Block Discussion

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We while The f gave culate Healy forces within the USFI.

What are they afraid of?

The document focusses on an analysis of the historical evolution of the USFI and its present political positions from the time of the 1953 split in the International.

It sets out to prove that the most recent wrong positions of the USFI on guerrillaism, Portugal, Angola, etc., are far from being isolated errors of assessment, but the fruits of the history of the USFI itself.

Wrong method

It shows that these "mistakes" form part of a fundamentally wrong method of during which, in one conversation, Cde Grogan was informed as to the general content of the documentwas any agenda for the Congress forthcoming, or any attempt made by IMG or USFI to place preconditions on our submitting a document.

• Circulated On the contrary, according to repeated pronouncements from the IMG, our document was, without doubt, to be circulated throughout the sections of the USFI.

This position was echoed by Joe Hansen, Jack Barnes, Mary Alice-Waters and Tim Wohlforth -all leading members of the US SWP, which although barred from affiliation to the USFI, is in political sympathy with it. They, too, urged us to complete and submit our document and stated their belief that it would be discussed.

Indeed it was not until after our document had been completed anq received by both IMG and USFi that the first change took place in this position.

In June 1978 the USFI Bureau wrote urging us to discuss with the IMG "con cerning the best possible forms through which we can begin a discussion"

No plans though it strange that, acknowledging recei It of oisoned Well, the etter o details of plans tr • cirit. In contacting the Lambert analysis and a wrong approach to the fight for programme in method of analysis and a wrong approach to the fight for programme in the working class, which leads, inevitably, time and time again, to opportunism.

Why, then, since the USFI has from 1953 been based on essentially false positions and remains inadequate to the demanding task of giving Trotskyist leadership to the workers' movement internationally, did the Workers Socialist League accept an initial USFI invitation to participate in the discussion prior- to its Xith World Congress?

Our view is that the Fourth International entered leader Mandel we then discovered for the first time that there was a reluctance to circulate our document.

In August we received a copy of the Xith Congress agenda. We were astonished to see that it tries to exclude any discussion of the factional struggle that has marked the last ten years of the USFI.

But we observed that it did clearly state that "Discussion of remaining points previously placed on the agenda remains open"

We naturally took this to mean that, since The Poisoned Well refers to substantial discussion| documents already tabled for the Congress, there was still no impediment to its circulation within the USFI.

But in our recent meeting with Cdes Grogan and Pugh for the IMG-now documented in Cde Grogan's September 29 letter-we were amazed to hear a completely different, and twopronged position argued, which would effectively exclude the WSL from any meaningful involvement in the Congress.

On the one hand we were told that there is now a prior requirement that we abandon our long-held position and now declare the USFI a "revolutionary organisation" before our document-or any WSL document —is circulated.

And on the other hand we are told that, since the factional struggles and the dissolution of the IMT and LTF tendencies are not on the pre-congress agenda, our document would not be circulated to USFI sections in any case.

We are that profound crisis in the post-war period and has been essentially destroyed as an organising centre by the opportunist politics of Pabloism.

All that remains are its degenerated fragments-chiefly the USFI, the OCRF! and the Healyite IC. Within these three groupings are to be found the bulk of the forces that on a world scale regard themselves as Any attempt to resolve the crisis of the Fl must direct towards these forces and seek to break them from their present opportunist course.

The Workers Socialist League is not a part of any of these groupings.

We recognise none of them as the exclusive continuity of Trotskyism, but in all of them we recognise historic links to the crisis-ridden Fourth Remembering our own origins in a struggle within the British WRP against Healyite sectarianism and opportunism, we see the need to wage a fight to develop the struggle for principle and programme within each of these international groupings.

Reaffirm

The Poisoned Well is intended to argue with USFI militants and others the necessity in today's political situation for a re examination of the lessons of the post-war history of the Trotskyist movement, and for a reaffirmation, both in theory and in practice of the because the pre-congress discussion "would not be the best arena to take up your positions" and the WSL might not feel satisfied that our points had received sufficient attention!

Of course the IMG comrades make no suggestion as to what is the 'correct' arena for such points.

It seems to us that such moves serve only to obstruct the necessary discussion on the Marxist method and on programme which alone can enable the WSL to arrive at an objective characterisation of the USFI and its sections and their role in today's class struggle.

Decided against

It further appears that the IMG and the USFI have already decided that no document by the WSL on any topic will be circulated, since we also see from the letter that-"given a favourable clarification" as to our characterisation of the USFI, the IMG leadership would support the circulation of a new WSL document tackling a topic from the Congress agenda "at least in the ranks of the IMG".

We would point out that a similar bilateral exchange of documents has previously taken place between us and the IMG, and led, unfortunately, to no development whatever in terms of international discussion with or within the USFI.

To put it bluntly, we feel that the abrupt about-face that has taken place in relation to our submission to the pre-Congress discussion is designed to prevent our political basic political principles and method on which the Fl was founded, but from which its present-day remnants have strayed in the last 30 years.

Only such a self critical approach can provide the basis for a thorough-going break from the opportunist. methods of the past, and for a genuine struggle to reconstruct the Fl as a disciplined, centralised International capable of carrying forward the struggle for revolutionary leadership against Stalinism and ail forms of petty bourgeois nationalism.

United rejection

The USFI leaders are certainly "united" in rejecting any such approach.

Though a USFI resolution in July 1976 spelled out an invitation to the WSL to submit a document to the XIth Congress discussion without preconditions, the appearance of The Poisoned Well has prompted repeated moves by the USEC bureau to reverse this decision and exclude the document from the discussion.

There has, however, been no attempt whatever to reply to its political content.

And while the USFI's British section, the .IMG, has made token moves towards discussing the documents, the USFI itself has withdrawn its original offer to translate and circulate The Poisoned Well to its sections.

We consider that such moves indicate the political weakness of the USFI's position on the issues raised in the document.

In essence the "united" Jack Barnes positions becoming known and discussed within the USFI as a whole and its sympathising sections.

This in our view can only impede the struggle for the reconstruction of the Fourth International on the basis of a theoretical and practical reaffirmation of its founding principles and programme.

As such, it casts grave doubts on the sincerity of the USFI leadership when it proclaims that its objective is to ensure that:

"All forces standing on the programme of revolutionary Marxism should be united within a single democratic centralist International' The very purpose of the discussion and examination of practical work which we are proposing is to establish beyond doubt which forces genuinely do stand on the programme of revolutionary Marxism in today's class struggle.

Reverse We therefore call upon the USFI to reverse this course of obstructing the necessary discussion and clarification, and to speedily facilitate the circulation of the WL discussion document The Poisoned Well within its ranks and those of its sympathising sections internationally, in line with the USec's own resolution of 3-4 April 1976.

The League, for our part, will continue to encourage our members to study the internaleadership knows that it does not agree on a range of fundamental political questions essential to the defence and application of the Trotskyist Transitional Programme in the class struggle-in particular the characterisation and post-war role of Stalinism; and the need for Trotskyist parties to be built to counter Castro style "progressive" petty bourgeois nationalist formations.

These questions are of course not dead issues that can be relegated to past history but arise again and again as living problems in today's struggles of the working class internationally.

In ourselves now making The Poisoned Well available in French, Spanish and soon Danish, the WSL and its, co-thinkers are setting out to fight the USFI's attempts to suppress discussion on these key issues.

We aim to press forward our struggle for the kind of objective and thorough political discussion that is necessary to lay a solid basis of genuine sagreement for the reconstruction of the Fourth International.

Demand answers

We call on all militants of the USFI, the OCRFI and the IC to raise these questions within their own organisations and to demand that their leaders respond.

But we warn also that they will be met by bureaucratic obstruction and stony silence from leaders who have no intention of allowing discussion of their own past errors, or of tional Internal Discussion Bulletin material and will attempt wherever possible to work for the fullest joint discussion with the IMG and USFI leadership and members prior to the XIth World Congress.

We also welcome the decision of the IMG to prepare a reply to The Poisoned Well.

We will certainly accept cde.

Grogan's September 29 proposal that we arrange a full discussion of this reply. We also remain willing to procede with the proposed debate on the Fourth International, to be held in London as soon as a mutually satisfactory date can be agreed.

The Poisoned Well Price 20p plus 15p p&p rom WSL, 31, Dartmouth Park Hill, London NW5 1HR The Poisoned Well Introduction the anguage editi i of The Poisoner 'ell, allowing themselves to be pushed aside by forces determined to break from opportunism and sectarianism.

We say that such leaders must be exposed and fought.

For 30 years, thanks to them and their predecessors, the Fl has been wracked by crisis and political confusion: time and again major turning points in the class struggle have found would-be Trotskyists disorientated and ill equipped to intervene and struggle for the Transitional Programme.

This is 30 years too long!

Join our struggle for the political clarification of the forces that today wish to adhere to the banner of Trotskyism; join our fight for the reconstruction of the Fourth Trotsky In this context, and without preconditions, the WS therefore acccepts the proposals made in cde. Grogan's letter of September 29 for us to observe local and national discussion meetings of the IMG, and for us to submit, in addition to The Poisoned Well, a document on Eurocommunism to be circulated in the IMG.

We await your reply with keen interest.

Yours fraternally John Lister For the National Committee the Workers Socialist League

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Returned to office after five years of Labour betrayals, the Tory government has immediately begun wielding a sharpened axe on jobs, conditions and social services. Trade Union rights face imminent legal attack. Prices are already beginning to rocket upwards.

Plum sectors of state industry will be handed to the Tories' profiteering big business backers; and the pay rises to police and armed forces mark only the prelude to increased state violence against pickets and anti-fascists, and an intensified army crackThe Callaghan Healey leadership has made it clear that it will opppose any perspective other than settling down and meekforgotten And, though they have once more • dusted off their nearcontinued to duck away from any fight to remove Callaghan. collaboration with Thatcher and the Tory cabinet, parallelling their anti-working class alliance with Wilson and then Callaghan.

But the working class has experienced and overcome such betrayals before-to topple Heath's union-bashing government in wage controls in a series of monumental pay battles last winter.

These experiences are not dead. They point to the way that jobs, social services and hard-won union rights can be defended But a principled, revolutionary leadership is needed if the Labour traitors, the TUC collaborators and their hangers-on in the Communist Party are to be exposed and pushed aside, and the mass struggles mobilised that can defeat and remove the ! 10 The ASTMS Conference The ASTMS Confaranan last weekend was opposite to all expectations.

• Unlike other unions who are trying to repolish their left face in verbal stands against the Tories, ASTMS can no longer be classed a 'left' union.

There was no longer the METES Clive Jenkins meetings every evening (two were well attended) they did not organise their intervention ly accepting five years of Tory devastation. Wate against renewed Tory attacks.

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