[Action Committee asking if the re four WRP…]

Scan page 3

Action Committee asking if the re four WRP members voting against. Egypt OTHER SIDE OF E OF ISIS Lebanon y Syria Jordan Iraq Saudi a rabiar Sudan ONCE AGAIN THE WIGAN MARCH The centrist politics of the Workers Revolutionary Party are wreaking terrible damage on their much-vaunted WiganLondon march, which is ostensibly organised by the Wigan Building Workers Action ComThe Workers Socialist League was formed on December 22nd after over 200 members were expelled from the Workers Revolutionary Party.

The reason for the expulsions was that Alan Thornett, who was at the time a Central Committee member of the WRP, set out to bring about a discussion within that party on the wrong positions being taken by the Healy leadership and the Workers Press.

The issues were first raised on the Central Committee, and that con mittee agreed to circulate a document written by comrade Thornett, containing a statement of his differences, and to arrange a 'full and free. discussion within the party prior to the first annual conference.

That free discussion never took place. Anyone who in any way supported the document was expelled.

This split was a product of particular political conditions. The rapla development oi the economic crisis and the torward movement of the working class all over the world produced the conditions to build revolutionary parties. Yet it was precisely in this period that the WRP began to decline in all its areas of work. It was this decline more than any other factor which raised questions which led to an examination of the political positions of the WRP leadership and to Alan Thornett's documents.' As the split emerged, the sectarianism of the WRP, its departure from the Transitional Programme, and the way its maximum programme isolates the WRP from the working class became clear.

To understand the response to comrade Thornett's document in the WRP it is necessary to recognise the period we are now in. The defence of jobs through the fight for the sliding scale of hours without loss of pay; the defence of living standards through the fight for the sliding scale of wages related to rising prices; the challenging of the employer and the preparation of the struggle for power by the fight to open the books and establish workers control in the fight for nationalisation under workers' management; are now called for in this situation in the form of a programme of transitional demands which will form a bridge between the present consciousness and struggles of the working class to the need to take power. Yet the WRP right up to the opening of the discussion by comrade Thornett had never seriously fought for any of these demands. Instead it restricted itself to the sterile maximum demand "nationalise the econo my without compensation under workers control"

The impossibility of any kind of opposition within the WRP forced us to found the Workers Socialist League as an independent organisation which will maintain and fight to develop the traditions and principles of Trotskyism. We will continue to maintain a critique of the WRP leadership, but most important for us is our ability to brea! from WRP method and turn to recruiting and training the new force: thrown into the struggle in this period - trade unionists, professiona workers, housewives, students and youth - in the fight to construct the new party.

We will fight against all forms of revisionism - state capitalism and the Pabloite revisionists of the IMG, against stalinism and reformism. - Already it is clear that: our:struggles for Trotskyism in Britain take place under conditions which sust create similar splits and discus: sions throughout the world. We are confident that our mavement will soon be able to play an important role in the strengthening of . the Trotskyist Fourth International and the development of revolutionary parties in every country to fight capitalism.

Only five weeks after forming the League we were able to assem ble the necessary political, editorial and material resources to begin regular publication of a Trotskyist newspaper. We are certain we can win a big response and very rapidly go forward to a weekly paper as the organiser of a movement of considerable political strength.

would like more information about the WORKERS SOCIALIST LEAGUE COMPLETE THIS FORM AND SEND TO:

W.S.L., 31, Dartmouth Park Hill, London NWS 1FR Name.

Address SOCIALIST PRESS 6 Issues..... .....84p issues... ..£1.68p Issues.. £3.36p COMPLETE THIS FORM AND SEND TO: 11, Lower Basildon, Near Reading,Berkshire.

I would like to take out a subscription to SOCIALIST PRES I would like .... ...issues, I enclose t ..... ...subscription Name.

Address mittee against the jailing of the port in "Socialist Press" of FebShrewsbury pickets Warren and ruary 6th, that trade unionists wert Tomlinson, and resolves to send excluded from its public meeting a branch delegation, with banner, in London on January 14th is corto its rally in Trafalgar Square. rect, and, if so, what justification "Branch also requests the Secre- there was for this." tary to write to the Wigen Builder: The motion was passed with only