An open letter to the expelled members of the WRP

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WU members lobby Regional officials in support of Cowler 9 PRESS The l continuing political crisis of the WRP which exploded recentiy into a fresh series of expulsions following a week long special conference poses serious questions for every WRP member.

It is a continuation of the developments which led to the expulsion of 200 members at the end of 1974-including almost the whole of the WRP main industrial base in Cowley.

At that time the main pioy of Gerry Healy was to prevent the political questions being raised by Alan Thornett and others from being discussed in the party as a whole.

This policy led to our exputsions one week prior to the annual conference in December 1974.

In the Western Region (then the largest Region outside London), Gerry Healy called it Newsline editor Mitchell "re-registration" -the whole membership in three key areas (Oxford, Reading and Swindon) was expelled and could only regain their membership after signing a document agreeing with Alan Thornett's expulsion.

The situation facing those newly expelled or in opposition within the WRP demands that the discussion suppressed in 1974 now proceed.

Same issues

Although in the last four years the political degeneration of the WRP has deepened the issues are essentially the same.

In Britain this means the turn away from interventions in the working class and detailed qualitative work in the unions (reflected in the development of the Newsline).

We argued in 1974 that this arose from a turn away from the Transitional Programme and the adoption of a maximum programme which could make and required no real connection with the everyday struggles of the working class.

We remain convinced that this is the case.

Comment from This deviation has now developed to the point where Newsline simply comments from the outside on many of the struggles it covers and is rarely able to offer perspective to struggles or feature struggles in which the WRP are themselves a significant force in terms of leadership.

Now the other, opportunist side of the party's political degeneration shows up most clearly in the positions developed on international questions-notably the national liberation struggles in the Mid of bou PLC uncı Gua stai reco of S othe men Wor Benn but grapt that sarily offic selve: priso treati to leade Smea on ti and ‹ the E parac findil 'New if th trivia story are story elemt Irelar prote dle East.

Here every 'left' statement every bourgeois and pettyrgeois nationalist from the › to Libya to Iraq is praised ritically.

Alex Mitchell writes to the irdian defending the bloodned Iraqi Ba'athist regime's ard of murdering thousands italinists of the Iraqi CP and ers in the workers' moveit. [According to the WRP's kers Press of June 12 1974 PRESS!

the paper stressed that the rt did not say police were onsible for injuries. 'he Daily Mail reported lett as its main news story again spent many parahs quoting Mason as saying the police were not neces/ to blame and that "police ers had to defend thems or lawfully restrain iners". ut the most nauseating ment award must go the • Mirror-the paper closest the reactionary Labour ership. is front page story 'Rape ar' concentrated exclusively he rumour about Dr.. Irwin only so much as mentioned Bennett report by name six graphs from the end of the , 'report' of the Bennett ng on page 2 was headlined ¡ code for Ulster police' as le findings were of some il administrative nature. ven in this second string • the allegations of injury brief and well down the here is no 'progressive' ent to the British press on ad. They crave the cosy iction of censorship. the Ba'athists massacred "at least 8,000 Communists" following the installation of present Premier Hassar, al Bakr in 1963l.

Now the Newsline goes so far as to defend Khomeini against demonstrations of oppressed Iranian women, branding their basic-democratic demands for rights for women as "anti-revolutionary"

Anti-imperialist

We urge WRP members consider these points and contrast them to the principl led, anti-imperialist positions of the Workers Socialist League.

We urge you to study the record of the WSL in the workers' movement, our struggle for programme and for leadership and against the Social Democrat and Stalinist bureaucrats.

Look at our record in the trade unions today.

We have stood at the forefront of struggles for strikes and occupations against the cuts, for unionisation, and against wage control-particularly in the public sector pay fight.

In British Leyland we have led the struggle against 'worker participation' (the scheme supported. by WRP Central Committee member Tom White) and the company's plans for Iraqi strongman Hussein speed-up and corporate ing.

Cowley 9

And in successfully defending the "Cowley 9' against a vicious witch-hunt by the TGWU bureaucracy-in which Alan Thornett was threatened with expulsion from the unionwe again had to fight the WRP who publicly and falsely condemned us 'as "adventurists" manoeuvred to prevent WRP members sponsoring the Defence Campaign, and did everything possible to sabotage the struggle.

Remember that it was us who were ridiculously accused by Healy of being "soft on social democracy" when were expelled in 1974!:

History of IC Since forming the WSL; after being expelled, we have insisted on the importance of our history in the International Committee and that our movement's strong orientation towards the organised working class flows from this history.

We point out that the IC was right in 1953 and 1963 to stress the centrality of the struggle for leadership in the mass movement through the struggle for a revolutionary party.

It was right to direct to serious work in the unions; right to direct towards working class youth; right to point continuously throughout the 'boom' period to the crisis of capitalism and refute revisionist notions of "neo-capitalism" ', "permanent arms economy" etc.

Although we do not agree with Healy's analysis of the crisis, it was a great strength to stress that capitalism had not changed and remained a system of acute crisis.

Serious workers

The WRP was right to reject Pabloite liquidationism and the rank and fileism of the International Socialists/SWP.

These positions attracted serious workers and developed a movement that was predominantly working class and rooted in the workers' movement-far in advance of anything the IMG or SWP could produce today.

We have insisted on the strength of this history whilst utterly rejecting the nature of how, piece by piece, the demands and method: of the Transitional Programme were abandoned by the Healy leadership from the late 1960s onwards.

It is essential now that these questions are discussed and deepened between those who have a common history.

Such a discussion: is a polițical obligation, irrespective of the measure of agreement which may or may not be reached.

Poison discussion

It would be a great politica loss if ploys being used by the Healy leadership were successful in blocking or poisoning such discussions.

We are convinced that ali Gerry Healy's efforts will directed towards this end.

Last week we received request from a WRP member in London for a discussion on these expulsions.

The affair proved to be a setup job. When two of our members arrived for the discussion they were met by Alex Mitchell and a photographer.

, This set-up will, we are sure, be used to create an atmosphere of conspiracy designed to inhibit any expelled member from approaching or talking to us.

We insist: this is not a conspiracy-it is an essential, and legitimate discussion which should have taken place within the WRP in 1974.

We and you have a clear responsibility to ensure the discussion does now take place.

We did not ask to be placed outside the IC in 1974 anymore than those expelled today.

The present acute organisational crisis of the movement also flows from Healy's opportunist and liquidationist politics.

You cannot build a revolutionary party on the basis of abstentionism and the abandonment of principle.

1 Existence threatened In other words Healy's politics now threaten the very existence of the WRP itself: key cadres have been expelled to suppress opposition; countless other members have been demoralised by the lack of any principled political direction for the movement or hope of changing it.

If all is not to be lost, then a thorough discussion on the Trotskyist programme and method and an examination of the historical process of degeneration of the WRP is an essential task.

We invite you to join with us undertaking it.

WSL Executive Committee 18 March 1979 NOW OUT! The WL discussion document adopted for submiz. sion to the USFI XIth World Congress. Price 20p plus 10p p&ep from WSL. 31, Dartmouth Park Hill, London NW5 1HR.

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The Poisoned : Well