04.06.1998

Rapprochement

Party notes

Uncharacteristically last week our friend and comrade David Craig went into print with a rather ill-considered article (‘Rapprochement stalled’ Weekly Worker May 28 1998). It was not comrade Craig’s taunting of various small Trotskyite groups who doggedly refuse to join or even deal with our process of organisational and political convergence that concerned me. There is nothing to disagree with him on here. The fact that the likes of the Marxist Bulletin and the Socialist Democracy Group are unable or unwilling to debate with us is a sure sign of dishonesty, cowardice and paralysis.

No, what is objectionable in comrade Craig’s article is how it deals with relations between the Communist Party and the Revolutionary Democratic Group. In particular the attitude towards and claims for those individuals who some time ago resigned their CPGB membership. Let me deal with comrade Craig’s errors.

He begins with the almost triumphal statement that the Revolutionary Democratic Communist Tendency - established by the CPGB and the RDG at the beginning of the year – has now “three autonomous groups”. He is referring to what he calls the “Dundee Group within the Scottish Socialist Alliance”. Its “confirmed support” for our tendency is greeted as a “boost” for rapprochement.

Unfortunately the CPGB is unaware of a ‘Dundee Group’. First news of its existence came in comrade Craig’s article. As to its programme, principles, methods of organisation and immediate aims, there is mystery. Presumably the ‘Dundee Group’ consists of those in Scotland who deserted the CPGB citing personal burn-out and sub-political trivia. If that is the case – and it is – there is cause for concern on a number of counts.

The CPGB and the RDG agreed from the start that no other organisation would be eligible to join our tendency without the express agreement of both partners. There has been no agreement. Nor has there been discussion between our representatives about whether or not to allow the ‘Dundee Group’ to join us. Hence there remain two, not three “autonomous groups” in the tendency. Comrade Craig should recount, retract and rethink.

Resigning - either from the CPGB or the RDG – does not de facto mean one retains standing with regard to our tendency. It consists of organisations, not individuals. No one, no matter how well intentioned, neither Jack Conrad nor Dave Craig, can arbitrarily alter that. If those who lightly give up their CPGB responsibilities and duties go on to form themselves into an independent organisation, that is their business. But if they wish to join the rapprochement process and have rights within our tendency, we are obliged to assess them politically.

Frankly our so-called ‘Dundee Group’ violated elementary communist principles in their manner of departure from the CPGB. Furthermore towards the end of their time with us they displayed a marked right liquidationist orientation. It would take a great deal of persuading before the CPGB gave them rights within our tendency. They would have to convince us that they had changed and were genuinely committed to communist unity. Incidentally, comrade Craig, that not only means “unity with the RDG”, but unity with the CPGB.

Comrade Craig makes several references to “the crisis within the CPGB”. Later he uses the equally charged phrase, “split”. ‘Crisis’ is a very broad term of course. Certainly over the recent period the work of reforging the CPGB has suffered what I would call a setback. There have been a rash of resignations, including that of the former editor of the Weekly Worker. None of that has been hidden. Yet despite the ‘setback’ or ‘crisis’ the circulation of our press continues to grow and our leading body of cadre remains intact. So whether the term ‘setback’ or ‘crisis’ is the appropriate term to describe the present state of our organisation can be left for the future to decide. Either way there was no split.

A split implies a faction fight, political platforms and a disciplined schism (usually around a vital programmatic question). Nothing of the kind took place. Our resignations marked a headlong flight from communist politics and a scattering to the four winds. In print I challenged the ‘dissidents’ to form a faction. They declined. Evidently the quiet life was preferable to serious struggle. That regrettable course, as comrade Craig emphasises, was related or brought to a head by the stresses and strains that accompanied the boycott campaign we ran in Scotland against Blair’s September 11 1997 rigged referendum. But elevating political and moral collapse to the level of a split is wrong.

Equally wrong is comrade Craig’s claim that there exists a “big hole in the policy of ‘openness’” (note - the RDG is still to be won in practice to openness: its internal differences have to be guessed at). It is true that the Weekly Worker has yet to publish the resignation letter of Mary Ward and Nick Clarke. But, as he should know, our intention is to leave the matter in their hands. Because we do not want to further sour things or deepen divisions our national organiser has drafted a private reply. We will publish the lot if comrades Ward and Clarke give the go-ahead.

The CPGB welcomes comrade Craig’s intervention in what he describes as our “internal affairs”. He and his comrades have an open invitation to, and speaking rights at, our membership aggregates for example. This we do in order to further the process of rapprochement, which is as much about differentiation as convergence. Rapprochement is not a mutual non-aggression pact. It definitely should not involve adopting some equidistant position between the CPGB’s Provisional Central Committee and ‘dissidents’ in the name of avoiding serious “damage”. We seek to fully inform and involve our RDG comrades precisely so that they can take sides – for Leninism and against right liquidationism.

Rapprochement will not go forward by waiting for, let alone flattering those who have fled the field of battle. That fatal course allows the politically backward, the disillusioned, the cynical to set our agenda. No, the best way of encouraging people back and crucially bringing forth new, healthy forces is moving things to a higher plane. That means uniting members of CPGB and the RDG into one democratic centralist organisation at the earliest possible opportunity.

Jack Conrad