acquired an indelible reputation as one of the most right wing journals ever produced in the labour movement. It has consistently worked with Neil Kinnock's supporters in the Labour Party in an attempt to isolate the labour left. But it also bypasses Kinnock on the right by openly advocating in its pages a coalition, or electoral arrangement, between the Labour Party and the SDP-Liberal Alliance.
At first glance it would seem incredible to most people that a Communist Party could produce such a journal. In fact Marxism Today is the culmination of a long development of the Communist Party's politics.
MICK ARCHER looks at the sorry road to Marxism Today.
JUST ONE year after its thirtyeighth outstandingly spiring by General Secretary Gordon McLennan, the faction fight within the Communist Britain (CPGB) reached breaking point. On the one side are the Eurocommunists' who now control the party's national executive committee (EC), its apparatus theoretical journal Marxism Today. On the mentalists' grouped Morning. Star and its editor, Tony Chater.
This crisis of the CPGB is an integral part of the crisis and decline of the European Communist Parties. But to understand its dynamic, it is necessary to look at specific features of the political pressures affecting it today.
The CPGB has never been a mass parts in West Europe arose from splits in the mass social democratic parties, the CPGB was formed in 1920 through the unitication of a number or small propaganda groups. Up until the British General Strike of 1926 the party experienced modest membership to 10,730.
With the defeat of the General Strike membership declined and it was only fascism, the Spanish Revolution, and the threat of war that it began to grow again. Membership exceeded 10,000 in reached 17,756 in decisive growth of the CPB however occurred after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 194] and tollowing the Anglo-Soviet Mutual Aid Pact of the following month.
By the end of 1941 membership had reached 22,738 and in the first three months of 1942 a further 25,194 recruits were made. Official figures claim 56,000 members by December 1942, the height of the CPGB's influence.
By now, however, the CPGB had gone over per collaborationism. It gave full support to the national government of Winston Churchill, denounced fought for support of the bosses' war effort. In the mines, for instance, resolution dated 18 arguing that increased coal production could be secured by regular working of all shifts available, eliminating all avoidable absenteeism, continuation of WOlK aLCI relaxation of overtime restrictions to esure that all faces are cleared daily...
Line ponucal pracuce or une party during this forced the CPB's pretensions of being a mass working class party — as well as substantially moving its membership to described successful were of Great its stand the 'fundaaround the La DOUI CB, its history and the Whereas many of its countergrowth we rice according to official figures, July The the cent increased production the CPGB passed a September 1942 tuals fatal accidents, and the period and its growth reinDave Cook the right. But in the general election of 1945 the party received a rude shock when it failed to convert its growth and lamentary seats. two communist MP- nIC WIV-WON respectability returned compared representing the Moreover, this proved to be the high point of the CPGB's parliamentary representation.
Following 1945 the CPGB faced a problem which has dogged it to this day. Although increasing v intluentia within the trade isning lne Dauy worker with a circulation of 100,000 and committed to the parliamentary road to socialism, it could never break the domination of the over the representation of the organised working Nevertheless, the determined to extend its influence. One of the steps it took and which has now exploded, was to coopelalive scheme for its paper to raise further runas for is development. Inis was lne Peoples Press Printing Society. shares were available to party and non-party members alike — a situation Tony Chater has exploited to the full in the current party struggle.
From 1945 onwards membership of vally declined. The measures of the 1945-50 COVe COL which National Health Service and a limited of nationalisations, obvious tactor in this decline and the Cold War also took their toll. But the decisive events — turning the decline into a rout -Poland and Hungary in 1956 and the revelations of the twentieth congress of the CPSU.
In a period of 18 months after the Hungarian revolt an estimated 10,000 people left the party leaving its official membership at 24,670 by 1958. Amongst this massive exodus were some of its most prestigious intellecincluding the 'novelist Lessing and the historian EP Thompson as well as a significant part of the party's union base.
CPGB managed to halt its decline, even successfully rebuilding its membership early '60s, that numbered 32,492 where remained until, 1968 ine events or pressures to bear on the CPGB. Firstly, Edward Thompson was into to movement, pub- early emergence of CPGB was establish a selfownership movemeal.
SITS
WIST 'radical 3,000 was all Korea party's were those in Was however, OWil rebruary the Italian Doris At this point, the cratic communism in 1962 it roughly 1968 brought new shrined in opposed, but as the letters column of the Morning Star demonstrated, a sizeable section of its membership disagreed with this line. At its 1969 congress the leadership got 295 votes for its position whilst "tankies" because of their unqualified support for the use of Soviet tanks to resolve problems in the construction of massive radicalisation of youth and the struggles outside of the direct control of the established reformist organisations This led to two developments: the parties, such as the international campaign in solidarity with the Vietnamese revolution and the women's liberation communist parties who actively interThese new developments led to a further decline in the membership of the CPGB. By 1972 it was down to 28,505 membership Communist League fell by 40 per cent to between 1967 circulation of the Morning Star was in decline, and in the general election of 1970 the CPGB's candidates had polled an average of 638 votes each.
It was clear that a reappraisal of the programme and perspectives necessary. This reappraisal, coincided with the developing in a number of the European Communist Parties. Under the impact of the working class upsurge in their and the experiences of first Chile and then Portugal a need was recognised by Enrico Berlinguer, leader Communist Party to:
....draw useful lessons for a broader and deeper assessment of both the international picture and the strategy and tactics of the working class and demomovement in series countries..' This was the dawn of EuroIn a number of ways the CPGB had pre-empted its European counterparts Attempts to *Anglicise the been evident since 1945 and were enthe first Bea Campbell programme, Socialism. which Approved personally document revolution, the storing parament, ne people.' arusochev reve atons covered the or olelallal.
discussion is in in Italy Young The with VC W Versor Today, December 1976). Indeed, of around pluralism, party had acmocralic the earlier versions.
the British Road appeared in 1951. by Stalin, this abandoned any talk destruction ot the bourgeois state, soviets or the dictatorship of the proletariat. Instead, it spoke of transforming '...capitalist democracy into a real people's democracy, tran• product of Britain's historical struggle for democracy, into the democratic instrument of the will of the vast majority of her When in 1975 the CPB decided to open up discussions on a new draft of the British Road to Socialism, the Eurocommunists in its ranks definitely had history on their side. The changes they were to argue for were a logical extension of the party's practice and its programme over the previous 25 years.
In January 1976, John Gollan, a former general secretary of the party took the first step in the new development by initiating a discussion in the pages of Marxism Today on •Problems of Socialist Democracy. The pretext for this was the twentieth anniversary of the The ensuing debate lasted a year and dictatorship of the the relationship between in post capitalist societies, independent trade unions, the character of Stalinism and inner party democracy. With some justification one argued: 'This substance not unconnected with the Italian Communist Party's policy of "historic compromise" based on their pessimistic and negative estimate of the prospects for socialism 'It is not unconnected with the attacks by the leaders of the Spanish Communist Party on the Portuguese Communist Party at critical moments in Portugal's national democratic revolution. More generally, it is connected decision the French Communist Party to drop "dictatorship of the proletariat" from their rules and to decide at their next congress what words to adopt in its place, and of the Japanese Communist Party to drop the words "dictatorship of the proletariat" and even "Marxism-Leninism". Specifically this debate is preliminary to the discussion of the new, effectively fourth, Road Socialism.' (Fergus Nicholson, Marxism SOOlICI had this discussion been closed in the January 1977 issue of Marxism Today, than the debate around the issues confronting the November 1977 congress began. By now the party had become polarised virtually all of the central questions: the definition of the working the revolutionary process and the concept of the broad Ballance which was replace the 'anti-monopoly alliance' in
For section determined to check "revisionism' it became a struggle for the future of the CPGB. In July 1977, four months before the congress the most vehement critics of the new draft, based around Sid French and the leadership of ine party's Surrey district, split. CGB claim this involved less than two percent of the their 25,300 members whilst the New Communist Party, they called themselves, claimed branches nationwide.
and remained in the CPB went into the thirty-fifth congress numerically depleted "splitters'. In an attempt to remit the new draft, and the 2,600 amendments submitted to it, to the 1979 congress they mustered. a TH compared to the executive committee's 330. Yet it was also clear that the battle was not over yet.
of the this process of The as Those who opposed the new draft Labour government of Jim Callaghan, historian Eric Hobsbawm produced an article in Marxism Today entitled 'The Forward March of Labour Halted?' Ina critical survey of the development of the British working class he focussed on the limitations of ciousness' and the economic struggle in a situation where the "..political class movement.. was inaccune, wages struggle was not reflected in a growth in membership of, or support for, the Labour Party, other groups on the left.
Summarising the year-long debate.
consIsle the again the CPGB or the CPGB since that time. the general election of 1979 up until Thatcher's re-election in 1983 were other issues on which the CPGB divided: the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, where the minority won 43 per cent of the vote at the 1981 congress the critical stance executive committee; Poland, the executive took stance, provoking one critic to assert that there were those in the party ...for whom hatred of the Soviet Union and the party leaderships in Eastern Europe . True, from there practices question left would such a electorally?
where a critical pinned by the Socialist Action 1 March 1985 7 Labour had to build a broad set of alliances based on new policies, structures. The unanswered was bloc express For many who followed the debate the answer seemed obvious. Frequent references to the period of the popular front and to popular coalitions, underCB's support for proportional representation pointed to a governmental coalition embracing the *entire potential support for democracy
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Official figures claim 56,000 members by December 1942, the height of the CGB's influence. By now, however, the CPGB had gone over 100 per cent to class collaborationism.