can win the party to the working class? Is New Labour capable of being turned round, or has it gone too far down the SDP road for this to be possible? Do we start building up a mass, democratic new party of labour?

Waiting for a battle to be launched from elsewhere in the movement is not an answer. If we are not prepared to take a political lead, why should we expect others to take on the government or the employers?

In our view rebuilding a socialist, democratic mass labour party is an answer. Building up a viable alternative to Blair is the surest way to encourage all to challenge the status quo. The situation facing each of us is the same. The election is over. Blair is carrying out his promise to defend the market at any cost. The pace of destruction of the old Labour Party is accelerating.

Disagreement over the initial timing of Socialist Labour is becoming irrelevant. What is important is that we work together and plan for the future.”

John Pearson
North-west CDSLP

AFA picket

On Sunday October 51997, over 100 people, including delegates from 20 different anti-fascist organisations from Europe and North America picketed the Camden Irish Centre in London.

The picket was in protest at a decision by the management committee to ban an anti-fascist conference, rally and gig that had been planned to take place in the centre that weekend.

A delegate to the conference from AFA, Dublin, Brian Glennon, addressed the picket. He reminded people that

“it is particularly ironic that it was not too long ago that the sign, ‘no blacks, no dogs, no Irish’, was commonplace in the windows of B and Bs in London. Given that the Irish delegation to the conference was to inform delegates of the first significant rise in racism in Ireland itself, that they found themselves banned by a London Irish Centre.”

The management of the Irish Centre were invited to explain their decision to those present. They refused.Later that day the rally took place in the Halkevi, a Kurdish community centre. The chairperson explained that when approached at short notice for the use of their centre, the management’s attitude was, “Of course. We are anti-fascists too”.

The conference also went ahead with facilities being provided at short notice by members of the Black, Kurdish and Irish communities; and laid the basis for the first International Network of Militant Anti-Fascists.

Anti Fascist Action
London

‘Anti-war International’

Eighty years have passed since the historic first proletarian revolution was realised by the working people in Russia under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky. However, among those who claim themselves to be leftwing, how many of them are now fighting to inherit and revive the great spirit of the Russian Revolution?

In devastated Russia of today, those who call themselves ‘communists’ are preparing to commemorate the 80th anniversary but most are doing it only to revive a Stalinist-affected ‘spirit of the revolution’.

And in capitalist countries it is rare to simply find a party that names itself a ‘communist party’ and holds up the banner of ‘Marxism-Leninism’. Stalinist parties in these countries have converted themselves, almost with no exception, into purely social democratic ones.

On the other hand, what of the organisations that are supposed to have waged resolute struggles against Stalinist parties, including Trotskyist parties (ie, Usec sections without Mandel) and other militant left factions? They have mostly buried and soaked themselves in various movements for ‘left-democratic alternatives’, and interpenetrated with social democratic-converted Stalinists or activists for the environment, human rights, feminism, etc.

In this miserable situation of the international movement for proletarian liberation, we, the Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist faction) are the only ones in Japan that have been struggling for inheritance of the true spirit of the Russian Revolution. Only the JRCL, together with revolutionary workers and students led by it, have been struggling against the drastic strengthening of the US-Japan military alliance and the storm of neo-fascist reaction.

On the basis of our strategy for world revolution - the JRCL is organising struggle against the barbaric offensive onto the working people launched by imperialism and Stalinism, and, through this, striving to create the revolutionary vanguard party based on genuine Marxism-Leninism.

Every government is now pushing deregulation policies in order to revitalise monopoly capital. Not only conservative governments (ie, in Japan) but also most social-democratic (or Labour) governments in Europe are enforcing deregulation and privatisation. That is why workers’ struggles against sackings and deregulation are burning and spreading throughout the world, as seen in the strikes of Renault workers in Belgium, of Liverpool dockers in Britain, and of the UPS Teamsters union in the US.

At the end of the 20th century, the proletariat exists in a newly emerging misery and alienation that is a completely different phenomenon from that in the age of Marx or Lenin. This regrettable reality of the proletariat today, however, is nothing but an inevitable consequence of the stark fact that the spirit of the Russian proletarian revolution in 1917 was choked by the Stalinist distortion of revolutionary Russia and the international communist movement, and smothered again by the self-destruction of Stalinism and its social democratic conversion.

Now we must be based anew on Lenin’s and Trotsky’s thoughts, and those of Marx himself, and create the revolutionary vanguard party based on genuine Marxism-Leninism, and a new International under the banner of ‘anti-imperialism, anti-Stalinism’.

We appeal to all on the revolutionary left wing in the world: we must inherit the revolutionary tradition of the First International led by Marx, the Third by Lenin, and the Fourth by Trotsky, but, at the same time, fight ‘here and now’ to transcend them and create a new International.

It goes without saying that this new International cannot be created in a vacuum. In particular we, we the JRCL, voice loudly our view that, in the face of the critical situation of the present world, international anti-war struggles should be advanced in cooperation among revolutionary lefts in the world with the intention of creating an ‘anti-war International’.

Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist faction)
Japan

Lost support

As you may recall, I recently became a supporter of the CPGB. I did so because I thought and hoped (rather naively perhaps) that it had abandoned outdated concepts like ‘democratic’ centralism and violent revolution. In short, I hoped that the CPGB had joined the 1990s.

My recent book order confirmed my naiveté. Therefore I have decided to withdraw my support from the CPGB.

Your party only offers a cocktail of intolerance, violence and ill thought out ideas. The books contain a stream of venom against unknown or defunct political groups. Not one passage in any of the books offers a serious and positive view of society or how it could be changed - only endless quotations from 19th century thinkers. From October to August misses out one fundamental reason for the collapse of the USSR: namely, that the people wanted the dignity of freedom and to be able to call their leaders to account - a process begun by Mr Gorbachev, a man who, according to Jack Conrad, should be treated to “a single bullet” for his pains. Such comments are offensive. Does this imply that the CPGB will shoot anyone who does not share its outlook?

In the eyes of the CPGB then, I am an opportunist or reformist. I believe that through peace and reform we can achieve a better society. Revolution will only bring chaos and will ultimately worsen the condition of those it seeks to serve. According to Lassalle (who?), on the back of the supporter’s card, the “Party becomes stronger by purging itself”. I readily purge myself from the CPGB, but somehow I doubt that it will grow stronger.

Aaron Ison
East Sussex