No socialism and no democracy! anti-socialist purges in the 'Social Demoe

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Throughout the history of the Labour Party, its expulsions and witch-hunts have been directed only against the socialist left -never the Tory right.

And a consistent feature of the left' reformists has been their inability to challenge the right wing leadership.

Konni Zilliacus's 'Why I was Expelled" is a testament to the bankrupt vision of such fakers with its lame references to:

"Labour's present leaders who are too frightened to allow reasonable freedom -to minorities and dissenter. . But that will pass, and appear in a few years as a growing pain in the Party's advance to maturity in world affairs"

That was 1949. The same year also saw the Trotskyists of the Revolutionary Communist Party split over the question of entry into the Labour Party.

Jock Haston • took the majority into the Labour Party on the basis that:

"the working-class are look. ing and will continue to look at the personnel within the Labour Party for a solution to their problems"

(RCP internal bulletin March 1949).

Gerry Healy had already entered the Labour Party with his Trotskyist "Group"' in 1946.

Witch hunting

This was a period of sustained witch-hunting in both the unions and the Labour Party and only the discipline of the small Healy contingent enabled them to ride out the proscription of their Socialist Fellowship grouping in 1951 and their periodical Soclalist Outlook in 1954.

By the late 1950's however the objective conditions of the class struggle were changing and large scale organised opposition to Labour's rightwing leadership began to emerge.

As always the response was anti-democratic McCarthyism.

In 1958 the Holborn and St. Pancras. Labour parties were purged and ex-Trotskyist John Lawrence, leader of the Labour group on the Council, was expelied along. with 6 other councillors and several supporters.

The Lawrence group went on to join the Communist Party.

In 1957 Healy's group had started The Newsletter, and by 1959 was ready to form the Socialist Labour, League (SLL).

The first thing they did was to apply to the Labour Party for affiliation. The reply was swift and hysterical.

The SLL was proscribed, and throughout the country the NEC ordered a whole series of expulsions and suspensions.

The expulsions included many counciliors, and whole Labour groups were suspended.

Branches in many working-class areas and scores of union branches and. Trades Councils condemned the witch-hunts. and the SLL organised big lobbies of the NEC' The core of the opposition was in the Streatham and Norwood Labour parties.

In Streatham Healy himself was branch chairman, and in Norwood Brian Behan was a leading member.

Despite rank-and-file protest the 2 branches were "reorganised"

The Labour Party in Leeds was split down the middle, with councillors and 9 executive members expelled and socialists being framed with absurd charges.

Jack Gale was secretary of the Leeds SLL branch, and his wife Celia was expelled from the Labour Party on the grounds that "you are known to associate with you husband"!

Clearly the SLL gained a great initial impetus from all the furore, though The Newsletter remained somewhat unclear on its analysis of reformism.

Illusion

Its greatest mistake was in perpetuating the illusion that the Labour Party had been at one time a principled socialist organisation.

"A determined and energetic campaign against bans, proscriptions and expulsions is vital if socialist policies and purposes are to be restored to the Labour Party." (Newsletter April 25th 1959).

The SLL continued to fight within the Labour Party however and during the early 1960's its supporters became a major force within the Young Socialists, the latest in the series of youth organisations grudgingly set up by the Labourites.

In 1962 "Keep Left" was proscribed and 3 members of the YS national committee were expelled. The viciousness of the bureaucratic attack snowballed until by 1964 NC meetings were suspended and over a 2 year period the whole Labour Party youth movement was butchered In 1964 there were 722 youth branches. In 1965 there were 605. In 1966 it shrank to 483 branches.

Most tendencies. profited from the right-wing offensive, even though it was directed exclusively at the SLL. These tendencies included the International Socialists (forerunners of the SWP), the "Militant' group (formed in 1964), and the grouping round . The Week (precursor of the IMG).

But the SLL gained most of all and actually took the title Young Socialists for its own paper. The NEC report on their investigations to the 1977 Conference basicaily exonerated these tame cats but left the door open for raising the matter again should the need arise.

Piety

At the height of the red-baiting Transport House bureaucrats refused to work with newly appointed Youth Organiser Andy Bevan, a "Militant" supporter.

The piety of the social democrats comes over strongly in the NEC Report:

"This NEC calls on all members of the Labour Party to refrain from attacks which add nothing to solving the serious economic and social problems which face this country... We reject totally a fürther descant into McCarthyism which can only provide ammúnition for those who wish to confuse the people about the reality of Britain's present crisis"

It is time for all those who see themselves as on the left of the Labour Party to take stock of its history, its political character and its direction.

A campaign must be mounted to end all witch-hunts as part of a drive to kick out the Callaghan/Healey leadership. There must be a fight for a recall Conference to decide on a socialist manifesto for the coming election.

Concluded