08.11.2001

CPGB aggregate

Politics of growth

An aggregate of CPGB members, held on Saturday November 3 in central London, debated the two key questions currently facing the working class movement: the imperialist war and the moves towards unity in the Socialist Alliance.

In the morning session comrade Tina Becker opened a debate on the war in Afghanistan and the response of the left. She said it was an atypical war. There are no clear war aims. It is not about expanding the markets or gaining access to raw materials. During this phase of capitalist development capital has few problems in obtaining necessary raw materials and little interest in exporting production to the so-called ?third world?. Most trade and most foreign investment is between the North America-EU-Japan metropoles of finance capital. Furthermore, with the Tory opposition in crisis, Blair has no need to turn to war in order to boost his popularity, as Thatcher did in the Falklands in 1982. The primary purpose of the war is political - to force a recalcitrant regime into obedience, to reinforce US world hegemony.

For the ruling class in Britain and the US there are potential negative effects of the war, said comrade Becker. Bombing one of the poorest countries in the world is unpopular in Britain and Europe. A strong anti-war movement could turn the tide at home.

Comrade Becker reiterated her view that the SWP-dominated leadership of the anti-war movement is mistaken in claiming that people neither want nor need to augment the ?stop the war? message. People - at work, in the pubs, at home - are debating the politics of the war and seeking alternative responses to the atrocities of September 11. Just saying ?no? is not enough. We in the CPGB want the broadest and most principled anti-war movement. That means more than securing the backing of a few reactionary mullahs. We must win the mass - trade unions, women, anticapitalist youth, christians, muslims, Jews and nonbelievers. Far from weakening or lessening that mass, politics actually is necessary to build it into a force that can have an impact on society. It is with this in mind that the CPGB wants the anti-war movement to oppose islamic fundamentalism and bin Laden?s terrorism. At the same time the Socialist Alliance must take a lead and bring forward the programme of socialism. 

Comrade Becker criticised the SWP leadership for its refusal to condemn the ultra-reactionary politics of the Taliban regime. She said if you insist on only criticising one side in a conflict, it will naturally be assumed that you support the other side. But there is no need to choose between support for the Taliban and support for imperialism. There is independent working class politics. Comrade Becker criticised the SWP for tailing pacifism and islam, and its failure to distinguish between the people of Afghanistan and the regime that oppresses them.

However, despite our criticisms of the Stop the War Coalition, and the undemocratic way the CPGB was excluded from participation in the leadership, comrade Becker insisted that the Party will remain fully involved.

Some comrades disagreed with comrade Becker?s analysis that imperialism has no economic motivation for making war on Afghanistan, pointing to the proposed oil pipeline to be run through the country. It was, after all, US oil interests that helped to finance George W Bush and his father before him.

Several speakers in the debate emphasised the need to ruthlessly criticise the deceitfulness and opportunism of the SWP, as displayed at the October 28 Stop the War meeting, and some warned that the behaviour of the SWP provided a foretaste of what we can expect after the Socialist Alliance December 1 conference.

After lunch comrade John Bridge spoke about the submissions for the conference. Two questions were highlighted. First, programme. He described the SWP?s ?aims? as sentimental or ethical socialism. Secondly, leadership. He also criticised the national council proposed by the SWP, which would set up a dual power constitution and a potential conflict between this body and the executive committee.

The SWP has failed to act as a responsible leadership of the Socialist Alliance. It has not built on the success of the general election; there has been a growth of national membership but branch activity is declining. Comrade Bridge said that independent Socialist Alliance members were unhappy with the lack of dynamism shown by the SWP, in particular the lack of a paper and the poor response to the events of September 11. Comrade Bridge hoped that an alternative leadership, a pro-party bloc, would emerge from the December 1 conference.

The aggregate concluded with a brief report from national organiser Mark Fischer. The circulation of the Weekly Worker is growing, but the increase in electronic readership is even faster. About 600 people visit the Party website every day, mostly young people who use the internet to seek political answers. For these people especially, communism is no longer associated with the Soviet Union, but with the ideas of Marx and Lenin, and modern technology makes it easier for them to get hold of communist ideas. An average of one person per day enquiries about Party membership. The potential for continued growth is therefore good, but comrade Fisher criticised some elements in the Party for having a passive and amateurish attitude to contacts and recruitment.

Comrade Fischer described the continuing difficulty of organising recruits. The existence of Socialist Alliance branches around the country provides the opportunity for these comrades to operate in a political environment and learn to become effective working class politicians. There is no contradiction between building the CPGB and building a future Socialist Alliance party. Comrades supporting the Socialist Alliance project tend to slowly gravitate towards the CPGB because we advocate what the project, and the class, needs to move forward.

Political education is crucial in the development of cadre, and comrade Fischer urged members outside London to make more effort to organise their own seminars and to come to events such as central Party schools and the annual Communist University.

Mary Godwin