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Militant International Review Printed by Cambridge Heath Press Ltd (TU), Mentmore Works, 1 Mentmore Terrace, London E8 3PN.| 1 Mentmore Terrace, London E8 3PN Editor: Alan Woods Cover design: Alan Hardman Editorial The crisis of leadership ... Lenin's last struggle 60 years since the death of Lenin- we republish an article first published in 1970 by Alan Woods... 4 Andropov and after...
Peter Taaffe analyses the crisis of Stalinism. . The lessons of the Belgian general strike By Philippe Rolande.
George Grosz The artist and revolution By Steve Amor.
Economic notes.
Book Reviews ISBN 0 906582 121 1 .....1 11 . 20 . 25 • 28 29 Editorial The crisis of leadership "Today they are ringing their bells. Tomorrow they win be wringing their hands.
-Horace Walpole BARELY NINE months have passed since the lanslide victory of the Tories last June. Yet the present situation seems separated from that event by an abyss. On the face of it, Thatcher and her haughty entourage appear safely entrenched behind their formidable majority of seats. And yet, the more far-sighted Tory leaders can already sense the threatingly ground shifting beneath their well-heeled shoes. By the time this issue of the journal goes to print, it seems likely that the war of nerves between this government and the local authroities will be coming to a Over the recent months, the eyes of the entire labour movement have been fixed on Liverpool where a mass movement has been building up to fight against the brutal policy of cuts in jobs and social services which the erstwhile Tory "guardians of local government" are seeking to impose by diktat from Westminster. Without anticipating the likely course of events, we can afirm with confidence in these columns that the supporters of Militant on Liverpool council will not run away from their duty, regardless of the consequences to them themselves and their families. Whatever other councils may do, and however any other councillors may vote, the supporters of Militant on Liverpool council will not from their duty, run away regardless of the consequences to themselves and their families. Whatever other councils may do, and however any other councillors may vote, the supporters of Mili-
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tant will refuse to vote for the cuts.
This is an example which, if followed by other sections of the labour movement, would soon bring this governmentto its knees. The mass response to this courageous lead in Liverpool is a clear answer to all the faint-hearts who claimed; that the working class had "gone to the right": that Labour had to "come to terms" with triumphant Thatcherism. The Mr. Miewbers of the CP and the right wing of the Labour Party and the TUC, privately or even in public, swallowed the argument that Labour could not regain power for fifty years without a socalled "alliance of 'progressive' forces'' that is to say, without uniting with the Liberals and the SDP traitors.
Yet the latest polls demonstrate conclusively the existence of a swing to Labour only months after the Tory election victory. Even this is a very pale reflection of the enormous transformation which has taken place in the psychology of the working class, the unemployed, the housewives, and even a considerable section of the middle class in the last few months.
The willingness of the workers to struggle is indicated by the movement of the miners, and the shipyard workers in Leith and, in particular, the splendid fight back of the workers in Scott Lithgow. Whatis more significant about Scott Lithgow, however, is the mood of anger and bitterness which is directed not only against the Tories and the Liberals but also against the trade union The impresson has come across very clearly that the official leadership is afraid to fight. And who can blame the workers from drawing this conclusion? The conduct of the right wing leaders of •the TUC in recent months has been nothing short of scandalous. The NGA dispute in December was defeated, not because the workers were unwilling to strug. gle, but because of the shamfeul betrayal of Len Murray and the TUC leadership. That defeat cost the NGA fines and costs which MIR Feb 1984; Editorial I finally may reach a million pounds. But the blow to the cohesion and morale of union trade the movement was even more costly.
The reason for this situation is that the TUC leaders ran their away from responsibility; because they were not prepared to mobilise the might of the unions in defence of the printers and elementary the rights of trade unionism; because they were more concerned to prove how "statesmanlike" and "moderate"
they were to Thatcher and Co than to defend the interests of those who elected them.
This so-called "realism" will have the opposite effect to that envisaged by Murray and Graham. "Weakness invites agression,"
as the saying goes. Their attempts to curry favour will merely heighten the arrogance and hostility of the Tories, who feel themselves to be beyond retribution. Along this road lies only defeat and despair. The most striking aspect of the present situation is the complete lack of leadership on the part of both the political and industrial aims of the movement.
Yet Liverpool has consistently shown that there is an alternative for Labour. The patient work of the Marxist tendency represented by the Militant newspaper was a key factor in the outstanding victory of the Labour Party Broadgreen, in effect capturing what should have been a Tory seat against the national trend in the last election.
If the example of Liverpool Council were to be followed by all other Labour-controlled local authorities, the Thatcher government would be in an impossible position.
This fact has been understood 2 VICTORIA Photo: John Smith (IFL) HOUSE CRAPHIAL COCAINION MESSENGER NGA pickets on duty outise Stockport Messenger offices during the dispute in November 1983. most serious political by the representative of the ruling class, if not by the leadership of the Labour Party and the TUC. An article which appeared in the Sunday Times on the 12 February compared the difficulties of the Tory Government on the local government front to the conflict of the Heath government with the unions in 1970-74.
The key to the situation is undoubtedly the generalization of the struggle with the involvement of the whole labour and trade union movement.
To the degree to which the present leadership refuses to do the job, the rank and file will inevitably begin to look for an alternative. Initiatives such as the Broad Left Organising Committee will find an increasingly wide echo among layers of workers tired of the prevarications and sell-outs of the old leaders.
That the support for a clear socialist alternative is growing was indicated recently by the splendid result won by Alan Quinn in the elections to the T&GWU
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Executive. This contrasts with the result of even a Left trade union leader such as Peter Heathfield of the NUM, where no serious campaign was conducted.
Gone are the days when the support of the rank and file could be taken for granted. The Left will win a majority of the unions and the Labour Party only if it is prepared to conduct a serious campaign for socialist policies. The Tories and their big business backers on the one hand, the Labour right, the TUC and even the large number of Labour Lefts, on the other, have allowed themselves to be hypnotised by the apparent lull in the class struggle. They cannot see the enormous, seething instability which exists beneath the surface manifestations of calm and stability.
The Tories, acting at the beheft of big business, are preparing all the conditions for a social and economic cataclysm. Their policies of naked asset stripping, deindustrialisation the plunder of the nationalised industries and the dismanteling of local government and the health service is undermining the historic foundations upon which British capitalism was built. Even sections of the Tory Party have been alarmed by Thatcher's mad rush towards the bureaucratic centralization of the state. This from the Party of "liberty" and the right of local government! The doubts and vacillations of part of the Tory leadership are only the first symptem of a fundamental rift which, in the long run, will serve to undermine the Tory Party completely. The much-vaunted "boom" of Britain's economy has meant only a three percent rise in manufacturing production last year and possibly a similar figure for 1984. This is still 13% lower than the equivilent figure for 1979., Not enough to cure unemployment or to throw into reverse the inexorable downward slide of British capitalism. But quite sufficient to provide a new impulse to the movement on the factory floor tu the fight back against cuts in living standards, the moment that the evidence of rising orders and increased profits becomes evident. The accumilated rage and bitterness will inevitably burst out in a new wave of industrial disputes, which neither the Tories nor the right wing trade union leaders will be able to prevent.
The present rightward shift of the TUC leadership is preparing the way for a major movement to the left at rank and file level. The workers will see in practice that the right wing has nothing to offer except abject surrender, defeat and further cuts in living standards. The whole psychology of the class will become transform- GCHQ Crisis THE CRISIS over the government's attempt to ban trade unions at GCHQ exploded just as this issue of the journal was being laid out.
The speed with which events have moved over the last week in itself demonstrates the enormous instability which underlies British Society. In a matter of days, the whole situation has been stood upon its head. Those same right wing trade union leaders who threw up their hands in holy horror at the prospect of "illegal"' movements in defence of the printers are now talking openly about defying This fact strikingly bears out the prediction made by the Marxists ago that, in spite of themselves, the leaders of the TUC would, at a certain moment, be pushed into opposition, or semi-opposition, to the Thatcher government. Such a situation has come along far more rapidly than even we anticipated. The reason for this turn-about is not hard to find. As we stated in the editorial of the present issue, the self- "moderates"
of the General Council, by their actions over the NGA conflict and their repeated attempt to do a deal with the Tories, have made "Weakness a confrontation inevitable. invites aggression," as we said. And the aggression was not long in coming. At the same time, there can be no doubt that Thatcher's success in the NGA affair has gone to her head. She has pushed the TUC too far, compelling even people like Len Murray in effect to do a 180° somersault on the issue of the anti-union laws. Despite our criticism of the behavior of these leaders, the supporters of Militant and MIR welcome the call for action in defence of the GCHQ workers. The magnificent response of an important section of the class on the 28th 3 ed in the course of struggle. This, in turn, will lay the basis for the transformation of the organisations of the labour movement. Never before has the need for a fighting alternative been more manifest. The capitulation of the TUC shows the necessity for Marxist ideas and policies as a guide for the labour movement. The supporters of Marxism grouped around the Militant and the MIR will fight to transform the trade unions and Labour Party and turn them into instruments adequate to the needs of changing society.
THE POLISH Photo: John Smith (IFL) ACCEPTED WHY SHOULD February, given the extremely short time available for preparation, and the complete lack of a prior campaign on the part of the TUC, shows what we have consistently maintained in these columns: that the working class is ready and willing to fight when a lead- or even, as in this case, half a lead-comes from their official organisations.
Given the way in which the day of action was called, it can only be seen as an outstanding success. Nevertheless, if it is left at that, it will be insufficient. A decisive show of strength is necessary to persuade this government it cannot trample over hard - won rights of working The leaders of the TUC should abondon once and for all the unrealistic and counterproductive strategy of a "dialogue" with Thatcher and start serious preparation for an all—out 24 hour strike to demonstrate who has the real power in society, and thus prepare the way for a successful counteroffensive of the whole labour movement against this brutal and reactionary
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