we this week follow up the interview with Tony Benn, and the contribution from Peter Hain, with an article by Jon Bloomfield, a well-known member of the Communist Party.
THERE IS no running away from the crisis facing the British left. 9 June was an electoral disaster and the Stafford and Surrey by-elections warn against over-confident predictions of electoral recovery. The organised labour movement faces great difficulties. Further there is a crisis of socialism itself and what is commonly understood by it.
is the labour and democratic movement reponding to this crisis? The gut reaction of the centre-right is to head for the centre ground, shy away from controversial policies awkward conflict. response of the mainstream lett is different. From this firstly there is a clear recognition of the gravity of the defeat. Secondly, there is agreement on the great danger presented by a second term of Thatcherite rule and that the movement's energy tions must be channeled against this main threat. unity within the labour movement increased campaigning among the people to popular opposition to government policies.
Thirdly, successful campaigning will require the left to address new issues of the 1980s and to promote a clearer, more relevant vision future socialist and democratic Britain. As the recent Communist Party congress put it: 'The starting point must be the definition of the main enemy and identification of the combination of forces necessary to defeat That main enemy is the government Developing and duck The quarter, and attenThis requires arouse mass, Delegates at the 35th Congress of the Communist Party of Great Britain left's crisis sable in the SOLICE support stand by his with on alliances. or Labour Party.
Strategy must seek to shift the Labour Party in a socialist direction in a way and at a pace which retains these two crucial assets. That is the case that has been argued in the columns of Marxism Today and explains its appeal and at. traction to wide sections of the left.
Hain's call for a campaigning left independent of the leadership but not oppositional is the tactical expression of this strategic approach. The second view is one which strives for a socialist Labour Party now, irrespective of these considerations. In other words the broad church character is dispen.
battle for Labour to 'become a truly socialist party' (John Ross, SA 4 May, his emphasis). The imolications of this view presented most forcefully from the Trotskyist left are that the centre and right would have no place within a future Labour Ouite where Benn stands in this debate is unclear. After the 1979 elec. tion he vigorously defended Labour's broad church. 'The Labour Party is a very broad party reflecting a wide range of opinions from left to right. This diversity of is a great of strength we mus vigorously resist any attempt that is made to drive the left or the right out the party' (Tribune 11 May' in the for the Kinnock-Hattersley leadership and parlamentalg colleagues 'right across the board' suggests he adheres to this view today.
In which case he must know that one can't meaningfully describe the present Labour Party as socialist or as one which will fight the next election on a socialist programme. Does Tony "broad church' view of Labour, for if he does his agreement Socialist Action timate as John Ross tries to make out.
Space precludes more than a word The phrase is open le very different interpretations. Communists believe that alliances between forces are essential to the creation of a popular majority for progress. They are not primarily about making the women's movements appendages peace or environmental of the The CP has often been advised to dissolve itself and join the Labour