10.02.2000

CPGB aggregate

Rapprochement - one step forward

The aggregate of CPGB members held on February 6 debated two subjects: the London Socialist Alliance, and the relationship of our organisation with the Alliance for Workers' Liberty. Both discussions were concerned in different ways with the task of strengthening the left by overcoming the organisational divisions between socialists and communists, and crucially by disseminating as widely as possible the political ideas of working class independence and a democratic centralist Communist Party.

Comrade Jack Conrad submitted the following motion: "This aggregate of CPGB members agrees that the Provisional Central Committee appoint representatives to begin discussions with representatives of the AWL. It is also agreed that we explore the possibility of holding a joint school in the spring around the Party question."

Comrade Conrad explained the background to the motion. In the past the AWL and the CPGB found themselves bitterly opposed over many key questions: the USSR, Ireland, Scotland, the SLP, lesser evilism, the Labour Party, etc. CPGB speakers were sometimes invited to AWL meetings simply in order to set them up for attack rather than to engage with our ideas. But recently there has been something of a rapprochement. Leading AWL members took part in the last two Communist Universities, and Sean Matgamna spoke at the CPGB weekend school on the national question in the British Isles in November 1999. Following this, AWL and CPGB comrades had an informal meeting last month. Comrade Mark Fischer's account of the meeting was circulated at the aggregate. It had also been sent to the AWL leadership for confirmation of the agreed points.

These were that: there was sufficient common ground between the two groups to justify a series of structured discussions, limited initially to delegated teams from the two leaderships; that agreed minutes would be produced of the exchanges which each group would be entitled to use as it sees fit; and that the subjects discussed could subsequently be developed and expanded on in joint educational schools and/or polemical articles. Comrade Conrad's motion was designed to seek the agreement of CPGB members for the PCC to go ahead along these lines.

Comrade Conrad acknowledged that some comrades have expressed concern about the way the CPGB world view, and especially his own writings on the USSR and Ireland, seem to have moved towards those of the AWL. In fact in the process of political convergence the AWL has changed too. In May 1997 the AWL wildly celebrated Labour's election victory. Like other auto-Labourites it hoped for a "crisis of expectations". Now that it is glaringly obvious that this was an illusion, such comrades have been forced to re-evaluate. Today the AWL is working enthusiastically in the LSA alongside others who are also now willing to challenge Labourism in the ballot box, most notably the SWP.

Unlike most groups on the left, the AWL has a relatively open culture and democratic internal party life. Although we still have differences with the AWL over many questions - including the Labour Party, republicanism, Scottish and Welsh self-determination, Ireland - comrade Conrad argued that exploratory talks between the two leaderships and a joint school would be more than useful.

The debate produced general agreement. Comrades described how in various parts of the country the former uneven relationship between the CPGB and the AWL has improved, with cooperation in practical work enhanced by constructive debates between the two organisations. But many comrades had reservations about pushing rapprochement too far, too quickly. Concerns were expressed about the AWL's "softness" on Nato and its virulent anti-Sovietism which often seemed to dovetail with that of imperialism. Doubts were also voiced about the motives of the AWL leadership, which, it was claimed, has a history of manipulative unity-mongering of other groups within the Labourite entryist milieu. Perhaps, some comrades remarked, it is seeking to extend these activities into the extra-Labour Party left, hoping to snap up a few cadres from the CPGB.

However, in general it was felt that discussions with the AWL ought to be extended, would be worthwhile and would have an impact throughout the left. Members voted unanimously in favour of the motion. This did not mean of course that there would be any 'moratorium' on criticism.

The other main item on the agenda was a discussion of our work in the London Socialist Alliance and its project of standing candidates in the GLA elections in May. Comrade Marcus Larsen described the processes which led to the formation of the LSA. Eight years ago, when most of the left automatically called for a vote for Labour, our comrades theorised the strategy of standing in elections as a way to engage with and organise an atomised and demoralised working class.

When the "crisis of expectations" failed to materialise after 1997 - as comrade Larsen said, the expectation was actually confined to the left - some groups began to take tentative steps away from auto-Labourism. There is a definite political space to the left of the Labour Party which the LSA can hope to claim.

Last year, as readers will remember, the LSA election project collapsed in the face of Arthur Scargill and his pathetic SLP. This year the SWP seems determined to carry it through, believing that a large vote for the LSA will enable it to reposition itself, free from its former symbiotic relationship with Labourism. However, the situation is still fluid, especially while Ken Livingstone's intentions remain unclear.

London-based CPGB members are active in local socialist alliances, and some reported on their experiences. Comrades complained that the LSA programme is reformist and economistic, and discussed the best ways to constructively introduce political questions: the nature of socialism, democracy, self-determination, a federal republic, proletarian anti-racism, etc.

Our strength is political rather than numerical - we have one of the best papers on the left and its honesty is respected, even by opponents. We must use this opportunity to hammer home the message of Partyism - the need to build a single, democratic centralist party. Success for the LSA would point the way to the possibility of transforming working class politics throughout Britain.