The Rise of Gerry Healy working class policies of the Labour Govemnent. logethe the upsurge of the European rorking e in Spain and Portugal, are today creating a much greater sebate on Marxist ideas than has existed for seepl Merit ores ba the nalre of sopiety, mia thee solution to its crisis, but a lerment is taking place within the revolutionary left. New organisations have been formed and oid ones split. Even within the Communist Party a debate on the ideas of Trotskyism has taken place. The old ideas and divisions within the British left are being shaken up.
One of the chief aims of Red Weekly has always been to plunge into these debates. The 'Portugal Forum', the "Angola Forum", the series on 'Party and Faction' and a whale host of other articles and polemics have been part of the attempt. But there is a limit to what can be achleved BRITISH TROTSKYISM, Sle fore k, arose in alee objnctive cnndicioos. Lenin im Left Hing Communim - An Aelantile Düorder in, his famous analysis of the rise of the Bohhevik Party, that the conditions for the creation of a real proletarian revolutionary party were a mass tradirion of revolsMary strugale, a fime grap of Marsis theory, and a adyanced experiences of clam provide the guide so action necessiry to cad a national revotutionary struggie. (2)
Condiions in Bricain were virtually the exact opposite of those Lenin had described. Firsily, ahthough the British working class has a tremendous record of trade unico struggles, there is absolutely no There is no British aquivalen of the 1848 Revolition in France or the Paris Commune, of the German resalation of 1918-23, of the factory occupations of Italy of 1920, or of the Spenish revolutioo and civil war, let alone of the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917, Secondly, British sociafism was marked by an alscnve cu any scrious Marxist theurp, Far front in Lenin's words, "following wish the armost diligence and thoroughness each and every "las word" in this мооел шашоп os mass revoiwriovory siruzelel Harry Wicks expressed the situation perfectly accurarely when writing of the carly British Commenist Partyr on the left. as topics and issues we should deal with. a national those who reject discipline, are in their essence reactionary.' [1] "classical Marxism", those debates that occupied Social Democracy before 1934, scarcely found an echo in this country." (3)
Finally, in contrast to the Bolsheviks* *wealh of internacional links and excellent informution on the forms and theories of the world revolutionnry in the pages of a weekly newspaper, We are limited both In space and by the need to try to cover all the developments of the class struggie. There has been a constant clash between developing the agitational side of the newspaper and taking up the many points of debate To deal with these competing needs Red Weekly has We now decided to launch a regular monthly supplement The Battle of Ideas". In this we will be able to take up and deal much more fully with the important debates on the left. Some issues will be devoted to a single major article. Others will be debates. Some will deal with several questions. We aim to make 'The Battle of Ideas' one of the main forums for the debale on the Marxist left today. We hope our readers, and in particular those who disagree with articles, will let us have their views on articles as well Trotskyism. *It is possible to maintain and develop a revolutionary political grouping only on the basis of great principles... It is possible for group to maintain a constant revolutionary course international organisation, control and maverbent auch as no other country possessed" (2), thie British labour mavement W2S 1QSUJ8E and shut off from these internerional connections and developments. Woile in Burope the Pole Rosa Lusembueg polomicised with the Frenehnsen Miller ned ou relorm and revolution; the Russian Plekhanos denounced the German Bernstein on philosophy and Poltics ; atd the Austrian Adier was astacked by the Russiao Lenin on the national question: in Britnia many of these discussions were considered "hot air' to In the first issue ALAN JONES looks al a centra question of the history of the Trotskyist left In Britain how the current led by Gerry Healy, which today stands a one of the most vile sects in Britain, built an organisation which from the early 1950's until well into the mid-1960' was the strongest single force on the rerolutionary left have already exposed in Red Weekly Healy' disgusting present day frame-up campaign agains sunk. But there are many lessons also to be seen in thi developments of the British left. We hope this article wil help stimulate a real debate on the history of British be left to 'theoreticians" while British revolurionaries got down to "bread and butter practical issues", (4) great political underdevelopment the Brinish working class and British Macxists is not a reflection of the inferiority of the inhabicants of this island, bur a product of the historical strength of British imperialism - a srength which in abe nincleenih century kepr the British working class under the domination of liberalism; and in the twentieth created the hegemony of the consiscently reform ist Labour Party. This political anderdevelopment corald not hut deeply affect che development of Marx ism in Britain. Marx himselt painted out:
The developinent of socialist sectarianism and tbat of the real working class movenent always atand in in verse ratio to cach ather. (5) caf Thie anderdevefgomient of cownierpart of mass wranking MTCT TWEATIclase morerzent in Britain wat the witro-sectarian and Mationaiist characteristics of thote wewk rewiutionary and Marss currents which did devefop. (6)
Doder these comdirions of marional losularity sectarianism, and ticoretical backwardness, it is not accilental that the most developed theoretical and political expresion of the interests of the working class, Trorskyism, developed with extremely thin roots n British society. Trorskyism did. nor at nil energ even oat of the core of the Communist Parry-R alone the core of the working class movement. (7)
Trotsky had refused a split with the Comnmunist
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only if it is firmly connected in one organisation with co-thinkers throughout the world and maintains a constant political and theoretical collaboration with them. The Fourth International alone is such an organisation. All purely national groupings, all
Trotskyist leaders Joseph Hansen and George Novack That campaign reveals the depths to which Healy hat
rise of the Healy current. To see where Healy started from and to see the consequences of his break with that path is a contribution to understanding the weaknesses anc