23.04.1998

Strengthening the cause

Party notes

The April aggregate of Communist Party members devoted the major part of its agenda to discussion on the recent resignations from our organisation. Anger and disappointment was expressed by comrades at the harm that has been done to our project in the short term - particularly in Scotland where the resignations of two key comrades has given strength and legitimacy to the forces of nationalism in SML and the SSA. However, there was no feeling of personal acrimony. The mood of the meeting was an honest and combative one, determined to deal with the situation in a positive way.

Comrades spoke about recognising the pressures - internal and external - we are all under. We are in a period of reaction which has lasted some considerable time. The working class does not exist in any self-acting political sense, and the left on the whole is paralysed by a lack of political courage and fear provoked by the collapse of social democracy (old Labour). What is important about our organisation is the fact that we have fought and continue to fight ruthlessly for open ideological struggle in the tradition of the Bolsheviks. That we are committed to a socialism of the majority, where the self-emancipation of the working class implies continuous struggle - not privileges for ‘great leaders’. That we have exceptional confidence in our ideas. But neither this nor the fact that we have consistently warned about the danger of this period leaves us immune. Because we are waging a conscious struggle, going against the tide of reaction, pain and crisis - both political and personal - is a natural consequence.

But crisis can be positive. It is essential for change - all of us as political personalities have been made through crises. Through facing fears and overcoming them. Through fighting to carry out difficult decisions. Through striving for theory.

The meeting sympathised with and understood in a very genuine way the individual crises which led to the comrades’ resignations. We know very profoundly just how difficult it can be. We all have our own experiences. Not to have crises is impossible, but overcoming them positively can certainly be achieved. Evidently the comrades who left resolved their crisis in a very negative way - one that can in no way seriously be said to have advanced the cause of communism and human liberation, which by definition requires the unity of the highest level of theory with organised practice. They left the project into which they put many years of commitment for no good political reason. It was political collapse.

We as an organisation can learn a lot about ourselves in this process, but not by anything those comrades will tell us, at least not at this point in time. Their need to find some kind of self-justification has led, at least with two key former members in Scotland, into political purdah. It is impossible to treat criticisms as honest when those making them are, according to their own admission, determined not to be convinced, when they are determined not to enter any form of genuine dialogue and debate.

It is not that we deny that there are many things that need changing. Which political organisation is entirely without its problems and never makes mistakes? Neither does it mean that we simply accept our shortcomings passively. No, we need to continue the fight. But inside the organisation, as part of the CPGB project, not by walking away. What does that imply for the rest of us? Should we all do the same? That is the implicit message sent out by our former members.

A discussion was had on the meaning of ‘political hardness’. The general attitude was that we need to overcome the idea that to be ‘hard’ is to be macho and unfeeling. Yes, we have to be tough and combative. But that means developing ourselves as communist personalities - from the raw material that we ourselves possess as individuals. Repression of our individual personalities leads to burnout and a feeling that being a communist is life-denying. It was recognised that we need to develop ourselves and our organisation in a more fully rounded way. We discussed various avenues, which would draw others in around us. It was agreed that these questions are not in any way trivial, but are an important part of building an organisation and steeling ourselves against the slings and arrows of this period.

Comrades left the meeting feeling greatly strengthened by the forthright and thought-provoking discussion. The development of the communist character is tremendously important, not just to us, but to the whole movement. Backing away from struggle weakens not only the cause, but ourselves. Fighting for political hardness - by fighting to be fully human - strengthens the cause and the individual.

Anne Murphy