152-630: The Militant tendency , or Militant , was a Trotskyist group in the British Labour Party , organised around the Militant newspaper, which launched in 1964. In 1975, there was widespread press coverage of a Labour Party report on the infiltration tactics of Militant. Between 1975 and 1980, attempts by Reg Underhill and others in the leadership of the Labour Party to expel Militant were rejected by its National Executive Committee , which appointed
304-419: A decentralized form of economic planning , worker's control of production , elected representation of Soviet socialist parties , mass soviet democratization , the tactic of a united front against far-right parties, cultural autonomy for artistic movements, voluntary collectivisation , a transitional program and socialist internationalism . He supported founding a vanguard party of
456-442: A parliamentary majority of four seats and ended its thirteen years in opposition since the 1951 election . Wilson became the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Rosebery in 1894. Both major parties had changed leadership in 1963. Following the sudden death of Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell early in the year, the party chose Harold Wilson (at the time, thought of as being on the party's centre-left), while Alec Douglas-Home , at
608-422: A planned economy capable of providing full employment , rapid economic growth , favourable balance of trade , and control of inflation . Party leaders also decided that they had lost the previous election because of their failure to appeal to the growing middle class , and adjusted strategy accordingly. Labour called for greater co-ordination between state-run enterprises and repeated its past pledges for
760-458: A "signal contribution" to the discipline of international relations . They argued his theory presented "a specific understanding of capitalist development as "uneven", insofar as it systematically featured geographically divergent "advanced" and "backward" regions" across the world economy . Faith merely promises to move mountains; but technology , which takes nothing ‘on faith’, is actually able to cut down mountains and move them. Up to now this
912-458: A "tactic" to buy time. A covering letter to council employees dated 19 September 1985, signed by council leader John Hamilton and his deputy Derek Hatton , explained that "this course of action provides the only way of providing wages and salaries until 18th December, 1985. ...[giving] the Government three months to negotiate with Labour representatives a just settlement to our financial crisis. If
1064-612: A Leninist party model. Trotsky would also assume a central role in the 1905 revolution and serve as the Chairman of the Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Delegates in which he wrote several proclamations urging for improved economic conditions , political rights and the use of strike action against the Tsarist regime on behalf of workers. In 1917, he had proposed the election of a new Soviet presidium with other socialist parties on
1216-673: A Militant member to the position of National Youth Organiser in 1976 after Militant had won control of the party's youth section, the Labour Party Young Socialists . After the Liverpool Labour Party adopted Militant's strategy to set an illegal deficit budget in 1982, a Labour Party commission found Militant in contravention of clause II, section 3 of the party's constitution which made political groups with their own "Programme, Principles and Policy for Separate and Distinctive Propaganda" ineligible for affiliation. Militant
1368-758: A Purpose pledged closer relations with the Atlantic world and the Commonwealth of Nations , development of nuclear power , industrial retraining, increased capital investment in British industry, and continued development of the BAC TSR-2 supersonic aircraft project. The Conservative campaign emphasised the party's diplomatic successes, such as the Nassau Agreement, the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty , and
1520-554: A clear majority on its National Committee. In 1973, the Labour Party Young Socialists conference attracted one thousand delegates and visitors. Taaffe claims that Militant had 397 "organised supporters" in March 1973, but by July of the same year this "had grown to 464". In 1965, Militant had claimed 100 members, and in 1979 1,621. In 1973, the Labour Party abolished the 'proscribed list' of organisations which could affiliate to
1672-453: A current in the Labour Party. "It is significant that all these attacks, particularly that of The Observer , do not deal with the ideas of Militant , openly expressed, which have a great tradition in the labour movement and are the continuation of the ideas of the pioneers of the labour movement and of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky," it commented in response at the beginning of September 1975. The report of National Agent Reg Underhill into
SECTION 10
#17328513609491824-583: A degree of power within a constituency". but according to journalist Andy McSmith it was "manifestly untrue" that Prentice's problems were caused by Militant, who had only a small presence in his constituency party. Prentice ultimately defected to the Conservative party in 1977. Meanwhile, in December 1975, Militant suffered a setback when they lost control of the National Organisation of Labour Students to
1976-483: A hostile capitalist world and the internal pressures of its backward economy. Trotsky argued that the revolution must quickly spread to capitalist countries, bringing about a socialist revolution that must spread worldwide. In this way, the revolution is "permanent", moving out of necessity first, from the bourgeois revolution to the workers' revolution and from there uninterruptedly to European and worldwide revolutions. An internationalist outlook of permanent revolution
2128-579: A legal budget with Liverpool passing an illegal deficit budget on 14 June 1985, although the proposal for a general strike was never carried through. After being advised by the District Auditor that the council would be unable to pay wages after November, the Labour group on the council decided in September 1985 to issue ninety-day notices to the 30,000 strong workforce. Militant said the redundancy notices were
2280-403: A legitimate place within the Labour Party. The charges being levelled against Militant that it is 'a party within a party' is one that can be levelled with equal justification against any other groups within the Labour Party on both the left and right... The very existence of the Militant and other groups within the Labour Party is a source of strength rather than a weakness. By working for
2432-400: A long democratic tradition, and there is no possibility of a socialist society being attained here without the working class, and the middle class, being convinced of the necessity of the change." I left Mr Taaffe thinking that Militant and Andy Bevan between them have got Transport House over a barrel. The Militant newspaper argued that the Labour Party lost the 1979 election due to anger at
2584-464: A majority, by throwing two formerly Liberal-held seats in northern England to Labour; however, the outcome of the election would not have been meaningfully altered had the Liberals retained the seats, as Labour would still have had as many seats as the other two parties combined, and Liberal leader Jo Grimond did not want to support a Conservative minority government. Douglas-Home told D. R. Thorpe that
2736-521: A minority Labour Council should have set an illegal "deficit budget" in 1980, demanding money from the central government to balance the books. In May 1983, despite negative press coverage, the Militant-led Labour Party gained the council from a coalition Conservative-Liberal administration on a swing of 12 seats in the local elections running on an ambitious regeneration strategy with a refusal to make above-inflation rent and rate increases. In
2888-508: A newly established body and called for the strengthening of its formal responsibilities to support a balanced level of economic reconstruction after the Civil War. Lenin and Politburo members had also proposed he served as deputy chairman with a focus on economic matters related to the either STO , Gosplan or the Council of National Economy. Trotsky had urged economic decentralisation between
3040-497: A non-socialist, individualist alternative to Labour. The two key domestic policy pledges in its manifesto Think for Yourself, Vote Liberal were healthcare reform and devolution for Scotland and Wales . The Liberals also were distinguished by their internationalist and pro-European foreign policy, becoming the first major party to endorse British membership in the European Economic Union . Supporters and leaders of
3192-460: A number of Old Bolsheviks who signed The Declaration of 46 raised concerns to the Poliburo concerning intra-party democracy which shared similarities with Lenin's proposed party reforms before his death. The signatories of the 46 letter expressed grievances related to the provincial conferences, party congresses and the election of committees. Separately, Trotsky would develop his views further with
SECTION 20
#17328513609493344-726: A part in his removal, In December, the Labour Party National Executive Committee decided by a 15:12 majority to uphold the appointment, but with Callaghan's open disapproval. Forty members of the Parliamentary Labour Party condemned Bevan's appointment. The Daily Express commented: "Just five men have Labour on the Trot... Express dossier of the unknowns behind the Red challenge to Jim." The Times carried three articles in early December 1976 and an editorial about
3496-466: A policy to restrict workers' incomes: "For a generation now British Capitalism has been in decline... The capitalists are responsible for this mess. But they want the burdens to be borne by the working class, while their fabulous profits continue to rise. They wanted the Labour government to impose an incomes policy." In 1965, highly critical of the policies agreed at the Eighth World Congress of
3648-464: A result of the so-called 'inviolability of frontiers' or 'aggression', but because of the damage this action caused to the consciousness of the workers of other countries." The Soviet government was "being totally hypocritical" and acting to defend its own interests. But in Militant itself, Ted Grant and Alan Woods argued that nevertheless, now the Russian troops were there they could not leave and allow
3800-463: A result, the global working class would come to Russia's aid, and socialism could develop worldwide. According to political scientist Baruch Knei-Paz, Trotsky’s theory of “permanent revolution” was grossly misrepresented by Stalin as defeatist and adventurist during the succession struggle when in fact Trotsky encouraged revolutions in Europe but was not at any time proposing “reckless confrontations” with
3952-493: A result, they are linked to and rely on the feudal landowners in many ways. Thus, Trotsky argues that because a majority of the branches of industry in Russia originated under the direct influence of government measures—sometimes with the help of government subsidies—the capitalist class was again tied to the ruling elite. The capitalist class was subservient to European capital. The theory of permanent revolution further considers that
4104-457: A resurgence after a virtual wipeout in the 1950s, and doubled its share of the vote, primarily at the expense of the Conservatives. Although Labour did not increase its vote share significantly, the fall in support for the Conservatives led to Wilson securing an overall majority of four seats. This proved to be unworkable, and Wilson called a snap election in 1966 . The pre-election campaign
4256-547: A revival of freedom of Soviet parties, beginning with the party of Bolsheviks, and a resurrection of the trade unions. The bringing of democracy into industry means a radical revision of plans in the interests of toilers. Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed , 1936 In 1931, Trotsky wrote a pamphlet on the Spanish Revolution and called for the creation of worker’s juntas in emulation of elected soviets as an expression of working class organisation. Trotsky stipulated
4408-414: A revolution in peasant-based countries such as Russia ultimately prepares the ground for capitalism's development since the liberated peasants become small owners, producers, and traders. This leads to the growth of commodity markets, from which a new capitalist class emerges. Trotsky agreed that a new socialist state and economy in a country like Russia would not be able to hold out against the pressures of
4560-420: A slow, gradual, almost imperceptible progress towards nationalisation." The Observer ran the first article on Militant, "Trot conspirators inside Labour Party", at the end of August 1975. Its author, Nora Beloff , wrote that Militant was a "party within a party". Militant asserted the consonance of its policies with the decisions of the Labour Party conference, which, it said, demonstrated its legitimacy as
4712-478: A socialist one. According to this position, a socialist revolution could not occur in a backward, feudal country such as early 20th-century Russia when it had such a small and almost powerless capitalist class. In 1905, Trotsky formulated his theory of permanent revolution , which later became a defining characteristic of Trotskyism. The theory of permanent revolution addressed how such feudal regimes were to be overthrown and how socialism could establish itself, given
Militant tendency - Misplaced Pages Continue
4864-482: A source of intense historical debate. However, on balance, scholarly opinion among a range of prominent historians and political scientists such as E.H. Carr , Isaac Deutscher , Moshe Lewin , Ronald Suny , Richard B. Day and W. Bruce Lincoln was that Lenin’s desired “heir” would have been a collective responsibility in which Trotsky was placed in "an important role and within which Stalin would be dramatically demoted (if not removed)". Trotsky advocated for
5016-496: A very slim majority of four seats, forming a government for the first time since 1951. Labour achieved a swing of just over 3%, although its vote rose by only 0.3% and it earned a lesser number of votes than in its previous defeats of 1955 and 1959. The main shift in votes was a 5.7% swing from the Conservatives to the Liberals. The Liberals defied popular expectations of a net loss and won nearly twice as many votes as in 1959, partly because they fielded 150 more candidates. Although this
5168-541: Is also the only time that both Labour and the Conservatives have taken over 300 seats each, and was the last election in which any one party (the Conservatives) contested every single seat. The Conservatives had previously chose not to contest certain Liberal-held seats as per local-level agreements to avoid vote splitting , but ended that policy at this election. The resultant splitting of votes actually helped grant Labour
5320-453: Is found in the works of Karl Marx . The term "permanent revolution" is taken from a remark of Marx in his March 1850 Address: "it is our task", Marx said: [...] to make the revolution permanent until all the more or less propertied classes have been driven from their ruling positions, until the proletariat has conquered state power and until the association of the proletarians has progressed sufficiently far—not only in one country but in all
5472-405: Is lacking, yet the economy is largely in the hands of the state, are termed by orthodox Trotskyist theories as degenerated or deformed workers' states and not socialist states. Bureaucratic autocracy must give place to Soviet democracy. A restoration of the right of criticism, and a genuine freedom of elections, are necessary conditions for the further development of the country. This assumes
5624-482: Is often labelled rightist within the communist spectrum and left communism leftist, anti-revisionists' idea of the left is very different from that of left communism. Despite being Bolshevik-Leninist comrades during the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War , Trotsky and Stalin became enemies in the 1920s and, after that, opposed the legitimacy of each other's forms of Leninism. Trotsky was highly critical of
5776-586: Is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International . Trotsky described himself as an orthodox Marxist , a revolutionary Marxist , and a Bolshevik – Leninist as well as a follower of Karl Marx , Frederick Engels , Vladimir Lenin , Karl Liebknecht , and Rosa Luxemburg . His relations with Lenin have been
5928-471: The 1983 general election elections, Militant supporter Terry Fields won Liverpool Broadgreen . In 1984, Liverpool City Council launched its Urban Regeneration Strategy to build 5,000 houses and other public works, cancelling 1,200 planned redundancies, creating 1,000 new jobs as well as abolishing office of Lord mayor . In 1985, the council joined other left wing councils in the rate-capping rebellion , although only Liverpool and Lambeth refused to set
6080-503: The Committee for a Workers' International (CWI). In 1970, Militant bought premises belonging to the old Independent Labour Party . In September 1971, the Militant newspaper became fortnightly, although still just four pages, and in January 1972 it became weekly. By the end of 1972 it became an 8-page weekly. By 1972, Militant supporters in the Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) had won
6232-595: The Fourth International , the Militant tendency abandoned attempts to remain a section of this grouping. According to an internal document by Grant, the International considered Militant to have "a poorly functioning organization" and aligned itself instead with the International Marxist Group (IMG). By 1969, Militant had ceased to use the name Revolutionary Socialist League internally. In 1974, Militant founded
Militant tendency - Misplaced Pages Continue
6384-607: The Great Purges of 1937–1938, effectively removing all of Trotsky's internal influence in the USSR. Nikita Khrushchev had come to power as head of the Communist Party in Ukraine, signing lists of other Trotskyists to be executed. Trotsky and the party of Trotskyists were still recognized as enemies of the USSR during Khrushchev's rule of the USSR after 1956. Trotsky's Fourth International
6536-577: The Militant's Editorial board consisted of five people, with an additional sixty-four full-time staff. The Hayward-Hughes inquiry, which reported in June 1982, found that Militant was guilty of breaking Clause II, section 3 of the Labour Party constitution. It took only one of the four parts of this passage to render an organisation incompatible with the Labour Party: "Programme, Principles and Policy for separate and distinctive propaganda, possessing branches in
6688-529: The New York Intellectuals . Trotsky presented a critique of contemporary literary movements such as Futurism and emphasised a need of cultural autonomy for the development of a socialist culture. According to literary critic Terry Eagleton , Trotsky recognised "like Lenin on the need for a socialist culture to absorb the finest products of bourgeois art". Trotsky himself viewed the proletarian culture as "temporary and transitional" which would provide
6840-511: The Polaris nuclear weapons programme, Wilson quickly decided to avoid this topic altogether due to the continuing popularity of an independent British nuclear deterrent. Labour's platform of a "socialist foreign policy" also criticised the Conservative government for its handling of a scandal involving the British defence contractor Ferranti , the Aden Emergency , Cypriot intercommunal violence ,
6992-621: The USSR in February 1929. As the head of the Fourth International , Trotsky continued in exile to oppose what he termed the degenerated workers' state in the USSR. On 20 August 1940, Trotsky was attacked in Mexico City by Ramón Mercader , a Spanish-born NKVD agent, and died the next day in a hospital. His murder is considered a political assassination. Almost all Trotskyists within the VKP(b) were executed in
7144-777: The Workers International League in the 1930s and the post-war Revolutionary Communist Party . The Revolutionary Socialist League was organised in 1957 around the newspaper Socialist Fight . About 40 strong, they were Labour Party members, mainly based in Liverpool, with small forces in London and in South Wales. The Militant newspaper was founded in 1964 after the National Secretary Jimmy Deane , together with Grant, Keith Dickenson, Ellis Hillman and others on
7296-604: The bureaucracy and anti-democratic current developed in the Soviet Union under Stalin . Despite their ideological disputes, Trotsky and Lenin were close personally prior to the London Congress of Social Democrats in 1903 and during the First World War . Lenin and Trotsky were close ideologically and personally during the Russian Revolution and its aftermath. Trotskyists and some others call Trotsky its "co-leader". This
7448-494: The peasantry as a whole cannot take on the task of carrying through the revolution because it is dispersed in small holdings throughout the country and forms a heterogeneous grouping, including the rich peasants who employ rural workers and aspire to landlordism as well as the poor peasants who aspire to own more land. Trotsky argues: "All historical experience [...] shows that the peasantry are absolutely incapable of taking up an independent political role". Trotskyists differ on
7600-592: The poll tax . In 1991, Militant decided by a large majority to abandon entryism in the Labour Party. Ted Grant , formerly the group's highest political authority, opposed this decision. Along with his supporters, he founded Socialist Appeal , which in 2024 developed into the Revolutionary Communist Party . The remaining majority changed its name to Militant Labour and then in 1997 to the Socialist Party . Militant's Trotskyist roots stretched back to
7752-545: The proletariat , and a dictatorship of the proletariat (as opposed to the " dictatorship of the bourgeoisie ", which Marxists argue is a major component of capitalism ) based on working-class self-emancipation and council democracy . Trotsky also adhered to scientific socialism and viewed this as a conscious expression of historical processes. Trotskyists are critical of Stalinism as they oppose Joseph Stalin 's theory of socialism in one country in favour of Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution . Trotskyists criticize
SECTION 50
#17328513609497904-587: The war with Poland in 1920, proposed armistice with the Entente and temperance with staging anti-British revolts in the Middle East. Historian Robert Vincent Daniels believed that the practical differences, in the domain of international policy , between the Left Opposition and other factions had been exaggerated and he contended that Trotsky was no more prepared than other Bolshevik figures to risk war or for
8056-489: The "Walton Young Socialists" indicated the significance with which Taaffe and Militant viewed the young socialists, and began the practice of Militant members identifying themselves with their local Labour Party or trade union. With Taaffe in Liverpool, Roger Protz , Keith Dickinson, Ted Grant and others did most of the work on the first few issues. In the editorial of the first issue of the Militant in October 1964, Taaffe made
8208-483: The "first directly political strikes" in what threatened to be an "irreparable breach between the Labour leaders and their base in the Labour Movement". Militant argued that the struggle between the Labour Party leadership and the trade unions arose from the poor economic performance of Britain compared to its competitors. For them, the "capitalist class" wished to make the working class pay for this "crisis" through
8360-472: The 1964 general election, which the Labour Party won with a majority of four seats, Militant called for "No retreat by Labour" from its promises, urging the carrying out of its promised nationalisation of steel and urban land and calling on it to "take action against the big monopolies, combines and trusts which dominate the economy". Under the headline, "Another election 'pledge' broken", Militant denounced
8512-578: The 400 Monopolies". In the meantime, Roger Protz had severed his connection with the group. A letter from Protz, written around this time, was leaked to The Observer newspaper a decade later. It recalls his experiences at an early Militant editorial board meeting: We told Grant that he was hopelessly factional and sectarian, [and] that his attitude would strangle Militant [...] He began screaming and shouting, threatening that I had no rights at all as I wasn't active in RSL, hadn't proven myself, etc. In 1969,
8664-714: The Bolsheviks. Trotsky played a leading role with Lenin in the October Revolution . Lenin and Trotsky were also both honorary presidents of the Third International . Trotskyists have traditionally drawn upon Lenin's testament and his alliance with Trotsky in 1922–23 against the Soviet bureaucracy as primary evidence that Lenin sought to remove Stalin from the position of General Secretary . Various historians have also cited Lenin's proposal to appoint Trotsky Vice-Chairman of
8816-538: The Conservative Party in the election. Even many Conservatives condemned Douglas-Home for the Resale Prices Act 1964 abolishing resale price maintenance . Douglas-Home's predecessor Macmillan described him as an "urbane but resolute character — iron painted to look like wood". However, his campaigning did allow the Conservative Party's gap in the polls to narrow. The Conservative manifesto Prosperity with
8968-507: The Conservative government since January 1957. Despite initial popularity and a resounding election victory in 1959, he had become increasingly unpopular in the early 1960s, due to rising unemployment and inflation during the recession of 1960–1961 and the United States' cancellation of the Skybolt program intended to provide Britain with an independent nuclear weapons delivery system after
9120-511: The Government recognises its responsibility then all notices will be withdrawn." Later, the Deputy Council leader Derek Hatton and Militant's national general secretary Taaffe saw the letter as a great error, although the Council set a legal budget in November 1985 after borrowing £30 million. Trotskyist Historical Historical Trotskyism ( Russian : Троцкизм , Trotskizm )
9272-482: The Labour Party NEC in December after an 18–9 vote. On 22 February 1983, after a 19 to 9 vote, Labour's National Executive Committee, decided to expel from the party the five members of Militant's Editorial Board, Taaffe, Grant, Keith Dickinson, Lynn Walsh and Clare Doyle. They appealed at the Labour Party national conference in October of that year. Two-thirds of constituency delegates voted against expulsions but
SECTION 60
#17328513609499424-504: The Labour Party central office files on left-wingers. In 1975 Eric Heffer , a member of the NEC, remarked "There have been Trotskyists in the Labour Party for thirty years". Tony Benn , frequently nicknamed 'Kerensky' by the leadership of Militant ( Alexander Kerensky 's provisional government was 'replaced' by the Bolsheviks), defended the group. In a television interview, Benn drew a parallel with
9576-520: The Labour Party was temporarily divided due to the death of Gaitskell in 1963 and the subsequent leadership election . Although Wilson won this election against his opponents George Brown and James Callaghan , he was mistrusted within the party because of his previous unsuccessful leadership challenge to Gaitskell in 1960 . The party also suffered from internal policy disputes over unilateral nuclear disarmament and Clause IV of its constitution, which committed it to nationalisation of industry. It
9728-447: The Labour Party. At the 1972 Labour Party Conference , a resolution moved and seconded by Militant supporters Pat Wall and Ray Apps was passed by 3,501,000 votes to 2,497,000. It demanded that the Labour government commit itself to enacting "an enabling bill to secure the public ownership of the major monopolies". Pat Wall , later an MP, asserted: "No power on earth can stop the organised labour movement!" and "called for Labour to win
9880-443: The Labour Party. Hayward, according to Tam Dalyell , was thought to be unduly forgiving of Militant by some in the party, and while Hayward and Hughes agreed with Michael Foot 's opposition to expulsions in his New Year message for 1982, they said that Militant would be ineligible for their proposed register. The group was given three months to conform to the party rules. Labour Weekly , the Labour Party's own newspaper, cast doubts on
10032-562: The Labour government came into conflict with the trade unions over its In Place of Strife white paper which was later withdrawn. Militant's national secretary Taaffe outlined how "the trade union and Labour Movement scored a tremendous victory in forcing the Labour government to climb down over its proposed anti-trade union legislation" in the first issue of the Militant International Review (Autumn 1969), Militant's quarterly theoretical journal. Several strikes had taken place,
10184-597: The Labour victory to Wilson's greater popularity than Home and the party's appeal to younger voters. After British elections in the 1980s and the 1990s challenged many of the assumptions of Butler and Stokes's model, the BES issued a second 2001 report by political scientists from the University of Texas and the University of Essex emphasizing the role of valence politics over public perception of party performance. Working-class voters also selected Labour in greater numbers than in
10336-528: The Liberal Party hoped for a breakthrough in 1964 which would re-establish it as a powerful force in British politics after its near-extinction in the 1950s; the party's surprise victory in the 1962 Orpington by-election , its first in a seat outside of the "Celtic fringe" of Wales , Scotland , and the West Country in over a decade, had created optimism and a sense of momentum for a recovery. However, by 1964
10488-475: The Liberals had lost much of their momentum to a series of by-election and local election losses, and faced growing financial difficulties. Many party speakers, especially at televised rallies, had to deal with hecklers; in particular Douglas-Home was treated very roughly at a meeting in Birmingham . Douglas-Home's speeches dealt with the future of the nuclear deterrent, while fears of Britain's relative decline on
10640-511: The Queen and asked for a dissolution of Parliament . The dissolution notably occurred without a formal royal prorogation and recall for the first time since 1922. The campaign was dominated by some of the more voluble characters of the political scene at the time. While George Brown , deputy leader of the Labour Party, toured the country making energetic speeches (and the occasional gaffe ), Quintin Hogg
10792-489: The Russian Revolution with the Great French Revolution, the former can never be transformed into a repetition of the latter." In the French Revolution of 1789 , France experienced what Marxists called a " bourgeois-democratic revolution "—a regime was established wherein the bourgeoisie overthrew the existing French feudalistic system. The bourgeoisie then moved towards establishing a regime of democratic parliamentary institutions. However, while democratic rights were extended to
10944-412: The Russian revolution. Soviet scholar Robert Bird considered his work as the "first systematic treatment of art by a Communist leader" and a catalyst for later, Marxist cultural and critical theories. He had also defended intellectual autonomy in relation to the Russian literary movements and scientific theories such as Freudian psychoanalytic theory along with Einstein ’s theory of relativity during
11096-546: The Soviet Union as further evidence that he intended Trotsky to be his successor as head of government . In 1927, Trotsky was purged from the Communist Party and Soviet politics. In October, by order of Stalin, Trotsky was removed from power and, in November, expelled from the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (aka: VKP(b)). He was exiled to Alma-Ata (now Almaty) in January 1928 and then expelled from
11248-556: The Stalinist USSR for suppressing democracy and the lack of adequate economic planning. Overall, Trotsky and the Left-United Opposition factions advocated for rapid industrialization , voluntary collectivisation of agriculture, and the expansion of a worker's democracy . Until 1905, some revolutionaries claimed that Marx's theory of history posited that only a revolution in a European capitalist society would lead to
11400-457: The Tories" was the headline of the first issue of Militant , published just before the general election of 1964 with an article written by the business editor, S. Mani. Below the Militant logo were the words "For Youth and Labour". Inside, above the editorial, was printed: "Militant. Editor: Peter Taaffe (Walton Young Socialists). All correspondence to the business manager: S. Mani". The addition of
11552-536: The West and controversies around party schisms. In the Transitional Program , which was drafted in 1938 during the founding congress of the Fourth International , Trotsky reiterated the need for the legalization of the Soviet parties and worker's control of production . The concept of uneven and combined development derived from the political theories of Trotsky. This concept was developed in combination with
11704-546: The Witch-Hunt Campaign", based at Corbyn's then address. In September 1982, Militant held a special conference against the 'witch-hunt' at the Wembley Conference Centre at which Ken Livingstone spoke. An attendance was claimed of 1,622 delegates from Constituency Labour Parties and 412 trade union delegates plus visitors, At such mass rallies in this period, Militant displayed two huge banners at each side of
11856-445: The activities of Militant was completed in November 1975, and was soon leaked. By a majority of 16 to 12, the Labour Party's National Executive Committee decided to take no action. Many on the NEC, then with a left-wing majority, were "determined not to allow a return to what they saw as the 'McCarthyism' of the past". The proscribed list had fallen into disuse and Ron Hayward , Labour Party General Secretary from 1972, claimed he burned
12008-474: The adoption of alternative policies and candidates, they assist the democratic functioning of the party. At the 1982 Labour Party Conference which followed, the Hayward-Hughes report was endorsed and Militant was declared ineligible for affiliation to the Labour Party. While most Labour Party constituencies were against the register, the motion was endorsed at the conference. Militant was finally proscribed by
12160-602: The aim of winning in the first instance, the most conscious, combative, fighting, i.e. militant, sections of the working class." Some Trotskyists referred to the new group, still known internally as the Revolutionary Socialist League, as the Grantites after their leading theoretician Ted Grant. The founders of Militant had roots in labour and trade union organisations, especially in the Merseyside area. Jimmy Deane ,
12312-517: The appeal of each member was lost when the unions cast their block votes in a card vote, 5,160,000 to 1,616,000 in each case except for that of Grant who got 175,000 extra votes in his favour. Lynn Walsh, in his failed appeal asserted: "Militant is not an organisation, it is not subsidiary or ancillary to any organisation outside the party ... Militant was proscribed as a result of an entirely one-sided inquiry which acted on McCarthyite reports and poison-pen letters from self-appointed snoopers." Following
12464-516: The autocracy there stood a capitalist bourgeoisie, very small in numbers, isolated from the "people", half-foreign, without historical traditions, and inspired only by the greed for gain. For instance, the Putilov Factory numbered 12,000 workers in 1900 and, according to Trotsky, 36,000 in July 1917. Although only a tiny minority in Russian society, the proletariat would lead a revolution to emancipate
12616-431: The autumn of 1963. Douglas-Home faced a difficult task in rebuilding the party's popularity with just a year elapsing between taking office and having to face a general election. Wilson had begun to try to tie the Labour Party to the growing confidence of Britain in the 1960s, asserting that the "white heat of revolution" would sweep away "restrictive practices ... on both sides of industry". The Liberal Party enjoyed
12768-656: The basis of proportional representation . On the other hand, he had accepted the ban on rival parties in Moscow during the Russian Civil War due to their opposition to the October Revolution . Yet, he also opposed the extension of the ban to the Mensheviks in Soviet Georgia . In 1922, Lenin allied with Leon Trotsky against the party's growing bureaucratisation and the influence of Joseph Stalin . In 1923, Trotsky and
12920-480: The bourgeoisie, they were not generally extended to a universal franchise. The freedom for workers to organize unions or to strike was not achieved without considerable struggle. Trotsky argues that countries like Russia had no "enlightened, active" revolutionary bourgeoisie which could play the same role, and the working class constituted a tiny minority. By the time of the European revolutions of 1848, "the bourgeoisie
13072-675: The cancellation of the Blue Streak project. Although Macmillan ended the latter crisis with the Nassau Agreement guaranteeing US assistance in the Polaris programme of submarine-launched ballistic missiles , this also indirectly harmed his reputation after French President Charles de Gaulle vetoed Britain's accession bid to the European Communities over his scepticism of the Anglo-American " Special Relationship ." However,
13224-512: The capitalist world. Revolutions in Britain in the 17th century and in France in 1789 abolished feudalism and established the essential requisites for the development of capitalism. Trotsky argued that these revolutions would not be repeated in Russia. In Results and Prospects , written in 1906, Trotsky outlines his theory in detail, arguing: "History does not repeat itself. However much one may compare
13376-656: The constituencies; promoting their own candidates for public office; and, finally, owing allegiance to any political organisation situated abroad." In the words of the authors: "It is clear that the Militant Tendency is a well organised caucus[,] centrally controlled[,] operation within the Labour Party and it is equally clear that supporters of the Tendency are in control of the Labour Party Young Socialists at National and Regional level." Crick though, pointed out that numerous other groups within Labour left and right, had also broken
13528-540: The country. In foreign policy it pledged a re-evaluation of previous governments' foreign aid and alliances , increased British assertiveness at the United Nations, and a build-up of the conventional components of the British Armed Forces , but did not promise unilateral nuclear disarmament as some left-wing members of the party desired. While early campaigning suggested that a Labour government would abandon
13680-539: The danger of the Militant tendency, which it exposed as wanting to "establish a group of MPs". Ted Grant , writing in Militant , was optimistic at the time: "This witch hunt will fail, among other reasons, because of the justified hatred and distrust of the Labour Party for the capitalist press and their day to day poisonous propaganda against the labour movement." Andy Bevan faced a demonstration from his Labour colleagues outside Transport House when he finally began his job in January 1977. Militant general secretary Taaffe
13832-613: The defence of Malaysia in the Borneo Confrontation . Although the Conservatives made limited appeals to new Caribbean, African, and South Asian immigrants by printing campaign literature in Hindi and Urdu , it defended the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 restricting immigration of Commonwealth citizens . As in previous elections since its decline, the Liberal Party under Jo Grimond 's leadership positioned itself as
13984-664: The election defeat in 1983 the NEC agreed to ban sales of Militant at party meetings and the Militant tendency was prohibited from using party facilities. By 1986, 40 expulsions had taken place of Militant supporters in the ranks of the Labour Party. In 1982, Liverpool District Labour Party had adopted Militant policies and the slogan "Better to break the law than break the poor" from the Poplar Rates Rebellion , claiming that cuts to Liverpool's Rate Support Grant meant that £30 million had been "stolen" from Liverpool by Margaret Thatcher's government. Militant supporters argued that
14136-410: The end of the 1970s, the Militant tendency was calling for the nationalisation of the top 250 monopolies, later 200, rather than 350 monopolies, because mergers were concentrating ownership further. Between 1975 and 1980, the Labour Party's National Executive Committee voted against expulsion. Conscious of his own past, and those of others on the Labour left, Michael Foot , Labour's leader from 1980,
14288-518: The escalation of the Vietnam War , arms sales to apartheid South Africa , and a contract to construct naval frigates for Francoist Spain . Douglas-Home's unpopularity – caused by his aristocratic background, his accession to the premiership without a formal election, his economic and trade policies, and the side-lining of popular Conservative leaders such as Enoch Powell and Iain Macleod – harmed
14440-412: The essentially feudal landlords and, ultimately, the existing Czarist Russian state forces. This was to protect their ownership of their property—factories, banks, etc.—from expropriation by the revolutionary working class. Therefore, according to the theory of permanent revolution, the capitalist classes of economically backward countries are weak and incapable of carrying through revolutionary change. As
14592-528: The executive of the RSL, decided to wind up Socialist Fight and start another newspaper, initially as a four-page monthly. Peter Taaffe was appointed the first editor, and in 1965 became national secretary. The name of the paper was the same as the American SWP publication The Militant , and as a result "most of the pioneers of Militant were not enthralled by the choice of the name" writes Taaffe. But " Militant did stand for what its proponents intended:
14744-416: The extent to which this is true today. However, even the most orthodox tend to recognise in the late twentieth century a new development in the revolts of the rural poor: the self-organising struggles of the landless, along with many other struggles that in some ways reflect the militant united, organised struggles of the working class, which to various degrees do not bear the marks of class divisions typical of
14896-435: The factories and workplaces; and that the collective consciousness it achieves as a result is an essential ingredient of the socialist reconstruction of society. Trotsky himself argued that only the proletariat or working class were capable of achieving the tasks of that bourgeois revolution. In 1905, the working class in Russia, a generation brought together in vast factories from the relative isolation of peasant life, saw
15048-699: The first national secretary of Militant, was an electrician and shop convenor at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead who joined the Labour Party in 1937 and was one of the pioneers of Trotskyism in Merseyside. Taaffe joined the Labour Party in 1960, and "In the Labour Party I discovered radical, socialist, Marxist ideas and in the course of discussion and debate I accepted those ideas." Taaffe, together with Ted Mooney and other founding Militant supporters, participated in an apprentices' strike, leading apprentices in English Electric on Merseyside's East Lancashire Road. "Drive Out
15200-491: The forged Zinoviev letter , and claimed the documents published by Underhill had come from the "intelligence service or wherever". At the same time in late 1975, cabinet minister Reg Prentice , later a Conservative minister, was deselected by his Constituency Labour Party in Newham North-East . Labour Party Prime Minister Harold Wilson declared that "small and certainly not necessarily representative groups" had "secured
15352-400: The foundations for a culture above classes. He also argued that the pre-conditions for artistic creativity were economic well-being and emancipation from material constraints. Political scientist, Baruch Knei-Paz, characterised his view on the role of the party as transmitters of culture to the masses and raising the standards of education, as well as entry into the cultural sphere, but that
15504-430: The general election. Later, Taaffe asserted: [T]he Labour leadership, attempting to manage capitalism in a period of crisis, embarked on attacks on workers' living standards, in particular through a series of pay policies...Through their policies during 1974–9, the Labour leaders paved the way for Thatcher. Militant opposed the Russian invasion of Afghanistan of December 1979, "not for abstract reasons, as [for example]
15656-522: The governmental level; however, their outreach was weakened by the Rookes v Barnard decision allowing employers to collect punitive damages from strike actions and Douglas-Home's tough approach to industrial relations. As a result, trade unions heavily supported Labour in the election and encouraged working-class support of the party. As much as 85 per cent of Labour's election spending consisted of funds raised by trade unions. Aggregate data analyses of
15808-415: The heroic peasant struggles of previous epochs. However, orthodox Trotskyists today still argue that the town- and city-based working-class struggle is central to the task of a successful socialist revolution linked to these struggles of the rural poor. They argue that the working class learns of the necessity to conduct a collective struggle, for instance, in trade unions, arising from its social conditions in
15960-459: The implementation of the First five-year plan . He noted that several engineers and economists who had created the plan were themselves later put on trial as " conscious wreckers who had acted on the instructions of a foreign power". Polish historian and biographer, Isaac Deutscher , viewed his inner-party reforms in 1923–24 as arguably the first act in the restoration of free Soviet institutions which
16112-459: The increased spending on nuclear weapons and their retention by the Labour Party, contrary to its commitment to nuclear disarmament. The paper supported the trade union struggle against the Labour government's incomes policy . Militant argued that the only long-term solution to the problems facing working-class people was to end capitalism through a socialist transformation of society, nationally and internationally. In 1965, it demanded: "Nationalise
16264-412: The lack of economic prerequisites. Trotsky argued that only the working class could overthrow feudalism and win the peasantry 's support in Russia. Furthermore, he argued that the Russian working class would not stop there. They would win their revolution against the weak capitalist class, establish a workers' state in Russia and appeal to the working class in the advanced capitalist countries worldwide. As
16416-404: The leading countries of the world—that competition between the proletarians of these countries ceases and at least the decisive forces of production are concentrated in the hands of the workers. His biographer, Isaac Deutscher, has explicitly contrasted his support for proletarian internationalism against his opposition to revolution by military conquest as seen with his documented opposition to
16568-439: The left. In the 1920s, they called themselves the Left Opposition , although today's left communism is distinct and usually non-Bolshevik. The terminological disagreement can be confusing because different versions of a left-right political spectrum are used. Anti-revisionists consider themselves the ultimate leftists on a spectrum from communism on the left to imperialist capitalism on the right. However, given that Stalinism
16720-476: The loss of trade opportunities despite his support for world revolution . Prior to the October Revolution, Trotsky had been part of an old radical democracy which included both Left Mensheviks and Left Bolsheviks . His work, Our Political Tasks , published in 1904 reviewed issues related to party organisation, mass participation and the potential dangers of substitutionism which he foresaw in
16872-475: The mainstream left Clause Four Group . After James Callaghan had taken over as Labour Party's Prime Minister in September 1976, two trade unionists on the right of the party, and Ron Hayward, the General Secretary, on Hayward's casting vote, decided to appoint Militant supporter Andy Bevan as the Labour Party's Young Socialist Youth Officer. Bevan had been a member of Reg Prentice's constituency and played
17024-734: The most important reason for the Conservative loss was Iain Macleod 's "The Tory Leadership" article , in which the former cabinet minister claimed that an Etonian "magic circle" conspiracy had led to him becoming prime minister. British Ambassador to the United States David Ormsby-Gore wrote to Home that "Almost anything could have tipped the balance. Khrushchev 's removal from office twelve hours earlier, China’s nuclear explosion thirty-six hours earlier or just Rab [Butler] keeping his mouth shut for once." David Butler and Donald E. Stokes 's influential 1969 British Election Study report Political Change in Britain attributed
17176-423: The need for shared participation of the communist factions, anarcho-syndicalists and socialists . In 1936, Trotsky argued in his work, The Revolution Betrayed , for the restoration of the right of criticism in areas such as economic matters , the revitalization of trade unions and free elections of the Soviet parties . Trotsky also argued that the excessive authoritarianism under Stalin had undermined
17328-423: The part of the population and for suppressing workers' self-management and democratic participation in the management of the economy. Because these authoritarian political measures were inconsistent with the organizational precepts of socialism, Trotsky characterized the Soviet Union as a deformed workers' state that would not be able to effectively transition to socialism. Ostensibly socialist states where democracy
17480-401: The party had sought to establish in 1917 and the return of worker's democracy which would correspond with a gradual dismantlement of the single-party system . At the same time, Deutscher noted that Trotsky's attitude towards democracy could be characterised as inconsistent and hesitant by opponents but this stemmed from a range of reasons such as the ill timing after the failed revolutions in
17632-408: The peasantry and thus "secure the support of the peasantry" as part of that revolution, on whose support it will rely. However, to improve their conditions, the working class must create a revolution of their own, which would accomplish the bourgeois revolution and establish a workers' state. Only fully developed capitalist conditions prepare the basis for socialism. According to classical Marxism ,
17784-524: The previous election, due in part to the weakening of the post-war boom which had popularized the Conservatives in the 1950s, although the Conservatives attracted a greater number of female voters than before. The Conservatives tried to attract working-class voters by improving the party's relationships with trade unions through the Conservative Trade Union Councils at the party level and the new National Economic Development Council at
17936-417: The process of artistic creation in terms of language and presentation should be the domain of the practitioner. Knei-Paz also noted key distinctions between Trotsky's approach on cultural matters and Stalin's policy in the 1930s . Trotsky was an early proponent of economic planning since 1923 and favored an accelerated pace of industrialization. In 1921, he had also been a prominent supporter of Gosplan as
18088-627: The publication of the New Course in 1924. In 1927, Trotsky and the United Opposition had argued for the expansion of industrial democracy with their joint platform which demanded majority representation of workers in trade union congresses including the All-Union Congress and an increase of non-party workers to one-third of representation in these elected organs. They also supported legal protection for worker's right to criticise such as
18240-518: The rate support grant. Forty-seven councillors were banned and surcharged . The conduct of the Liverpool council led Neil Kinnock , Labour's leader, to denounce Militant at the 1985 Party Conference. Eventually, Militant's two remaining Labour MPs were prevented from being Labour candidates at the 1992 general election . Between 1989 and 1991, Militant led the All Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation 's non-payment campaign against
18392-445: The related theory of permanent revolution to explain the historical context of Russia. He would later elaborate on this theory to explain the specific laws of uneven development in 1930 and the conditions for a possible revolutionary scenario. According to biographer Ian Thatcher, this theory would be later generalised to "the entire history of mankind". Political scientists Emanuele Saccarelli and Latha Varadarajan valued his theory as
18544-525: The renationalisation of the steel and road haulage industries, but declared that it would not nationalise any further industries. The party also promised expansions of social services, tax reform, and what would become the prices and incomes policy to control inflation . In education it sought comprehensivisation of secondary education and a higher school-leaving age , while in immigration it sought both immigration quotas restricting future entry and equal rights for immigrants who had already arrived in
18696-434: The result of its labour as a vast collective effort, also seeing the only means of struggling against its oppression in terms of a collective effort, forming workers councils ( soviets ) in the course of the revolution of that year. In 1906, Trotsky argued: The factory system brings the proletariat to the foreground [...] The proletariat immediately found itself concentrated in tremendous masses, while between these masses and
18848-552: The results demonstrate higher turnout in constituencies dominated by the professional–managerial class , agricultural workers , council tenants , voters without automobiles, and the elderly. Many salaried professionals who ordinarily supported for the Conservatives voted for Labour because of high inflation. On the other hand, Labour's poorer performance in central and southern England and loss of five seats in that area indicated an increasing white working-class backlash against nonwhite immigration. The most notable example of this
19000-501: The right to make independent proposals. According to historian Vadim Rogovin , these proposals would have developed democracy in the sphere of production and facilitated the establishment of worker's control over economic management. Following Stalin's consolidation of power in the Soviet Union and static centralization of political power, Trotsky condemned the Soviet government's policies for lacking widespread democratic participation on
19152-492: The small majority meant the government could not implement its policy of renationalising the steel industry due to the opposition of backbenchers Woodrow Wyatt and Desmond Donnelly . 89 female candidates stood in the election, with 29 women being elected as MPs (11 for the Conservatives and 18 for Labour). This was the only election in Britain's recent history when all seats were won by the three main parties: no minor parties, independents or splinter groups won any seats. It
19304-577: The stage, one showing Marx and Engels, and the other showing Lenin and Trotsky. An editorial in the September–October 1982 issue of New Socialist , the Labour Party's internal magazine, objected to the accusations against Militant: The expulsion of leading Militant supporters [is] wrong. The Labour Party always has been a broad collection that includes Marxists amongst its ranks. The Militant tendency, drawing as it does upon Trotsky's critique of Stalinism, belongs to this Marxist tradition, and has
19456-475: The state, oblast regions and factories to counter structural inefficiency and the problem of bureaucracy. He had proposed the principles underlying the N.E.P. in 1920 to the Politburo to mitigate urgent economic matters arising from war communism. He would later reproach Lenin privately about the delayed government response in 1921-1922. However, his position also differed from the majority of Soviet leaders at
19608-421: The strategy of entryism clear: The job is to carry the message of Marxism to the ranks of the labour movement and to its young people. There is room for all tendencies in the labour movement, including the revolutionary Left. Above all the task is to gather together the most conscious elements in the labour movement to patiently explain the need for these policies on the basis of experience and events. Following
19760-530: The strictly worded constitution, such as Labour Solidarity, the Labour Co-ordinating Committee and the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy , but that "dislike of Militant" had developed "because it has breached the constitution so blatantly and, perhaps more importantly, so effectively". The inquiry proposed the setting up of a register of non-affiliated groups who would be allowed to operate within
19912-548: The success of That Was the Week That Was . The election night was broadcast live by BBC Television , presented for the fifth and final time by Richard Dimbleby , with Robin Day , Ian Trethowan , Cliff Michelmore and David Butler co-presenting. The Conservatives made a surprising recovery from being well behind Labour when Home became prime minister, and would have won if 900 voters in eight seats had changed votes. Labour won
20064-479: The succession period. However, these theories were increasingly marginalised during the Stalin era. Trotsky would later co-author the 1938 Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art with the endorsement of prominent artists Andre Breton and Diego Rivera . Trotsky's writings on literature such as his 1923 survey which advocated tolerance, limited censorship and respect for literary tradition had strong appeal to
20216-654: The time the Earl of Home , had taken over as Conservative leader and Prime Minister in October after Harold Macmillan announced his resignation in the wake of the Profumo affair . Douglas-Home shortly afterward disclaimed his peerage under the Peerage Act 1963 in order to lead the party from the Commons, subsequently standing in the Kinross and Western Perthshire by-election . Macmillan had led
20368-475: The time who fully supported the New Economic policy . 1964 United Kingdom general election Alec Douglas-Home Conservative Harold Wilson Labour The 1964 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 15 October 1964. It resulted in the Conservatives, led by incumbent Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home , narrowly losing to the Labour Party , led by Harold Wilson ; Labour secured
20520-423: The viability of such a register, which it said would only work in an "atmosphere of co-operation" but that "There is no evidence that such an atmosphere exists." In the July 1982 edition of London Labour Briefing , Jeremy Corbyn opposed expulsions of the organisation, saying that "If expulsions are in order for Militant, they should apply to us too." In the same year, he was the "provisional convener" of "Defeat
20672-494: The victory of the US-backed Mujahideen . "These tribesmen [are] 'dark masses', stuck in the gloom of barbarism." They further contended that, "The Russian bureaucracy and their Afghan supporters are, in effect, carrying through the tasks of the bourgeois democratic revolution in that country." By the late 1970s, the Militant newspaper was a 16-page weekly, outlining its organisations policies, activities and campaigns. By
20824-405: The workers to a programme of taking power by taking over the 350 monopolies which controlled 85 per cent of the economy". The conference agreed to call on the Labour Party executive: [F]ormulate a socialist plan of production based on public ownership, with minimum compensation, of the commanding heights of the economy. The Militant newspaper commented "This is an answer to those who argue for
20976-489: The working class into fighting for its revolutionary aspirations against their exploitation by capitalism. In Russia, the working class, although a small minority in a predominantly peasant-based society, was organised in vast factories owned by the capitalist class and into large working-class districts. During the Russian Revolution of 1905, the capitalist class found it necessary to ally with reactionary elements such as
21128-492: The world stage, reflected in chronic balance of payment problems, helped the Labour Party's case. By 1964, television had developed as a medium and played a much greater role than in previous British elections. The election received more coverage from current affairs programs such as BBC1 's Panorama , Associated-Rediffusion 's This Week , and Granada Television 's World in Action , as well as political satire inspired by
21280-493: The £8 billion cuts carried out by the Labour government, following the crisis caused by international speculation on the pound and the subsequent visit by the International Monetary Fund . It also blamed the Labour government's fiscal restraint of 1978–9, which, it claimed, gave rise to the " Winter of Discontent " – a period of union struggle against the government's wage restraint in the winter of 1978–1979, prior to
21432-410: Was a deep cancer within the party, the parliamentary party was on the verge of deeply splitting and was going to come apart." In December 1981, a Labour Party National Executive Committee inquiry team was set up, led by Ron Hayward and David Hughes, then the party's national agent. The inquiry sent a series of questions to the Militant tendency. The Militant general secretary, Taaffe, told the inquiry that
21584-564: Was a leading spokesman for the Conservatives. The image of Hogg lashing out at a Wilson poster with his walking stick was one of the most striking of the campaign. The Labour Party campaigned on what historian Andrew Thorpe called "the basis of revisionism given a significant twist in the direction of Wilsonian planning, and a more dirigiste approach to industrial modernization." Labour's manifesto Let's Go with Labour for New Britain reflected Wilson's belief that social justice and technological progress would transform industry to create
21736-434: Was already unable to play a comparable role. It did not want and was not able to undertake the revolutionary liquidation of the social system that stood in its path to power." The theory of permanent revolution considers that in many countries that are thought under Trotskyism to have not yet completed a bourgeois-democratic revolution, the capitalist class opposes the creation of any revolutionary situation. They fear stirring
21888-613: Was also alluded to by Rosa Luxemburg. Lenin himself never mentioned the concept of "Trotskyism" after Trotsky became a member of the Bolshevik party. Trotsky was the Red Army 's paramount leader in the Revolutionary period's direct aftermath. Trotsky initially opposed some aspects of Leninism but eventually concluded that unity between the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks was impossible and joined
22040-464: Was done for industrial purposes (mines) or for railways (tunnels); in the future this will be done on an immeasurably larger scale, according to a general industrial and artistic plan. Man will occupy himself with re-registering mountains and rivers, and will earnestly and repeatedly make improvements in nature . —Trotsky, Literature and Revolution , 1924 In Literature and Revolution , Trotsky examined aesthetic issues in relation to class and
22192-563: Was established in the French Third Republic in 1938 when Trotskyists argued that the Comintern or Third International had become irretrievably "lost to Stalinism" and thus incapable of leading the international working class to political power. According to Trotsky, his programme could be distinguished from other Marxist theories by five key elements: On the political spectrum of Marxism , Trotskyists are usually considered to be on
22344-571: Was for a while thought likely that the Conservatives would win the scheduled 1964 general election, albeit with a reduced majority, but the emergence of the Profumo affair in March 1963 and Macmillan's handling of the matter all but destroyed the credibility of his government. While he survived a vote of no confidence in June 1963, polling indicated that Labour would win the next election comfortably if Macmillan remained in power, which, along with health issues, prompted Macmillan to announce his resignation in
22496-459: Was initially against taking any action against Militant. The situation in the Labour Party at the time eventually forced his hand. According to Dianne Hayter , quoting from her interview with (then) MP Ken Woolmer , the 'Group of Ten' Labour members met Foot in the Leader's Room before Prime Minister's Questions . According to Woolmer, they said that "unless he denounced Militant, and recognised that it
22648-402: Was interviewed by Michael Davie , a journalist for The Observer , for an article published on 19 December 1976: "No country constitutes a genuinely democratic workers' state," Mr Taaffe said. He spoke of the "monstrous police apparatus" in Russia, and the dictatorships of China and Cuba. Why would not the same thing happen here, if everything was taken over by the state? "Because Britain has
22800-719: Was prolonged, as Douglas-Home delayed calling a general election to give himself as much time as possible to improve the prospects of his party. The Labour Party indicated that it held high popular support by winning the 1964 London local elections . This led to speculation that the Conservative government would not call an election in 1964 despite constitutional precedent requiring it do so quinquennially in peacetime. However, Conservative leaders became more optimistic about their chances after winning three by-elections in Winchester , Bury St. Edmunds , and Devizes . The election campaign formally began on 25 September 1964 when Douglas-Home saw
22952-454: Was proscribed by the Labour Party's National Executive Committee in December 1982 and the following year five members of the editorial board of the Militant newspaper were expelled from the Labour Party. At this point, the group claimed to have 4,300 members. Further expulsions of Militant activists followed. Militant policies dominated Liverpool City Council between 1983 and 1987 and the council organised mass opposition to government cuts to
23104-495: Was the Liberals' best electoral performance since the 1929 general election and left the party in a key parliamentary position due to Labour's slender majority, it failed to regain its pre- World War II status as a party of government as it had hoped. Wilson became Prime Minister , replacing Douglas-Home; Labour's four-seat majority was not sustainable for a full Parliament, and Wilson ultimately called another general election in 1966 which saw his majority expanded. In particular,
#948051