[French and Spanish Stalinist leaders embrace: but CP…]

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French and Spanish Stalinist leaders embrace: but CP policy France has been plastered with posters for the EEC elections. Whose slogans do you think these are?

"No to a German Europe!

I love my country-to stop its decline. For an independent France and a peacefui and democratic Europe!' , 'For France'.

'No to the Europe of Giscard and Schmidt!' Say no to those who sell you cheap-your job, your life, They are all French Communist Party slogans! They show the extent of that party's national chauvinism and dedication to simply reforming the capitalist state.

"For France"

Apart from being more glossy and colourful, they are not one wit different from those of the French Socialist Party, which says things like:

"For France. Make Europe with the Socialists. Togather for our country'.

They are not even very different from the bourgeois parties' slogans. The main distinguishing fact is that the bourgeois parties use the tricolor as pictorial background while the CP use a map of France.

Of course CP and SP slogans also call for a workers' Europethey address themselves to the "peasants and workers' , and say in Europe is completely nationalist "we want a Europe of workers"

But visually they, are also populist-a blue eyed blond child gazes up at a huge bunch of red roses; a woman in a white nightdress stretches out of a sunlit window to open the shutters.

The joint campaign of the LCR (the Mandelite USFI section in France) and Lutte Ouvriere la Trotskyist' party similar to the SWP) cannot afford the extravagant placards of the CP.

Most of its posters simply call for a vote for its two candidates-Krivine and Aiguiller.

But the outright national chauvinism of the CP and SP campaigns make an easy target for these 'Trotskyists' A Lutte Ouvriere poster says:

'A French exploiter is no better than a German exploiter. Let us wipe out the frontiers, let us chase out all the exploiters. For the United Socialist States of Europe!' This was the line of the mass rally addressed by Aiguiller and Krivine at the Lutte Ouvriere 'fete' outside Paris on June 3.

Their demagogic speeches celebrated the new upsurge of struggle; warned the bourgeoisie of things to come; called for the mobilisation of all unorganised sections; heralded dissidents and workers in Eastern Europe and insisted on international solidarity as against the nationalism of the Stalinists and the bureaucracy.

All this routine stuff won tumultuous applause from the 5,000 strong audience. Both speakers declared their "Trotskyism" and that they were based on the Transitional Krivine But what neither speaker did was to utilise the opportunity at such a rally to explain the actual tasks facing the European working class in fighting to defend jobs and wages and • against Neither touched on the actual programme of demands and action necessary to achieve this.

In fact the two organisations have specifically agreed not to mention such matters-for the sake of 'unity'!

What is lost by such 'unity' is the ability to give any pretence of leadership to the working class.

The LCR is begging Lutte Ouvriere to join them in the USFI.

The LO says, quite reasonably, that it has not enough confidence in the Fourth International to join-to which leading LCR member Charles Michalou happily replied that the LCR-LO fusion might not be in the Fourth International: it might be called something else altogether!

Meanwhlle sritain

revealed Marxist Group ocialist revealed in the Challenge published on the 7 June election day that they were advocating not simply a vote for their "revolutionary" candidacy. to the spurious Assembly, but also for the motley array of careerist Labour fakers who have eagerly sought the five figure salary and jetset prestige of a Euro-MP's job.

In this stand they were joined by the centrists of the Militant group, whose energetic and totally opportunist campaign in Liverpool in support of so-called "red" Labourite Terry Harrison in particular and a Labour vote in general no doubt contributed to the recordsetting low 15% turnout in parts of the city.

IMG candidate Ali

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