What Next? Marxist Discussion Journal 29

For Militant Secularism ! Hijab: The Right to Choose ! Theo van Gogh ! Qaradawi and Islamophobia ! Tatchell and Fortuyn ! Anarchists and the ESF ! Socialism and Animal Rights ! UKIP ! A Red Voting Green ! Respect Coalition ! The Left in Scotland ! Union-Labour Link ! CPGB Crisis ! Chinese Stalinism ! Spanish Civil War

CONTENTS What Next? No.29 2004

Authors IN DEFENCE OF MILITANT SECULARISM Andrew Coates ...... 2 Andrew Coates is a socialist and HIJAB: A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO CHOOSE secularist living in Ipswich who Salma Yaqoob ...... 4 has been active on the French left THE VAN GOGH: HERO, ANTI-SEMITE, Salma Yaqoob is a member of MISOGYNIST OR ISLAMOPHOBE? Respect – the Unity Coalition Herman de Tollenaere ...... 6 in Birmingham QARADAWI, KEN BIGLEY AND ISLAMOPHOBIA Herman de Tollenaere is a Robert Wilkins ...... 8 historian living in the Netherlands A ‘CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS’, Robert Wilkins is a member SENDING PINK SPARKS FLYING? of the Labour Party Yoshie Furuhashi ...... 9 WOMBLING FREE? ANARCHISTS Yoshie Furuhashi is radical AND THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM activist in the United States and Geoffrey Brown ...... 12 author of the Critical Montages weblog SOCIALISM AND ANIMAL RIGHTS Terry Liddle ...... 17 Geoffrey Brown is a Marxist who believes that the principles BROWNSHIRTS IN BLAZERS? THE RISE OF UKIP of Marxism are opposed to those Martin Sullivan ...... 19 of anarchism NEITHER NEW LABOUR NOR GORGEOUS GEORGE Terry Liddle is a socialist and Dave Osler ...... 22 animal rights supporter RESPECT COALITION: NO JOKE Martin Sullivan is a member Martin Sullivan ...... 25 of the Labour Party PROSPECTS FOR THE LEFT IN SCOTLAND Dave Osler is an independent Vince Mills ...... 27 socialist and critical Green voter THE END OF AN ENDURING ALLIANCE? Vince Mills is a member of TRADE UNION-LABOUR RELATIONS the Labour Party in Scotland and Gregor Gall ...... 29 secretary of the Campaign for Socialism CPGB: CENTRISM, VACILLATION AND CAPITULATION Ian Donovan ...... 34 Gregor Gall is Professor of Industrial Relations at the THE STALINIST STATE IN CHINA University of Stirling and a Wang Fanxi ...... 39 member of the Scottish Socialist Party A DANISH TROTSKYIST IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR Åge Kjelsø ...... 45 Ian Donovan is a member of Respect – the Unity Coalition and a former member of the CPGB REVIEWS ...... 51 LETTERS ...... 56 In Defence of Militant Secularism

Andrew Coates

STRANGE alliance has arisen: from con- progressive decision of an otherwise right-wing A servative members of the Muslim Association French government to ban the veil (le voile), and of Britain, the SWP, to London’s Mayor, all are in other divisive badges of faith from the public an uproar about “Islamophobia”. Ken Livingstone educational sphere. This was supported by the has taken it upon himself to criticise the French immense majority of the French left. Even most of move to ban wearing ostentatious religious those opposed to a formal interdiction admitted symbols in schools. He has also given lessons on “the veil is an oppression” (that is the position of religious freedom by defending a cleric, al- the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire). Nearly Qaradawi, who supports female genital mut- all sides have pointed to the simple fact that men, ilation.1 This bloc draws support from the under dominant interpretations of the Qur’an, are mainstream of the Anglican Church and Prince not required to cover their hair, and that women Charles to, with rare exceptions, the bien-pensant are obliged to do so because it is held that the sight pages of the Guardian. of female coiffure will cause sexual feelings. All are reactionary responses to the secular Members of the North-African feminist movement, view, which is at the centre of anti-racism. This Ni Putes Ni Soumises, were at the forefront of the stand, eloquently supported by Henri Pena-Ruiz battle against the veil. Fadela Amara has declared in Qu’est-ce que la laïcité? (2003), rests on the that, whilst a believer, she sees the veil as “a tool fundamental principle of the Enlightenment: the of oppression, of alienation, of discrimination, an freedom of the public sphere from religious dogma. instrument of power by men over women”.4 These As he states, of the realisation of the problems brave feminist voices have aroused the violent religion causes: “Il a fallu que les fous de Dieu, hostility of the French Islamicists, the tellingly auparavant encouragés par l’Amérique causant la named Frères musulmans (Muslim Brotherhood). mort en plein coeur de Manhattan pour que le Only a tiny minority of the French left, inspired monde prenne enfin conscience du danger.” (It by the British Socialist Workers Party, or post- required those crazed by God and earlier modernist relativism, defended the absolute right encouraged by America to cause death at the very to be oppressed. heart of Manhattan before the world finally realised This has not been the stand in Britain. As we the danger they posed.)2 The imperialist reaction have seen, a majority appears to align with is well known. But as Henry Pena-Ruiz has also Islamicists against secularism. The Anglo-Saxon stated, we need to activate simultaneously “la lutte “left’s” views correspond to an ideology resting sociale contre toutes les dérégulations capitalistes on three sources. et pour la promotion des services publiques, qui The first derives from straightforward British produisent de la solidarité et non de la charité; la imperialism. That is the practice of separating lutte pour une émancipation intellectuelle”. “communities” on religious ground. Under the Through a “une laïcité universelle” we aim for Indian Raj different religious groups had the right “l’émancipation laïque du droit, gage de liberté de to distinct “personal law”. That is that the tous les êtres humaines”. (A struggle against profoundly unequal relations between men and capitalist deregulation, for public services, for women under Hindu and Islamic “law” (with the solidarity and not charity, a fight for intellectual notable contradiction of Sikh rules) were etern- emancipation. Through universal secularism we alised in jurisprudence. At present in Canada there aim for secular emancipation, the measure of all are serious attempts to re-establish this state of human liberty.)3 Only by defending universal affairs. “Community leaders” (not elected but given rights, and by denying special privileges to by their status as religious figures) are recognised religious groups, can a genuine anti-racialist by the state as those who determine “their” position unite the oppressed. communities’ rules. The immediate cause of this polemic is the The “left’s” response has been to try to gain

2 their own constituency by trawling for support everyone has the right to his/her cultural practices, amongst sympathetic Muslim notables (and and that there are no universal rights. Furthermore notably not amongst other ethnic or religious it is held that for “Europeans” to criticise Islam is groups). The so-called Respect Coalition has inherently racist. The British defenders of the explicitly pitched its propaganda at the “Muslim” Qu’ran are not very open about the affinity bet- vote and welcomed the endorsement of mosques. ween their ideas and the heirs of Maurras. But Abandoning any class-related politics it accepts the there is an American point at which the extreme idea that there are fixed faith “communities” out right culturalists such as Alain de Benoist and the there to be captured. remnants of the post-modern New Left overtly Secondly, there is the adoption of the American meet, and that place is called Telos. model of “multi-culturalism”. This, as Historical Such responses are fundamentally wrong. Materialism (Vol.11 No.4, 2003) details, is a model They divert attention away from the central of social conflict in which different ethnic groups question of racist reactions to “foreigners” (since assert their “rights”. The very particular con- in the UK racialist sentiments are centred on ditions of American class formation (in which the asylum seekers regardless of their religion). They heritage of slavery, different waves of immigration, encourage the birth of communalism, promoting the existence of a colour-based privileged layer in one religious community’s interest against others. the working class, and an immensely powerful They ignore the central problem for secularists in bourgeoisie have combined) are regarded as the Britain: that is to create a republic with no universal. In place of unified class conflicts, we established religion and to free education from the have religious and cultural organisations from the influence of spiritual doctrines. That sphere should different class and ethnic fractions as permanent ideally be a place for equality between the citizens. lobbies. Each is held to be separate but equal. Those They are steps backward from the centuries-long British groups, such as Socialist Action, which struggle for working class emancipation, which derive their politics from America, are quite open fused with the Enlightenment and the fight to free about this. Class unity is dropped in favour of the people from the yoke of Revelation and the Book. “right to be different”. Lee Jasper, a key adviser of And most importantly, they in their misguided Ken Livingstone, has gone so far as to advocate enthusiasm for religion follow imperialism’s central racially segregated schools in the name of ... anti- wish: to divide the peoples. racism! Thirdly, this last response indicates another basis for Islamophilia. The French Nouvelle Droite Notes (New Right) may seem an unlikely home for this. 1. Brett Lock, ‘The Odd Couple: Red Ken and the Anglophone readers are not generally familiar Conservative Cleric’, Tribune, 30 July 2004. with the works of Alain de Benoist but at his core 2. Henri Pena-Ruiz, Qu’est-ce que la laïcité?, are some familiar themes. That is “neo-paganism”, Gallimard, 2003, p.262. the right to “difference” or “identity”, and the 3. Henri Pena-Ruiz, ‘Laïcité et égalité, leviers de transposition of genetic racialism to cultural l’émancipation’, Le Monde Diplomatique, February distinctiveness. Hostile to an Islamic presence in 2004. Europe, the Nouvelle Droite has enjoyed warm 4. Le Monde, 29 January 2004. relations with Political Islam in what are 5. Pierre-Andrew Taguieff, ‘Alain de Benoist, considered “Arab” countries.5 Following an philosophe’, Les Temps Modernes, No.451, February identical relativism anglophones claim that 1984.

SUBSCRIBE TO WHAT NEXT? Only £10 for 6 issues including postage (overseas, add £2) Send cheques, made out to What Next? to 24 Georgiana Street London NW1 0EA

Or read it for free online at www.whatnextjournal.co.uk

3 Hijab: A Woman's Right to Choose

Salma Yaqoob

HE FIRST thing I’d like to say is that it is French discussion about their own Muslim Timpossible to understand why we are having population. this meeting today without locating it within the What is the reality confronting Arabs and increase of Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism since Muslims in France? There are at least 5 million 9/11. The grief of the victims of 9/11 has been Muslims in France – the largest Muslim population exploited by George Bush under the banner of the in Europe. But there is not a single Muslim member “war on terror” to stamp new US military dom- of the National Assembly and not a single Mayor. inance on the world and to remap the Middle East The greatest threat to the “values of the French in its own economic and strategic interests. Old- Republic” is racism and exclusion and not some fashioned imperial conquest is now repackaged and supposed danger from within its Muslim comm- disguised as a defence of “civilisation” against unities. “global terror”. The “threat of Muslim fundament- Muslim women find themselves caught alism” is to White House propagandists today what between a rock and a hard place. We are caught the bogey of communism was during the cold war. between those who claim to protect us – the many The new phase of imperialism requires a new phase Muslim men who act to restrict our movement and of racism. Today it takes the form of Islamophobia freedoms – and those who claim to liberate us – and Muslims the world over have become legitimate killing us with their bombs and allowing us no targets. In this context, a green light is given to voice unless it mirrors exactly their own. The every bigot to spew out their bile against Muslims. women of Afghanistan are an example of this. And this is seeping even into the official Laura Bush even stated that the “W” in George “respectable” discourse of our political establish- W. Bush stands for women. We are asked to believe ment. that the US army was really on a feminist mission So, for example, in the UK, the Daily Telegraph in Afghanistan! – traditionally the newspaper for the Conservative The real emancipation of Muslim women can Party here – prints articles comparing Muslims to of course only come from themselves. In practice dogs and argues for incorporating anti-Muslim the voice of Muslim women themselves – in all their sentiment into official British Conservatism, diversity – has to be heard. We have to get past the unashamedly calling for: “An anti-Islam simple caricatures of the passive victim or aggressive Conservative Party.” The fascist British National fundamentalist. We have to recognise that while Party made an attack on Muslims the centre-piece the road to female emancipation in the West has of its television broadcast during the European taken the route of the right to not be covered in elections. Such prejudiced views and blinkered response to the rigid expectations placed on women thinking, unfortunately, are not just confined to historically in terms of dress and societal roles, the right. We hear echoes of the right-wing many women may choose to liberate themselves demonisation of us as Muslims even in some left in different ways, and just because the trajectory circles. of their resistance to oppression is different, it does This is at its most extreme in France where the not make it any less legitimate or significant. bulk of the left, to its shame, has joined in the For many Muslim women wearing the hijab is hysteria about the right of female Muslim students an expression of Islamic notions of women’s to wear a headscarf. Young women, like me, who empowerment. “Hijab” actually is a whole concept wear a headscarf are apparently a threat to the relating to the interaction of men and women, not values of the French Republic. Alternatively we are just an item of clothing to cover the head or body. told that we need to be rescued from our own The hijab is not about the denial of female (or male) oppression, which we are apparently too backward sexuality. Quite the opposite. I think sexual to recognise ourselves. The debate about the attraction between men and women is part of danger of Islamic fundamentalism dominates human nature and natural. The concept of hijab

4 actually denotes a code of behaviour between the are made to feel irrelevant (or relevant to the extent sexes that both acknowledges that fact and that they can maintain the appearance of being encourages a mutually respectful interaction younger). between men and women. “Hijab” literally means Whilst I passionately defend my right to wear “barrier”. It flows from the emphasis on marriage the hijab and urge solidarity on this issue, I think in Islam – the Qur’an describes a husband and wife it is a shame that the identity of Muslim women as each other’s “garments” – giving each other has been reduced to simply the wearing of the hijab intimacy, warmth and protection. The idea of hijab – by some Muslims as well as non-Muslims. It is to maintain the exclusivity of that relationship, would be unfortunate if a Muslim woman was only such that the degree of physical intimacy and viewed in terms of whether she wore a hijab – by exposure is limited in all other interactions between her brothers and sisters in faith who may not men and women. In this way the aim of hijab is to regard her as “highly” if she doesn’t, or non- de-emphasise sexuality in public interactions, Muslims who may regard her as less worthy if she whilst encouraging sexuality in private ones. does. Ultimately it is about her personal relation- It is important to remember that whilst the ship with God, and not anyone else’s business! hijab has recently been associated exclusively with Whilst we can point out the benefits or otherwise Islam, the idea of modest attire for men and women (whichever view you hold on the issue of hijab), is referred to in the Judeo-Christian tradition in coercion or enforcement from either side is not the the Old and New Testaments of the Bible as well answer. as many other religious and cultural traditions Indeed the real crime that is committed against (e.g. Sikhism and Rastafarianism). In many parts women is when that choice is taken away from of the world, from villages in Italy to Indian them. That’s why I am opposed to the Saudi and suburbs women cover themselves in similar ways Iranian governments’ imposition of the veil and that Muslim women do. that of the Taliban previously. But this is also why For many Muslim women wearing the hijab I oppose the ban on wearing the hijab. In both marks a rejection of a world where women have cases the woman herself is no longer free to make to endure objectification as sex objects. It helps a choice. In both cases her dignity is violated. And them to enjoy a sense of their own (special) privacy with all the hype around the issue not many people and personhood. For me, the wearing of the hijab are aware that actually right now the hijab is denotes that as a woman I expect to be treated as banned in more countries than it is enforced. an equal in terms of my intellect and personality This issue of the right to wear hijab is a crucial and my appearance is relevant only to the degree one for the ESF. Because racism in general and that I want it to be, when I want it to be. Islamophobia in particular is central to the whole Wearing the hijab can also be seen as a neo-liberal project, any movement which effectively challenge to the power of corporations and wants to challenge that project – and the war, advertising. The French philosopher Alain Badiou, racism and poverty it leaves in its wake – has to responding to the banning of hijab in French rest on a solid foundation of anti-racism. It schools, makes the point that the headscarf law is especially has to reach out the hand of solidarity a pure capitalist law in that it orders femininity to to the Arab and Muslim communities bearing the be exposed. He suggests that, by banning all brunt of racist attack and vilification. reserve, women are brought into the market para- I cannot exaggerate how important this kind digm and are forced to display their bodies as of solidarity is. It is the antidote to both the current merchandise. He further asks the question: “Is it racist neo-liberal onslaught and the threat of not even more mean and petty for a woman at extremism and fundamentalism. By focusing on school to act as a sandwich board for a corporation what we have in common and fighting oppression than as a follower of God?” – whether from inside or outside of our commun- Indeed it is true that while the Western feminist ities – we have a powerful alliance. The wonderful movement campaigned over many years for the world-wide demonstrations on February 15th right of women to be uncovered in public this when millions across the world united together “right” has quickly been appropriated by the forces against the world gave us a glimpse of what of capitalism and consumerism. So much so, that another world would be like – a world united we are at a point in time where much unhappiness, against war and oppression – but diverse in its depression, eating disorders etc are directly colour, race, cultures and faiths. attributable to the pressures on women to be seen to be sexually attractive. Clearly such expectations and consequences are oppressive to women. This is the transcript of a speech delivered at the Prevailing cultural norms mean that young girls European Social Forum in London on 16 October are robbed of their childhood as their clothes reflect 2004. It is taken (without permission) from the and emphasise female sexuality; and older women National Assembly Against Racism website.

5 Theo van Gogh: Hero, Anti-Semite, Misogynist or Islamophobe?

Herman de Tollenaere

HE MURDER of Dutch film maker and col- When Jewish historian Evelien Gans criticised Van T umnist Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam on Gogh, he wrote in Folia Civitatis magazine: “I 2 November 2004 shocked many people. Not only suspect that Ms Gans gets wet dreams about being in the Netherlands but also abroad, reactions fucked by Dr Mengele.” He hoped (Volkskrant, were, understandably, often emotional. Many February 1995) Gans would sue him: “Because then commentators described Van Gogh as a martyr in Ms Gans will have to explain in court that she the fight for free speech. That leaves the question: claims that she does not get wet dreams about Dr free speech for himself and people who shared his Mengele.” views, or also for his targets? Many reactions, e.g. in Britain, were by people Van Gogh on women (including right-wing who didn’t know the writings of either Van Gogh MP Ayaan Hirshi Ali) or his critics first hand in Dutch. I will try in this Van Gogh’s last film, a few minutes long, was article to help provide this information, necessary written by a Dutch MP, Ayaan Hirshi Ali, a for a rational assessment. naturalised refugee, from the ex-royal family of So, first, the murder is terrible, must be Somalia. (On Hirshi Ali see, in Dutch, http://www. condemned, and everyone should make an effort tijdschriftlover.nl/artikelen/artikelen_islam.html – to prevent violence like this from happening again. an article by Antillean Dutch Black [not Islamic] However, if I were to keep saying that one plus feminist Troetje Loewenthal. At http://www.sp.nl/ one makes three, and then someone murdered me, include/sh_opinie.php?code=406 another critical I hope no one would write that I was a math- article on Ms Ali can be found, this one by Anja ematical genius (as at least some people seemed to Meulenbelt, arguably the best known Dutch do in the case of Van Gogh – not on mathematics, feminist and now a Socialist Party senator.) but you get the point). Ms Ali is an MP for the VVD party, which is in Theo van Gogh’s inspiration was films like A government and is the most openly pro-capitalist Clockwork Orange, and the writings of French party in parliament. Arguably, they are the Dutch author Louis-Ferdinand Céline (a supporter of equivalent of the British Tory party (though more Hitler during World War II), both of which took “secular”, without the Tories’ Christian fund- human depravity as their central theme. amentalists). The VVD, and Ali, and Van Gogh, So let us see, from what Van Gogh himself said, have enthusiastically supported the government’s what he really stood for. (There is more – in Dutch expulsion of tens of thousands of refugees from – on Van Gogh in the archives at http://groups. the Netherlands, including Somali women who yahoo.com/group/linksnederlands.) are refugees from female circumcision and who now have to fear it if the responsible VVD minister Van Gogh on Jews succeeds with her expulsion plans. (Female genital “Fornicating yellow stars in a gas chamber.... What mutilation, by the way, is not an Islamic custom, a smell of caramel today. Today the crematoriums as it happens in Somalia and among Christians in burn only diabetic [in Dutch literally: sugar-sick] Kenya. It is not found among Turks or Mor- Jews”. Thus van Gogh in Moviola magazine, 1991. occans, the biggest groups of immigrants from The court then fined him 1000 guilders for anti- Muslim countries in the Netherlands.) In a semitism. He pictured Jewish TV presenter Sonja parliamentary speech Ms Ali proposed that the Barend in a concentration camp, and Jewish African continent should not be given another author Leon de Winter in “Treblinka-style cent of aid. fornication with barbed wire around his dick”. Anja Meulenbelt quotes Theo van Gogh as

6 saying that feminists should stop campaigning Van Gogh refused, as he hated other prospective against husbands’ violence in marriages: “Gentle- candidates. men who give a tough hiding are quite attractive Can a fascist party be led by an open gay in to some ladies really.” That remark was on women some individual cases, even though gay bashing in general, not especially on Muslim women. But, is a main point of the extreme Right? Yes it can. as we know, about a hundred years ago, Lord Michael Kühnen, the leader of the National Cromer, who was the boss of the anti-women’s Socialist Action Front of Germany, who died of suffrage league in Britain, sounded very “feminist” AIDS in 1991, was openly gay and had a macho in colonial Muslim Egypt. theory to justify it. Right now, Michiel Smit (see The theme of Ali’s and Van Gogh’s film was photos on http://www.geenstijl.nl/paginas/ Islamic wives beaten by their husbands, which was michielsmit) the leader of the Nieuw Rechts (New said to be inspired by the Koran. Muslim women Right) in the Netherlands is openly gay. Though who had suffered domestic violence reacted very fascist competitors have used that against both of angrily to the film when it was shown on Dutch them. TV: “I was beaten by that no good husband. Not by the Koran!”, one objected. “Making this a Kor- Van Gogh on war and socialism an issue will just give them an excuse.” The film Van Gogh strongly supported George W. Bush’s was sort of soft porn David Hamilton-Emmanuelle wars, and opposed all socialism in his columns. style featuring a naked woman (with a Christian He wrote of Paul Rosenmöller, an ex-dockworker, Moluccan actress playing an Islamic woman) in then Green Left party leader: “May he get a joy- see-through clothes with verses from the Koran bringing brain tumor. Let us piss on his grave.” written on them. The women who objected to the film said this cheapened and sen-sationalised their Van Gogh on migrants from Muslim extremely real issues with their husbands. countries On a British internet forum, a comparison was As I said, Van Gogh routinely substituted “goat- made between “Van Gogh making films vividly fucker” for “immigrant to the Netherlands from critical of Islam and the likes of Bunuel or Scorsese an Islamic country”. In his book Allah Knows Best who made films that challenged the basis of (2001) he wrote: “There is a Fifth Column of Catholicism”. However, there is a difference. goatfuckers in this country, who despise and spit Bunuel and Scorcese came from a background at its native people. They hate our freedom.” where Catholicism/Christianity was the dominant “Soon, the Fifth Column of goatfuckers will hurl religion, at least during their childhoods. While poison gas, diseases and atomic bombs at your never-a-Muslim Van Gogh called all Muslims, most children and my children.” of whom in the Netherlands are a lot poorer and However, nothing justifies the murder of Van more powerless than he was, “goatfuckers”. Not Gogh. The main immediate effect of it has been a once: probably a hundred times or more in writing further racist backlash in the Netherlands, with (I did not count). an Islamic primary school in Eindhoven fire- The internet message continued: “There is bombed for the fourth time, and mosques and therefore no comparison with the BNP or NF, buildings of secular Moroccan immigrant org- whose staple diet is attacks and violence by Black anisations attacked at night. Very many Dutch men against White women, not intra-communal Moroccans participated in, and/or organised, violence.” However, even though Van Gogh, in protests against the murder of Van Gogh. contrast to Ms Ali, was no party politician, intra- However, that did not impress the bigots. Vice communal violence, including hypocritical pity for Prime Minister Zalm (VVD) declared, in George the victims of female circumcision, was the staple W. Bush style, “war on extreme Islam”. diet in party political broadcasts by the now de- funct Centrumpartij, then the Dutch sister party Who killed him and why? of the British extreme Right, over 10 years ago. The arrested suspect wrote a rambling five-page When, in 2002, Pim Fortuijn (he himself letter and left it at Van Gogh’s body. Though his preferred the more “aristocratic” spelling Fortuyn) parents were from Morocco, he was raised in the founded an anti-immigration party with four other Netherlands, spoke Dutch and apparently did not people, one was former Centrumpartij leader know Arabic. The letter contained nothing about J. Boiten. (When his past came out after Fortuijn’s Van Gogh. It was a long ramble concerning death, Fortuyn’s – their spelling – party dismissed purported quotes from the Jewish Talmud. The Boiten from his position as a parliamentary suspect was said to be upset by his mother’s death assistant. Boiten, however, claims Fortuijn knew and by TV footage of US soldiers killing wounded all about his Centrumpartij past.) Van Gogh helped Iraqi civilians. There is no proof that he did not Fortuijn write his political speeches. Fortuijn act alone. So, an individual killed Van Gogh. Not wanted him to stand as an MP for his party, but “Islam”. Not even “political Islam”.

7 Again, there was never any excuse for this Dutch poet Remco Campert wrote: “De mortuis terrible murder. It seems murderer and victim had nil sini bene” [speak only good of the dead]. That is something in common: both fairly intelligent but a maxim which Van Gogh violated consistently. I mentally disturbed. Van Gogh often suffered from think I would insult him if now I would say nice depression, according to the Dutch daily NRC. So, sugary things about him.” Campert continued his indeed, he certainly cannot be equated to a article with Van Gogh’s quotes on Jews. He calculating racist politician who is neither alcoholic concluded: “These are not really the words of a nor takes drugs. true hero of free speech.” !

Qaradawi, Ken Bigley and Islamophobia

THE KIDNAPPINGS and killings by terrorist groups Torretta were abducted in Iraq early in September, in Iraq, highlighted by the horrifying execution of Italy’s foreign minister Franco Frattini visited the British engineering worker Ken Bigley, have Qaradawi’s home in Qatar to ask for his help. appalled all of us. Frattini declared his respect for Qaradawi as a Muslims across the world have been vociferous moderate Muslim leader, and paid tribute to his in condemning these acts and rejecting the role in initiating a dialogue with the West. Qaradawi murderers’ claims to have committed them in the for his part immediately condemned the kidnapping name of Islam. Daud Abdullah and Musharraf of the Italians, stating that “the two work for a Hussain of the Muslim Council of Britain visited humanitarian organisation which has nothing to do Baghdad in an effort to win Ken Bigley’s release. with the war”. He pointed out that “while Italy The Qatar-based Islamic scholar Sheikh Yusuf al- participated in the war on Iraq, millions of Italians Qaradawi also begged the hostage-takers to took to the streets to demonstrate against the war”. release Bigley, “whose only fault is having come In view of the disgraceful coverage of his visit to Iraq to help rebuild”. here in July, you might have thought the British Dr al-Qaradawi, who was the subject of a media would give Dr al-Qaradawi credit for the hysterical Islamophobic campaign by the right-wing contribution he has made in working with European press during his visit to Britain in July, has in fact political leaders to try and resolve the hostage- been one of the most active campaigners against taking crisis in Iraq. On the contrary, not only has the seizure of hostages in Iraq. He has declared the press failed to report any of this, but they have that “Muslims are forbidden from kidnapping slanderously accused him of backing the terrorists. innocent people who have nothing to do with wars”, On 3 September the Daily Mail published an and has demanded that the hostage-takers “stop article falsely stating that Qaradawi had called for such practices which unfairly brand Islam with the killing of US and British civilians in Iraq. The terrorism and do disservice to its adherents”. In Mail assured its readers that the report “demolishes August, Qaradawi blasted the terrorists who had the claim that al-Qaradawi is a moderate”. The Daily executed twelve Nepalese building workers in Iraq Mirror followed up on 6 September with another as “people without religion and without brains”. lying article reporting that Qaradawi had issued a After the journalists Christian Chesnot and fatwa concerning “the religious permissibility of Georges Malbrunot were kidnapped by a group killing civilian Americans in Iraq”. This provided the demanding an end to the ban on the hijab in French basis of a further article in the Sunday Express on schools, France’s foreign minister Michel Barnier 12 September, in which UKIP MEP Robert Kilroy- met with Dr al-Qaradawi in Cairo to enlist his Silk claimed that Dr al-Qaradawi “asserts that it is support in securing the release of the two men. permissible for Muslims to kill – by beheading? – Despite the fact that he has been one of the fiercest American citizens in Iraq”. critics of the hijab ban, Qaradawi had no hesitation On 23 September, following the deaths of the in broadcasting an appeal on Al-Jazeera television two US hostages, Jack Hensley and Eugene condemning the kidnapping as “incompatible with Armstrong, the Telegraph reported a malicious and Islam” and calling for the journalists to be freed baseless accusation from a United Arab Emirates immediately. newspaper that Qaradawi bore responsibility for the Antoine Basbous of the Paris Observatory of killings, under the headline “TV sheikh incited hos- Arab Countries stated that Qaradawi’s intervention tage murders says Arab paper”. And all this despite was “fundamental” to winning support across the the fact that Qaradawi has stated unequivocally middle east for the French government’s initiative. that US civilians in Iraq should be “treated in Michel Barnier later sent a letter to Qaradawi accordance with the Islamic tenets which stipulate thanking him for his “vehement condemnation” of the killing of civilians is forbidden”. the kidnapping of the two journalists and other The campaign against Islamophobia is a crucial civilians in Iraq. “With such a clear condemnation one for the labour movement and all progressive of the abduction of the French hostages”, Barnier forces in Britain today. The British media’s treat- wrote, “you have sent a clear-cut message demon- ment of Dr al-Qaradawi, both during and after his strating respect for the tenets of Islam.”When the visit here, has only served to underline this point. Italian aid workers Simona Pari and Simona Robert Wilkins

8 A ‘Clash of Civilizations’, Sending Pink Sparks Flying

Yoshie Furuhashi

O YOU remember Pim Fortuyn, a gay Dutch found its most charismatic advocate in the most Dpolitician who rose to notoriety with his call liberal nation in the world: for a moratorium on immigration and whose “A prolific author, as far back as 1997 he [Pim political party Lijst Pim Fortuyn received 1.6 mill- Fortuyn] had published Against Islamicization of ion votes and 26 seats in the 150-seat parliament Our Culture (reissued as The Islamicization of Our nine days after his assassination on 6 May 2002? Culture: The Centrality of Dutch Identity in late 2001, It is common today to automatically associate following 9/11 ...), in which he portrayed Islam in white gay male politics with the left. From Oscar conflict with modern values and norms. He argued Wilde, Magnus Hirschfeld, Sergei Eisenstein, Jean that because Islam does not tolerate separation Genet, Harry Hay, Michel Foucault, Pier Paolo between state and religion, it comes into direct Pasolini, Guy Hocquenghem, Rainer Werner conflict with liberal values. Already in August 2001 Fassbinder, John D’Emilio, to Tony Kushner, the he had gone on record saying that ‘I am ... in finest and queerest of queer male intellectuals have favour of a cold war with Islam. I see Islam as an been resolutely of the left (even when political extraordinary threat, as a hostile society’. He liked parties on the left didn’t welcome them, they to call himself ‘the Samuel Huntington of Dutch remained radically pinko), and landmarks of gay politics’ because he endorsed Huntington’s The men’s activism from the Stonewall Uprising, le Clash of Civilizations (1998).... [I]n an interview in Front Homosexuel d’Action Révolutionnaire, Act- the Volkskrant of 9 February 2002, he declared that Up, to Queer Nation stand on the left side of the there was no room for immigrants and asylum political spectrum. While we know that some white seekers in the Netherlands, that he was in favour gay men have espoused a range of right-wing of complete abandonment of the principle of non- politics (from Nazism of Ernst Röhm to Cold-War discrimination, and that Islam was a backward anticommunism of Roy Cohn to Log Cabin religion: ‘If I can legally manage it, I would say: Republicanism of Andrew Sullivan), we (especially no Muslim comes in[to this country] any more’.” those of us on the queer left), noting that right- (Lunsing, p. 20) wing gay men are generally marginalized (and While Fortuyn’s life came to an end at the hands sometimes purged) by their fellow right-wingers, of a mad animal rights activist Van der Graaf, think that right-wing gay men have found immigrants and asylum-seekers in the Netherlands themselves on the wrong side of the political live with his legacy: spectrum, against their own interests. “The Dutch parliament voted February 17 to The rise of Pim Fortuyn, however, signaled a expel some 26,000 asylum seekers from the new era of white gay male politics. By promoting Netherlands over the next three years, marking anti-immigrant politics vigorously and marketing an escalation in the brutalisation of immigrants it with anti-Muslim prejudice demagogically, across Europe.... The bill affects all asylum seekers Fortuyn showed that right-wing populism can who arrived in the country before April 2001. They very well be gay and enormously popular to boot, include Afghans, Somalis and Chechens facing as LPF votes in 2002 attest, in the Netherlands, civil wars or a return to regions with no funct- “the first country in the world to legalize same- ioning government. Many of those affected have sex marriage (in March 2002)” (Wim Lunsing, been in the country for more than five years and ‘Islam versus Homosexuality? Some Reflections on have had children who have been raised within the Assassination of Pim Fortuyn’, Anthropology Dutch communities. Some have spent up to 10 Today 19.2, April 2003, p.19). It is ironic that the years applying for residence, and consider them- conservative thesis of Samuel Huntington finally selves Dutch.

9 “All those who arrived before April 2001, and thus be forced to integrate.... To combat the whose asylum applications have been rejected, are growing problems in socio-economic dis- to be offered plane tickets and given eight weeks advantaged areas in cities, the government has to leave the country. Levels of payment offered are allowed the four largest cities demand that new to be assessed on circumstance by special comm- residents earn a minimum level income before ittees. If asylum seekers refuse, they will be rounded being permitted to settle in the city.... Taking up up by immigration officers, supported by armed the fight against illegal immigrants, the Cabinet police if necessary, and taken to a departure centre. resolved on 23 April to boost the capacity of the Here, for up to another eight weeks, they will come foreign police and double the cells at deportation under pressure from lawyers and civil servants to centres to about 3,000. leave voluntarily. The government has already “Rental contracts can be dissolved if inquiries opened deportation centres for the detention of indicate that landlords have rented homes out to families. illegal immigrants. In the case of illegal subletting, “If they still refuse to leave the country, they the official tenant might also lose his or her home. face a six-month prison sentence. They will then Employers will be threatened with stiffer fines if also lose any entitlement to a job, welfare, housing they employ illegal workers. The average fine of and health care. The government hopes that this EUR 980 will be increased to EUR 3,500 per illegal will both force their expulsion and satisfy its worker. More raids will thus be carried out and obligations to support “voluntary” departure employers will also be forced to pay retrospective under international human rights conventions. social security premiums and taxes if the illegal (Paul Bond, ‘Dutch Parliament Votes to Deport immigrant has worked there for six months. That Asylum Seekers’, World Socialist Website, 21 Feb- bill could reportedly amount to EUR 6,000.” ruary 2004) (Aaron Gray-Block, ‘Changes in Dutch Immig- “Newcomers and settled immigrants will be ration Policy’, Expatica, 19 May 2004) forced to successfully pass an integration “The Dutch government plans to scrap the law examination to prove they have integrated into allowing third generation migrants to maintain Dutch society. The law is primarily aimed at non- dual nationality. Immigration Minister Rita EU family unification immigrants – especially Verdonk said it is “not permissible” for this group those from Turkey and Morocco – who will be of people to have two passports. (‘Dutch Set to required to complete a basic integration test in their Scrap Third Generation Dual Nationality’, Expat- country of origin before arriving in the Nether- ica, 21 May 2004) lands. The Netherlands is the first country in the “Dutch political culture is sowing hate and world to demand permanent immigrants complete criminalising migrants, former Liberal VVD leader a pre-arrival integration course. US, Canadian, Hans Dijkstal has claimed. He particularly Australian, New Zealand and Japanese nationals slammed a proposal to publicly identify migrants are exempted from the pre-arrival courses. on how much they have integrated into Dutch “The changes come on the back of a Cabinet society. (‘Dutch Political Culture “Cultivates Mig- decision in March requiring Dutch residents earn rant Hate”’, Expatica, 7 June 2004) at least 120 percent of the minimum wage before Will the phenomenon of a gay man successfully being allowed to bring their foreign partner into popularizing the rhetoric that pits “Islam” the country. Both the partner and Dutch resident (misrepresented as inherently and monolithically must also be aged at least 21. Moving on, the homophobic and misogynistic) against “Western Cabinet agreed on 23 April that after arriving in Civilization” (made out to be inherently and the country, a newcomer must report back to the monolithically feminist and pro-gay) remain local council after six months to monitor their int- unique to the Netherlands? Or will the Nether- egration progress. Authorities will determine when lands be a harbinger, as more white gay men, now they will be assessed again. Those who fail to report integrated in the militaries and soon to gain the will be fined. equal right to marriage in most rich industrialized “If the immigrant wants to be compensated for nations, lose the ability to identify with other out- course costs, they must pass the integration exam casts like the Palestinians and migrant workers within three years. If a newcomer has failed to that once defined the politics and aesthetics of integrate after five years, they will be fined.... A Genet (e.g., Prisoner of Love) and Fassbinder (e.g., residence permit for an indefinite period can only Ali: Fear Eats the Soul)? be obtained once a foreigner has passed an Take Peter Tatchell, perhaps the most famous integration exam. Settled immigrants will also be queer activist in Britain, for example. Unlike For- required to complete the integration exam except tuyn, Tatchell is still capable of gesturing toward those who have already gained relevant diplomas. the existence of tolerant Muslims, but a number “The Cabinet asserts that about 450,000 settled of his writings suggest a paranoid fear of political immigrants have a language deficiency and should powers of Muslims:

10 “The New Dark Ages are already with us. For “So how about a citizen’s arrest, to stop Blair hundreds of millions of people in parts of the in his tracks? After all, like Mugabe, Blair has been Middle-East, Africa and South-East Asia, the known to ‘break international law’ and show ascendancy of Islamic fundamentalism has ushered ‘contempt and disregard for human life’ (think in an era of religious obscurantism and intoler- Kosovo and Iraq). ‘Yes, but I’m not sure about ance. The liberal, compassionate wing of Islam – arresting him’, says Tatchell. ‘I think you’d have although it still has large numbers of adherents – a harder time getting to Blair than you would to is being forced onto the defensive and increasingly Mugabe. And I don’t think there’s any comparison eclipsed.” (Peter Tatchell, ‘The New Dark Ages’, to the murders taking place in Zimbabwe.’” 1995) (Brendan O’Neill, ‘Me and My Vote: Peter Tatchell’, “The political consequences for the gay comm- Spiked, 11 May 2001) unity could be serious. As the fundamentalists gain Mugabe is an authoritarian strongman who followers, homophobic Muslim voters may be able is no friend to democracy in Zimbabwe, to be sure, to influence the outcome of elections in 20 or more but he has not shown as much contempt and marginal constituencies. Their voting strength disregard for human life and international law as could potentially be used to block pro-gay cand- the multinational power elite like Blair who idates or to pressure electorally vulnerable MPs to manage the empire of capital under the US vote against gay rights legislation.” (Peter Tatchell/ hegemony, imposing the Washington Consensus OutRage! Press Release, ‘The Rise of Islamic globally with far bloodier results than Mugabe’s Fundamentalism in Britain’, 10 April 1998) human rights violations at home. The Pink Man’s While the politics of extreme Islamism presents Burden, like the White Man’s Burden, has a way indeed a danger (mainly to Muslims themselves of obstructing the political vision of those who rather than white British gay men like Tatchell), carry it, however. alarmist (and factually inaccurate) screeds like Having left the Labour Party, which is to his Tatchell’s do more damage than good to the very credit, Tatchell has found a new political home in Muslims who are fighting for reforms – both in the Green Party. I hope he will at least remain secular and religious arenas – by giving a gay where he is politically, without transforming obscurantist cover to the politics of intolerance. If himself into a British Fortuyn, who will stage a Muslim voters are so vulnerable to radical “Clash of Civilizations” that sends pink sparks Islamists’ persuasion, why not restrict their imm- flying. igration to England, as the Dutch have sought to protect their “liberalism” and “civilization” by This piece first appeared on Yoshie Furuhashi’s implementing more and more anti-immigrant blog Critical Montages on 8 June 2004. measures? I won’t be surprised if Tatchell one day crosses the thin boundary between his rhetoric and Fortuyn’s. Already, Tatchell’s politics may be properly called the advocacy of the Pink Man’s Burden, the White Man’s Burden in queer left drag: Marxmail.org “Peter Tatchell, Britain’s best-known and most notorious gay rights activist, still has ‘severe The Marxism Mailing List headaches’ from when he was set upon by President Robert Mugabe’s bodyguards after he tried to carry out a citizen’s arrest on the Zim- What is the Marxism mailing list? babwean leader in Brussels in March 2001. ‘I was battered far worse than most people think’, says The Marxism list is a worldwide moderated Tatchell. ‘Thrown to the floor, kicked, punched.... forum for activists and scholars in the I still have a bit of brain damage, and damage to Marxist tradition who favor a non-sectarian my left eye. It’s not serious now, but I’m a bit and non-dogmatic approach. It puts a slower than normal.’ premium on independent thought and “So can we expect similar sparks to fly during rigorous but civil debate. While it is a high- the UK election campaign, or has Tatchell learned volume list, it has a very good “signal to his lesson about taking on figures in authority? noise” ratio. It is also globally ‘It’s long overdue that there were strong street representative, with subscribers from over protests against Blair’s authoritarian and pro- 15 different countries business policies’, says Tatchell. ‘He will continue to promote a social democratic version of Thatcherism, so long as people let him get away www.marxmail.org with it.’

11 Wombling Free? Anarchists and the European Social Forum

Geoffrey Brown

HE 2004 European Social Forum, held in or exaggerated one, to the supposedly undemo- T London on 15-17 October, attracted more than cratic process through which the London ESF was 20,000 participants. The event featured 500 organised. It has been suggested that a more plenaries, seminars, workshops and cultural inclusive approach would have been able to draw events, with more than 2,500 speakers represent- the Wombles into the preparation of the Forum, ing every shade of opinion within the global justice dissuade them from setting up their own rival series movement. The ESF concluded with a 70,000- of events, and avoid the disruption of the official strong demonstration calling for an end to war, ESF. racism and privatisation, and for a Europe of peace and social justice. Hundreds of volunteers gave ESF – Bureaucratic and Undemocratic? their services for free. The whole event was made Among those who were not involved in the possible by financial support from the Greater organising process, the belief that the preparation London Authority, who also provided free travel of the London ESF was exclusive and bureaucratic for the participants and cheap accommodation at appears to derive largely from reports in the far the Dome. left press, and in the Weekly Worker in particular. However, the disruptive actions of the anarchist It should be noted, however, that the criticisms of group the Wombles added a sour note to an the London ESF in that publication were a repeat otherwise successful ESF. On Saturday evening (admittedly in a greatly expanded form) of what it the Wombles and their allies invaded the main said about the Paris ESF last year. venue at Alexandra Palace and occupied the stage In a Weekly Worker report of a preparatory before the start of the anti-fascist plenary, at which meeting in Paris in September 2003, Tina Becker Ken Livingstone had been billed as a speaker. They and Anne McShane complained about the lack of unfurled a banner bizarrely denouncing Living- “democracy and transparency” there, and accused stone – one of the most prominent opponents of the French organising committee of acting in an the invasion and occupation of Iraq – as a Labour “undemocratic and overbearing” manner. In the Party warmonger. Weyman Bennett of Unite following issue Becker wrote that criticisms of the Against Fascism, who was to have chaired the British SWP by Bernard Cassen of Attac were session, was assaulted and had his mobile phone hypocritical, “as the French organising committee stolen. The following day in Trafalgar Square, at has been behaving in a similarly bureaucratic the rally following the demonstration, the way”. Wombles clashed with stewards while trying to The fact that the Weekly Worker’s reports and storm the speakers’ platform, leading to arrests by criticisms of the Paris process were not as extensive the police. as those of the London ESF was due to the fact These actions were condemned by most of those that the group has no members in France. If they involved in the ESF. A statement issued by 21 had, we would no doubt have been subjected to leading trade unionists and campaigners declared numerous articles along the lines of those that “censorship of views by premeditated physical published during the preparation of the 2004 ESF, violence at the ESF is completely unacceptable. If combining inaccurate accounts of meetings, half- such methods were introduced into our move- baked gossip and the political fingering of ments they would destroy all democratic function- individuals with influential positions in the labour ing”. movement. Others, however, while not prepared to Criticisms of the 2003 ESF similar to those by condone the Wombles’ behaviour, have been the Weekly Worker, but from a libertarian per- inclined to see it as a response, albeit a mistaken spective, can be found in the current (November- 12 December 2004) issue of Radical Philosophy, where ally, they present this demand – for small ultra- Les Levidow complains that the organisation of left minorities to wield powers entirely out of the Paris ESF was: proportion to the negligible forces they represent “... controlled by party cadres. When a French – as a campaign for democracy. network of local social forums requested a meeting space, for example, their request was denied, Wombles’ Critique of the ESF though eventually they found a defunct church The Wombles themselves, who are an extreme and expanded a Europe-wide network of such example of this tendency, have since attempted to forums. The main opportunity for coordinating justify their behaviour at the London ESF with actions, the Assembly of Social Movements on the the argument that it was undemocratically Sunday morning, centred on statements which organised. They claim that the Forum was hijacked bore little relation to strategic debates during the by Ken Livingstone, the Greater London Author- overall event. Indeed, the final declaration was ity and the SWP, and that it “deliberately ignored largely written beforehand by an invitation-only all the guiding principles of the World/European small working group.” Social Forum”. As others have pointed out, how- Others favoured more physical forms of ever, there is a considerable degree of double-talk criticism. During the demonstration that conclud- going on here. ed the Paris ESF a couple of hundred anarchists, The Wombles were initially involved in the incensed by the involvement in the Forum of organising process for the ESF but walked out at members of a political organisation they regarded a very early stage. They attended one of the early as bureaucratic and reformist, attacked the French preparatory assemblies in December 2003 where Communist Party contingent with bottles and their main contribution involved “heckling and fireworks, provoking an intervention by the police. shouting at every speaker from the SWP”, Even the Weekly Worker drew the line at this sort according to the Weekly Worker. When it became of behaviour. “In objective terms”, their reporter clear that the organising body would adopt a commented, “such a stunt is reactionary: frankly, delegate structure, rather than remain a free-for- it is the sort of thing one expects from fascists.” It all in which any random individual could just turn might be remarked in passing that the same paper up, the Wombles lost interest. took a much more relaxed view of anarchist hool- However, their argument at that time was not iganism at the London ESF. that the 2004 ESF had abandoned the established There is no evidence that the Wombles procedures and philosophy of the WSF/ESF. On themselves participated in the attack in 2003, but the contrary, they argued that the organisation of they were as scathing about the Paris ESF as they the London event was very much in conformity with were about its successor in London. One of them the principles of the WSF/ESF, principles which has recalled that “one of the things we had found they themselves vehemently rejected. depressing about the Paris ESF was endless plat- The Wombles produced a critique of the World forms of speakers with little or no opportunity Social Forum and the ESF (available on their for participation”. website, www.wombles.org.uk) in which they The point here is that criticisms of bureau- described the Social Forums as “institutions which cratism, centralism and undemocratic procedure, parallel the development of capitalist institutions and violent protests against the involvement of of governance”. Indeed, according to their analy- members of political organisations, were not sis, the ESF was itself one of the “contemporary limited to the London ESF. Such criticisms and institutions of domination”. protests, whether at the Paris or London Forums, In line with their attacks on Livingstone and are a reflection not so much of deficiencies in the the GLA, the Wombles’ document criticised the way they are organised as of the compulsive and involvement of Lula and other members of the destructive oppositionalism that afflicts a section Brazilian Workers Party in the original Porto of the far left. Alegre WSF. They even condemned the presence Neither the Paris nor the London ESF would within the Social Forums of NGOs, which they have been possible without the commitment of defined as pro-capitalist bodies. The Wombles large sums of public money and the involvement accused the WSF/ESF of promoting “reformist of mass organisations, notably the trade unions. demands such as taxes on corporations, protective/ A formal delegate-based structure is therefore a anti-privatization policies from governments, necessity for the preparation of the ESF wherever power to ‘civil society’ etc”. They specifically it is held. Inevitably this provokes hostility from criticised the inclusivity, diversity and plurality of individuals and groups who have little popular the WSF/ESF, claiming that this led directly to the support and therefore favour a looser format that adoption of such “minimalist objectives”. would allow them to secure a prominent role for The Wombles explained the allegedly undem- themselves within the organising process. Cynic- ocratic character of the ESF not as a consequence

13 of GLA/SWP dominance but of the ESF’s own police brutality by interposing themselves between organisational structures. “Even if the ESF police and protestors. publicizes itself as ‘decentralised participatory The Wombles were launched in Britain by self- democracy’”, they wrote, “it is in reality hier- styled “libertarian communists” after the Sep- archical and thus becomes a field where other tember 2000 protests against the annual meeting hierarchical organizations, such as political of the IMF/World Bank in Prague, where they parties, try to control it in pursuit of their own joined the tute bianche in confronting the police. interests.” Alessio Lunghi, who is described as the Wombles’ The Wombles concluded their critique by “default spokesman” (because the Wombles claim stating that they would work with other groups to have no official spokesperson or hierarchy), is to promote “autonomous spaces” during the the son of an Italian wine importer and it was period of the ESF, based upon the principles of apparently through him that contacts were made self-organisation, autonomy and direct action. The with anarchist currents in Italy. organisation of such spaces is not necessarily The Wombles have attempted to reproduce the opposed to the ESF itself, and indeed there were self-managed “social centres”, which have proponents of “autonomous spaces” who saw provided Ya Basta! with its base in Italy, by these as complementary to the official Forum. On occupying empty buildings, “initially for the that basis they organised alternative events, which purpose of having a space to organise and then to were listed in the official programme. However, as create a social basis and service to the local the Wombles themselves made clear, they were community”. They admit this has not been an among those who argued that in London the equivalent success in Britain: “We found that the fringe should be organised in outright opposition nature of our actions affected the safety of liber- to the ESF. ated spaces and have led to several places being Unable to convince the more moderate prematurely closed by police.” A recent example of advocates of “autonomous spaces” of their case, this was the squat in Fortess Road, Kentish Town, the Wombles announced the organisation of their from which they were evicted in August. The result own series of events on the basis of explicit hostility is that the Wombles lack the roots in civil society to the official ESF, which was condemned as “a that Ya Basta! established and have evolved as a place where political parties and social democrats free-floating association of individuals united by co-opt and dominate the new movement against a common commitment to supposedly non- capital for their own purposes”. Entitled “Beyond hierarchical forms of organisation and to methods the ESF”, the Wombles’ anti-ESF events were of direct action. designed to attract the minority who are already The “militant nonviolence” of the tute bianche committed to anarchist/libertarian methods of has also proved less than successful when struggle against capitalism, rather than those those transposed to Britain. One critic has observed that they sneered at as “sensitive, political active the Wombles “never recruited to a critical mass to citizens”, who would be attending the official duplicate this nonviolent militant tactic”. On May Forum. Day 2001 in London, when they were heavily It is clear from the above that the Wombles’ outnumbered by police, the Wombles’ methods claim to have carried out their disruptive stunts proved ineffective. Since 2001 the anarchists’ May at the London ESF in defence of the “guiding Day protest, which provided the main arena for principles” of the WSF/ESF is simply laughable. such actions, has gone downhill fast. The 2002 and 2003 events were something of a damp squib, Who are the Wombles? with small groups of protestors dodging around The Wombles (“White Overalls Movement Build- the West End trying to evade the police. In 2004 ing Liberation through Effective Struggle”) were the Mayday Collective, with which the Wombles set up in imitation of the Italian organisation were involved, was forced to announce that the known as tute bianche (white overalls) and of the annual protest had been cancelled due to lack of dominant tendency within that organisation, Ya interest. Basta!, who were themselves inspired by the The Wombles themselves now downplay this Zapatistas. The tute bianche (who dissolved their aspect of their activity. Their website points out organisation in 2001) participated in demon- that “only a few WOMBLES actions have required strations dressed in white workers’ overalls and helmets, padding and white overalls. Though the chemical suits. This was supposed to symbolise media impression of WOMBLES has been this, we the invisibility of people with no rights, no power, do more things than look silly – honest!” In fact no individual identity, on the margins of a “normal the tute bianche approach now appears to have been life”. They also wore protective pads, shields and sidelined in favour of more aggressive tactics. helmets, though they said this was in order to The Wombles have in fact always had an pursue a form of militant nonviolence, countering ambiguous attitude towards political (or, more

14 accurately, anti-political) violence. They accused citizens on the Navan Road, injuring several and Ya Basta! of “hierarchical discipline and author- arresting two dozen. Yet media attention has itarianism” – because Ya Basta! stewards tried to largely ignored both of these stories in favour of a prevent “Black Bloc” anarchists from smashing focus on the alleged actions of a small number of windows during the protest at the G8 summit in protestors.” Genoa in 2001. Indeed, one of the Wombles’ charges The Wombles claimed that their own methods against the Social Forums is that they have had been nonviolent, amounting to no more than “promoted the distinction between ‘violent’; and linking arms and trying to push through the ‘non-violent’ protestors so as to be compliant with police line. However, they refused to criticise the status quo”. others who did favour attacking the police. As one Womble declared: “The only problem I had with Wombles at the Dublin EU Summit people throwing beer cans was that it was a waste An example of the Wombles’ new, more aggressive of good beer! For fuck’s sake people, this is a social methods was seen at the May 2004 EU summit at war, are we really going to cry if people throw a Farmleigh House in Dublin, where a protest march few rocks and bottles – I’m sure I’m not!” In any was organised in defiance of an effective police ban. case, the Wombles’ decision to force their way Although the broad-based organising committee, through police lines, in circumstances where the the Dublin Grassroots Network, had decided on riot police were looking for an excuse to suppress a peaceful protest that would avoid physical con- the demonstration, inevitably led to a violent clash. frontation with the police, the Wombles were part The actions of the Wombles and their friends of a group of anarchists who rejected this decision. prompted a fierce debate on the Irish Indymedia According to their own statement, a plan to try discussion list. As one critic of the anarchists’ and break through police lines was adopted the tactics argued, “many had hoped there would be evening before the demonstration by “people unity in the last part of the march to Farmleigh – planning to join the march who did not wish to this splinter group made everything turn sour and march under the guidelines issued by Dublin gave the state and the media exactly what they Grassroots Network”. wanted”. Note that there was no claim that the DGN The arrogant elitism of the anarchists came in was bureaucratic, centralised, undemocratic, ex- for particular criticism. “By deciding to have a clusive, dominated by political parties or anything confrontation with the police”, another participant of that sort. The Wombles simply decided that they pointed out, “these people were completely inter- and their fellow anarchists would not abide by fering with our attempts to have a peaceful protest. the majority decision because they disagreed with That showed no respect whatsoever for our tactics it. Their justification was: or goals..... By insisting on their tactics, and “In a world where hundreds of thousands of refusing to take others’ views into account, they people die every year due to the economic policies were displaying fanaticism and closed-mindedness, of global capitalism, the discussion of the ‘violence’ as if the only thing that mattered was their right to of a push through police lines or property damage do whatever they wanted ….” on a demonstration becomes an irrelevance.” Addressing the Wombles and their allies, Needless to say, the anarchists’ attempt to break another supporter of the DGN complained bitterly: through police lines resulted in a backlash against “It is your small group of friends who try to dictate all the demonstrators. A water cannon was turned to the rest of us how we should act and what we on the marchers, who were then subjected to baton should do. There is nothing ‘democratic’ nor ‘non- charges by riot police. A minority of the demon- hierarchical’ about this strategy … instead of strators responded by throwing bottles and cans creating new forms of resistance you offer division of beer at the police, hitting one policewoman on and violence…. You led people into a violent the head and hospitalising her. The media of course situation of your own planning. People came on seized on this in order to ignore the actual object- to the street for the first time attracted to the ives of the march and instead misrepresent the positive energy of the march to Farmleigh, not event as a case of anarchist hooligans attacking because they wanted to be put in danger by the the police. violence that you planned and provoked.” As the DGN pointed out in a statement issued Some might argue that these methods flow after the demonstration: “The main story is surely directly from the Wombles’ anarchist ideology. As that between 3 and 5,000 people found the courage Hal Draper argues in his pamphlet The Two Souls to march in the face of the ban and the threat of of Socialism: “Anarchism is on principle fiercely the riot police, in defence of the freedom of assembly anti-democratic, since an ideally democratic and opinion and as a protest against privatisation, authority is still authority. But since, rejecting militarisation and ‘Fortress Europe’. A secondary democracy, it has no other way of resolving the story is surely that the police did indeed attack inevitable disagreements and differences … its

15 unlimited freedom for each uncontrolled individ- Wombles are confronted by the much larger forces ual is indistinguishable from unlimited despotism of the Metropolitan Police, while it appears that by such an individual, both in theory and prac- the May Day anarchist protests have in any case tice.” fizzled out. The Wombles’ actions at the Dublin EU sum- Recent experience suggests that the Wombles mit, and their subsequent disruption of the are now turning instead to publicity-generating London ESF, were entirely in line with this physical confrontations that have more in common philosophy. with the aggressive forms of direct action pursued by elements within the “Black Bloc”. With the Whither the Wombles? forces of the state having proved too strong for Apart from its roots in general anarchist ideology, them, there is no doubt a temptation for the the latest evolution of the Wombles seems to reflect Wombles to choose softer targets, namely their the fact that they have reached something of an opponents on the left, as happened at the ESF. impasse as far as their original methods of action They should be persuaded that, even from their are concerned. As we have seen, by their own own standpoint, it would be disastrous to go down admission duplicating the Italian social centres has that road. If the Wombles’ preferred libertarian, proved difficult in Britain, where the harsher “horizontal” form of organisation is to win wider character and more rigorous enforcement of anti- support, this will be done by demonstrating in squatting laws have prevented the establishment practice its superiority as an alternative to the hier- of such centres on any but a short term basis. The archical methods they oppose, not by arrogantly methods of the tute bianche have also proved disrupting and obstructing the activities of those ineffective when relatively small numbers of they have as yet failed to convince. !

From Francis Boutle Publishers Victor Serge – Collected Writings on Literature and Revolution Translated, edited and with an introduction by Al Richardson

This book gathers together for the first time the bulk of Victor Serge’s literary criticism from the 1920s to the 1950s, giving the reader an invaluable contemporary account of the debates about literary production in a socialist society, the role of intellectuals, the theory of “proletarian” literature, as well as assessments of Soviet writers: Mayakovsky, Gorky, Alexei Tolstoy, Alexander Blok, and the less well known Korolenko, Pilnyak, Fedin, Bezymensky, Ivanov, amongst others. Later chapters deal with the “massacre of writers” by Stalin in the late 1930s, the suicides, disappearances and executions, making Serge’s work not just an exercise in literary criticism, but a history of the Russian Revolution itself. www.francisboutle.demon.co.uk

Housmans Bookshop The best place in London for radical books and magazines 5 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, London N1 9DX Just round the corner from Kings Cross station Phone: 020 7837 4473 Email: [email protected]

16 Extending the Circle of Compassion: Socialism and Animal Rights

Terry Liddle

hose who opposed slavery in the 19th living animal. If people had to rear and slaughter “Tcentury are those who today have stopped animals for their own consumption one suspects eating meat” boldly proclaims a poster produced there would be many more vegetarians. The by the Cahiers Antispécistes of Lyon and a number demand for cheap food has resulted in animals of other French and Spanish animal rights groups. being forced to live in entirely unnatural It also calls for the 21st century to be the century conditions. Close-packed into battery sheds they of animal liberation. In his 1974 book Animal neither see daylight nor feel the wind or rain. Liberation Peter Singer wrote: “The tyranny of Stuffed with growth hormones and antibiotics, human over non-human animals has caused and which then go into the human food chain, they today is still caus-ing an amount of pain and are bred for death. Male calves in dairy herds are suffering that can only be compared with that killed at two days old; hunting dogs grown too which resulted from the centuries of tyranny by old to hunt are killed and fed to their fellows. Cattle, white humans over black humans. The struggle natural herbivores, were fed on the remains of dead against this tyranny is a struggle as important as infected sheep, thereby passing on new and deadly any of the moral and social issues that have been diseases to humans. fought over in recent years. Areas of the Amazonian rain forests have been “For sure, the enslavement of millions of destroyed to make space for rearing cattle. Within Africans by Europeans and Americans from the a few years the topsoil has blown away. In a late 15th to the mid-19th century merits close hungry world grains and beans, instead of feeding comparison with the position of non-human humans, are fed to animals reared for meat. The animals in today’s capitalist society. Cities like McDonald’s diet based on large amounts of Bristol and Liverpool were built on slavery and it saturated animal fat, salt and sugar and very little was capital derived from the profits of slavery that fibre is far from healthy. It is also very profitable. financed the industrial revolution. Is it any wonder The pay and conditions for workers in burger that when Thomas Paine wanted to include joints are far from good and their owners have abolition of slavery in the American constitution fought hard to stop workers organising in trade the rich plantation owners stopped him? unions. They have gone to great lengths to silence Slaves could of course revolt as they did in their critics, such as London Greenpeace. Haiti under the influence of the liberty, equality Vivisection is also highly profitable. Last year and fraternity of the French Revolution. For such there were 2.79 million animal experiments and revolts, or for trying to escape, slaves were beaten, the number is rising. Yet the differences between mutilated or executed. The animals in today’s animals, even those such as chimpanzees who battery farms or vivisection laboratories, unless share much of our DNA, and humans are obvious. they are liberated by animal rights activists, cannot Animals do not smoke tobacco or drink alcohol, escape. Slaves were not bred for food nor were they they do not suffer diseases such as arthritis and subjected to horrific experiments which are hypertension. Trying to find answers to these scientific fraud. Millions of animals are. human problems by experimenting on animals is Few people nowadays know where their food plain daft. Drugs such as digitalis which tested comes from. They do not associate the chicken unsafe on animals have been highly effective when nugget, burger or sausage on their plate or the applied to humans. Drugs which tested safe on ready-prepared joint in the supermarket with the animals have had disastrous results when applied 17 to humans. Remember Thalidomide? There are Socialism, if it is not to be tyranny in a new many safe, natural, herbal medicines which even guise, must of necessity be an extreme and when they do little good do no harm. The animal- consistently democratic humanism. Yet humanism tested drugs produced by the pharmaceutical is not an end in itself. In realising itself it creates monopolies are those which are foisted onto the new qualities. public. The motive, of course, is profit. One such new quality is the extension of the There are many other aspects to animal abuse circle of compassion beyond humans to the other and exploitation. The pursuit across country by living beings with which we share the planet. upper class twits of foxes and stags to the point Discounting the notion of creation, humans and where they become exhausted and are non-humans are products of a common dismembered by packs of dogs, and the rearing of evolutionary process. Because humans can reason game birds to be blasted from the skies, are one. they have a duty to apply that reason to the The breeding or trapping of animals such as seals treatment of animals. We need to stop abusing, so that their skins may adorn the bodies of exploiting and killing animals for our own ends. pampered women with more money than We need to see nature as something to be worked compassion is another. There is also the wicked with, not subjugated. We need to explore lie of so-called freedom foods. Better treated when alternatives such as natural medicines and an alive, the animals still end up dead. emphasis on the preventative rather than the Despite the efforts of pioneer socialists and curative. We need to have the land and the tools animal rights supporters such as Henry Salt, the to grow some of our own food. We need to stop Left has largely ignored animal rights. With its polluting the land with artificial pesticides and activities often geared up to the next strike, the fertilisers which damage wild animal habitats. We next paper sale or the next election, its concept of need to re-examine our diet and move away from the struggle for liberation is often at best one- one based on animal products to one based on dimensional. At one time the Socialist Workers grains, vegetables and pulses. We need to stop Party supported vivisection and held meetings on vivisection, hunting and the fur trade. We need to whether socialists should be vegetarians. One did cherish life and let it thrive in all its forms. not have to attend the meetings to know the The Green Party, which has a much better answer. Nowadays, they would doubtless see policy on animals that much of the Left, has an opposition to the horrific Moslem method of ritual animal rights working group. The Labour Party slaughter as Islamophobia. has an animal welfare society, which has managed Many animal rights activists are rightly to get animal rights issues debated at party suspicious of the Left which they see as conference. However, Labour in government has manipulative and dishonest, interested not in prevaricated on banning hunting with dogs while furthering the cause but solely in recruiting to the threatening a crackdown on animal rights activists. vanguard party. They are not, however, Attempts to form an animal rights group for misanthropes and terrorists despite all the scare socialists outside of the Labour Party have had stories. little success in a Left mired in myopic economism. Many are involved in other causes such as the In 1907 there was a united front of anti- peace movement and anti-fascism. Keith Mann, a vivisectionists, socialists and feminists against spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front, attempts to demolish a statue in Battersea of a who was awarded a 14-year sentence for his animal brown dog which had been erected as a mon- rights activity, has said that “extremism” will stop ument to the victims of fraudulent science. Nearly if the vivisection laboratories will but open a century later such a united front is urgently themselves up to public inspection. He feels that if needed. On animal rights demonstrations one the public knew the truth about the suffering and often hears the slogan “human liberation, animal death inflicted behind locked doors there would liberation – one struggle, one fight”. It is high time be such an outcry that vivisection would be ended. socialists woke up to its essential truth. ! EMANCIPATION & LIBERATION Quarterly discussion journal published by the Republican Communist Network (Scotland) Subscription rates (1 year, 4 issues): Britain £10, Rest of Europe £12, Rest of the World £14 Make cheques payable to "Record of Letter". Send to: RCN, c/o PO Box 6773, Dundee DD1 1YL

18 Brownshirts in Blazers? The Rise of UKIP

Martin Sullivan

ITH ITS 16% of the vote in the June Euro- denunciations of the European Union’s bureau- W elections the UK Independence Party, pre- cratism and lack of democratic accountability have viously dismissed as a group of cranks on the a broad appeal (even if its MEPs show little political fringe, displaced the Lib Dems as the third compunction about getting their own snouts in largest party and won 12 seats in the European the trough at Brussels). Indeed, some on the left Parliament – a big advance on the 6.5% and 3 seats have even suggested that UKIP’s electoral gains it achieved in 1999. UKIP followed this up in expressed, if in a confused and contradictory form, September by coming third in the Hartlepool by- a healthy popular opposition to the current project election, relegating the Tories to fourth place. The of European integration. party showed it had the potential to establish itself But this hardly explains the success of two UKIP as a significant force in British politics. candidates in the London Assembly elections, UKIP has its origins in the Anti-Federalist where Europe was not exactly a major issue. League, which was formed in 1991 by Alan Sked, Rather, the attraction of UKIP’s line on Europe has a London School of Economics professor and ard- to be understood in the context of the openly racist ent Thatcherite, to campaign against the European propaganda that the party has directed towards Community (as it then was) and the Maastricht white voters. Thus UKIP’s campaign against the Treaty in particular. UKIP itself was launched in EU concentrates on the alleged threat posed by 1993 but made slow progress. It won only 3% of immigration from Eastern Europe, tying this into the vote in the 1994 European elections and sub- a wider xenophobic attack on migrants, asylum sequently found itself overshadowed by James seekers and foreigners in general. Goldsmith’s Referendum Party, which enjoyed the The party’s website declares that Britain is advantage of being bankrolled by a millionaire. “already full up”, is in fact “bursting at the seams” After Goldsmith’s death in 1997 and the dis- due to an influx of foreigners. “Our cities are integration of his party, UKIP’s fortunes began to overcrowded”, UKIP asserts, “our roads clogged look up. It attracted wealthy backers such as up and our railways are grinding to a halt. Our Yorkshire property tycoon Paul Sykes, who con- doctors’ surgeries cannot cope and the hospital tributed over £1 million to the party’s 2004 Euro- waiting lists are growing. New housing estates pean election campaign, while the media attention are covering the countryside. In 2002, the UK generated by the recruitment of former TV government allowed in another 200,000 people. The personality Robert Kilroy-Silk and actress Joan UK Independence Party will put an end to mass Collins helped raise the party’s profile among the immigration.” The cover of UKIP’s manifesto general public. In this year’s elections the UKIP features three white babies with the slogan: campaign team included Dick Morris, Bill Clinton’s “Concerned about their future? This is their one-time political strategist, and PR specialist Max country, make sure it stays that way.” Clifford who selflessly gave his services in exchange Of course, UKIP repeatedly and indignantly for a £30,000-a-month salary. denies that it is a racist party. But it combines this UKIP’s ability to conduct a well-financed, with an equally fervent denunciation of political effectively publicised campaign would not in itself correctness, which it claims prevents an honest have been enough, however, to secure such an debate on issues of race and immigration. In increase in its vote. What, then, explained the surge practice, this means that UKIP persistently plays in support for UKIP in June? Apart from the fact the race card while claiming that it is merely that it attracted a general protest vote against the exercising freedom of speech. Its website quotes a main political parties, the obvious answer is that UKIP member as saying: “I am no racist, but I am UKIP’s euroscepticism struck a chord among a prepared to have a discussion about how things section of the electorate. Certainly, the party’s like immigration affect our country. I went to a

19 Christian school where they were not scared to fact there is no direct physical evidence to show talk about the Empire and colonies and other races. that such gas chambers ever existed.... there are You can’t say anything now because people will no photographs or film of execution gas cham- point their finger and cry ‘harassment’.” bers.... Alleged eyewitness accounts are revealed One of UKIP’s most vociferous critics of political as false or highly exaggerated.” The UKIP leader- correctness was boxing promoter Frank Maloney, ship publicly defended McConnachie’s right to free the party’s candidate in the London mayoral elect- speech and restricted itself to suspending him from ion. After a visit to Tower Hamlets, Maloney posted the executive for a year. an article on his campaign website condemning In light of all this, it is not surprising to find Whitechapel as a ghetto. “Immigrants are not in- that some of UKIP’s leading members have past tegrating with the rest of British society”, he wrote, links with the far right. Two of its MEPs, Mike “but creating their own areas, where the rule of Nattrass and Jeffrey Titford, were formerly law does not apply and people have no allegiance members of the New Britain Party, a pro-Apartheid, to Britain whatsoever – and even seek to harm pro-White Rhodesia outfit whose leader Dennis British people.” Pointing out that his own family Delderfield is on record as arguing that “suburb comes from the area, he added: “Now barely any- after suburb and town after town across the land one speaks English and to look around you would have been taken over by Asians, Africans and Afro- think you are in a different country.” Caribbeans.... In the not too distant future they It is understandable therefore that Robert will have direct control in many areas”. Nattrass, Kilroy-Silk, now one of the party’s 12 MEPs, chose who stood as a candidate for Delderfield’s party in to join UKIP after being sacked from his TV job the 1994 Dudley by-election, has explained his for publishing an article in the Sunday Express change of political allegiance on the grounds that describing Arabs as “suicide bombers”, “limb- “UKIP is electable and New Britain isn’t”. amputators” and “women-repressors”. This sort Another MEP, Nigel Farage, held discussions of comment has in fact been a regular feature of in 1997 with the British National Party’s Mark Kilroy-Silk’s Express column. Earlier he had Deavin, a former student of UKIP founder Alan written: “The barmy liberals like Diane Abbott don’t Sked. Deavin was the author of a document like the word ‘swamped’ when used by the Home entitled ‘The Grand Plan: The Origins of Non- Secretary to describe schools and GPs’ surgeries White Immigration’, which argued that “the mass being overrun by asylum seekers who cannot speak immigration of non-Europeans into every White English. What word would they prefer? Over- country on earth” had been engineered by “a whelmed? Drowned? Submerged? What is the homogeneous transatlantic political and financial problem with using proper English words to elite to destroy the national identities and create a describe an appalling situation that many British raceless new world order”. The plan was, Deavin people have to put up with?” And he had a ready wrote, “Jewish in origin”. Farage wouldn’t have explanation for HIV and the rise in TB cases in felt entirely out of place in such company. Sked, Britain: “The indigenous population is not who left the party in 1997, in part because he responsible. The diseases are being brought here believed it was being taken over by “extremists”, by refugees, immigrants and tourists.... It is the has recalled an argument with Farage over the foreigners that we have to focus on.” inclusion of a statement on the party’s membership UKIP’s political character is demonstrated not form opposing discrimination against minorities. just by its recruits but by its friends in the “We will never win the nigger vote”, Farage told European Parliament, where it is part of a euro- him. “The nig-nogs will never vote for us.” sceptic alliance which includes the League of Polish Concerning links with the British National Families, a Christian fundamentalist, anti-semitic Party, Sked has noted that, despite the UKIP organisation that attacks the EU as a plot by free- leadership’s public condemnation of the BNP, there masonry against Christianity. One of its leading is in fact “a symbiosis between elements of the figures is historian Ryszard Bender of the Catholic parties”. Indeed, in the summer of 2003 the UKIP University of Lublin, who has described Auschwitz and BNP held negotiations over an electoral agree- as “not a death camp, but a labour camp. Jews, ment under which they would avoid competing Gypsies and others were killed by hard labour, not for the anti-EU vote in their respective strongholds. always that hard and not always killed”. While no official agreement was reached, Sked UKIP is not without its own Holocaust observes that BNP leader Nick Griffin has spoken deniers. In 2001 the party’s then Scottish organiser on the BBC of “an informal pact between his party Alistair McConnachie wrote to the press support- and elements of the UKIP leadership”. Although ing the views of right-wing historian David Irving the fascists have won suburban council seats and and criticising the Board of Deputies of British Jews Frank Maloney’s London mayoral campaign was for exercising undue influence over the media on clearly intended to attract a backward white this issue. In an email to another UKIP member, working class vote, the basic division of labour is, McConnachie wrote: “I don’t accept that gas as Deavin explained back in 1997, that “the BNP chambers were used to execute Jews for the simple will be the official opposition in the inner cities, in

20 working class areas. The UKIP will be the oppo- supporter of feminism, either. Godfrey Bloom, sition in the shires, the county areas, the middle UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, who class opposition”. was selected to represent his party on the European Although the parties are political rivals, and Parliament’s women’s rights committee, proceeded the UKIP leadership has in the past expelled BNP to argue that “no self-respecting small businessman entrists, there is an evident overlap between the with a brain in the right place would ever employ two organisations. Peter Troy, who headed UKIP’s a lady of child-bearing age”, adding that women list for the European elections in Scotland, had should get back to the kitchen and learn to “clean previously stood down from the same position in behind the fridge”. Even the Daily Telegraph the North East amid a row over his recruitment of commented that Bloom’s outburst gave UKIP “a a BNP activist to UKIP. And the Britain in Europe misogynistic image that it will have difficulty organisation identified nine candidates standing shaking off”. The party leadership, however, for the BNP in the European elections who were refused to condemn Bloom’s views, claiming that former UKIP members. In response UKIP’s leader, he was merely trying to highlight the cost of former Tory MP Roger Knapman, insisted that his maternity pay for small firms. party had no connection with the BNP and that During the June elections anti-racists rightly “we abhor racism”, assertions that caused much concentrated on preventing the BNP from win- mirth on a fascist internet discussion list. “His nose ning seats, but it would be a mistake to under- must be a foot long by now”, one post read. estimate the threat posed by UKIP. In contrast to The UKIP’s prejudices extend beyond ethnic the BNP, whose fascist origins have proved a heavy minorities to gays. In an article in the New States- electoral liability, UKIP’s more “mainstream” man describing his experiences in the party, former racism is capable of winning much wider support. UKIP member and co-author of its 2001 general If an extreme right-wing party with a broad election manifesto Aidan Rankin wrote: “Homo- popular base is to emerge in Britain, it is likely to phobia was one of the few forces uniting a take this form. notoriously divided party. To its brownshirt-in- Whether UKIP can make any further advances blazer tendency, the dangers of Europe and the in building such a party is debateable, given its dangers of homosexuality were intertwined.” tendency to tear itself apart by political infighting, Indeed, Damian Hockney, now one of UKIP’s currently demonstrated by Kilroy-Silk’s bid for the London Assembly members, stood against Michael party leadership and his consequent expulsion Portillo in the 1999 Kensington & Chelsea by- from UKIP’s European parliamentary group. This election under the slogan “It takes a real man to came too late to prevent the resignation of Frank defend the £”, thus neatly combining anti-gay Maloney, who complained that the party had been prejudice with opposition to the euro. During his “hijacked by a sun-tanned parasite”. Paul Sykes mayoral campaign Frank Maloney attacked has left too, in protest at the decision to stand London’s Pride festival, declaring that he had “a against Tory eurosceptics in the general election, problem with gay parades. I object to seeing taking his money with him. policemen in uniform holding hands in public – One thing is certain, though – UKIP’s brand it’s not a family way of life and we should support of europhobia has absolutely nothing in common the family more”. He followed this up with the with the left’s criticisms of the EU or indeed with remark that he didn’t intend to visit the north any kind of progressive politics whatsoever. London borough of Camden because there were “too many gays” there. A shorter version of this article appeared in the Not surprisingly, UKIP is not exactly a fervent July 2004 issue of Labour Left Briefing. Monetary Union in Crisis The European Union as Neo-Liberal Construction Bernard H. Moss

This book re-interprets the EU as a neo-liberal construction. It challenges much received wisdom about the political and class neutrality of the EU and questions the static application of economic theory Published by Palgrave Macmillan. Hardback, 344 pages, £65.00

21 Neither New Labour nor Georgeous George: How One Old Trot Ended Up a Reluctant Green Voter on Super Thursday

Dave Osler

RITISH POLITICS is changing, and the participation is in long-term decline, and not all Bmultiple elections held on so-called Super of the no shows are down to apathy. A significant Thursday last June amply make the point. For minority of abstainers – particularly among the probably the first time since the formation of the young – are effectively saying “none of the above”. Labour Party, watching it take a pummelling at It’s game over for such traditional Trot slogans the polls was arguably the optimum outcome for such as “class vote for Labour”. socialists. All of this dovetails with a second factor, which By undermining Blairism, both the Labour left was that none of the votes on Super Thursday and the Respect-centred non-Labour left have been actually mattered very much. UKIP US import presented with opportunities. Whether either is spindoctor and former Clinton staffer Dick Morris sufficiently tactically astute to grasp them is made the following entirely accurate prediction another matter. about the euro-elections six months ahead of the It may seem paradoxical – nay, blasphemy itself event: “What’s going to happen is that UKIP is – to tell Labour leftwingers that their interests are going to rack up an amazing vote ... almost not best served by the highest possible Labour precisely because the European Parliament doesn’t vote. But trust me, fellas. This might hurt, but it mean a whole hell of a lot. It will be a symbolic is for your own good. vote for a symbolic body for a symbolic party.” Far too many Labour left comrades cling to Super Thursday was a glorified opinion poll the essentially patronising idea that there are that, whatever the outcome, was never going to millions of class-conscious but somehow slightly change anything essential about British politics. stupid reformist workers out there who have been Or put it another way. Does any Londoner duped into keeping a shrine to Clement Atlee in reading this frankly give tuppence whether Claude their spare bedroom. Moraes or Mary Honeyball are euro-MPs or not? The masses honestly believe that Labour will Does it make any difference whatsoever to the class slowly expropriate capitalism through piecemeal struggle, one way or the other, whether such parliamentary legislative measures. The task of braindead Blairite nonentities get into an revolutionaries, as the orthodox Trot jargon has essentially impotent body that is in any case it, is to go through the experience of Labour saddled with a permanent large centre-right government with them. majority? To ask such questions is to answer them. Life just ain’t like that anymore. Of course the Come to that, how much of a tribune of the majority of the working class still vote Labour. Of oppressed could Respect candidates such as course Labour remains a bourgeois workers’ party. Gorgeous George expect to prove in Strasbourg’s But the average trade union activist pretty much heated debates over the latest European Com- takes for granted that Blairites are a bad lot. They mission widget manufacturing standards directive? don’t vote Labour because they believe there is a You can just imagine the television interviews parliamentary road to socialism. They vote Labour now, can’t you? And now we hand you over to because they are not quite as bad as the Tories. John Rees MEP, who explains the Leninist line on That’s if they vote Labour at all. Electoral banana curvature ...

22 The London mayor and Assembly contests choices. were also fights over essentially administrative True, there is nothing inherently socialist about positions of pretty limited power. True, many of Green ideology. But the Greens – in the UK, at Livingstone’s supporters went into politics ardent any rate – are unmistakably an anti-establishment for world revolution. Trouble is, they are now party. They opposed the invasion of Iraq. They reduced to arguing that congestion charging is a are anti-racist and anti-homophobic. They reject pretty close second. the current laws on immigration, trade unions and Labour Party comrades campaigned for cannabis. Livingstone, while even Respect urged a second Read the section on employment rights on their preference for Red Ken. Less than a fortnight later, website. They have detailed policies on the issue comrade mayor was urging RMT members to cross politically far in advance of anything of the “repeal picket lines. Bloody brilliant. Class vote for Labour, the Tory anti-union laws” approach of the far left, right? instead setting out a series of positive demands. It The Labour London Assembly candidates were comes to something when a party derided as petty a pretty uninspiring bunch, even though indiv- bourgeois is well ahead of the self-appointed iduals such as Lucy Anderson made a few token proletarian vanguard on something as basic as squeaks in the right direction. trade union issues. When it comes to the local government As for Respect, I have to confess that when I contests outside London, things have clearly first heard about the idea of an SWP/Scottish changed since the early eighties glory days that Tankie/Taliban Lite bloc, I was almost tempted to municipal socialism shared with Duran Duran. back it. My reaction was hey, this is so opportunist Councils are powerless to enact even localised it might even work. It almost did. In London as a progressive agendas. Their main role is to vote on whole, and in some other cities, the vote was better which private company gets the contract to empty than I expected. the bins. It is pretty far-fetched to describe Britain’s But the key question is not so much the vote town halls as sites of struggle. Come back dented achieved, but the means used to achieve it. Respect shield, all is forgiven. literature identified the party as “the party for Does it matter whether it is New Labour, the Muslims”, and its Muslim support was won on Lib-Dems or the Tories that are creaming off that basis. inflated attendance allowances while overseeing There’s no indication that in voting Respect, cutbacks in local swimming pools and slashing this layer consciously identified with socialist or library opening hours? Maybe there should be a class struggle politics. Indeed, like all good political congestion charge for parties that clog up politicians, Respect seemed indifferent about their the centre-right of British politics. reasons they secured the backing they did. After Not only that, some Labour local authorities all, a vote is a vote is a vote. have a certain whiff of Tammany Hall about them. Incidentally, surely Marxists have a problem While I am no expert on Tyneside local politics, passing themselves off as “the party for Muslims”. it’s a fair bet that the whatever damage the change What Muslims? All Muslims? The 5,400 Muslim of administration in Newcastle has done to the millionaires in this country, many of whom made machine politics employed by certain trade unions their pile by exploiting other Muslims? The party in the North East, it hasn’t done municipal for Mohammed al Fayed? The party for Sir Anwar transparency in general any harm. Pervez? So if the “vote Labour with no illusions” Outside what might be dubbed its heartland guidelines of the past no longer apply, how should vote, Respect’s performance was abysmal. Its vote socialists work out which way to vote? These days, in Lambeth was down on the Socialist Alliance’s party label is no longer sufficient basis for an 2000 tally. In Hackney, an impressive-sounding automatic decision. It is important to factor in a percentage disguises the fact that there are 4,000 candidate’s personal political track record and the hardcore hard left votes, as previously seen in the political programme she is standing on before 2001 general election and Paul Foot’s subsequent coming to a decision. run for mayor. In Camden, the far left was once On the mayoral ballot, I voted Independent again slugging it out with such candidates as the Working Class Association, safe in the knowledge felicitously-named Humberto Heliotrope of the that Lorna Reid would be one of the first candidates Christian People’s Alliance for fifth place out of to have her votes redistributed and that my vote six. would then pass on to Livingstone. In the euros Nationwide levels of support – averaging 1.7% and the assembly votes, I backed the Greens as a – were on a par with the bedrock far left vote, given vote for a semi-coherent left reformist platform. that between 1-2% of adults regularly tell opinion Note to my sectarian critics: I didn’t “call on” pollsters that they are revolutionary socialists. anybody else to do likewise. Those were personal What was gained on the Muslim roundabouts was

23 largely lost on the socialist swings. arguable exceptions – Respect has little support in Remember all those speeches about Respect the labour movement, even from the awkward getting a million votes? Remember the inflection squad. in the voices of comrades Galloway and Rees, Candidates for the most favourable electoral implying that this target erred on the side of terrain are routinely announced well in advance caution? Remember the categorical statements that of the selection meetings. Even New Labour goes Respect would secure not just one MEP, but through the formalities of organising some sort several? of process before coming up with a spurious In the event, just 250,000 backed Respect. Such reason to keep Mark Seddon off a by-election a total would not be beyond what an organised shortlist. and united far left party, campaigning consistently Respect supporters will argue that there has in the working class, could have achieved. Yet the simply been no time to put democratic structures following week’s Socialist Worker was ridiculously in place. OK, it’s early days and there is such a complacent. Those quarter of a million votes were thing as the benefit of the doubt. But so far the hailed as a triumph for Respect, while the more talk has been of ditching boring old branch meet- than 800,000 votes for the BNP were derided as a ings in favour of picnics. You might call it the egg setback for the fascists. and watercress sarnie road to socialism. There are plenty of other problems with Given the way the slightest difference from Respect, too. It’s difficult even to conceive of SWP/Galloway orthodoxy within Respect has so anything that could fairly be described as a step far been marginalised, I don’t see much likelihood backwards from the Socialist Alliance. But this of evolution in a pluralist direction, along the lines surely is it. of the Scottish Socialist Party. But if only for the The whole manouevre was arrogantly hatched sake of certain former comrades of mine, I hope in secrecy between Galloway and the SWP Respect goes easier on dissenting voices than leadership, without consultations on the wider left. Galloway’s financial supporters in the Saudi Hardly surprising that – with only a handful of monarchy. ! socialist Campaign group news Individual subscription rates: one year £9 (overseas £16) Bulk rates: 70p per copy for 10 copies or more Cheques payable to Socialist Campaign Group News Send to: SCGN, PO Box 188, London SW1A 0SG

Labour Left Briefing An independent voice and forum for socialist ideas in the Labour Party and trade unions Annual subscription (10 issues): £14 ordinary, £20 supporting sub, £30 overseas. Cheques payable to Labour Left Briefing. Send to: LLB, PO Box 2378, London E5 9QU

24 Respect Coalition: No Joke

Martin Sullivan

NE OF the consistent features of the far left of electoral support they could expect? Is the Pope O is its inability to subject its own activities to a Protestant? Predictably, they declared that Respect any kind of honest political assessment. Whenever had achieved a “tremendous result” in the Euro- the Socialist Workers Party announces the size of pean and GLA elections, as a consequence of which a demonstration it has had a hand in organising, it had “established itself on the political map”. you can pretty well guarantee that the figure given Galloway himself hailed the Euro results in will be approximately double the number of actual particular as “a very considerable triumph”. Given participants. Election results, of course, present a that Respect’s share of the poll across England and greater challenge – the figures are there in black Wales amounted to a derisory 1.7%, you wonder and white and can’t be fiddled. Even here, though, how low their vote would have had to be for the SWP does its best to avoid any serious Galloway to categorise it as a disaster. engagement with reality. Electoral defeats are Respect followed up its “tremendous result” on invariably presented as major political advances 10 June by contesting two parliamentary by- and limited gains as stunning victories, all with a elections in July – in Birmingham Hodge Hill, cynical disregard for objective truth that would where the SWP’s John Rees received 1,282 votes excite the envy and admiration of the most (6.3%), and in Leicester South, where journalist, hardened New Labour spin doctor. former Taliban captive and Muslim convert Yvonne In the Super Thursday elections on 10 June Ridley got 3,724 (12.7%). The latter result, it must “Respect – The Unity Coalition (George Gall- be said, was not too bad, although the anti-war, oway)”, to give it its full title, stood for the anti-Blair vote that Respect hoped to attract went European Parliament and the Greater London mainly to the Liberal Democrats, who won with Authority, plus a handful of council seats. Its hopes 10,274 votes (34.9%) in what had previously been were high. In a rousing speech to an eve-of-poll a safe Labour seat. rally at Friends Meeting House in London, which Their by-election results were acclaimed by was received with enthusiastic applause, Galloway Respect as “spectacular and unprecedented votes”, predicted major gains for his new organisation. which supposedly demonstrated “the sea change “We are going to get a result tomorrow that will which is happening in British politics” and marked see Lindsey German elected to the London a “break through” for the Coalition. A week later Assembly”, the former Labour MP told the when Respect candidate Oliur Rahman actually audience. “We will see other Respect candidates won a council by-election in Tower Hamlets, the from around the country elected to the European Coalition leadership must have been left frantically Parliament.” leafing through their thesaurus in order to come All that applause must have gone to George’s up with new superlatives. They settled on “a quite head. As it turned out, in the European parlia- incredible result”. mentary elections the least worst result for Respect In point of fact, Rees’s vote in Birmingham was was in London where Galloway himself headed not much better than the results achieved by the their list, but the 91,000 votes they received were a earlier SWP-dominated electoral front, the Socialist good 64,000 short of the figure needed to send Alliance, when it first contested parliamentary by- George off to the fleshpots of Brussels. As for the elections four years ago. In April 2000 Weyman GLA elections, Respect failed even to clear the 5% Bennett stood in Bernie Grant’s former seat in hurdle necessary to get leading SWPer Lindsey Tottenham and got 885 votes (5.4%), while in the German onto the Assembly, while her mayoral Preston by-election in November that followed the candidacy attracted support from a mere 3% of death of Audrey Wise the Alliance polled 1,210 Londoners. Not a single Respect candidate was (5.6%). As for Yvonne Ridley’s result, it was almost elected anywhere. identical to that achieved by Paul Foot when he Did Respect’s leaders make any attempt to contested the mayoral election in Hackney in 2002 analyse their failure to estimate accurately the level as a Socialist Alliance candidate, receiving 4,187

25 votes (12.7%). Even Oliur Rahman’s victory was Galloway was quoted as saying that “Respect no more than a repeat of that by Paul Lavalette, gained 13% of the vote in Leicester South, and we elected to Preston council on a Socialist Alliance are confident of doing much better in Hartlepool”. ticket in 2003. At the campaign’s launch meeting on 18 August, It would be easy to mock – and I haven’t Respect candidate John Bloom went even further, hesitated to do so. But the overblown, self- declaring that “we are in with a fighting chance congratulatory rhetoric of Respect’s leadership does of winning.... I can hear David Dimbleby’s words contain a kernel of truth. A serious examination on election night in my head: ‘New Labour – born of the June election results reveals that there are in Islington, died in Iraq, buried tonight in in fact a few pockets of substantial support for Hartlepool’.” Which only goes to show that it’s Respect. These are to be found in East London, in never a good idea to listen to voices in your head. a few wards in Birmingham and also in Preston, To suggest that Respect had a chance of winning, where the five Respect candidates who stood for or even getting 13% of the vote, was to lose all the council failed to get elected but received between contact with reality. In the European elections the 24% and 34% of the poll. The common element is Coalition had gained precisely 266 votes in that these areas have a high proportion of Muslim Hartlepool – 1.04% of the poll. Predictably, they voters. did little better in the by-election. Bloom finished To that extent, Respect is not – as I argued fifth with 572 votes, representing a mere 1.8% of rather one-sidedly in the last What Next? – a simple the poll. Though Labour held the seat, its vote re-run of the Socialist Labour Party and the slumped by 18.5%, with the Lib Dems gaining Socialist Alliance. Whereas those organisations 19.2%. based themselves on a moralistic denunciation of Respect’s own sober assessment of the result the iniquities of New Labour rather than on any was that “Respect and its candidate John Bloom actually existing social forces, there is a material did exceptionally well. We gained a clear fifth place foundation – if a very limited one – to Respect’s and established Respect as the largest and best electoral challenge, namely the significant number organised left challenge to the establishment, of British Muslims who are understandably gaining well over twice the vote for the Green disaffected with Labour as a result of the Iraq war. candidate.... the Hartlepool by-election shows we But there are many other wards and con- are well-placed to grow in the forthcoming weeks stituencies with a similar demographic profile to and months.” Contributors to the UK Left Net- East London, Birmingham and Preston where work discussion list initially mistook this report Respect has polled less well and the beneficiaries for a clever parody. of Muslims’ rejection of Labour candidates have In his less bombastic moments (not that there been the Liberal Democrats. A recent Guardian poll are many of them), Galloway is apparently pre- revealed, interestingly, that only 4% of British pared to recognise that Respect’s prospects are Muslims intended to vote Respect, compared with somewhat limited. With regard to the next general 41% for the Lib Dems and 32% for Labour, election, the Coalition’s official line is that there is demonstrating that there is no spontaneous mass “an enormous potential for Respect to emerge as a gravitation of Muslims towards Galloway and his very serious challenger to New Labour from the friends. A large Muslim electorate is therefore a left”. Galloway, though, seems to have set his necessary but not a sufficient condition for Respect sights rather lower. He has stated that Respect to succeed. What is required, in addition, is an intends to stand between 25 and 100 candidates in organisation with influence in the community – the general election, but not with the central aim specifically, a local mosque – which can ensure that of actually winning seats. As he explained to BBC the vote is mobilised behind Respect rather than News Online: “We will stand against New Labour behind some other party. MPs who supported the war. We will split their There are, evidently, few areas in the country vote and we’ll cost them their seat and we are where this situation obtains. And that is the basic determined to do that.” flaw in Respect’s approach. By these methods the So that’s what it all amounts to in the end. SWP and its allies may gain a handful of council Behind all the talk of breakthroughs and sea seats, and could even conceivably get Galloway changes in British politics and building a mass elected in Bethnal Green & Bow when he chall- party to challenge New Labour, in reality Respect’s enges Oona King in the general election – but it’s general election strategy boils down to defeating hardly a strategy for replacing Labour on anything Labour candidates by handing victories to Tories but a very limited and localised basis. Contrary to and Lib Dems. It would be difficult to imagine a the claims of the Respect leaders, it provides no more conclusive admission of political bankruptcy. perspective for building a broad-based political In that sense at least, the Respect Coalition is no alternative to the Labour Party at national level. joke. The Hartlepool by-election in September was very much a test of Respect’s wider appeal, because Published in an earlier and edited version in Muslims comprise only 0.4% of the electorate there. Chartist, September-October 2004

26 Prospects for the Left in Scotland

Vince Mills

HE EURO election results, especially in and the ideological onslaught designed to squeeze T Scotland, confirmed the analysis and stance workers into these jobs has been effective, taken by the Campaign for Socialism. That, of especially in the light of the low levels of union course, offered little comfort to those who had organisation. It is in this sense that Brown has hoped for some indication of a left-wing break- created “full employment”. through and, for that matter, little comfort to One other effect has to be acknowledged when those of us who would rather the foundations of considering these results and that is the increasing New Labour were, at least, shaken a little. New fragmentation of voting blocs. UKIP took sections Labour in Scotland performed in very much the of the Tory vote. The SSP took sections of the SNP same manner as they performed at the Scottish vote. The Greens probably took votes from the Parliament elections. Their vote went down a Lib Dems and Labour. In these circumstances, little. especially with the increasing use of PR, despite They got 310,865 votes – 26.4%, down by 2.3% the historically low level of electoral support for – losing one seat. But it was not by any means a Labour, retaining a sizeable slice of the vote means bad result in comparison with the other parties. Labour is able to remain relatively dominant. Something we shall return to. I think what the elections in Scotland showed By contrast the Scottish Socialist Party came is that New Labour here will remain dominant, 7th, behind the Greens’ 5th and UKIP’s 6th. They in the relative way described, for some time to come won 61,356 votes – a 5.2% share, up by 1.2%. and, therefore, as we have always argued, any real Arguably this was a fair showing for a small left- challenge will have to be mounted from within wing party. However, given the hope that they the Labour Party. Evidence of the possibility of a might win a seat and the wider belief about their left recovery comes from two sources. capacity to offer a route for social change in the The first is the mood of individual party foreseeable future, this result will, no doubt, be a members. The left topped the NEC poll in July, cause for concern amongst the left beyond the taking the first three places, and Pete Willsman Labour Party. was close. The Scottish left candidate Irene Why does New Labour continue to perform Graham’s vote was creditable and she managed to well despite widespread disillusionment over the decisively see off the New Labour favourite, Mandy Iraq war as well as cynicism about its performance Telford, whose leadership of the NUS had given in government in Holyrood? There are probably her hours of TV coverage. It has to be granted, three reasons – ideological, economic and struct- however, that turn-out was low, even conceding ural. the now officially acknowledged collapse in mem- New Labour in Scotland as in England makes bership. The NEC was told in June that member- an unblushing direct appeal to working class ship had dropped by nearly 50% to some 208,000 conservatism, demonstrated, for example by their compared with 407,000 in 1997. A rough calculation obsession with anti-social behaviour. suggests that only one in ten members voted. NEC This is reinforced by the comparatively member Ann Black reported that one website buoyant state of the economy. This needs some estimated it at 18%. clarification. The Scottish economy has been, like Secondly, there appears to be increased much of Britain, transformed from a high skilled resistance from the biggest affiliated trade unions. manufacturing economy to a low skilled, service The GMB decided to shift £750,000 away from the sector economy. Further, there are areas entirely party to individual Labour MPs. General Secretary blighted by unemployment or with working Kevin Curran cited the failure to push for new people on disability benefits. However, within the workers’ rights in the EU Constitution or in limitations of this transformation, the economy domestic legislation. The T&G could follow suit, has on offer plenty of low skilled, low paid jobs targeting resources into the key seats of Labour

27 members who back union policies. honest attempt to consider the role of the unions The GMB’s announcement came scarcely a in relation to the SSP: week after a statement by the Amicus General “Consequently, it may be more sensible to see Secretary Derek Simpson that the policies of the the realignment of the left and unions as a long- New Labour government could lose Labour the term project which should not be judged in the next election, in what was tantamount to a call short-term on just whether it can deliver large- for Blair to go. Simpson is concerned about a scale political representation on a par with that number of issues. The decline of manufacturing which hypothetically exists with Labour. The jobs, pensions and, along with Tony Woodley of appropriate historical parallel here would be the the T&G, Blair’s insistence on keeping increased twenty to thirty years that it took for the Labour union rights out of the European Charter. Party to become an effective political force at the Only Unison of the big four has yet to beginning of the twentieth century.... The SSP as pronounce on the European Constitution, but it the most advanced political formation to the left is unlikely they can do anything other than oppose of Labour lacks the credibility of critical mass it given the leadership’s position on the Charter because of its relatively small size. Quite apart from of Human Rights. This opens opportunities for only operating in Scotland (sic), without further the left in the party to build radical alliances with union affiliation and support, other unions will the affiliated unions. not see the SSP as a credible option. Moreover, In Scotland the Campaign for Socialism has and without further union support, the SSP will tried to move the alliance between CLP activists not grow to the extent that it would need to in and the trade unions beyond rhetoric. We are order to present itself a genuinely mass party of working jointly with several of the affiliated the working class.” (‘The Price of Influence’, unions, most notably Unison, to mount a cam- Scottish Left Review, July-August 2004.) paign called Revitalise the Labour Party. We The continuing crises over Iraq will create more organised a major conference in October. While the difficulties for New Labour. Many of those both focus was on democratic issues for the Scottish here in Britain and abroad do not have the luxury Labour Party conference in March our aim is also of waiting the twenty or thirty years Gregor Gall to try and increase left representation on the believes necessary to build a movement capable of Scottish Labour Party executive. The agenda is radical action. We need to use the movement that still limited, from a socialist point of view, but it has already been built by generations of Labour opens the door to re-engaging union activists with activists to deliver peace and social justice here and party structures and party activists and could lead now. New Labour’s discomfort and the unions’ to increased activity in the CLPs. increased hostility should be seen by the left as an Contrast this to the approach of the SSP. In opportunity to build new alliances and make new the current issue of Scottish Left Review academic advances building up to the Scottish Labour Party and SSP member Gregor Gall produces a very conference in Dundee in March. !

Campaign for Socialism the left organisation of the Scottish Labour Party

AIMS " To promote Labour as a party committed to socialism on the basis of common ownership of the means of production, distribution & exchange " To campaign within the party for a democratic, comprehensive and accountable public sector; full employment; socialised medicine, transport and education; common ownership of the public utilities and an extension of common ownership in the banking and financial institutions; a reinvigorated and devolved system of local government; a parliament in Scotland; and the elimination of poverty and injustice " To determine socialist policies for Labour in government – socialist policies that will build the sound planned economy needed to ensure equality and social justice " To act as an organisational focus for all those within the party and Labour movement who agree with the above aims, and wish to see them form the basis of the party’s approach to policy making

Contact: CfS Secretary, Vince Mills, Flat 1, 22 Lynedoch Street, Glasgow, G3 [email protected]

28 The End of an Enduring Alliance? Trade Union-Labour Relations

Gregor Gall

Introduction the PCS, NUT and Unifi which are not affiliated The unions and Labour were believed by most until and never have been whilst there are also unions recently to have a relationship that went together that do not have political funds with which to like fish and chips or bread and butter; organic, affiliate to any political party like the NUJ but do symmetrical and ever lasting in the slow pursuit engage in political campaigning. of progressive common goals. The unions were Finally, there are the RMT and FBU. The RMT the economic wing of the “labour and trade union has been disaffiliated from Labour for allowing its movement”, the Labour Party the political wing branches to affiliate to political parties other than of the “labour and trade union movement”. Labour. But it is to contest this disaffiliation in Leading union activists and lay officials were pre- the High Court shortly, citing a breach of natural dominantly Labour Party activists, if not also justice for it has not been told which rule it has constituency office holders and elected councillors. broken. It has also affiliated to the Labour Rep- At a higher level, a good proportion of Labour resentation Committee, the internal Labour group MPs until the late 1990s were former paid union established by a number of left-wing MPs. So far officers and lay officials. 7 RMT branches in Scotland and the Scottish By late 2004, the traditional destination of Regional Council have affiliated to the Scottish union political affiliation is now more under Socialist Party, while one has voted to affiliate question than at any time since the Labour Party (subject to National Executive approval) to was founded at the end of the beginning of the Forward Wales led by former MP John Marek AM twentieth century. A similar pattern of unfolding as had ten in England to Respect. However, the events is occurring in some other countries where leadership of the RMT is known to have not labour or social democratic parties are now inconsiderable reservations about Respect so experiencing significant fissures and splits (e.g. neither affiliation of these branches to it nor others Germany). The period that has now been entered in the future is guaranteed. Bob Crow has made is unlike any other before. sympathetic statements about the Green Party. This article examines two primary issues. First, In the case of the FBU, it disaffiliated from whether the current strains and conflict in the Labour, opening up the possibility of funding relationship are temporary or evidence of an these other left-of-centre parties. The London irrevocable and terminal parting of the ways. Region of the FBU had already voted to support Second, whether the alternative to affiliation to Respect while the Scottish Region may providing Labour must necessarily and immediately mean funding to the SNP, and the Hartlepool branch affiliation to another political party. has donated money to Respect. However, the way in which the FBU disaffiliated left it in a state of Current State of Play inertia until its conference next year by virtue of Despite the apparent hegemony of Labour in the the motion passed requiring the union to organise unions because the majority of large unions such a conference bringing discontented trade unionists as the Amicus, CWU, GMB, TGWU and USDAW together. Moreover, the method by which FBU are affiliated to Labour, there exists a diversity of branches can apply to affiliate to other parties is positions throughout the union movement. through the union’s national executive (like with Unison has an idiosyncratic form of affiliation the RMT) but some fear that this will be used by dating from its creation from NALGO, NUPE and the Gilchrist leadership, which is of a “reclaim COHSE where it has a general political fund and Labour” position and has instituted a purge of an affiliated political fund. There are unions like the harder left in the union, to block affiliations

29 to other parties. Elsewhere, the Scotland No.2 to account between conferences. It can be branch of the CWU has also affiliated to the SSP doubted whether there are sufficient numbers while a Welsh CWU branch voted to support of highly motivated union activists to take over Respect. the CLPs and whether this would make much of a difference if achieved given two factors. The Political Fault Line first concerns the administrative controls of a The major political fault line running through the centralised party administration, the other parts union movement concerns whether unions should of the electoral college that the Labour leadership fight to “reclaim” Labour from “new Labour”, can call on, and many of the new members who whether this is achievable or whether they should are inactive but may vote in elections are “Blair- open up their political funds to other parties to ites”. The second is that taking over moribund the left of Labour. These parties include not just CLPs is not like raiding an arsenal: it would not the SSP but also Respect, Forward Wales, the give an immediate army of shock troops with Greens, SNP and Plaid Cymru. The opening of which to march. funds may be through disaffiliation or dem- ocratisation of the political fund allowing a The Warwick National Policy Forum plurality of parties, including Labour, to be Does the compromise forced on the leadership supported. at the National Policy Forum in July 2004 at The “reclaim Labour” school of thought Warwick University make any difference to this comprises the leaders of all the major affiliated equation? Taking the comments of Tony Wood- unions (save USDAW), many of which are also ley, the most prominent and far sighted of the members of the so-called “awkward squad”. “reclaim Labour” position, as a rule of thumb, Apart from the Labour left like the Campaign the results of Warwick have varied from Group and the Campaign for Socialism, the “considerable” to “crumbs” (see various writings Communist Party/Morning Star also takes this in Campaign Group News, Guardian, Morning line. Their argument is threefold: “new” Labour Star, Tribune and Socialist Worker since July). is a clique which can be easily removed because Many of the fifty-odd policy commitments given it has no roots in the party, the level of local party from the list of over seventy demands were activity is so low as to give unions a free run in existing policy commitments that had not yet “taking over” the Constituency Labour Parties been acted upon, and many of the new ones (CLPs) and by working together national unions were only minor ones. The big issues of repealing can exercise a disproportionate influence. the anti-union laws, ending PFI and instituting Opinion varies on whether Blair must be progressive taxation were not touched upon. replaced and on who should succeed him. The most favourable light that Warwick can The premise of this is that Labour remains be cast in is that in the run-up to a general the “only show in town” and that being outside election where Labour is only neck and neck it is to be “outside the labour movement” and with the Tories and with its finance and internal without influence. What are the merits of this organisation in a poor state, one could say that case? The first concerns the practicality of staging Labour was particularly susceptible to such a palace coup: when the unions came together union pressure but only at the margins. The jury at recent party conferences and policy forums is still out on whether this means that Labour is they were able turn over the Labour leadership. now open to further influence from the unions, Second, taking an approach of gaining “best and particularly so in the period after a general value” to funding Labour and determining the election. A temporary lull in hostilities between election manifesto may provide some recourse the union and Labour leaderships is likely to where Labour in deep in debt and business break out on this basis after a season of open donations have considerably dried up. Third, warfare. Most unions will probably wait to see there are some signs the major unions are what happens next. Of course, no commitment collectively developing an alternative economic was given to not sack thousands of civil servants, and political strategy that they hope to present to provide student grants or not continue with as an alternative election manifesto. a right-wing law and order agenda. Shortly Set against these are important counter- afterwards several events are worth noting. While considerations. Prime amongst these is that the Blair told the TUC Congress he “had come not Labour leadership is not bound by party to bury Warwick but to praise it”, at the Labour democracy and that away from conference it conference the four big unions saved Blair from carries on as it pleases. Other non-union forces defeat over setting an early date for troop with- are either more powerful and/or the leadership drawal from Iraq as a payback for Warwick. is more receptive to them. This raises the Lastly, the Labour conference voted to renation- question of whether “new” Labour can be held alise the railways but the leadership immediately

30 made it clear that it would ignore this. Labour no longer works (to the extent it did) but a new method and form does not yet exist. Outside Labour: Outside the Tent? Consequently, it may be more sensible to see Is being outside Labour being outside the “tent”? the realignment of the left and unions as a long- Does leaving Labour necessitate joining others? term project which should not be judged in the First of all we need to consider what is being short term on just whether it can deliver large- outside the “tent”. The unions made Labour in scale political representation on a par with that their own image as a result of requiring in- which hypothetically exists with Labour. The dependent parliamentary representation. In that appropriate historical parallel here would be the sense, the unions are perfectly free to remake twenty to thirty years that it took for the Labour the form of their political representation, that Party to become an effective political force at is, to create another “tent”. Clearly, there is a the beginning of the twentieth century. If this is possibility of the depoliticisation or apolitical- the case, it suggests that unions that go down isation in disaffiliation but this is latent rather this non-Labour or not exclusively Labour route than real given several factors. Unions are leading will need to advance their interests in an ana- the political opposition to Labour and are likely logous way in the industrial and social spheres. to remain so as long as Labour is in power and Whilst this would not mean a syndicalist the Tories and Liberals stay weak. Moreover, the approach per se, it would mean a much heavier unions recognise they need political represent- emphasis on recruitment, organising, collective ation and this can take many forms other than bargaining and membership mobilisations. Labour or other political parties. A number of Alongside this, the union movement would unions campaign politically and obtain rep- become a social movement where the route to resentation without affiliation. having strength in the workplace is not always The RMT has found like many unions there directly via the workplace but also through was no leeway for compromise within Labour communities and social networks. It would be or progress for left-wing policies. Now outside the organiser and tribune of the people for Labour, it is hard to conceive of it as being any gaining social justice, democracy and liberty. less influential than before. But, nonetheless, is Industrial and social strength would com- it any stronger now? Does it provide a model pensate for current conventional political for other unions? The SSP, as the most advanced weakness and out of it greater political strength political left formation in Britain (politically and could be created. Unions, in essence, could adopt by size) does not have sufficient parliamentary the strategy of demanding “x” or “y” or else! representation to significantly advance the This would see them use their industrial and RMT’s interests. It only operates in Scotland (sic) social muscle for political ends. Each side of this and in a situation where many important matters orientation (political, social, industrial) is risk are reserved business. Neither can the SSP laden because there is no guarantee that either construct sufficiently wide alliances within civic or both can be achieved. Thus, it is just as society (i.e. outside parliament) to do so. If this possible that unions will not be able to gain lack of is true of the SSP, it is all the more true of adequately extensive political representation Respect, the Greens and Forward Wales. This is and/or rebuild themselves industrially and why the SNP and Plaid Cymru look much more socially. appealing to many union activists and full-time The big four unions (Amicus, GMB, TGWU, officers. Despite their rightward drift in recent Unison) have already begun to displace the TUC years, they are much bigger and more credible. as the representative of organised labour in Indeed, since the return of Salmond, the SNP relations with the Labour Party and the Labour may appear a lot more attractive. government, and have established themselves However, the SSP and others can potentially as a pole of attraction for many of the other use their parliamentary representation and their smaller, left-led unions. They have viewed the general profile to raise the case of the unions in TUC as insufficiently robust in its dealings with extra-parliamentary campaigning. Here their the government and too ideologically entrench- key resource is the size of their party mem- ed in the perspective of social partnership. This berships and the extent of activity of these development could be taken further by these members. This offers the distant possibility of four unions drawing up their own political pro- trying to build a mass or popular coalition or gramme in the form of a revisited Alternative movement that can exert influence on par- Economic Strategy. Tony Woodley appears the liament and government from without, no most able to do so in terms of setting out a social matter which political party is in government. democratic or democratic socialist vision of an Currently, unions are between a rock and a hard alternative society. However, the signs of a full- place. The old way of representation through blown manifesto involving a critique of “new”

31 Labour, an alternative vision and a means of spheres of life. For Respect, the cool, if not achieving have not been forthcoming. Warwick hostile, response from the RMT national leaders may have ironically stymied them from doing like Bob Crow and Pat Sikorski may prevent it so. from making the advance than the SSP has been able to. If this is so, at the very least, it will take Conclusion: Catch 22? longer for Respect to grow and entrench itself. One key reason for viewing the process as a long- Winning a good percentage of the vote and a term realignment is the “Catch 22” situation that few councillors will not change this. exists. Many unions, judged by their rulebooks, If the clock could be wound forward several members’ interests and leaderships’ politics, have years so that we could look back in hindsight, it much in common with the policies of the SSP would be probably be safe to say that whatever and the like. They all coalesce around policies the eventual outcome of the unfolding union- associated with “old” Labour and social demo- Labour relationship, whether estrangement, cracy. But agreement is not sufficient on its own. separation or divorce, we are witnessing a crisis The SSP still lacks the credibility of critical mass of the sort that Italian revolutionary Antonio because of its relatively small size. Without Gramsci conceptualised. This means an organic further union affiliation and support, other and prolonged one, rather than a short and sharp unions will not see the SSP as a credible option. one. Britain could begin to move towards the Moreover, and without further union support, fragmentation of union political affiliation like the SSP will not grow to the extent that it would that which has existed in a number of European need to in order to present itself a genuinely countries like France, Italy and Spain. “Slow mass party of the working class with elected burn” as opposed to a “big bang” might then officials and leading members in different be the best characterisation. !

The weekly paper of the Scottish Socialist Party scottish socialist VVVOICEOICEOICE £5 for 6 issues. International rate: £15 for 10 issues. Send to: Scottish Socialist Voice, 70 Stanley Street, Glasgow G41 1JB

NEW INTERVENTIONS A JOURNAL OF SOCIALIST DISCUSSION AND OPINION Subscriptions: £10 for 4 issues, £18 for 8 issues. Unwaged half price. Outside Britain, £15 for 4 issues. Cheques in pounds sterling to: New Interventions, PO Box 485, Coventry CV5 6JP

32 CPGB: Centrism, Vacillation and Capitulation

Ian Donovan

Author’s Note: The following article, replying to political attacks on the author in the Weekly Worker (14 October), was submitted to that journal but denied publication. Given that WW publishes all kinds of lengthy and often esoteric material when it judges such material useful to its publishers, readers can judge for themselves whether this material is, as the editor maintains, "unsuitable for publication", or whether this is a cynical break with WW’s proclaimed policy of openness and claim to be "champions of political debate".

ETER MANSON’S letter in the 14 October draft article that I wrote in May this year: P Weekly Worker illustrates perfectly the kind of “The demand for troops out now is an import- contradictions in logic that characterise the CPGB ant test of any socialist or communist tendency in today, the tortured reasoning that bedevils its this period of brutal military occupation of Iraq. attempts to engage with Respect. Comrade Manson Indeed, the armed opposition in Iraq has now pooh-poohs the idea that there is anything broken out of the murky ‘phoney war’ phase that “Islamophobic” in the CPGB’s attitude to Iraq or existed in the early stages. No more does it Respect, and selects recent material on Iraq to primarily consist of shadowy forces engaging in supposedly illustrate that the CPGB majority scattergun, spectacular actions that as often as not position on Iraq has always been no different to targeted not merely the imperialist occupiers, but my own: that of unconditional but critical support also the Iraq people themselves, or formations like to all mass-based indigenous Iraqi armed the Red Cross that really are not legitimate or even formations that are engaged in armed conflict with intelligent targets. Now that substantial sections the US-UK coalition armed forces. Today, the CPGB of the masses have become embroiled in a national claims to agree with this concretely over Fallujah, revolt, it is absolutely obligatory for socialists and perhaps a helpful step. In the 21 October issue it democrats in the West to offer their fullest solidarity writes that “Communists stand unequivocally with with these Iraqi masses.” the working class of Fallujah in their daunting In the published article, as edited by the struggle against imperialism, while at the same time editorial team, the crucial last sentence was criticising the brutal and counterrevolutionary amended to read “Now that substantial sections politics of groups like Tawhid and Jihad”. of the masses have become embroiled in a national This sounds rather like “unconditional but revolt, it is absolutely obligatory for socialists and critical support” to me. I have no differences what- democrats in the west to call for the defeat of their soever, not even a “nuance”, with this position. It ‘own’ side” (Weekly Worker, 13 May). is exactly what I have been arguing inside and This is rather a significant change. Can Peter outside the CPGB ever since the uprisings in April. tell me what is the difference between the It appears that the CPGB has found itself under a formulation “stand unequivocally with the work- degree of political pressure from my external ing class of Fallujah in their daunting struggle criticism on these questions and has shifted over against imperialism”, and the statement that “Now to a more correct position. that substantial sections of the masses have be- Good! It only goes to show that public ideo- come embroiled in a national revolt, it is absolutely logical criticism has impact. However, would obligatory for socialists and democrats in the West comrade Manson care to explain the difference to offer their fullest solidarity with these Iraqi between this position, and this passage from a masses.”? Tell us Peter, what is the difference???!!!

33 The reason that this has significance is that the is the role of the working class movement former draft article from May not only had its worldwide. Therefore, we should be in solidarity correct demand for “solidarity” with the Iraqi with the Iraqi workers’ movement, but not with masses in Fallujah and Najaf edited out, but was the islamist or Ba’athist militias who are fighting the occasion for a mini heresy-hunt in the CPGB. the occupation, as these are not working class At a meeting of the Provisional Central Committee forces” (27 July). on 20 May every single other PCC comrade made So, as it appears from the vote of the July clear their strong disagreement with my position aggregate, the CPGB is not in favour of “solid- of favouring “solidarity” with the masses of arity”, in any sense of the term, with forces fighting Fallujah and Najaf. As comrade Marcus Strom the occupation that it deems “reactionary”. What falsely maintained in a written exchange on this this rejection of “solidarity” means is not made very question when I protested against the clear, according to Marcus Strom it could allow attribution to myself of a “solidarity with Al-Sadr” “episodic” alliances with some of these forces; position that I never held: according to comrade MacNair, who subsequently “... your theses on Iraq only mention broad elaborated on his total rejection of any “anti- ‘solidarity with the Iraqi masses struggling against imperialist united front” in theory as well as practice imperialism’. It does not pin-point solidarity with in polemic with the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty, al-Sadr and the specific political leadership as you such “alliances” seem to be pretty much ruled out. later tried to do in subsequent articles. (Which was But they both seem pretty much at odds with edited out of your articles by Peter and John.)” outright support for the people of Fallujah, hardly (email, Strom to Donovan, PCC internal list, 18 under the command of “working class” forces, June, emphasis in original. The “theses” comrade against the coalition occupiers in the current, Strom referred to were published in WW on 29 escalating onslaught. After all, would that not April) involve an “anti-imperialist united front” with Behind my back, I was branded by the PCC “reactionary forces”? “mainstream” as a deviant and a political supporter So is Paul Greenaway, the author of the piece of Muqtada Al-Sadr. Comrade Strom wrote a that calls for “unequivocal support” to the people special “Party Notes” column as a supposed of Fallujah (WW, 21 October), destined to be falsely “corrective” (WW, 27 May) to this putative pro- accused of being a supporter of Abu Musab Al- Sadr “deviation”, from which was derived an Zarqawi and the minuscule and psychotic “Tawhid alternative set of theses containing the following and Jihad”? Will he be so accused in the same formulation: “Any ‘alliance’ with the likes of viciously Islamophobic manner in which I was Muqtada al-Sadr and his militia must be episodic. accused of being a supporter of Muqtada Al-Sadr Yes, his blows against the occupiers weaken our and the (more mass-based and rational) Jaish al- common enemy, but they do not build working Mahdi when I raised politically identical demands class, democratic and secular forces.” This hunt in May? I think the CPGB membership, and the against pro-Sadr “deviations” was taken to the readership of the Weekly Worker, should be told. CPGB membership in a whispering campaign, and Peter wants to pretend this is all about for example was reflected in the minutes of the “nuances”. It is not. It is about political honesty London non-PCC CPGB cell, in which the follow- in the conduct of political debate, and maintaining ing highly revealing remarks were minuted: “Anne some level of programmatic consistency. The liked Marcus’s Party Notes column, it is good to behaviour of the CPGB leadership over the past quote Ian Donovan’s articles back at him” (30 May). period has been classically centrist, zig-zagging Comrade Strom’s theses were subsequently wildly from roughly correct positions to wildly passed, along with a rather opaque set of theses wrong, Islamophobic ones as reflected in the by Mike MacNair, at the CPGB’s aggregate in July, heresy-hunt this spring-summer against “pro- which I was too ill to attend. I earlier attempted to Sadr” deviations. Knowing the comrades as I do, analyse at length comrade McNair’s very I have little confidence that the correct position convoluted and opaque theses (see WW for 17 June, represented by Paul Greenaway’s article in the for instance), but their real thrust was summed 21 October issue represents anything other than up by comrade MacNair in his reported motivation another zig, this time in a left-wing, anti- of them at the aggregate: “Comrade Macnair said imperialist direction. If this is not to be succeeded the occupation of Iraq can have no progressive by yet another zag back to the right, there must role. He disagreed with those on the left, part- be a proper accounting of all these questions, and icularly the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty, who are, a break from the centrist method that gives rise to to say the least, ambiguous and uncertain about these wild vacillations. this. Communists are for the defeat of our own Comrade Manson, rather unconvincingly, state. However, we are proletarian inter- attempts to defend the CPGB/Red Platform’s nationalists, who believe the creation of socialism “Pregnant Galloway” graphic and article. This was

34 in reality a sectarian provocation designed to a “society based on common ownership and undercut any meaningful engagement with the democratic control” in the draft constitution is Respect project. Indeed, in his efforts to justify this, dismissed as mere “populism”. Given this emphasis Peter once again illustrates the inability of his on alleged “populism”, one could almost say that current to deal with the phenomenon of Respect the CPGB’s material in “support” of Respect has in a coherent manner. Peter asks: “Now, I can the flavour of the (probably apocryphal) story of understand some male chauvinist bigot claiming the misspelled election leaflet for a “populist”: “Vote that to be portrayed as a woman would be de- for George, the people’s fiend.” meaning, but why would any progressive person, This has found reflection in WW’s coverage of let alone a communist, be offended?” In making the witchhunt of George Galloway over his sup- this point, Peter knows very well that comrade posed receipt of “Iraqi gold”. The initial response Galloway did object to the personal attack that this of WW when this classic piece of 1950s-style secret material represented – indeed he refused to be police disinformation first erupted in April 2003 interviewed for the Weekly Worker the following was to publish a back page article (written by a week. non-member – but obviously reflecting the knee- So we can take it as read, then, that Peter jerk reaction of the leadership itself) stating that believes that George Galloway is not a “pro- Galloway was almost certainly guilty and “the left gressive”, and in fact is, in his words, a “male should lead the condemnation” (WW, 24 April chauvinist bigot”. Peter is of course entitled to his 2003). opinion on this – though it is one I certainly do Almost immediately, realising that this article not share. But if this is his opinion, and that of gave the distinct appearance that the CPGB backed the CPGB, then why did the CPGB advocate a vote the Daily Telegraph’s CIA-inspired witchhunt, they to Respect, and its best known public figure, comrade switched over to a more mealy-mouthed and Galloway, in the June elections and subsequent by- legalistic position that Galloway was “innocent elections? Are the CPGB in the habit of advocating until proven guilty” and should receive “the bene- votes to “non-progressive” people (i.e. reaction- fit of the doubt” (WW, 1 May 2003). At the time aries) and “male chauvinist bigots”? Or is this, yet these events broke, I was out of the country. On again, another piece of political schizophrenia, or my return, I wrote a strongly Galloway-defencist more straightforwardly, rank hypocrisy? article as a sharp corrective to this equivocation in What is also notable about this graphic and the face of imperialist reaction (WW, 8 May 2003). article, of course, is that comrade Galloway is the This was the article that drove the AWL’s Sean first, and so far the last, person who has been Matgamna to express his foul-mouthed rage in lampooned in this graphic manner in the Weekly print (Solidarity, 14 May 2003). Worker. Given the level of bourgeois hysteria It is notable that today, even after the exposure against Galloway over the past two years, a that someone (no prizes for guessing who!) has hysteria that WW has not been shy of joining in been forging documents to smear Galloway in this with at times, it is remarkable that the only way, all that WW (14 October) can do is repeat the recipient of such “satire” is the MP the bourgeoisie feeble mantra that Galloway should be given “the seeks to brand as a “traitor” and worse, with the benefit of the doubt” regarding the report of the help of forged documents that really reek of “Iraq Survey Group”, which once again recycled McCarthyism at its worst. accusations that Galloway received money from The CPGB material that supposedly advocates Saddam’s regime. What is the “Iraq Survey Group”? “support” to Respect is often hardly supportive at A clue can be gained from reading the Washington all. It often reads similarly to outright hostile Post (3 October 2003) which refers to it as “The material, with an artificial phrase about “support” CIA’s Iraq Survey Group”. tacked on the end to preserve the most superficial It is a 1400-strong Anglo-US team of “experts” of appearances. Thus at the meeting in early spring set up by the CIA to justify the invasion and where Respect selected its slate for the European occupation of Iraq. It was unable to come up with and GLA elections, the CPGB distributed a leaflet any data on alleged WMDs, since there were none headlined “E for Equality, or Enrichment?”, which and fabricating evidence of them would be an carried the innuendo that comrade Galloway’s enormous political risk, but as you would expect involvement in Respect was motivated by hopes from a CIA-initiated body, it nevertheless found for personal gain, i.e. a form of corruption. other ways to strike back at left-wing opponents Again, if the comrades really believe this, then of the war with propaganda lies. For socialists, they should not be voting for Respect. The CPGB’s there should be no “doubt” that this disinform- material on Respect is replete with ritual denun- ation about Galloway is the work of the world’s ciations of Respect “populism” – which if they really biggest international terrorist propaganda believed it would, again, dictate open non-support network, and should be dismissed with utter for Respect. Even the virtually communistic call for contempt.

35 Peter claims that the CPGB “are champions of As indeed is Peter’s bizarre analogy between open, democratic debate”. This has been the case the activities of a pre-moderator and those of a chair in the past. It has, however, atrophied in the recent at a meeting in “keeping order”. No meeting chair period as real, serious differences began to emerge has prior sight of all remarks to be made at a in the organisation over questions relating to Iraq, meeting – and the power to reject any he/she does Galloway and Respect. Another petty example of not approve of. Maybe this is a power someone this is in the same issue of WW as the “pregnant like Alastair Campbell might crave, but no Galloway” caricature was run. On the page communist leadership should need such a weapon, opposite Neira’s piece is my review of Galloway’s particular against their own comrades. This is recent book, I’m Not the Only One. In the original treating members like children, and should be draft of this review there was a sentence addressing intolerable to a communist. comrade Galloway’s explanation of his notorious According to Peter, the list has to be pre- gaffe on his 1994 visit to Iraq where he seemingly moderated so that the leadership can ensure that praised Saddam Hussein’s “courage” and the discussion remains “disciplined”. The assump- “indefatigability” in standing up to the imperialist tion being that in the absence of pre-vetting, the onslaught. membership will be inclined to violate party Galloway’s explanation was that he was “discipline” on the internal list. Quite how is not actually intending to praise the Iraqi people in this spelled out. But “discipline” appears to mean not manner, in a televised speech in the presence of engaging in a “slanging match” on the list – a Hussein, but that errors of presentation and a “slanging match” being defined as something other badly delivered speech led to a misleading than “serious business”. Peter has not defined what impression being given. I stated in my original draft this “serious business” actually is – but it is that I saw nothing wrong with this explanation – possible to make some educated guesses as to what but this was removed on the insistence of the core he means. leaders of the CPGB, John Bridge and Mark Manny Neira, for instance, was involved in Fischer. So once again, anti-Gallowayism rears its “serious business” (serious for the CPGB, that is, head, doubly so, as the running of a strident in terms of loss of membership and support) when caricature of the man is accompanied by the he was involved in organising a split from the censorship of more sympathetic views in the same CPGB to form a separate organisation, now issue of WW. This is not really the behaviour of known as the Red Party. There were some in the “champions of open, democratic debate”. This is CPGB who suspected that this is what he was up sect behaviour. to all along and said so. Such matters, the task of Centrist vacillation, programmatic instability organising a split from an organisation such as and sect behaviour find their organisational the CPGB, as well as the counter-activities of those reflections in bureaucratic deformations. In partic- who suspect that such a split is being prepared, ular, we see Peter attempting the most craven wafer- tend by their very nature to generate heat. Indeed, thin justifications of the bureaucratic norms that it is testimony to the discipline of the comrades have been introduced into the internal life of the who were opposing the incipient splinter faction CPGB with the advent of pre-moderation on their that there were not raging “slanging matches” on internal discussion list. Peter cynically responds the internal list. to my point that this involves leadership control Indeed, the final confrontation between myself over non-public (i.e. in a sense private) debate: and Neira, representing opposite poles in a rapidly “What nonsense. Since when has debate in an polarising organisation, took place off the list and official party forum been considered ‘private’? The out of sight of the membership, as Peter knows very email list is to facilitate disciplined discussion to well. So much for the poor “non-sectarian” mem- advance the ideas of the whole, not a channel for bers having to be protected from such “slanging individuals to engage in ‘private’ correspondence.” matches” – they only found out about it when it If the CPGB’s internal list is no longer in any was all over. This Peter knows very well, as does sense “private”, i.e. limited to members only, then the entire CPGB leadership and most of the why don’t they open it up so that the entire socialist members. But then if an organisation goes through public can observe the debates (or lack of them!)? centrist degeneration, one sure symptom is when Don’t hold your breath on that one. The hysteria leading members begin to tell blatant untruths, as that results when it is suspected that someone who Peter is doing here. I’m sure Peter would agree, if is not a member or a favoured sympathiser might he gives it a moment’s thought, that matters be reading the list shows how seriously the CPGB connected with splits in his own organisation are takes its “privacy”. But the use of the phrase a very “serious business” indeed. “disciplined discussion” to describe what the How did the CPGB leadership respond to this leadership wants to see on their “private” list is situation, which was largely of its own making? very revealing. In two interlinked ways: by hiding its head in the

36 sand like an ostrich; and then by declaring a state CPGB/Red sympathising majority. We also suspect of siege. It simply denied that anything untoward that [SWP] comrade [John] Molyneux may not was happening in its ranks until it was far too have been aware of our local support when he late, and then decided that, when the split did called me – though, as a good democrat, I am sure happen, it was the fault of the people who made he welcomes the diversity we bring.” “inopportune”, “personal attacks” etc. on the leader So comrade Neira is able to boast in the CPGB of the splinter faction. This is the classic behaviour press about Red Platform activists taking positions of an opportunist leadership, seeking to incorp- in Respect, an organisation whose election orate politically incompatible elements by making campaign it does not support, and in the process unprincipled concessions (in this case on basic of so boasting, is able to promote his own faction, norms of democratic centralism), and turning on a minority current that is supposed to be the “nasty” elements in their own ranks who, in subordinate to the democratic centralist norms of opposing such opportunist concessions, “drove the CPGB – which had voted not once but twice to away” the object of their affections. support Respect. I have news for comrade Neira – The “discipline” Peter is talking about here is as a partisan of Respect, I do not think Respect’s the “discipline” of centrist opportunism, of trying “diversity” should extend so far as to allow outright to force fundamentally incompatible forces, divided opponents of the Respect project to hold office in by issues of principle, to capitulate to each other Respect branches. In fact, I would seriously in the name of a spurious unity. That is not the consider supporting the expulsion of such people politics of Bolshevism. It is, however, strongly from Respect. Indeed, one does not have to believe reminiscent of unprincipled combinations such as in democratic centralism to tend to such an attitude the August bloc that Trotsky was involved in – just elementary loyalty to any organisation or during 1912. movement. Peter wants to talk about “discipline”. I am all Niera was here not only trampling all over the in favour of a discussion of democratic centralist CPGB’s democratic centralism – with the approval discipline, because I have some concrete points to of the WW editors who allowed this article to be make about the indiscipline of the CPGB published – he was also pissing in the face of any leadership, and undisciplined and unprincipled genuine partisan of Respect. The editors who concessions that were made to the anti-Respect, allowed this remarkable little piece to see the light anti-Galloway, Islamophobic and social chauvinist of day in WW are as guilty as Neira himself of Red Platform (proto-“Party”) during the May-June concretely undermining democratic centralism. 2004 election campaign. Two CPGB aggregates That is, they are guilty of a gross breach of dis- voted to campaign for a vote for all Respect cipline. candidates in that election. Second example – the extremely shrill attack There are clearly defined norms in the CPGB’s on George Galloway in WW of 13 May. Neira’s version of democratic centralism, which I regard “Pregnant Galloway” party piece again plugged as (providing it is adhered to) the best version, the Red Platform in Rabelaisian fashion: “Gorgeous indeed the correct version, of democratic centralism. George was pregnant ... the famous Armani suit These mandate that during a party action, has already been let out twice. They could not minorities opposed to an agreed action may only afford a new one, thanks to the Red Platform: an publicly criticise and comment on the subject of organisation she could not name without the action concerned in a manner that does not cursing.” Again, entirely separate from the Red disrupt the carrying out of that action. The Platform’s column – and much more prominent, concrete, authorised form that this “non- with a cover graphic to advertise it. disruptive” criticism of the majority action was to There are, by the way, other examples – these take in the case of the “Red Platform” was their are only the two most blatant ones. authoring of a discrete column, “Seeing Red”, in By allowing Neira to plug the Red Platform’s which they could put their case. politics in strident public attacks on Galloway and Fair enough. Except that this did not happen. Respect, the CPGB leadership succeeded in Some concrete examples. In the 6 May WW, a temporarily transforming the Weekly Worker into prominent report was published of CPGB activities virtually a publication of Manny Neira and the in Guildford Respect, written by Manny Neira. Red Platform. The tail was wagging the dog with This was not part of the Red Platform’s column – a vengeance! When I challenged Neira internally indeed it was far larger that that column which over this flagrant act of contempt for party also appeared. In this non-column article he discipline, in which the WW editors were also of boasted: “I was elected secretary, and my fellow course deeply complicit, after a hysterical attempt CPGBer and also fellow Red Platform member, Jem to force me to apologise for the criticism (using Jones, was elected chair. We suspect we may be the CPGB editors’ complicity and concurrent unique in being the only branch in the UK with a indiscipline to muddy the waters), the founder of

37 the Red Platform resigned from the CPGB to begin with Respect you are dealing with the party his splitting manoeuvre. question in a very concrete manner. I see my leav- Of course, Neira may well believe, and is entitled ing the CPGB over Respect as being fundamentally to believe, that the CPGB’s endorsement of Respect, similar to my leaving the International Bolshevik despite such flaws as Galloway’s conservative- Tendency over their refusal to engage properly Catholic views on abortion, justified the violation with the early Socialist Alliance. I see Respect as of democratic-centralist discipline. A pity he did not having considerable potential in itself to lead to openly state this – then he might have been able the creation of a new mass-based party of the to gain some “Respect” and lead a principled split. working class in this country. If erratic CPGB antics Though given that Galloway’s abortion position threaten to damage that potential, or to undermine amounts to an anomalous flaw on an otherwise it, or even to constrain my ability to participate in strident (if left-reformist) opponent of capitalist and it fully, then I have no more hesitation in leaving imperialist oppression, whereas Neira, who abhors your pseudo-“vanguard” than I have had in Galloway above all for his “second campism”, has leaving other such formations in the past. no trouble voting for imperialist institutions like When I left the IBT, I did not seek to create the Euro, this was not on the agenda. another sect, I published my views and got Niera’s antipathy to Galloway always stemmed involved with the SA. I subsequently joined the from liberal-imperialist moralism, not from any CPGB because they were the most consistent ultra-left impulse, despite Mark Fischer’s tortuous exponents of the partyist logic of that project. For attempt, riven with irrelevant citations from Lenin a whole range of reasons, most notably concerning (and numerous inappropriate analogies), to excuse the Iraq war and the emergence of new forces, the his own capitulations to Neira by furiously SA ceased to be viable and Respect came into being banging that particular square peg into the out of the anti-war movement. The complexities legendary round hole in the 21 October issue of of how this happened are the subject of a future the Weekly Worker. article – suffice to say I am developing an analysis One final point about comrade Manson’s that differs considerably from that of the CPGB. reference to Trotskyism and splits over matters of But I intend to participate fully in this project – alleged nuance. Peter equates leaving the and that requires a break with the “discipline” of organisation over the CPGB’s erratic behaviour the vacillating centrist CPGB. Only if the CPGB over Respect with splitting over some abstract fundamentally breaks from its vacillation and difference without consequence in the real world, frequent left-Islamophobia (which by the way is such differences being “two a penny” in the more analogous to Stalinophobia than to the anti- Trotskyist milieu. semitism Peter erects as a straw man) can this No, comrade Manson. When you are dealing breach be healed.! WORKERS CHARTIST For democratic socialism ACTION Chartist is read by those on the left who want politics beyond slogans and easy answers Workers Action is a Marxist current in the labour movement. Our supporters are active The editorial policy of Chartist is to promote in trade unions, the Labour Party, and political campaigns. We have a non-sectarian debate amongst people active in radical approach to the problems of the left. This politics about the contemporary relevance of means working within the labour movement as democratic socialism it is, not as we would like it to be.

Our magazine Workers Action has news and A year's subscription is £15.00 analysis of struggles in Britain and around the world, theoretical discussion, and reviews. Please send to: Chartist Publications, www.workersaction.org.uk PO Box 27556, London SE4 1WB

38 The Stalinist State in China: The Social Meaning of Mao Tse-tung’s Victory

Wang Fanxi

This article was written in Hong Kong in 1950. It first appeared in the March-April 1951 issue of New International, the theoretical journal of the (Shachtmanite) Independent Socialist League in the US, and was reprinted in Britain in the August 1951 issue of Socialist Review, published by the tendency led by Tony Cliff. Wang Fanxi (1907-2002) was active in the Trotskyist movement in China and later in exile. He was the author of Memoirs of a Chinese Revolutionary (1991, original edition 1980). We are grateful to Mike Pearn for providing a copy of the article.

1. Now that the CCP’s military forces have con- genuine liberation upon it. And this has in fact quered the entire mainland, the People’s Republic been the case. Politically speaking, the position of in official existence for five months, and the New the working class has not changed at all. The Democracy in effect in some of China’s principal military governments established by the con- cities for approximately one year, we possess querors are composed entirely of a new nobility, sufficient material and facts to judge the nature of and have no connection with the working class. the CCP and its state machine and to test the Not only could workers’ soviets not be formed in accuracy of our past views concerning them. practice, they were not permitted to exist even as 2. In judging and estimating the nature of a a concept. All that the workers got from their movement, a political party, or a state, for the “liberators” was the designation – on paper – of proletarian revolutionist there is one unchanging “leaders” of the new society. A new government standard: What is its relation to the working class, which proclaims that the working class occupies that is, to the only revolutionary class in the a position of leadership in it has not given the modern world? For us there can be no more working class an ounce of such latitude as would decisive standard than that, nor can there be any enable it to advance to political power. other point of departure. In the early period of the “liberation”, because 3. What is the relation of the CCP, the Lib- of the long-standing prestige of the Communist eration Army led by it, and the People’s Republic Party and because of the revolutionary illusions which it has established, to the Chinese working entertained toward it by the workers, the working class? What attitude does it take toward that class got out of hand in some of the big cities and working class? Notwithstanding the fact that the went so far as to demand an improvement in CCP calls itself a working-class party, not- living conditions, even confiscation of factories (as, withstanding the fact that the CCP proclaims this for example, the Lien-ch’ang iron works in new state to be a “people’s” state led by the workers, Tientsin), the liquidation of certain capitalists, and nevertheless a variety of facts demonstrates that so forth. But this period came to an end very the political and economic position of the workers quickly. In Tientsin from February to April and in has not only failed to improve, but in certain Shanghai during June and July there was extensive respects has even deteriorated. The working class activity on the part of the workers, but after the is the victim of this “War of Liberation”. “The suppression in April of the Tientsin movement by liberation of the working class is the function of Liu Shao-ch’i and the promulgation in Shanghai the working class itself.” Consequently, “liber- on August 19 of Military Government regulations ators” drawn from another class cannot confer for the adjustment of labour-management disputes,

39 the working class was robbed completely of its improved the position of the working class, while right to fight and of its fundamental right to strike. economically it has lowered its standard of living. In other words, it was made the victim of ex- The Chinese Communist regime, while character- ploitation at the hands of private entrepreneurs. izing itself the “representative of the working This new slave status of the working class was class” and making use of the words “people” and finally fixed in September by governmental fiat, “nation”, has in reality, like the Kuomintang, in and the workers have been unable to win an effect enslaved the Chinese working class. This improvement in living conditions by striking. In view must constitute the point of departure for order to disguise this act of barbarism, the new our interpretation of the nature of the CCP and rulers have given the working class the right of its government. “factory control”. But this right, as a glance at 4. Any political party or state apparatus which the Regulations for the Conduct of Factory Committees enslaves the working class is, in this day and age, will indicate, is a patently worthless piece of from a proletarian, socialist, revolutionary point trickery. For example: of view, fundamentally and completely reactionary. “7. The Factory Committee shall be presided Therefore the CCP and the state apparatus which over by the Head of the Factory (or the Manager) it has set up are also reactionary. Yet at the same ... 8. If a decision passed by a majority of the time we must recognise the following facts: They Factory Committee shall be judged by the Head of have overthrown the Kuomintang government, the Factory (or the Manager) to be in conflict with which represented foreign imperialism and the the said Factory’s best interests, or when the said native bourgeoisie and landlord class; they are decision shall be in conflict with the instructions wiping out the anachronistic agrarian relation- of higher authority, the Manager or Head of the ships in China’s farming villages; they have dealt Factory is empowered to prohibit its imple- a mighty blow to the foreign imperialist powers mentation.” led by the United States. All of these actions, from In other words, everything depends on the the point of view of Chinese nationalism and decision of the factory head or the manager, who democracy, have an undeniably progressive is not elected by the workers but is appointed by character. the “people’s” government, which has no 5. The difficulty is this: How and why can a connection with the working class. Basically, what fundamentally reactionary political party and is the significance of this sort of “workers’ government perform objectively progressive acts? control”? Let us have our answer straight from At bottom, what class does such a political party the mouth of one of the “national capitalists”, represent? To answer these questions we must first Sung Fei-ch’ing: make a brief study of the development of world “In my opinion, it is not such a bad idea to let capitalism over the last twenty-some years, of the the workers participate in the factory management. processes of political and economic change within While on the face of it the workers would appear China itself, and of the history of the first to be detracting somewhat from the rights of the proletarian state in the history of mankind. Within factory head, in reality the purpose of the this space, naturally, we can point out only with participation of workers’ representatives in the the utmost simplicity and brevity the principal administration of personal, material, profits, peculiarities in the history of these developments, finances, etc., is merely to assure the imple- since our immediate purpose is merely to shed light mentation of all decisions passed by the Factory on the international background and historical Committee. Since the workers participate in the origins of the CCP’s victory and the emergence of formation of these decisions, they cannot later this new state, and thence to draw a conclusion oppose them. Thus much friction is eliminated, as to its fundamental nature. and in any case the final right of decision remains 6. Since the end of the economic crisis of 1929- in the hands of the manager.” 33, and particularly since the end of the Second These few words constitute a frank and honest World War, world capitalism, in its imperialist description of the real nature of this “workers’ stage, in order, on the one hand, to deal with the control of production”. It merely exalts the proletarian revolution within each country (a task workers “on the face of it”, while retaining control in which it has succeeded) and, on the other, of the factory “in reality”! This is the Chinese because of ever more intense international Communist regime’s general attitude toward the competition, has acquired certain new char- working class, one of paying it lip-service in theory acteristics in its internal structure, characteristics while oppressing it in practice. And besides this, which Lenin could not adequately foresee at the the CCP has yet another poisonous weapon to time of his analysis of imperialism. The most use against the working class, the system of important among them is the process by which “heroes of labour”, which divides the workers on monopoly capitalism becomes more closely bound the one hand while oppressing them more cruelly up with the state, some enterprises are taken over on the other. Therefore we may affirm that by the state, and capitalism becomes statified. politically the Chinese Communist regime has not Hitler’s Nazism and Roosevelt’s New Deal, carried

40 out at approximately the same time in Germany changes.) and the United States, represented fundamentally 7. A phenomenon accompanying the stat- the same tendency towards statification on the part ification of capitalism and pointed out by Lenin of capitalism. This movement for a time resolved in his study of imperialism, namely, the parasitism the internal crisis of capitalism, but intensified the and corruption of the bourgeoisie, is also further international crisis and culminated in the Second intensified yet another degree. Broadly speaking, World War. As soon as the war broke out, this the entire bourgeoisie becomes separated from the tendency was greatly accelerated, because the means of production and becomes a class of “profit- production of the implements of the war reached consumers”. The state becomes the agent that reaps an unprecedented height. It exceeded the the profits for the owners, and the capitalists manufacture of the machinery of production and simply turn into a decayed leisure class. of consumers’ goods and wrought a change in the 8. The decay and stagnation of capitalism most important sectors of the national productive causes a further change in the polarisation of classes plant. This one sector is of exceptionally large within capitalist society. On the one hand, capital proportions and of an exceptionally exacting concentration and the capitalist class shrink in nature and makes it difficult for other capital quantity and size; on the other, the ranks of the enterprises to function with complete freedom; proletariat cannot continue to expand, but in some hence, the control of it must be directly in the countries the ratio of this class to the total hands of the state, which causes an unprecedented population decreases. The bankrupt, impotent growth in the statification of enterprise. Since the petty bourgeoisie becomes ever larger. At the same war, this process, far from being retarded, has been time, the so-called “new middle class” formed under intensified in scope. conditions of state capitalism, that is, specialists, Beginning with the war itself – except for the technicians, bureaucrats, and intellectuals of every Soviet Union, which has a planned economy, and type and description – these and other elements of the United States, which gained economically from the impoverished petty bourgeoisie at certain times the war – all the capitalist empires, victors as well form the base for the Fascist movement, and at as vanquished, have found themselves in a others the cadres of Stalinism. position from which they cannot extricate 9. These three phenomena, viz., (a) the themselves. The economy has completely collapsed, tendency of world capitalism toward statification, the revolutionary crisis is very tense, and at the (b) the thoroughgoing corruption and decay of same time, on the international scene, the world the individual capitalist, and (c) the numerical powers, American and Russia, are moving closer increase of the petty bourgeoisie and its rise in and closer to a clash – all of which forces these importance as a social and political force, may serve capitalist countries, for the sake of their continued to explain the principal events that have taken existence, to concentrate the economic machinery place throughout the world during the last twenty in the hands of the state, to plan for internal years, particularly since the end of the war, and stabilisation, and, to whatever degree possible, to can explain very adequately the events that have ward off external attacks. As a result, such transpired in China. countries with traditionally “free” economies as 10. The semi-colonial, backward Chinese England and France have both carried out bourgeoisie, under the pressure of the enmity of “nationalisations” on a very large scale. The United the workers and peasants from within and the States would seem to be the exception to the rule direct blows of Japanese imperialism from without, whereby, since the end of the war, the system of fell in wholeheartedly with the world current of state interference in the individual economy has the nationalisation of capital. But precisely because become more or less solidified. The principal the weak base of Chinese industrial capitalism and reason, naturally, is that the power of American China’s political and social backwardness caused private monopoly capital is very great, and at the her “nationalised” capitalism to assume a same time the United States is experiencing a period particularly shameless rapacity, the result has been of abnormal prosperity on the back of a bankrupt in the last six or seven years a so-called bureau- world, whence these “free entrepreneurs” have a cratic capitalism and unprecedentedly graft-ridden high power of resistance to the incursions of state political setup, the stench of which rises to the capitalism. But if we examine more closely, we see heavens. This sort of rule not only enraged the that the production of the implements of war, with Chinese workers and peasants, but also angered the atom bomb heading the list, is being more and broad layers of the urban petty bourgeoisie and more concentrated in the hands of the state, while even the medium bourgeoisie, the so-called at the same time Truman’s so-called “Fair Deal”, national capitalists. under the impetus of a future economic panic, 11. The Chinese Stalinists, taking advantage could most assuredly take long strides in the of this state of affairs, basing themselves on the direction of state capitalism. (If at such a time a overwhelming numerical strength of the socialist revolution should take place and be impoverished and embittered peasantry, and successful then of course the whole picture proposing a programme of reformed state

41 capitalism (that is, the New Democracy), rallied since the late Twenties, after the elimination of the the urban petty bourgeoisie and medium bourg- entire Old Bolshevik leadership, quickly eoisie, and gathered to their banner even a part of degenerated into a bureaucratic clique exploiting the working class. Through military might they the proletariat. Of course, as far as membership, easily transformed the rotten rule of the Chinese- organisation, and ideology were concerned, it style “national capitalists” and took over (but by ceased to be a vanguard of the proletariat or even no means abolished) the state machinery and the a part of the proletariat. As for membership, except entire economy under its control. for a handful of Stakhanovites, workers simply 12. The above constitutes our explanation, on could not join the party; as for organisation, the basis of the development of world capitalism democratic centralism gave way to bureaucratic and its peculiarities, of the reasons for the collapse absolutism, and lower-ranking party members (to of Kuomintang rule and the rise of Chinese say nothing of non-party workers) had absolutely Stalinist rule. Of course, this explanation can no right to criticise, change, or recall the leaders account for only one half of the story. It still leaves or their policies; as for ideology, internationalism unanswered questions such as the following: Why gave way to narrow Great-Russian nationalism, did the CCP rely on the peasants rather than the world revolution gave way to national construct- workers? Why did the “communists” at the head ion based on the Soviet Union, the class struggle of China’s impoverished peasantry put forth a was transformed into “national cooperation” (or programme of reformed state capitalism rather a bureaucratic operation), equalitarianism was than socialist revolution? Why are they carrying transformed into the most naked system of out a reform from the top down rather than a privilege and discrimination, collective leadership revolution from the bottom up? Why did they was transformed into the most arbitrary personal merely “take over” undisturbed the bureaucratic dictatorship. Along with the complete degen- state apparatus rather than abolish it? Why, eration of the Bolshevik party, and inextricably although they have transformed the rule of the bound up with it, was the complete change in the landlords and the bureaucratic capitalists, have character of the Soviet state. they adopted a friendly attitude towards the bour- This change expressed itself primarily in the geoisie in general while carrying out repressive following ways: (a) The soviets on which the measures against the proletariat? Why do they working class had relied to control the state proclaim themselves to be a working-class party remained in name but disappeared in fact, and the and China to be a “people’s republic led by the workers were not only unable any longer to working class” while giving the workers not the “recall at will those of their elected representatives least opportunity to participate in the government who did not suit them”, but even to elect their or even to organise soviets? own representatives. (b) The officials of the state To answer these questions, we can point out apparatus, the officers of the regular army, the the following facts about the internal situation in responsible persons and specialists, formed a the country: The Chinese proletariat since 1927, relatively stable ruling class, became estranged from when it suffered a staggering defeat thanks to its the working class, then oppressed the working adherence to Stalinist policies, has not ascended class cruelly. (c) The working masses in general the political stage. Although a year or two before were cheated not only of their right to participate the struggle with Japan and within the first year in government but also of any right to fight for after Japan’s surrender the labour movement the improvement of their own living conditions. revived for a time, nevertheless, thanks to the (d) Therefore the Soviet Union now stands in the weakness of the proletarian parties, the Kuomin- following class relationship politically and tang’s oppression and deceit, and the degeneration economically: On the one hand the bureaucracy of Chinese industry in the war, and under the collectively holds all political and economic power influence of the decay and stagnation of world in the state, and on the other the toiling masses capitalism, the ranks of the working class were are absolutely without rights. This sort of state is scattered and weakened, and these movements naturally not a workers’ state, nor even a degen- could never acquire sufficient political and erate workers’ state, because the working class is revolutionary character. The fact that the Chinese politically ruled over and economically exploited; proletariat for over twenty years was unable to and yet it is not a capitalist state, since there is no interfere in China’s political processes to a sig- capitalist class in it which privately owns the nificant extent determined the peasant aspect, the means of production. In that state all the means capitalist nature, and the bureaucratic-collectivist and materials of production are concentrated in direction of Chinese Stalinism. Of course – and the hands of a bureaucracy comprising the party, this is far more important – we must seek the the governmental machinery, and the army, which answer to this question in the nature of the Soviet collectively owns all the wealth. Union and the CPUSSR and the influence they Therefore we may say that the Soviet Union exerted on the CCP. of today is a country in which the bureaucracy 13. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union, collectively owns the means of production. The

42 reason this sort of state was able to come into bureaucratic collectivism perfected by Stalin within being is that, in the first place, the world socialist the Soviet Union. The ideological change was revolution was late in arriving and its energies complete by the early Thirties. Now the CCP, dissipated, thus forcing a backward and isolated embracing this ideology, has come to power and workers’ state to degenerate completely; in the is organising the state around it. Hence it is quite second place, that the decay of world capitalism natural that it can only carry out a reform from itself and the process which is pushing it at top the top down, put forth a state-capitalist pro- speed in the direction of state capitalism made it gramme, simply and easily take over the Kuomin- impossible for the degenerated workers’ state to tang’s bureaucratic state apparatus, destroy only revert to orthodox capitalism. part of the bourgeoisie, put a strict check on the 14. On the face of it, bureaucratic collectivism, genuinely revolutionary proletariat, and regard that is, Stalinism, would appear to be a completely with hostility every mass action from the bottom new thing. It is neither socialism nor capitalism. up. Since the creature spawned by the CCP is a But upon closer examination it is not difficult to bureaucratic-collectivist state and must continue perceive that it belongs under a subheading of to enslave the workers, it is reactionary; but since capitalism. One difference between it and trad- such a state must reform capitalism, change itional capitalism is collective ownership of the property forms, and increase productive power, it means of production as opposed to private owner- cannot help adopting certain progressive measures. ship. The ownership of the means of production Herein we have found the answer to our question has not been socialised, but it has been collectivised posed in 4: How and why can a reactionary regime (in the hands of the ruling class). And as for the carry out certain progressive measures? The relationship of owners to producers, exploitation contradiction between progress and reaction which continues exist, and is in fact intens-ified. characterises the Chinese Communist Party’s Bureaucratic collectivism has two great advantages regime expresses itself particularly in its relation over private capitalism and even over state to the bourgeoisie on the one hand and the capitalism (under the latter also there is large-scale proletariat and poor peasantry on the other. To private ownership): (a) it is possible to regulate stabilise the rule of the bureaucracy it is necessary capital in a more systematic fashion; (b) it is to conciliate the former and oppose the latter, while possible to exploit workers more efficiently. These to reform capitalism it is necessary to conciliate two advantages are precisely what is needed to the latter and oppose the former. overcome the present crisis of capitalism. Seen 16. This internal contradiction has caused the from this point of view, Stalinism is a special kind Chinese Communist rule for the present to assume of reformism, it is the reformism of the age in which Bonapartist features. It attempts to play the part capitalism has developed into imperialism. On the of a supra-class mediator and proclaims “labour- one hand it prevents the emergence and success of capital unity for the benefit of all society”, while a genuine socialist revolution, and on the other, in reality manipulating and smoothing over class by means of collective exploitation, it continues contradictions for the ultimate advantage of the the rule of capital over labour. Bureaucratic collect- bureaucratic caste. All varieties of Bonapartism rest ivism or Stalinism is essentially the transitional primarily on the mass base of the petty bourgeoisie, form which obtains during the delayed and the present CCP included. All forms of Bonapartism difficult birth of socialism from the womb of are fundamentally anti-working class, and the capitalism. It cannot create a new historical era, CCP at present is no exception. Of course, Stalinist but it can maintain itself for a long time, and in Bonapartism attacks private property, while several countries at once. In southeast Europe sev- orthodox Bonapartist dictatorship does not, and eral such states have already been created, while therein lies the great difference between them. It is the New China is being recast in the same mould. absolutely necessary for us to understand this 15. To create a bureaucratic-collectivist state, point. Therefore we cannot say that the Bonapart- one must first have a bureaucratic-collectivist party ism of the CCP will perform a capitalist function to carry out the action. The Chinese Communist in the sense in which we could say it of traditional Party has been that ever since Communism Bonapartism, of Bonapartism in the literal degenerated into bureaucratic collectivism. Because meaning of the word. It will perform the functions of a common international situation and long- of capitalism in a peculiar way, that is, by sub- standing historical ties, also because the class stituting the collective ownership of the relationships within China after the defeat of the bureaucracy for the private ownership of the Great Revolution (the destruction of the individual capitalist. The capitalism represented by proletariat, the long peasant wars, the utter the Stalinists is no longer capitalism in the original corruption of the bourgeoisie, the anger and sense of the word, but bureaucratic collectivism; dissatisfaction of the petty bourgeoisie) were the class they represent is not a capitalist class in favourable to reformism and utterly unfavourable the original sense, but a bureaucratic class which to the growth of revolutionary socialism, the collectively owns the means of production. This Chinese Communist Party took over entirely the distinction is of exceptional importance. If one

43 points to the Bonapartism of the CCP without ivism equals socialism is widespread; the Chinese understanding this difference, then one will be proletariat and its real vanguard have yet to unable to understand the events taking place before educate the Chinese themselves and unite through one’s eyes or to predict future developments, the bitter experience of Stalinist rule for only then because, while others may expect the attitude of can they initiate a mighty anti-Stalinist revolution. the CCP to become daily more conciliatory towards Our chief task at present is patiently to interpret the bourgeoisie, what we shall in fact see is a and reinterpret the fundamental nature of Stalinist greater solidification of collectivism and a streng- bureaucratic collectivism. Naturally, “patient thening of state capital. interpretation” by no means signifies passive Of course, we are under no obligation to make observation. We must participate actively in these airily optimistic promises about what the CCP will events. We must, while pointing out the internally achieve from these sad beginnings. In semi- contradictory character of the Stalinist party’s colonial, backward China, which has suffered the present struggle, on the one hand advance and ravages of civil and foreign wars for over ten years, broaden in scope the fight against the landlords if only because of the power of resistance of the and rich peasants and advocate and participate in internal “automatic economy” (not to mention the all anti-capitalist struggles; and, on the other hand, increasingly acute contradictions on the oppose simultaneously the fight of the international scene), the construction by the CCP bureaucracy, oppose the enslavement of the of a bureaucratic-collectivist system will probably workers under whatever guise, oppose the be extremely difficult. Thanks to two wars within oppression of the poor peasantry, and, above all, the last ten years, the decisively significant sectors consistently advocate the convocation of a of the Chinese economy are nationalised. This Congress of workers, peasants, and soldiers, to gives the CCP’s future activities a great boost, but exchange the Stalinist military agencies and the they have yet to absorb all private capital, abolish so-called “People’s Government” for a genuine the backward relationships in the farming villages, workers’ and peasants’ state. We must direct every and collectivise the small farming units which have struggle toward the formation of soviets. Our gone bankrupt in their technical backwardness – principal slogan must be for a Congress of all of them uncommonly difficult tasks. To do this Workers, Soldiers and Peasants. the first and most important step is for the Stalinist 18. In view of the political and economic party to initiate a broad mass struggle, to absorb evidence, the China of Mao Tse-tung, unless a new countless worker and peasant elements and world war or an internal revolution stops the organise them for action, but this is a step that course of its development, can “peacefully” turn the Stalinist party is wary of taking. To guarantee into another Stalinist Russia (that is, it need not that the new China shall remain under bureau- necessarily first go through a proletarian cratic rule and not turn into a genuine workers’ revolution and then degenerate in order to reach and peasants’ state, they must limit this movement the same end result); or, if the China of Mao Tse- to certain well-defined bounds, beyond which it tung is to become a workers’ state, then nothing must not be permitted to stray so much as a single short of a proletarian revolution can alter the step. In its present position of extreme caution, present rule. events have naturally made it impossible for the Therefore, not only can we state positively that CCP’s collectivisation to go very deep; however, China is not a workers’ state, but we can also prove the general tendency is in the direction just by the same token that the Soviet Union is no described, and its principal features have been longer any sort of workers’ state. The difference pointed out above. between the new China and the Soviet Union at 17. When the Stalinist party, in order to present is one of degree, not of kind. Both are advance the cause of bureaucratic collectivism, equally bureaucratic-collectivist states, except for very cautiously initiates its mass movement, can a huge difference in degree of thoroughness. There- the workers and poor peasants, taking advantage fore the Fourth International’s traditional attitude of this opportunity, push the struggle further, towards the Soviet Union must be altered. It must work free of the limitations imposed upon them reject the view that the Stalinist parties are parties by the Stalinist party, and cause a bureaucratically of Menshevik opportunism, because, although the dominated movement to turn into the Chinese Stalinist parties are at present indeed funda- socialist revolution – or can they not? In theory, mentally reformist, their principal crime is not their we can never exclude this possibility, and we – the collaboration with the bourgeoisie but bureau- Chinese Proletarian Revolutionary Party – must cratic enslavement of the proletariat. Needless to turn all our subjective efforts in that direction. But, say, it is only by viewing the Soviet Union and in fact, if we passionately analyse China’s present the Stalinist parties from the point of view of class relationships, we cannot deny that this bureaucratic collectivism that one can understand possibility is extremely slight. The prestige of the their nature and their actions. The same is true of Stalinist party among the general masses is still the Chinese Stalinist party and its newly- very great, the illusion that bureaucratic collect- established state. !

44 A Danish Trotskyist in the Spanish Civil War

Åge Kjelsø

This piece was first published in 1977 in issue No.17 of the Danish magazine Hug! The translation is by Mike Jones, who contributes the following note: “This verbal account of his experience in Spain by Åge Kjelsø, was written down by Carl Heinrich Petersen and agreed as a true record in June 1976. Åge Kjelsø begins his account with an analysis of the civil war from its start. He goes on to describe the workers’ organisations, their revolutionary actions, and the counter-revolutionary role of the orthodox Communists, pointing out that these events unfolded at the same time as the Moscow Trials and purges in the USSR. He furthermore points out that the Communists had made clear that anarcho-syndicalists and Trotskyists in Spain would be destroyed just as efficiently as in the USSR, ‘and that this would not just remain a threat I myself would find out very clearly during my stay in Spain 1936-38’. In order to save space I have omitted this first part of the account in order to give the personal experiences of Åge Kjelsø.”

T WAS during a journey in Yugoslavia together triumphed, and even in our country large sections I with a Danish comrade and co-thinker, Tage of the farmers and bourgeoisie admired Hitler and Lau, that I became aware of the outbreak of the Mussolini. Spanish Civil War. We had travelled from Denmark In this situation, the magnificent and partially owing to unemployment, and we were fed and victorious struggle of the Spanish workers against received other assistance from workers- fascism resulted in a huge enthusiasm and esperantoists and other socialists.1 In Yugoslavia admiration for it among many of the young we experienced a number of great strikes, and it socialists of that time, and this atmosphere led to gave us a strong impression of the solidarity and me deciding to go to Spain to participate in the will to struggle, of which a few years later the first serious resistance struggle against fascism world would see an even greater manifestation in raging there. the resolute struggle of the Yugoslav workers and Therefore, I set course from Yugoslavia to peasants against the army of the fascist great power Spain, and after a long and exhausting journey which attacked their country. But otherwise it was by cycle I reached the great southern French port the struggle in Spain which mostly concerned us, of Marseilles, from which I assumed good and for us as for thousands, yes millions, of possibilities existed for journeying to Spain. At workers the world over, the struggle of the first, I tried to contact the Trotskyists and Spanish workers stood out almost like a miracle. anarchists through their meeting rooms, and I did In the winter of 1933, with horror and shame, succeed in contacting some anarchists; but as they we had seen the collapse of the German labour didn’t quickly assist my further journey to my movement without a fight as Hitler was installed, promised land, I tried to take a short-cut to it with and the year after we experienced the February the aid of the French trade unions and Peoples battles in Austria, where a few thousand members Front. It seemed to go well, as I was able to get on of the socialist defence organisation, the board a ship which was taking volunteers of Schutzbund, attempted a hopeless defensive fight different nationalities to Spain. I lived on the ship to prevent the forward march of fascism. Mussolini for a few days, where I engaged in frank was in power in Italy, and in most of southern discussions with a part of the other volunteers, and eastern Europe reaction and semi-fascism had among them some Greeks and Germans. It resulted

45 in me being summoned to an interrogation room, an excellent reception from the Spanish where the tone in my regard was sharp and in the anarchists, who also took care of my further manner of the police in a murder case, and where transport to Barcelona. It was August 1936, and I I – despite my protest – was forced into being was one of the first Danish volunteers in Spain. photographed. Thereafter I was shown out and At an anarchist barracks I received training in the put off the ship with the message that I was not use of a rifle and hand grenades for a few weeks, wanted in Spain owing to my anti-Stalinist, so- and then was sent to the front at Huesca in called “provocative” statements. This was my first Aragon, where I spent a couple of months. clash with the international Stalinist apparatus Apart from myself, at that moment there were during the Spanish Civil War. only very few foreigners in the Durruti Column, Before I continue with my political description, which was stationed here and had been named it would be opportune to say a few words about after the famous Spanish anarchist Durruti, whose my previous political development up to the life had been one long struggle for the liberation summer of 1936. of the working class. He had been condemned to I joined DsU2 as a 15-year-old in 1930, and in death in the ’20s, both in Spain and in Argentina, the following years had different jobs as a labourer for his contribution, and he was in the van on and messenger-boy, but was often unemployed. the barricades and during the attack on the fascist After Hitler’s elevation to power on 30 January positions in Barcelona on 19 July 1936. During the 1933, a number of political émigrés from the following weeks, the Durruti Column took part defeated German labour movement arrived in in purging Catalonia of fascists, and half of Aragon Denmark, and among them was Professor too, and during the critical November days of that Tschachotin, the inventor of the three-arrows year Durruti and 6000 of his column hurried to emblem,3 spokesman for a more active struggle Madrid’s relief. Durruti fell there on 20 November, against Nazism and therefore oppositionally on a section of the front otherwise quiet at the inclined towards the leadership of the German time, apparently assassinated by a political social democracy. Tschachotin influenced many opponent. The whole of Barcelona was on its feet Copenhagen DsUers in an oppositional direction, for his funeral to salute this great son of the city, among them myself, and I remember that Hartvig and the workers of Spain cried at his bier. Frisch4 took part in some of our meetings and I had some extraordinarily good comrades in expressed a certain criticism in respect to the the Durruti Column, and although only a few of toleration of Brüning and general passivity in the them had a talent for languages, we nevertheless face of reaction by the SPD – in the same way that had the best understanding between us on he did in his book Pest over Europa, which was account of the common cause we fought for. I published in the autumn of 1933. Through the sometimes use the term anarchist for them, but then well-known wholesaler Boggild, who was could just as well use syndicalist instead. This is active within DsU and the social democracy in because all members of the anarchist elite Copenhagen, but had at the same time close links organisation FAI (Iberian Anarchist Federation) with the German émigré Trotskyist group, also were at the same time members of the bigger located in the city, I came into contact with these syndicalist union confederation CNT, where they Trotskyists, was excluded from DsU and played a leading role, so the relationship between participated in the establishment of a Danish them was akin to that between the social democracy Trotskyist group, which we called the “Leninist and the Danish trade unions here. Work Group”. I was also a member of the “Anti- After a couple of months’ service in the Durruti Fascist Struggle League”, which had been built Column on the Huesca Front, I sought and got by expelled DsUers, who wanted a degree of joint leave in the autumn of 1936, as despite being on struggle with the Communists against the Nazis, excellent terms with the Spanish anarchists and and which broke up a number of the Nazi meetings syndicalists, who were my militia comrades there, in Copenhagen during their first manifestations I did not want to remain inactive too long on what in those years. Before I left Copenhagen in the was almost a “dead” front. The Durruti Column summer of 1936, the Leninist Work Group gave was very badly supplied with arms and could me a statement to present to foreign comrades, and therefore not carry out very much of an offensive it was amusing for me to see the confusion the nature against the better supplied fascists on this mere name of the group caused among those front, and when the Russian arms arrived they Stalinists who got to see it. were directed elsewhere than to the revolutionary After being thrown off the ship in Marseilles, I elements on the Aragon front. again contacted the anarchists, who gave me an Therefore, I went back to Barcelona and introductory letter to the Spanish comrades and a reported at the office of the International Brigade. train ticket to the Spanish frontier, where I received The aim was partly to get to a livelier front with

46 better weapons, and partly to agitate among the and later on the Madrid front. I came to the general many German Stalinists in the brigade; but it conclusion that in the military-technical sphere proved to be an illusion that anything could be the fascist officers were more skilful than those of attained in that fashion. As far as the great majority the brigade; but the former also had much better of these people were concerned, the authority of equipment at their disposal than we had. On the the party and its discipline was far too strong for other hand, there was a higher morale and greater that. As a member of the brigade I was sent to a courage in the brigade and the republican army training camp at Albacete in south-eastern Spain, than among the fascists, and the brigade has as and there I learnt to service machine-guns; but its due the greatest share of the honour for for a while I was occupied with unpacking Mexican succeeding in stopping the fascist onslaught on weapons. Mexico was the only country which Madrid at the end of 1936. There were long periods delivered arms to the fighting Spanish Republic between our leave, and the food was alien and on the basis of an openly proclaimed sympathy quite spartan, in the main consisting of tinned with its struggle against fascism and, in contrast stuff. We were somewhat better supplied with to the USSR, without placing special conditions spirits. for the aid. The small and quite backward Mexico A lot was said and written about Franco’s fifth was naturally unable to provide the same column. The description came from the fact that quantities as the European fascist powers did on four columns were advancing on Madrid while Franco’s behalf. Franco boasted that he had a fifth one of secret From Albacete I went to the Andalucian front supporters in the city itself. The Stalinists in southern Spain, and in the war of manoeuvre shamefully misused the description by applying it there we came up against the very skilful Moroccan to all the anti-Stalinists, namely to us sharp-shooters and foreign legionnaires, who, revolutionaries; but that such a fifth column did among other things, perched up in the olive trees exist is unquestionable. In Albacete it happened and shot at us as we advanced. It led to great losses that people from the brigade could get their throat amongst us, sometimes as much as every other cut by barbers in the town. The criminals man. Of course, there were also dead on the other concerned were naturally shot themselves when side, and I found numerous dead Moroccans with caught; but the slogan “Don’t go to the barber”, a hand closed around a madonna figure. It was was quite common in the brigade for a time! quite strange that these primitive Mohammedans I saw the horror of war at close quarters and were equipped thus with Catholic saint figures; in many ways. In the south I saw endless horrible but both these Moors, as they have been called in lines of refugees, and the material superiority of Spain since ancient times, and the foreign the fascists, which was especially manifest in the legionnaires, played a great, maybe even a decisive air, showed itself often by German planes in role in the fascist advances, especially during the particular attacking the crowds of refugees. During first months of the civil war. It was a very great the war in the south I also saw the disfigurement error, which approximates to suicide, that the republic of the corpses of comrades, and in the University did not, as soon as the war started, proclaim City in Madrid, where I spent the winter of 1937 independence for the then Spanish Morocco, as in all in the trenches, I experienced a true hell. The probability it would have removed the possibilities civilian population of the capital received almost for recruitment by the fascists among the Moors as much bombardment as us at the front by the and forced them to leave the Foreign Legion in way. Aerial bombardments with great destruction Morocco, if they wished to maintain power over and many dead and wounded were a common this country. Among the republican parties, only occurrence. Myself, I was wounded in the leg by a the left-socialist POUM went in for the bullet and, physically exhausted and mentally independence of Morocco, while the Socialist Party, depressed, I was taken to a hospital in Madrid, for example, entertained illusions about aid from near the Puerto del Sol. Britain and France, if one avoided annoying the During my stay in hospital I tried to leave the ruling classes there by stimulating independence brigade. This was not a result of the wound and movements in their colonies by liberating Spanish the rest of my physical weakness, but because of Morocco. The great syndicalist CNT was also deep disappointment over developments in the passive on this issue, strangely enough, maybe a republic, where the Stalinist influence had result of its one-sided trade unionist-economical dramatically increased in tempo with the Russian and anti-political orientation. arms deliveries and the Russian pressure, exercised It was as a soldier in the Thälmann Battalion, by all the Soviet representatives, including the mainly composed of Germans but also including Spanish CP, which had expanded massively in its other foreigners, that I participated in the fights capacity as political spokesman for the arms of the International Brigade on the southern front suppliers. Another source of the growing Stalinist

47 influence was the appearance of the Spanish CP Trotskyists, even being elected to the central as spokesman for all the petty bourgeois, moderate committee of the Trotskyist section. The latter and conservative elements in regard to economic wasn’t very big, and about 50% of the participants and social affairs, especially concerning the party’s in Trotskyist meetings were foreigners, while the struggle against collectivisation and for re- POUM was quite a numerically large party in privatisation. Because of its energetic struggle for Barcelona, even though it could in no way a unified command and blind discipline in the new compete with the mighty syndicalist CNT unified army, for re-establishing the authority of movement, which included the majority of the the state and the police, and not least by its violent workers of Barcelona. It was these people who, witch-hunts against all kinds of revolutionary partly spontaneously, and partly through their “experiments” and their proponents, the CP great union organisation CNT, immediately after became the natural party for civil servants, officers the victory over the military coup in the city in and policemen, while, on the other hand, its July 1936, moved to the greatest direct workers’ adherents among the working class were still quite take-over of production, distribution and scarce and, relatively speaking, even less than at transport the world has ever seen. It was a totally the outbreak of the war. In brief: the Stalinist free and popular but also natural and effective counter-revolution was rapidly advancing, and as collectivisation, and through such different jobs a revolutionary worker, for whom the task was as a waiter in a spa hotel, assistant in a market of war (against fascism) and revolution (against garden and worker in an ammunition factory, capitalism and feudalism), I was finding it difficult where we produced grenades, I was able, during to remain in the International Brigade led by the the next period, to experience this unique working Stalinists. As a volunteer I could surely leave again class socialism at close quarters. The co-operation when the preconditions for my original application in these worker-controlled enterprises was to join were no longer present. I stated this in my excellent, and the spirit among the employees so application to be demobilised, but received a good that a wage-slave under capitalism can only rejection. dream of it, when imagining the liberation of the However, there were still masses of working class. But to return to earth again, I must revolutionary comrades in Spain, both native and add that the heat in the market garden and from foreign, and I always met with some of them when the furnaces in the ammunition factory was in difficulty. This was also the case in the hospital, especially unpleasant for me – in spite of and some of them helped me get out past the guard collectivisation! when I was again able to walk, and I mixed with On 3 May 1937, the May fighting broke out in a large group leaving, so he was unable to check Barcelona. A series of episodes and a violent witch- the papers of everyone. hunt from the Stalinists had preceded this – I visited the POUM in Madrid, and here I arrived directed against the revolutionaries in general and among co-thinkers, because in this city, as opposed against the POUM and the Trotskyists in to its main section in Catalonia, it was Trotskyist- particular, as the two currents were accused of oriented, partly as a result of the influence of being Franco agents and fascists. Totally contrary foreign Trotskyists. The POUM was only a small to the truth also, the POUM was presented by the party in Madrid; but before the May fighting in Stalinists as a purely Trotskyist party; but this was Barcelona in 1937, it did have at its disposal in one of their more innocent lies. Right from July Madrid a small tailoring workshop, where 1936 the telephone centre in Barcelona had been uniforms were produced, together with a radio collectivised, and it was even run jointly by both station and a detachment at the front, with a small of the large union organisations, the syndicalist tank with Trotsky’s picture on it. It also CNT and socialist-led UGT, and had functioned distributed some small front papers and the main excellently under its employees. Probably as a test party organ La Batalla, which was published in run, but also probably as a provocation, the Barcelona. The Madrid POUMists were mainly Stalinist police chief Salas sent police against the youngsters; there were, however, some more building in order to seize it from its rightful mature people among the leaders. They expected a owners: the telephone workers and functionaries. campaign of extermination by the Stalinists and As soon as the police forced their way into the advised me to go to Barcelona, where the anti- building they were met with resistance by its Stalinist forces as a whole were stronger than in occupiers and forced back, but when the rumour Madrid, and I succeeded in reaching the city via of the attack on the Telefónica spread round the Valencia in a POUM motor car. city – and it went quickly – Barcelona’s workers In Barcelona I was quartered in a POUM-run went onto the streets just as on 19 July 1936, and hotel on the main street, the Ramblas, and soon built barricades everywhere. Together with the came into contact with the POUMists and the other occupants of the POUM hotel on the

48 Ramblas I helped build barricades on the Ramblas, Maxton, undertook a large journey of and in the space of a few hours almost the whole investigation to Spain, but succeeded only in city, and especially the working class quarters, was finding out, being told by no less than three once again ruled by the revolutionary workers. If members of the central government, that Nin had the CNT leaders had wished it, we could have never been in any prison run by the government, smashed the whole Stalinist counter-revolution, but had vanished in a private house. One of them at least in Barcelona and Catalonia; but the fact added that there was no evidence to back up the that the Russians would again place an arms charges against the POUM leaders of espionage – blockade against the republic, and that Franco in spite of them all being arrested shortly could take advantage of a split in the official anti- beforehand! fascist unity in the republic, made these leaders Just as with Nin, my comrades and I were reach a compromise with the Stalinists. The police- transferred to a private GPU prison in a villa, and chief Salas resigned, and in return we had to there we were subject to many and long-lasting remove the barricades and hand over our weapons. nightly interrogations in English and German by From then on, the Stalinists and their helpers out-and-out sadists and psychopaths of different were by far the strongest, as the sacrifice of Salas nationalities. We were shown the photo of a young was only of symbolic significance, and when Largo German captain in the International Brigade, Caballero, the head of the central government and where he was to have operated for the Trotskyists, a left-socialist, and the four CNT ministers in the and the photo showed us him as a terribly same government, refused to go along with mutilated and maltreated corpse; but he had been Stalinist demand for the prohibition of the POUM, murdered somewhere other than where the photo they were forced to stand down by the demand of had been taken. We were accused of having the Russian ambassador, and a Stalinised social murdered him, which we hadn’t, of course. Maybe democrat, Dr Negrín, took over as head of the the GPU had mistreated him until he died of it, in government. From then on the terror against all order to get information from him on others?5 the different revolutionaries met with no Under interrogation I was subjected to kicks and hindrance. The POUM and the Trotskyists in other forms of rough mistreatment, sharp electric particular, together with the foreign anti-Stalinist light in the face, and was confronted by an Italian, militants who had rushed to Spain to participate wholly broken by them, who reeled off quite in the fight against fascism and to aid the building incredible false accusations against me. Apart from of socialism in the republic, were targeted. the murder of the said captain, who we had After some days on the barricade I was arrested supposedly considered as a traitor, I was also myself, as I was going to a working class quarter accused of a plan to kill Dr Negrín, etc. The other with some comrades from the POUM hotel to join Trotskyists experienced the same, and the villa our co-thinkers, though we were released again often resounded with terrible screams from the after 36 hours. For a while I lived half way up prisoners. Mont Monich with the wife of an imprisoned Finally, we were put before a proper Spanish anarchist, and it was there that I was arrested judge, and as a result of our thorough treatment again early one morning by Spaniards in the our tormentors were able to present a number of service of the GPU, and the same occurred to a false confessions to him, both from the above- comrade I lived together with – together with the mentioned Italian and also from a Frenchman and whole of the Barcelona Trotskyist group. At first a few others. The likeness to the “real” Moscow we were put in an ordinary prison with a number Trials was therefore quite significant; there was, in each cell, and I was able to smuggle out a letter though, the important difference that most of us to the leader of the Danish Trotskyists, Poul Moth, refused to confess. The prosecutor demanded the with an enclosed description of the situation in death penalty for us all; but a Spanish anarchist the hope that he could promote an international among the guards in the court helped me to escape, campaign to help us through our international so I missed the end of the trial. movement. It proved to be impossible for them to I went straight to the headquarters of the CNT- help us from outside. Later I heard that one of FAI and explained the whole case to the well- Trotsky’s earlier secretaries by the name of Erwin known German syndicalist Augustin Souchy, in Wolf would have attempted to do so; but he himself the hope that the anarcho-syndicalists could stop was kidnapped together with another Trotskyist, it. I remember a leading Spanish anarchist there Hans Freund, by the GPU in Spain, and has never said to me: “You Trotskyists are leading us to been seen since. One should note that when the catastrophe!”, to which I replied: “You anarchists P0UM leader Andrés Nin vanished into the have already led us to catastrophe!” clutches of the GPU in the summer of 1937 the I admit that the situation was difficult for the leader of the Independent Labour Party, James CNT leaders; but in my opinion they should have

49 acted against the GPU. There was also an oppo- called Muniz Grandizo. After developing sition among the anarcho-syndicalists, which disagreements with the leaders of the Fourth called itself “The Friends of Durruti”, which was International, he went back to Spain where he opposed to the compromises of the CNT leaders, was caught and imprisoned for twenty years. especially participation in the government and the Maybe he is still inside rotting away in one of the rotten deal after the May fighting. They were close Spanish prisons, if he isn’t already dead.8 to the Trotskyists and the left wing of the POUM, and supported the working class taking power, but unfortunately attained no decisive influence. Editorial notes Anarchism is a beautiful dream, of which some 1. Poul Moth and Tage Lau were talented linguists parts were to become materialised in Spain during and the group made an intervention into the the summer of 1936; but because of the Workers Esperanto movement, where they built a capitulationist line of their leaders, over the next fraction and published Trotskyist materials in few years the anarchists disappointed their worker Esperanto. According to Steen Bille Larsen’s book base so fundamentally that when Franco’s troops Mod Strømmen on the Communist oppositions in advanced into Barcelona, on 25 January 1939, not 1930s Denmark (Copenhagen, 1986), Kjelsø and one barricade was raised against them – and no Lau were cycling to an Esperanto Congress in arms arrived from the democracies, just as the Yugoslavia, and from Croatia cycled together to Russians gradually stopped their supplies to the Marseilles. As Lau spoke various languages he republic, in spite of the CNT-FAI leaders’ policy of worked in a POUM propaganda section in capitulation to the Stalinists. Barcelona instead of being sent to the front. Why After my escape from the GPU prison I lived Lau isn’t mentioned as being in Spain by Kjelsø is for a while in the CNT building. My hair was dyed a mystery. black from time to time and I received food and 2. DsU is the social democratic youth organisation, very good economic support from the CNT, and I founded after the original one, SUF, attached itself went out only in the dark. Later I found good first to Zimmerwald and then to the Communist lodgings in a large room with an anarchist doctor’s International. family, and I escaped from Spain with the aid of 3. Sergei Tschachotin designed the three arrows Scandinavian seamen, who brought me on board symbol for the Iron Front, the anti-Nazi alliance their ship in a staged and collective bawling bout formed in Germany in 1931 by the Social of drunkenness. Democrats with the Catholic Centre party and I had visited the Danish consul in Barcelona others. beforehand; but he refused me any help whatever 4. Hartvig Frisch was the translator for Trotsky and marked me down as an “adventurer”! In when he delivered his speech to social democratic Marseilles, I was arrested and expelled, and back students in Copenhagen 1932, published as In in Denmark my reports from Spain were not very Defence of the October Revolution (see Mod Strømmen enthusiastically received in all circles. During a for details). Bøggild is also covered in the same meeting at the Painters House in Copenhagen, I book, as is Professor Tschachotin and his theories. got an umbrella on the head from a Stalinist 5. The reference is to Leon Narvitch, a Stalinist woman, and I was once attacked by young spy who had infiltrated the Trotskyist group in Stalinists too.6 Spain, though Narvitch claimed to be Russian not In November 1942 I was interned by the German (he was in fact Polish). He was killed by Danish police along with most of the other a POUM action squad in retaliation for the murder Spanish volunteers; but I was released again of Andrés Nin, whom he had betrayed to the during the summer of 1943, maybe because I had Stalinists. never belonged to DKP or its youth organisation.7 6. The Painters House was the then Painters Union The Danish police stole books from me, including building. It has since moved. Lenin’s Works and other working class literature, 7. Those Spanish volunteers not interned founded together with diaries trying to reconstruct my the Communist-led resistance organisation BOPA, experiences in Spain. The GPU had also stolen my the main one during the Second World War in Spanish diaries from me in Spain when I fell into Denmark. The DKP was the Communist Party of their hands. Denmark. Finally, I can recount that at least a part of my 8. Having returned to Spain to take part in the companions in suffering from the above-mentioned Barcelona strike of 1951, Munis was arrested the “little Moscow Trial” emerged from it with their following year and given a ten-year prison lives, because I know that one of the Trotskyist sentence. After his release he lived in Paris where leaders from the Barcelona case of 1937 arrived in he led a small revolutionary grouping. He died in France after the collapse of the republic. He was 1989.

50 REVIEWS

Why Did the USSR Collapse? the very success of socialism, in which case their politics cannot be understood as anything other Roger Keeran and Thomas Kenny, Socialism than an irrationalism. This crude apologetics is of Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union, course entirely in line with the thinking of the Stalinist International Publishers, 2004. Paperback, 230pp, caste that dominated the Soviet Union for 70 years. £14. For many revolutionary Marxists the Soviet Union after the early ’20s (and for some beginning Reviewed by Mike Rooke in 1917) was a bureaucratic command economy that rested on the systematic atomisation of its THE THESIS of this book is summed up by the population at all levels. Moreover, rather than a comment made by Fidel Castro in 1992 on the coll- system of state supervised economic planning, apse of the Soviet Union, and quoted approvingly what in fact did exist was a level of disintegration by the authors: “Socialism did not die from natural and corruption that was only held in place by terror causes: it was a suicide.” The authors, two acad- and repression. When this dictatorship was relaxed, emics aligned politically with the Communist Party the whole edifice began to unravel. The question of the USA, have assembled a detailed case of the Soviet Union has understandably pre- against the “petty bourgeois tendency” represented occupied Marxists for the whole of the twentieth by Gorbachev. They argue that it was the Gorba- century. Identifying its class nature – bureaucratic chev reforms, begun in 1986, that started the pro- collectivist; degenerated/deformed workers’ state; cess of economic and national disintegration of the state capitalism – remains of critical importance, Soviet Union. The essence of Gorbachevism was since on the diagnosis hangs the very notion of that it favoured compromises with capitalism (the what socialism is and how it is to be achieved. This market), a tendency whose genealogy goes back book contributes absolutely nothing to that ongoing to Bukharin and Kruschev. This is contrasted to critical debate. the “left wing tendency” of Lenin and Stalin which These unreconstructed Stalinists, whose crit- was characterised by the promotion of class icism of the CPUSA is that it underestimated the struggle in the interests of the working class. The likelihood of socialist collapse during the Gorbachev Gorbachev programme reflected the interests of period, have unashamedly written a book that those with a stake in private enterprise and the lends academic respectability to the mythology of market (would-be entrepreneurs and corrupted the Stalinist version of socialism (i.e. which for this CPSU officials). These representatives of the “2nd reviewer represents the very antithesis of social- economy” were expanding in number and influence ism). Theoretically it possesses little that is worthy after 1953, a trend further strengthened by the of serious attention, and in parts descends to the burgeoning of an educated urban intelligentsia in level of the old official CPSU prop-aganda texts. the ’70s and ’80s. The final years of Perestroika But the book, advertised prominently in the Morning (1989-91) directly reflected the interests of these Star, carries a message to a new generation of elements. militants and activists who may read it, that the There is certainly some truth in the claim that monstrous experience of Stalinism was somehow Gorbachev expressed the interests of those who in the interests of the workers whose blood and wished for a return of the market and private sweat sustained it. For that reason alone it has to enterprise. In which case the authors would really be taken seriously and its arguments criticised. have had to explain just why such restorationist impulses were gaining strength in Soviet society. Trotsky in his 1936 book Revolution Betrayed US Imperialism in Latin America predicted that it was precisely the bureaucratic degeneration of the Soviet Union inaugurated by Clara Nieto, Masters of War: Latin America and the Stalinist bureaucracy that would prepare the United States Aggression from the Cuban ground for capitalist restoration. By contrast, what Revolution Through the Clinton Years, Seven the authors argue is that although Soviet socialism Stories, 2003. Paperback, 622pp, £25. had problems (they argue “democracy” was con- tinually being developed), it “embodied the essence Reviewed by Will Podmore of socialism as defined by Marx”. The pro-market intelligentsia and proto-entrepreneurs supporting IN THIS excellent history of Latin America since glasnost and perestroika were in fact a product of 1959, the Colombian diplomat Clara Nieto surveys

51 the continent country by country, showing how the mispronunciating English words. US state has consistently intervened in their inter- Peter Singer is Ira W DeCamp Professor of nal affairs. Bioethics at Princeton. He is credited with having The alliance of neo-liberalism and social demo- inspired the animal rights movement with the cracy internally, the USA and the EU externally, has seminal text, Animal Liberation. He is no stranger kept capitalism in power in Latin America. So half to controversy: his Princeton appointment was its people live in worsening poverty, a third are greeted with protests by disabled rights activists unemployed, and foreign debt totals $400 billion. because of his justification for the killing of disabled Nieto focuses on the Cuban revolution and its children up to 28 days after birth. effects. In March 1959, President Eisenhower In The President of Good and Evil one con- ordered CIA sabotage and terrorism against Cuba. troversialist examines the record of another on his Kennedy was worse. Nieto writes: “His policies own terms. Singer notes that Bush is prone to opposing the Revolution were more aggressive couching his political arguments in explicitly moral than Eisenhower’s.” Two days before the 1961 Bay terms and sets out to assess his ethical record, of Pigs invasion, US planes bombed Cuba’s cities, taking in such diverse policies as taxation, bioethics under Kennedy’s orders. Kennedy started the US and war. He says he wants to take Bush seriously. policy of counter-insurgency in Latin America (and He starts in a good place: Bush’s rhetoric, which Africa and Asia), supporting death squads and is studded with references to good, evil, morals, military dictatorships. Nieto shows how the US state right and wrong. A lot of this sounds embarrass- sponsored counter-revolutionary wars in Argentina, ing to a non-American audience and Singer, an Brazil, Uruguay, Guatemala and Chile. Australian, frankly admits that Bush’s distinctively Johnson carried on Kennedy’s policies: he American moral outlook sounds weird to the ears backed the generals’ fascist coup in Brazil in 1964, of sophisticates and cynics alike. and attacked the Dominican Republic in 1965. Nieto Bush, in common with other conservative lead- depicts Reagan’s wars – occupying Honduras, ers since Thatcher, claims a moral case for cutting arming the death squads of El Salvador, running taxes. Where there are budgetary surpluses, the the Contras’ terrorist war against Nicaragua, attack- money should be remitted back to taxpayers in the ing Grenada – and Bush’s attack on Panama. form of tax cuts. Or as Bush told a Tax Family event The US state has never ceased its illegal, in February 2001: “Its your money”. Singer juxta- terrorist attacks on Cuba. The New York Times poses Bush’s tax-cutting agenda with his stated reported in 1983 how the head of a Miami-based aim of building a single nation of justice and anti-Cuban terrorist group admitted in a US court opportunity. He asks rhetorically, if the money really that he had taken germs to Cuba in 1980, proving is “your money” and should be given back to the Cuba’s accusations of CIA biological warfare people, where will the money needed to fight against Cuba. The US state made Armando poverty and achieve justice come from? Valladares – a former Batista police officer and con- But the polemic bursts into life when Singer victed terrorist – ambassador and president of its dissects the claim that budgetary surpluses are delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission. “your money”. He demonstrates the fallaciousness But the Commission’s 1989 report refuted all of this claim with admirable precision and economy the US slanders about Cuba’s torture and abuse of prose. In a complex modern society, he explains, of political prisoners. The world knows now who it would be impossible to establish property rights tortures and abuses political prisoners detained with government and without taxes. without charge or trial. Singer then turns his attention to another area Nieto’s final chapter examines how Cuba has of Bush’s ethical/political record, Bush’s stated aim survived and kept its revolution going. The key is to build a “culture of life” in America. Given that that its people, determined to defend their demo- Singer is possibly the world’s most controversial cracy, independence and sovereignty, actively bioethicist, this should be one of the book’s prevent the counter-revolution from organising. highlights. Bush maintains that human life is sacred from the moment of conception until death. Many people Good, Evil and George Dubya agree with him, but Bush is in a unique position in being able to effect legislation that recognises the Peter Singer, The President of Good and Evil: dignity of embryos and foeti. Taking George W. Bush Seriously, Granta, 2004. First to be tackled by both Bush and Singer Paperback, 256pp, £8.99. was the use of embryonic stem cells for medical research. Subjected to fierce lobbying by both pro Reviewed by Catherine Lafferty and anti sides, Bush sidestepped the furore by denying federal money to embryonic stem cell GEORGE W Bush is the most controversial world research. He also delivered what was widely leader of our times, notorious for stealing the acknowledged to be one of the most thoughtful electoral laurels of 2000, invading Iraq and speeches of his presidency on the topic.

52 Singer takes aim at Bush’s decision to withhold support for the death penalty but this is hardly money – a ban on research in all but name, he controversial stuff to a European audience and asserts – and rubbishes the ethical framework for adds nothing to the voluminous literature on the his position. Along the way he rehearses the spec- topic. He moans about Bush stymieing Oregon’s ious arguments for embryonic stem cell research. law on physician assisted suicide because he thinks Embryonic stem cells could pave the way for curing individuals, with no prospect of recovery should a range of diseases. They could, but is a possibility be able to take death in their own hands. How he enough to justify human cloning? Embryos may be squares this fatalistic pessimism about terminal human life (he doesn’t quibble that point) but have illness with his irrational faith in the possibilities of no intrinsic worth precluding their use in research. embryonic stem cell research is not explained. If they have no intrinsic worth, the pain of women He is more generous when looking at Bush’s who’ve suffered miscarriages is irrational – the record on AIDS and admits that shortsighted mere ravings of hormonal females. And they may development polices of previous administrations be human but so what? Why is human life con- has been reversed with the investment of signif- sidered more special than, say, chimpanzee life, icant funding to fighting the disease. he wonders, banging on his favourite ethical drum. A chapter is devoted to Bush’s fusion of faith Well because it is, the rationalist answers – be- and politics, taking in the controversial decision to cause I care more for humans than I do for chimps allow federal funding for faith-based charities. and so do you, dear reader and so, ultimately, does Singer crackles briefly into life again, applying dis- Singer. passionate rigour and cutting through the hysteria The debate on embryonic stem cells should this measure has provoked. But it’s a short respite provoke some genuinely incisive thinking from and is followed by a protracted sneer at Bush’s Singer. How valid are the excitable claims made folksy evangelical theology. about embryonic stem cells? How much are they Singer rightly devotes an enormous chunk of influenced by the financial interests of the bio- the book to examining the record of Bush at war. technology sector? What does the desperate hype He starts with Afghanistan and using the example of cloning enthusiasts tell us about science in an of Hungary in1956 demonstrates that the cost of age of scepticism? war in terms of civilian casualties was dis- The fact is that embryonic stem cell research proportionate to the stated goal of securing a does not hold out the only hope for understanding Taliban-free country. The Afghan war was ethically and curing diseases. Indeed a cursory glance at unjustifiable he maintains. the scientific literature shows that it’s the dull, He is unsparing in his criticism of Bush’s plodding work using ethically uncontroversial adult invasion of Iraq and what he terms of the “Bush stem cells that are making significant strides in our doctrine” of pre-emptive actions against advers- understanding of and battle against disease. aries. He succinctly argues that when this is com- After this unpromising start, the mistakes come bined with the Defense Department’s view of the thick and fast and Singer’s thinking becomes enduring interests the US must defend, the positively sluggish. distinction between offense and defense becomes Bush reinstated the Mexico City Policy, first “hopelessly blurred”. implemented by Reagan, which denies aid funding So is Bush’s ethic Christian? Selectively so, to groups that perform or promote abortions. concludes Singer. Bush seems to have ignored Singer attributes this Bush’s pro-life convictions. Jesus Christ’s words about turning the other cheek But you don’t have to be a signed up member of and the Pauline teaching of repaying good for evil. SPUC to find something absurd and deeply sinister Most Christian leaders, including the Pope, emph- about governments using aid budgets as a cloak atically opposed the Iraq war. When the leaders of for anti-natalist projects in the southern hemi- the National Council of Churches and his own sphere, particularly given the historic overlap denomination, the United Methodists, asked for an between sections of the birth-control and eugenics opportunity to present their objections to the war, movements. Bush refused to meet them. In fact, the char- He defunded the United Nations Population acteristic Bush demagoguery about good and evil Fund (UNFPA) for similar reasons, Singer claims. owes more to Manichaean ideas about cosmic Wrong. UNFPA was defunded when the State De- clashes of good and evil, than orthodox Christianity. partment found the agency complicit in massive This is a diverting read, if not a particularly human rights violations in China. This mistake original one – surely no one is surprised to find would be understandable if made by an inex- that an American president’s ethical pronounce- perienced hack but is simply inexcusable when ments fall down when subjected to critical scrutiny. made by an Ivy League academic of international It is also marred by some sloppy passages and at renown. least one hair-raising factual error. After 2 Nov- Its difficult to take this book seriously having ember 2004, Singer at least has the opportunity read the pages dealing with bioethics, supposedly to write an updated and revised edition. Singer’s specialist subject. He criticises Bush’s

53 To Clone or Not to Clone? Rationalising Imperialism

Glenn McGee and Arthur Caplan (eds), The Human Francis Wheen, How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered Cloning Debate, Berkeley Hills Books, 2004. Paper- the World: A Short History of Modern Delusions, back, 330pp, £11.99. Harper, 2004. Paperback, 338pp, £8.99.

Reviewed by Will Podmore Reviewed by Bob Pitt

THIS IS a thought-provoking collection of essays THE TITLE of this book is not encouraging, with its by 25 contributors, pro and anti cloning, scientists, thoughtless reference to an eighteenth-century doctors, academics, researchers, journalists and Mandingo deity. Why should it be an aspect of West the odd US President. African religion that has become a byword for non- The most mind-changing essay for this reviewer sense rather than, say, one of the many absurdities was Ronald Bailey’s ‘Cloning babies is not in- of Christianity? Er … perhaps because the colon- herently immoral’.Throughout history, some have isers of Africa were themselves Christians who violently opposed scientific developments. For ex- justified their oppression and exploitation of its ample, Guardian columnist Jeremy Rifkin described inhabitants by depicting them as ignorant, super- biotechnology as “a form of annihilation every bit stitious savages who had to be “civilised” by Euro- as deadly as nuclear holocaust, and even more pean conquest? profound”. This dispute between science and anti- At least we are given fair warning that an anti- science, progress and reaction, the materialist and imperialist sensibility is not to be expected from idealist philosophies, can never be resolved. It is the author. And so it proves. a fundamental philosophic divide that cannot be The book’s theme is contained in its subtitle, bridged. One or other must prevail. “A Short History of Modern Delusions” (it was orig- The argument that we must wait for a con- inally going to be “A Brief History of Bollocks”, but sensus to emerge is reactionary, for this would the publishers demurred). The text comprises a mean waiting forever. No amount of additional series of often sarcastic attacks on various of the debate can ever win round the opposition to pro- author’s ideological bêtes noires – monetarism, gress, because that opposition is entrenched New Age gurus, postmodernism, New Labour, behind ramparts of dogma; faith-based, it is im- creationism, militant Islamists – rather pompously pervious to evidence and reason. dressed up as a defence of the Enlightenment. Presidential calls for a moratorium are pre- At times it makes for entertaining reading. Who varication. Similarly, the search for absolute safety, can object to Deepak Chopra or Tony Blair getting like all searches for absolutes, is a delusion, which a slagging off? But Wheen treats the ideas he crit- makes the precautionary principle another recipe icises primarily as stupid or malevolent thoughts for stasis. in people’s heads, without any serious examination Some who oppose cloning opposed In Vitro of their material foundations and social origins. Fertilisation earlier. Possibly one million babies Contrary to Wheen’s critique, the free market have been born through IVF since 1978. This safe theories adopted by Thatcher and Reagan were and beneficial procedure arose from decades of not just a product of wrong thinking – they provided refining techniques in a variety of animals. Safe the bourgeoisie with a necessary justification for cloning will similarly result from animal research: a the attacks it launched on organised labour and ban on research would prevent work into making the welfare state following the end of the post-war cloning safe. boom. If postmodernist scepticism towards “grand In Germany the government has banned all narratives” has gained some purchase, it is not research work on embryos, so Germany makes no least because the forces who are the main agents contribution and has no influence on this matter. of historical progress were severely weakened by Britain’s parliament passed a law that regulates the partial success of those bourgeois attacks. If therapeutic cloning, but unfortunately bans all forms of political Islamism have acquired mass efforts at reproductive cloning. support, this has some relationship to the fact that, Fear of biotechnology has done great harm, whereas secular and leftist forces in the “Third because technological stagnation poses greater World” were often defeated and discredited, the risks than technological innovation. Banning stem Iranian revolution and the Afghan mujahideen cell research or research into reproductive cloning provided examples of political victories inspired by would prevent many promising developments in religious belief. medical research; it could drive research to coun- Predictably, in the closing section of the book tries less equipped to balance safety with devel- Wheen lurches into an Islamophobic rant of the opment. The biotechnology revolution has already sort that has become fashionable among broad brought enormous benefits, IVF for instance, and sections of the liberal intelligentsia. Rather as the will bring many more, but only if we encourage and colonialists regarded worshippers of the original support research into cloning. Mumbo Jumbo, Wheen depicts Islamist militants as

54 no more than primitive savages who lack his own writings, on a vast range of sources, including superior western understanding of the world. So Pentagon, CIA and White House statements. He Seamas Milne’s suggestion that the 9/11 atrocities uses these to detail how the US ruling class seeks might have been inspired by certain genuine to rule the world. grievances against US imperialism is contempt- It seeks “full spectrum dominance”, weapons uously dismissed as an apologia for mindless in space, greater powers of attack through “ballistic barbarism. Quotations from right-wing comment- missile defence”, and the break-up of all inter- ators are wheeled out to condemn those like national treaties and agreements that might limit Michael Moore who question the modernising its ambitions. Chomsky argues that the US ruling mission of the West. class threatens an earthly wasteland. Admittedly, your reviewer has an axe to grind He explains that the Republican-Labour here, in that he is one of the more minor figures doctrine of preventive war justifies all aggressions: Wheen polemicises against. Regarding Afghan- Japan at Pearl Harbour and Hitler attacking the istan under the Taliban, Wheen writes: “Valiant Soviet Union also claimed “anticipatory self- feminists who protested against the compulsory defence”. He points out that the US and British wearing of the burka or the abolition of girls’ states constantly use the Security Council to flout schools were accused of ‘racist arrogance’. How UN Resolutions; their record numbers of vetoes dare they, living in the West, presume to pass prove them to be its worst non-compliers. judgment on poorer and weaker nations?” The ref- Chomsky reminds us that the old British Empire erence is to an article by yours truly in the Weekly proclaimed the right to “humanitarian intervention”. Worker. Liberals like John Stuart Mill defended this, writing Quite why it should require any particular shameful apologetics for the imperial crimes of valour on the part of western feminists to condemn aggression against India and China, and for the Taliban is not explained. Was Mullah Omar going France’s atrocities in Algeria, “exterminating the to send out a hit squad to assassinate them? As indigenous population”, as its War Minister urged. for myself, in the article Wheen quotes I made no David Lloyd George praised the British govern- mention of feminists at all and was in fact criticising ment’s sabotage of Disarmament Conferences by certain self-styled Marxists who during the murder- “reserving the right to bomb niggers”. Now Blair’s ous onslaught by US imperialism on Afghanistan adviser Robert Cooper writes: “the need … for argued for neutrality on the grounds that the victims colonisation is as great as it ever was in the 19th were reactionary Muslim fundamentalists who were century.” no better than those who had invaded their country. Chomsky notes that today’s imperialists commit So much for the “Enlightenment values” Wheen war crimes too. President Clinton flew Al Qa’ida claims to hold so dear. When it comes to diatribes terrorists from Afghanistan to fight for the US side against his opponents on the left, intellectual in Bosnia. Labour imperialists backed the Kosovo honesty and even an elementary capacity for Liberation Army terrorists, even though Defence coherent thought desert him. Personally, I would Minister George Robertson admitted, “the KLA was propose an alternative subtitle for the book: “A responsible for more deaths in Kosovo than the Short Illustration of the Limitations of Bourgeois Serbian authorities had been”. Rationalism.” The same forces drive empires past and present. John Maynard Keynes explained: “the democratic experiment in self-government was US Imperialism Endangers Us All endangered by the threat of global financial market forces.” So now the European Union uses Eastern Noam Chomsky, Hegemony or Survival: America’s Europe to “hammer away at high wages and corp- Quest for Global Dominance, Penguin, 2004, orate taxes, short working hours, labor immobility, Paperback, 278pp, £8.99. and luxurious social programmes”, as the business press boasts. Reviewed by Will Podmore In sum, Hegemony or Survival is an extra- ordinarily well-informed survey which shows how THIS BRILLIANT study is based, like all Chomsky’s capitalism endangers us all.

Correspondence Welcomed Send to: What Next? 24 Georgiana Street, London NW1 0EA or email: [email protected]

55 LETTERS

Labour, Livingstone and the War even welcomes controlled immigration. All it is against is allowing unlimited people, and that THE LATEST issue of your "Marxist" journal has includes everyone in the human race including an article by a member of the Labour Party urging white people, from coming in and joining the British support for Ken Livingstone in the London election society thus obtaining all the rights and privileges against anti-war candidates (irrespective of the that this provides. virtues or otherwise of the Respect Coalition) when It is like me asking you to let anybody come anyone who is opposed to the war will never vote and share your house, because you have a spare for the party whose leader led us into it (Martin room, and even if you have 50 people already, Sullivan, ‘Third Time as Farce’, What Next? No.28). having to let them in. Controlled immigration is not Livingstone may have opposed the war last year the same as shutting up shop to all foreigners. but since then has crawled back into the imperialist- Articles like yours will only drive people towards Labour Party. Also, anyone who opposed the war supporting the UKIP, and while I am happy about would not hesitate to vote for a Tory who opposed that, I would think you would want people to hear a it – as Ken Clarke said he would have done had he balanced argument for your case rather than trying been Tory leader last year. As it was, the best to rubbish others. mainstream option we had was Kennedy’s partial opposition for the Lib Dems. Now we have a variety Matt Davies of Green, Respect and other anti-war candidates that people opposed to the war can vote for. I can’t see your journal has any claim to call Trotsky and the United Front itself a "Marxist discussion journal" if you invite discussion with non-Marxists such as Sullivan. YOUR ARTICLE on the United Front (What Next? No.28) makes some interesting points. However, Patrick Ainley the assertion that Trotsky advocated something called “the United Front from within” is highly dub- ious. Ken and the Sun I take it this was intended as a paraphrase rather than a direct quote. The reference is pre- I WAS interested in your defence of Livingstone’s sumably to Trotsky’s advice to his French sup- time as a hack for the Sun (Letters, What Next? porters in 1934 that they should enter the Socialist No.28). My own memories of that time are maybe Party, on the grounds that it was “necessary to not so rose-tinted. I seem to remember that Liv- find a place for oneself within the framework of the ingstone used his column for a vicious red-baiting United Front” in circumstances where the Trotsky- assault on the Anti-Nazi League and the SWP. ists were “too weak to claim an independent place”. If the editors believe that red-baiting and The late Al Richardson took this as evidence ridiculing the left are "political arguments that Sun in support of his view that “revolutionary entry is readers never usually get to hear", then frankly they simply the form this same strategy” – i.e. the early should try reading it sometime. Comintern’s United Front strategy – “takes when revolutionaries do not lead any substantial sections Darren Williams of the working class”. (See his review of The Lab- Red Party our Party: A Marxist History by Tony Cliff and Donny Gluckstein, in Revolutionary History, Vol.2 No.3.) But the quotation from Trotsky doesn’t really UKIP: Not Racists or Fascists prove that. In 1934 Trotsky was arguing for part- icipation in an existing United Front, namely the AFTER BROWSING the web I came across the alliance between the Communist and Socialist article ‘Brownshirts in Blazers’ [see this issue – ed], Parties. Simply joining a reformist party when it is which implies the UK Independence Party are racist not part of an alliance of workers’ parties, is some- Nazis. As a member of the UKIP I find this offensive thing rather different. and if you had bothered to do more research on You could no doubt argue that entryism is based the subject, assuming a reasonable level of broadly on the method of the United Front, but I intelligence, you would have not bothered with such think you’d have difficulty finding a quote from a poorly thought-out smear article. Trotsky to back that up. UKIP does not care what colour you are, and Dave Roberts

56