Agricultural war with the United tates — one which in its implicaOIS is far more serious nything which has so far occured over the steel industry or the iberian gas pipeline. roductivity in agriculture in 1980 yas still twice that of Imost four times that of West one and a half imes that of Britain.
British agriculture has exanded massively since joining he EEC - up 32 per cent since 975- precisely because it is the nost efficient in Europe. The Natonal Farmers Union, nost conscious of all capitalist rganisations in anatical advocate of membership if the EEC for very good reason.
But the Common Agricultural olicy has nothing to do eeping in business easants'. The aim of the CAP is recisely to drive many small armers out of production and low the concentration of prouction in agriculture in order to ompete with the United States.
Already between 967, 882,000 family farms in urope were closed. In Western germany 30 per cent of farms the EEC and 1975. holt Plan for griculture aimed to reduce the umber of persons employed in griculture in the EEC million to 5 million between 1970 nd 1980 • a figure which was most achieved, aakes ine rate unemployment even in industry bok small in comparison.
Combined with the sweeping dans for rationalising agriculture ne Common Agricultural Policy so creates higher food prices for working class. By 1982 the AP had increased agricultural rices in the EEC to a level 25 per ent above what would have exted on the world market — rice naturally passed on to the orking class of Europe, But the high prices involved ere not going to easants' but, as we have seen, to milding up an efficient European gricultural capitalism.
agriculture!
This Common the membership logical drive economic United States.
The great steel closure that the EEC protects jobs million jobs SDP, claim?
Nothing Market employment. special grades Europe.
this, naturally tionalisation dustry attempt to United States than American towards to build up a with tionalised with against the big one of the absolutely these measures with Saile as to 'small step. It should powerful tionalise Those membership of Market the Chapple, opposed The Man- British seek props capitalism NOTC which of and logical. pean capitalism tive military weapons, Those port like those and should be totally 'French socialist should be:
The Britain out of the EEC! land and build up big capitalist Agricultural Policy is not an 'excess' of the converts to of the Common Market pretend. It is an absoluteconsequence of the to build up an alternative to the Finally what about the argument -that could be further from the truth than that the Comprotects jobs. The cole of the EEC is to rationalis capitalism to compete with the •United States and not to create A classic example is the steel industry. Here the United States has been increasingly putting the queeze on European capitalism The US first threatened to cut ofi ed quotas on European steel imports. Now the United States has unilaterally blocked the import of steel beyond. is not but the steel In - Gaitskell to with the capitalist of steel but now For with rapolicies, small ly capitalism.
the other such be total The EEC ranot advocate the Common the SDP, Boyd, As 1S now far they aids for with the economic consistent Eurowall atomic who supof the aid their Socialists are planks of policy Neil Kinnock and Marxism Today on the EEC is only the latest of a long line of shifts within the Labour Party on the question of membership of the Common Market.
When Britain first applied to join the EEC in the early 1960s the right wing leader of the Labour Party, Hugh Gaitskell, violently opposed membership. In a nauseating speech to the 1962 Labour Party conference Gaitskell said that for Britain to joi the EEC would mean 'the end of s thousand years of history, and 'the end of Britain as an independent European state'.
He said, 'it does mean the end of the Commonwealth' and that: 'When "What did we get out of New Zealand; what did we get out of Australia?" I remember that they came to our aid at once in two world wars. We, at least, do not intend to forget Vimy Ridge and Gallipoli.
When Gaitskell had finished this chauvinist tirade the chairperson of that: "This historic speech mediately sent to be printed and made available to every party member in the country and to the wider areas Within 10 years of course the situation had totally changed. The self-proclaimed, and rightful, heirs of Roy Jenkins Shirley Williams, David Owen Bill Rodgers had brought the Labour Party to the edge of a split over the question of demanding that Britain should be a member of the Common Market. In 1981 Jenkins and company did split the Labour Party and the question of the EEC was one of the crucial questions in that decision. Campaign Wilson, the 'historic' Wilson, and Chapple. 'internationalism'.
are now • as VI Exall• This is now our very eyes Gaitskell, opting for link with US makes jight and fight again' speech unexpected? If we recall ... that the Social Democracy is the agency of the bourgeoisie, it will become clear that the Social Democracy, by the logic of its political degeneration, is bound to become the agency of the strongest and most powerful bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie of bourgeoisies. This is the American bourgeoisie.
To the extent that Americar "capitalism undertakes the task of "unifying" Europe, Europe and "educating" Europe how to cope with the question of reparations, war indemnities, and so on, and to the extent that the purse is in the hands of the American bourgeoisie, to that extent the entire dependence of the German Social Democracy upon the German bourgeoisie, and of the French Social Democracy upon their own bourgeoisie in France is gradually transterred to the chief master. Yes, a great master has come to Europe Alican captansa. And it Is onl natural that the Social Democracy should assume a position politically dependent on the master of masters ...
"Today the German Social Democracy permits itself the luxury of being in an opposition. own bourgeoisie and thereby keeps a certain distance between itself and the parties of capitalism. How does it criticise its own bourgeoisie? It says: You are self-seeking, ning, but here is a bourgeoisie on the other side of the Atlantic which is, first of all, rich and powerful; secondly, it is humane, reformist and pacifist, and it has come to us and wants to give 800 million marks cash in order to restore une currency. (Trotsky Rhetoric Following the Second World War of course the Socialist Parties rhetoric was ditterent being the chief argument. But the Cullet Wo Americans intervened to create a proUnited States split from the Socialist Party in Italy, to split the French trade unions, to keep the French Socialist Party on an absurdly pro-Cold War line well into of the EEC. working Class.
The itself. "pacifying' truth!
It criticises its , dull-witted. cun. for Europe and America). taken What, • with anti-communism the capitalism 'Social Democratic' In Britain innumerable Labour Party committees for 'trans-Atlantic understanding' were created. 'he Labour Party leadership praised the 'special relation' between Britain and the United States. The basis of all this 'trans-Atlantic understanding' was American aid to Europe under the Marshall Plan and to support flagging British capitalism in particular. Gaitskell and the Labour Party leadership even came out against the British invasion of Suez with the blessing of United States capitalism. Narrow British chauvinism, the particular needs of British capitalism, and support for the United States were behind Gaitskell's opposition to membership But today the capitalist world has changed. The United States is not economically subsidising Europe and Britain, but engaged in an increasingly bitter trade war with it. British capitalism is looking not to Washington but to the EEC for economic support today.
With that change also goes the changing adherence of the Labour right wing leadership. Yesterday the interests of British capitalism demanded a specia restionship with the United States and this could be cloaked in 'defence of British sovereignty'.
Today British capitalist interests demand a 'special relationship' with the EEC so this requires a new cover o1 a soumous internationaism - an internationalism of bombs, military production capitalist rationalisation of industry The rhetoric changes but the content remains exactly the same. It is defence of capitalist interests not those of the 'soft left', and Marxism Tomom unaRin isni ark iRnsn sr 6fnn in the coat tails of the right wing and the interests of British capitalism (Islington South Labour Party It's not just Marxism Today and Neil Kinnock who back the EEC, it's also Socialist Organiser!
Thomas proudly boasts that SO supporters helped to ensure that a pro-EEC motion was passed at the last slington south Labour Party management committee.
Unfortunately he is telling the The meeting in question saw an important left/right split over an inquest on Labour's election defeat and the way forward for the Labour Party. The right wing organised a major offensive in side the party against Labour's left policies on the Bomb in comes policy, and the EEC an decision-making ballots fo the Labour leadership election.
Part of that offensive was a resolution to support the EEC, moved by the most right wing ward in the constituency. It was passed thanks to SO supporters and a few other left wingers, by the pseudointernationalism of backing the comrades is interna tionalist about the EEC, NATO or the IMF, all of which co-ordinate offensive against the workers movement? Helping to break up all these institutions would help build real workers internation alism, not voting with the right wing in the Labour Party.
Socialist Action 29 July 1983
DA Socialist Action 29 July 1983
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dependent on membership of the Common Market as the Tories, Labour right wing
all imports of European steel by imposing a tarriff. Then it impos-
Socialist Organiser and the EEC