04.10.2012

TUSC: For a new, united socialist party

Nick Wrack and Will McMahon plead with the SWP and SPEW to take Tusc seriously

The ruling class is waging a vicious war against the working class. The profit system is in its most serious crisis since the 1930s and this government is determined to defend both the system and those who benefit from it at the expense of everyone else.

This is not just a national crisis, but an international one. The euro crisis shows the depth of the crisis, with Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain showing the economic fault lines in sharpest relief. But no country, not even Germany, can escape. Unelected ‘technocratic’ governments, as we have seen in Greece and Italy, make a mockery of ‘democracy’. Bailouts are awarded only if massive cuts in government spending are implemented.

Across the world, the same policies are enforced both by governments of the right and those that claim to be of the left: austerity for billions, but billions for the few.

Trillions of pounds of public money have been poured into the world economy in a desperate attempt to stabilise the economy and save capitalism. It is ordinary people who are being made to pay. Meanwhile, the super-rich owners of capital wallow in their obscene wealth, created by the work of those who are now suffering.

Individual capitalists and companies are sitting on a huge stockpile of money, which they refuse to invest because they cannot obtain the profits they want. They are hoarding this money, waiting for better prospects, or squandering it on a luxury lifestyle that is a million miles removed from the day-to-day existence of mere mortals. The private ownership of the means of production by this tiny class is a complete obstacle to tackling the urgent issues of living standards, debt, unemployment, housing, health, education, leisure time, as well as the developing ecological crisis.

The political and economic policies of austerity are designed to create the conditions for an increase in profitability - public sector cuts in jobs and pay, increasing unemployment as a means to drive down wages and pensions, smashing open the public sector to private investment, forcing the unemployed and disabled to work for poverty pay by cutting benefits.

The most vulnerable are swept to the side, but even those in work fare little better. Almost seven million adults in Britain are just one bill away from penury, despite being in work and not dependent on benefits. All the past gains won by struggle are being smashed before our eyes. The health service and education have been opened up to the market, where decisions are made according to profit, not need.

Most of those who consider themselves middle class are finding their standards of living, job security and pensions evaporating. In reality, this section is just a slightly better-off sector of the working class. A university education can now only be obtained at the cost of accumulated debt of £40,000-£50,000. Young people cannot afford to buy a home, while their housing benefit is cut or removed.

Workers’ interests

Despite all this and more, we have no party in Britain that even begins to address these issues. There is no party that champions the interests of the working class against the opposite interests of the bosses.

Instead of seeing the market and the profit system as the cause of the crisis, all the parties believe that only the market can resolve the crisis. This includes Labour. Ed Miliband and Ed Balls support cuts, but say they should be implemented more slowly. They both support a public sector pay freeze. Labour supports the cuts in pensions and an increase in fees for university. It supports privatisation. In government Labour maintained the anti-union laws, which hinder trade union action in defence of jobs, pay and conditions.

Instead of siding with those under attack, Labour plays the role of a false friend, feigning sympathy, while doing everything to ensure that austerity goes ahead. In short, Labour supports austerity just as much as the Tories and Liberal Democrats. A cut is a cut is a cut, no matter who implements it.

We urgently need a new party that will fight against austerity. Any party that seeks to win the support of the working class must have one basic principle: it must never make things worse for the working class. It must reject completely the austerity agenda that intends to place the burden of the crisis on the working class. This means that a new party has to refuse to vote for cuts in jobs, pay or pensions. It must refuse to make working class people pay more for services by increased taxes, rents or other charges.

A new party, therefore, has to be resolutely committed to defending the interests of the working class. It must fight alongside all those who seek to resist austerity - defending jobs, pay, pensions and services. That means supporting workers who take strike action, supporting communities who occupy to prevent library closures and students who protest against the increasing cost of education.

Resistance is essential. But it is not enough. Any party that seeks to represent the working class must not only be determined in defending what has been achieved in the past: it must also show how society could be different and fight to make it so. This means arguing for an end of the profit system - capitalism - and for its replacement by a completely different system, one based on common ownership of the means of production, with investment being decided democratically in the interests of all.

With the capitalist class squatting on its vast wealth and holding back the development of society, there can be no justification for austerity. And with the replacement of the profit system and the private ownership of the world’s resources, production could be planned rationally to meet the needs of everyone, when talk of austerity would disappear.

Ed Miliband’s call for a ‘better’ or ‘fairer’ capitalism is nonsense. Capitalism cannot be made to work in the interests of those it exploits. Even some on the left look to the economic ideas of Keynes, which attempt to make capitalism work better, for solutions. We need something much more fundamental.

So long as we have private ownership of industry and services, transport and finance, land and the mineral resources within it, there will always be a struggle between those who labour and produce and those who own and profit. There can be no end to unemployment and the constant battle over wages, no ready access to services or confidence in a secure future in old age, so long as we have capitalism. The profit system will allow nothing to stand in its way. If we want to achieve a society in which this constant strife is left behind, then we have to leave capitalism itself behind.

A new party, then, must set itself an ultimate goal: a breach or rupture with the present system and the establishment of a socialist society, based on the common, democratic ownership of the world’s resources. The struggles of today must be linked with that longer-term objective of changing the very nature of present society.

We are now a long way off from such a party. The left in Britain is fragmented, divided and mistrustful of each other. This will not be easily overcome. But every section of the left must have a sense of proportion and a sense of perspective. Divided and antagonistic, we are much weakened. There has to be a serious commitment from all to attempt to unite.

There are millions of potential supporters for a new party that sets out its stall in the way described. Every day a million people ponder how things can improve; a million conversations discuss what can be done.

There are tens of thousands who would broadly describe themselves as socialist. They are not presently members of any particular party or group. But they might be persuaded to join a party in which they had a say and in which they could participate. The same is true of many thousands of trade union members who would gravitate towards a new party that was seen to identify with their class interests.

There are many thousands of young people - students, workers and unemployed - who have already concluded that this system needs to be replaced. Many have turned their backs on the established parties. Along with millions who no longer vote, they have concluded that all parties and politicians are essentially the same - self-interested, careerist and corrupt.

Socialists must show themselves to be different. We must reach out and engage these layers in debate and discussion about how change can happen. All those who believe that the effects of capitalism must be opposed should unite to resist them. All those who believe that capitalism has to be replaced with a system based on common ownership and democratic planning should unite to fight for that.

A new party would have to set itself the objective of persuading the majority of people that capitalism is the problem and that it must be replaced with socialism. It would have to explain why this is so and how it could be achieved. Any systemic change is impossible without having achieved this. But we are a long way from that. A start must be made. It cannot constantly be postponed.

Step forward

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition is an important step in the right direction. It has the support of the RMT, one of the most militant unions in Britain, representing some 90,000 members. It brings together the two biggest socialist organisations in Britain today - the Socialist Workers Party and the Socialist Party - in limited joint work around elections. It also incorporates the Independent Socialist Network, which aims to bring together those independent socialists who want to build a new, united socialist party. The Tusc steering committee is made up of representatives of those four organisations - RMT, SWP, SP and ISN - and some prominent individual trade unionists.

At the local elections in May 2012, Tusc candidates outside of London polled an average of 6.2% - not an insignificant vote, given the size of the coalition and its lack of resources and public profile. There is no reason to doubt that this vote can be repeated and extended.

But there is a problem in the way the coalition is presently constructed which must be addressed, because there is a danger that the potential for winning supporters and voters will not materialise.

The coalition is made up only of the four component parts. There is no basis for individual membership. No-one can participate directly in the coalition unless they are a member of one of those four organisations. They can make donations and give out leaflets, but they have no democratic right to vote on policy or strategy. This will not inspire people to get involved. It means that the coalition is limited in size to the membership of the present four organisations. There is an inbuilt barrier to growth.

An obvious answer would be to create a membership party, with democratic rights for all members. Ultimately, only in this way will people feel inclined to put their energy, time and money into building it. It is difficult to be enthusiastic about supporting something that will not allow you to join it.

At the moment, however, the RMT and the SP, at least, are not in favour of moving to a membership organisation (we are unaware of the position of the SWP). And there is a lot of sense in that position. Given the experiences of past attempts at building left-of-Labour electoral coalitions or parties (Socialist Labour Party, Scottish Socialist Party, Socialist Alliance, Respect), there is an understandable nervousness about how Tusc will develop.

The RMT sensibly will not allow its members and resources to be used by organisations over which it has no control. The SP and the SWP are wary of each other and of being outvoted on issues that would be problematic. So the issue of a membership party is not, for the time being, on the agenda.

But this issue will not go away. The component parts of the coalition as currently constituted will have to grapple with the issue of how to build beyond its present participants. At some time the question of a fully-fledged membership party will have to be addressed.

A period of time working together is valuable in breaking down barriers and obstacles to unity. The Tusc steering committee should commit itself to setting a timetable and a process for discussing how Tusc can grow and what sort of constitution should be adopted to satisfy the component parts, while also ensuring democratic rights for those who ‘join’.

In the absence of individual membership of Tusc, the Independent Socialist Network can play a very important role. The ISN has been set up to bring together all socialists who are not currently members of existing socialist organisations who believe that we need a new, united socialist party. It aims to provide a place where individual socialists can debate and discuss in a non-sectarian environment, without fear of being ridiculed or condemned for holding particular points of view.

The ISN sees Tusc as an important stepping-stone towards a new party. No-one can be sure about how it will develop. It has the potential to grow and incorporate large numbers in its ranks, but this will depend on how it opens up to others - both groups and individuals.

Anyone who agrees with the need to build a new socialist party who has not joined one of the existing socialist parties should join the ISN (it is a membership organisation) and help it to campaign for that new party. This would also allow for an indirect route to participation in the discussions about the policy and practical steps to be taken by Tusc. While not a satisfactory position, it would go a long way to bring new individual supporters towards Tusc.

In addition to individuals, there are also socialist groups which may want to get involved with Tusc. For example, Socialist Resistance has applied to join. In our opinion, Tusc should open up participation to SR. This would immediately bring a new group on board, even if it may be argued that it is only a small group. That is not the most important thing. It is important that Tusc conveys a sense of dynamism, showing that it wants to expand and recruit new groups and individuals. We need to find a way to involve national and local groups who want to help fight for an alternative to austerity.

Expanding the Tusc steering committee to enable someone from SR to participate would not alter anything substantially. The RMT could not be bounced into doing something it did not want. Nor could the SP or SWP or the ISN. At present each participating group on the coalition steering committee has a veto, so nothing is done unless it has the support of all parties.

Permanent profile

Another obstacle to the growth of Tusc and one which restrict its electoral appeal is the fact that Tusc has a very limited national profile. If Tusc is to do well at elections, it must be active in between them. Again, this is an argument for Tusc to move towards becoming a party rather than a federation or coalition of parties. In between elections, inevitably, the SWP and SP turn to build their own parties and the profile built up during the four weeks of an election dissipates. We have to find ways of preventing this happening.

Any party that hopes to win the trust and support of the working class cannot just turn up at election time and then disappear once polling day has past. It has to be involved in workers’ struggles at work and in the communities, day in and day out. This raises the need for permanent Tusc branches across the country doing consistent work round the year.

Tusc has to find the resources to develop its profile, through media work and publicity. It has to develop a national profile, utilising the prominent figures we have within the coalition. It has to begin a serious intervention into the trade unions, with leaflets, pamphlets and fringe meetings at the union conferences. Tusc should have stalls at students’ freshers’ fairs. We must have a Tusc leaflet on the TUC October 20 demonstration.

In the last two years Tusc intervention at elections has been very belated and limited. Inevitably this impacts on the vote. It takes a lot of hard work, carried out regularly over a long time, to build up a profile. We have to start work now, planning our intervention for elections over the next three or four years. In 2013 there are local elections; in 2014 there are elections in all the London boroughs. In 2014 there are also the European elections. These would provide an excellent opportunity to Tusc to present candidates across the country. But this will be very expensive. We need to start discussing now whether it will be feasible to stand in the European elections.

In 2015 there will be a general election. Tusc should start planning now. We should be identifying constituencies and starting the campaigns now. We need to start raising funds. We should stand in at least 100 constituencies (at least enough to get a parliamentary political broadcast on the television). We should be drawing up lists of supporters in every area of the country and be pulling them together to set up Tusc branches. In 2016 there are the London mayor and assembly elections.

We must all take Tusc seriously. There is no other force on the left that is capable of presenting a serious alternative to the pro-austerity parties at the next general election. The task is enormous. But we cannot avoid our responsibilities.