Approximately 150 delegates attended the Left Unity national conference in November (75 on Sunday). Voting was based on one person one vote with no limit on attendance from each branch, so as the conference was held in London it was biased towards the London delegates. And as there seems to be a more pro-Labour perspective in London than elsewhere, policy in this regard reflected a London centric position.
The report on Left Unity’s membership indicted that 900 members left this year while 400 joined, current membership being 1475. One reason for the departures can be the lack any criticism of Corbyn’s retreats, thus creating the illusion that “everything is possible” with Labour under a Corbyn leadership.
Weakening the fight against reformism
The conference did reject the motion to dissolve Left Unity as a party. But agreement not to stand in by-elections or the Greater London elections was carried by a narrow margin, 69 for 65 against and 5 abstentions, to “temporarily suspend our national electoral work” and “to encourage LU members to join Momentum” (see comment on Momentum in this issue).
John Pearson representing the Stockport branch opposed this and put forward an amendment “… Conference directs that there shall be no question of Left Unity declining to contest seats identified by our branches, wherein Labour candidates will not publicly pledge to vote against cuts”.
However this was lost – by 47 to 87 votes.
Voting for the amendment included branches from Stockport, Wigan, Leeds and Birmingham Left Unity branches; and others including ISL members from Liverpool (also representing Old Swan Against the Cuts).
Kate Hudson, a main leader of LU, said at the end of the debate “until the national council has discussed this, we will not stand in any parliamentary elections. But existing local campaigns can continue”.
This will inevitably weaken the struggle against the Labour Party, unless members and local branches stop this political retreat.
Predictably there has been a widespread retreat by many left groups, which was also visible at the conference. The Communist Party of Great Britain (London and Sheffield) put a motion calling the election of Corbyn “a revolution”.
And many spoke as if the Labour Party was already the party of the working class, others agreed it was a bourgeois workers party but believe could become the leading party of the working class. The CPGB attempted to summon Lenin in support of their position – but Lenin never argued that the Labour Party could be transformed into a revolutionary party, or lead the struggle for socialism and internationalism.
All who spoke in the debate on elections supported Corbyn, but no one outlined any programme nor mentioned any of the retreats that have been made by his tendency. Just a few discussed the working class and what must be done to end austerity.
The working class must be primary and lead all its struggles. Thus we defend and will fight to improve services, take action against the attacks on trade union rights, defend jobs, oppose racism and oppression and all imperialist war. That will include the necessity to fight the Labour Party, whilst at the same defending any anti-austerity or anti-war action by left Labour, as with opposition to the bombing of Syria.
Has the Labour Party changed?
As Lenin said in 1920:
“…the Labour Party is a thoroughly bourgeois party, because, although made up of workers, it is led by reactionaries, and the worst kind of reactionaries at that, who act quite in the spirit of the bourgeoisie. It is an organisation of the bourgeoisie, which exists to systematically dupe the workers…”.
The CPGB think Lenin’s evaluation doesn’t apply today just because of the Corbyn leadership. However Corbyn will not break with the right-wing and won’t fight them.
In 1920 Lenin advocated that the British Communist Party apply to affiliate to the Labour Party, because many workers were joining that party and revolutionaries were allowed a free and independent voice.
The conditions at that time meant that, according to Lenin:
“A party affiliated to the Labour Party is able, not only to severely criticise but openly and specifically to mention the old leaders by name, and call them social-traitors.
This is a very original situation: a party which unites enormous masses of workers, so that it might seem a political party, is nevertheless obliged to grant its members complete latitude…at the Labour Party Conference, [the right-wing leaders] were obliged to openly raise the question of affiliation to the Third International, and that all party branches and sections were obliged to discuss the matter. In such circumstances, it would be a mistake not to join this party.
In a private talk, Comrade Pankhurst said to me: ‘If we are real revolutionaries and join the Labour Party, these gentlemen will expel us’.
But that would not be bad at all. Our resolution says that we favour affiliation insofar as the Labour Party permits sufficient freedom of criticism. On that point we are absolutely consistent”.
Support workers who stand against Labour
The best, most honest and combative workers are not seeking to join the Labour Party today, they remain repulsed by its treacherous actions. Workers cannot wait five years to mobilise against all the attacks by this government and councils (including Labour led councils).
Therefore we call on Left Unity members to support working class anti-cuts groups who stand against Labour councillors. The ISL will continue towards building a revolutionary party, while agreeing common actions that strengthen working class solidarity and struggle.
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Originally Published in Socialist Voice – January 2016.
