Contents: a Call to All Communists
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Communist Theoretical Journal — Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement Contents: A Call to All Communists - The Economic Crisis (Pt.2) - Should We Stand in Elections? — Lessons of the Falklands War — Le Cornmuniste: From Millerandism to Mitterandism - Reviews on: Sweet Freedom and Ethiopia — Letters Number Three Price: £1.00 TheLeninist Communist Theoretical Journal — Number Three Editorial Statement page 1 A Call to All Communists Correspondence Our call for genuine communists to join the Communist Party of The Leninist, Great Britain and the world communist movement. And four BCM Box 928 questions to the New Communist Party, the Workers Party, the London WC1N 3XX Revolutionary Communist Group, Proletarian, the John Maclean Collective, and Straight Left. Finance Frank Grafton page 6 We need donations — large and The Economic Crisis and its Political small. Each edition costs around £1,000; help us to ensure that Effects in Britain (Part Two) the next edition comes out and Part two deals with the developing crisis of imperialism, the post- that we can expand our second World War developments, the position of the medium activities. Take out a monthly developed capitalist countries, and finally the growth of class or weekly standing order. struggles in Britain. Payable to The Leninist Magazine' Co-op Bank P.O. James Marshall page 21 Box 163, 110 Leman Street, Should We Stand in Elections? London El 8HQ, account What position should communists have towards the Labour Party? number 501 89913, Bank How should communists approach election campaigns? We put the sorting code 08-03-08. Write to Leninist position on questions which have become major sources of us to let us know you are contention within the Communist Party. crediting our account. Bill Cobban page 24 Subscriptions Lessons of the Falklands War Britain and Ireland Four What caused the Falklands Crisis'? We argue that Argentina was not issues (*one year) £5.00 Single fighting a war of national liberation or reunification and that the issue £1.00 (plus 25p. postage) tasks of communists in both Britain and Argentina should have been Institutions four issues £10.00 to work for the defeat of ones 'own' ruling class. All Other Countries Four Le Communiste (with an introduction by issues (one year) Surface Mail Michael McGeehan) page 27 £6.00 Surface Mail (single From Millerandism to Mitterandism. issues) £1.00 (plus 50p. postage) Institutions four issues £12.00 We reprint two articles from Le Communiste, a paper fighting to win the Communist Party of France back to Marxism-Leninism. The Air Mail•(sealed) Four issues articles should put paid to any illusions maintained by communists in £10.00 Single issue t1.00 (plus Britain about the PCF and the Mitterand government. £1.50 postage) Institutions four issues £20.00 Cheques, Postal Orders and page 29 International Money Orders: Reviews payable to The Leninist Liz Culvert — Women's Freedom and Sweet Publications. Overseas payments not using IMO add Revolution equivalent of £1.00 to cover Joseph Wright — Whose Revolution in bank charges. Ethiopia? Copyright September 1982 Printed by Morning Litho Printers Ltd. (TM.) Published by The Leninist Publications Letters page 31 ISSN 0262-16,19 EDITORIAL STATEMENT A Call to all Communists We call upon all genuine communists to join the Communist Party of Great Britain; in particular those in the New Communist Party, the Workers Party, the Revolutionary Communist Group, Proletarian, and the John MacLean Collective. We ask these groups and Straight Left to answer the following questions. 1) What is the Communist Party of Great Britain? Will you join This group, like the Appeal Group, a split from the CP in 1971, it? and the Vanguard Group, a split from the NCP in 1979, (both 2) Is organisational unity with elements under the influence of now defunct), is left-centrist, pulled to revolutionary politics but opportunism always incorrect? at the same time unable to make the break from a tailist, 3) Is there a world communist movement? Who is in it? completely unscientific approach to the policies of the Soviet 4) What stage are we now in? party and state. Monstrously, because of our comradely And, each tendency is asked to outline its general criticism of the Polish party we are labelled "anti-Soviet". perspectives. We will publish their statements in the next edition like all left-centrists will inevitably face the choice, of our journal. They are sure to provoke great interest in the Proletarian back to the right or forward to Leninism; their present position revolutionary movement, initiating debates not least inside the is unstable and subjective and cannot survive in its present form various tendencies mentioned above. This•is an integral part of our open ideological struggle, which would, as we stated in the for long. The Revolutionary Communist Group: it emerged from the Founding Statement of The Leninist, have the healthy "effect of Revolutionary Opposition which was expelled from the drawing new forces into the party." But in order to be won to the International Socialists (now SWP). On its formation in 1974 it party these tendencies must be broken from their sectarianism; based itself on Trotskyism, a petty-bourgeois ideology from this we feel can be done only through comradely discussion and which it only broke in late 1976. Since then it has come to debate. recognise the Soviet Union, Poland, Cuba etc. as socialist states To build a healthy party, opposed to revisionism, with an important role to play in the struggle against opportunism and sectarianism, the slide to liquidationism must imperialism. But this view is not the result of anything other be firmly halted. It is for this reason that we are making our call than a Little England anti-imperialism, a view which leads the not only to forces outside the party, but also to the comrades RCG to place'all their eggs in the 'anti-imperialist struggle' and around Straight Left, for it represents the most dangerous to dismiss the proletarian class struggle in the advanced exponent of liquidationism because it does so from the left. capitalist countries and the world communist movement. Before continuing, let's have a brief detour and examine each The John Maclean Collective: they call themselves a group of of the six groups in turn. For although wanting them all to non-aligned Marxist-Leninists, who recognise the necessity to orientate themselves to the party, we have many disagreements build a revolutionary vanguard communist party. They have no with them to overcome before we can win them to Leninism. publications of which we are aware, but from what we The New Communist Party: a product of the centrist opposition, understand they are a group of revolutionaries who have broken it split from the party in 1977. It adopts an extremely narrow, with Maoism because of its betrayal of socialism and its even arrogant attitude towards all other revolutionary groups, capitulation to imperialism. this not being the result of its strength but of its weakness, a shield to protect its rapidly declining membership from the The Workers Party: it split from the Workers Revolutionary attentions of other groups. Having no sound theoretical basis, Party in 1979 in order to uphold the "revolutionary heritage of internal unity and cohesion can only be maintained through Lenin and Trotsky." But since then its position has evolved, bureaucratic-centralism — expulsions have thus become now referring to "Trotskyism" with inverted commas, as if common place. Its leadership has the insular and even paranoid there was no such thing as Trotskyism. psychology so characteristic of a sect. Despite this, because its So what are we confronted by? Straight Left is in the Party, it traditions and world orientation are determined by its placing is centrist-liquidationist. The New Communist Party is centrist, itself in the world communist movement, it must be considered part of the world communist movement but sectarian. part of it. Proletarian is left-centrist, and like the NCP, part of the world Straight Left: After the NCP split the remaining centrist communist movement and sectarian. The other groups we opposition were promised a monthly paper to rival The New would define as revolutionary sectarian groups. Worker and to heighten the inner-party struggle through We would distinguish the revolutionary sectarian groups building a base in the labour movement. But in the hands of from the petty-bourgeois left; this ranges from groups such as leaders such as Harry Steel, the paper, Straight Left, became a the SWP through the myriad constellations of Trotskyism - Frankenstein monster. Posing as a product of the Labour Party, the 1MG, WSL, Militant, RCP, Spartacists, WRP, — to the with an Advisory Board of left social-democratic parliamen- micro sects of Maoism and Enverism. The petty-bourgeois left is tarians and trade union bureaucrats stitched together to make opposed to the existing capitalist order but at the same time the sham believable. Like Frankenstein's monster, Straight Left maintains a bitter hostility to the Soviet Union and the world threatens to destroy its creator, for they are drawn inextricably communist movement. Despite some of these groups having towards liquiationism. Supporters of Straight Left in the party some influence in certain sections of the working class, they find themselves in a schizophrenic position: on the one hand represent alien class influences, so while we would fight to win they fight to reverse the decline in the party, stand opposed to individual members from these groups to communism, there the growth of revisionism and emphasise the importance of can be no question of them joining the party en bloc. internationalism, yet on the other hand the liquidationism of Such a move in the revolutionary sectarian groups would Straight Left leads them out of the party into the mire of the undoubtedly engender sharp ideological struggle through which Labour Party.