The most recent manifestation of this was the resignation of their star industrial militant, Jimmy Reid, an event which itself is the symptom of a much graver malaise. The central problem which confronts the CP in Britain is to tind a rationale for its independent existence, because as tar as a strategy towards socialism' is concerned. it is virtually incisunquisnable trom lett This political line hampers its effectiveness in the tactories, where it does have a significant influence. Thus while its militants in general favour struggles to defend living standards, the only way of developing these struggles is to contront the union bureaucracy at every step by stimulating the development of democratically organised class struggle tendencies. But the CP's alliance with "left trade union bureaucrats makes this completely impossible.
There is, of course, a key difference between the CP and the left social dem. ocracy. While the latter are loyal to their own bourgeois state, the Crs loyalty is to the Soviet state and its apparatus. It is this fact which distinguishes the Crs trom social democracy and imparts to their electoral victories in countries like Chile, France and Italy an objectively different dynamic. That is why the pubic airing or citerences with the Soviet leadership is an important process which tends further to increase the existing strains within these parties. Article It is in this overall context that the publication of a major article, 'Socialist Democracy - Some Problems' by the tormer General Secretary of the British CP, John Gollan, in the January issue of Marxism Today has to be studied. The purpose of this text is to improve the CP's public image by distancing itseit from the more outraceous obscen. ities perpetrated by the regime in the USSR, thus making it possible for the party to use its industrial strength in certain regions to increase its politicoelectoral suooort.
A subsidiary purpose is clearly to make the party more habitable for the post- b8 influx of students and intellec. tuds, dna operuny to attract a tew more Insofar as the Gollan article opens up a debate on fundamental questions of history, strategy and the nature or post-capitalist societies, it is welcome. A thoroughgoing debate on questions such as 'socialist democracy can do notning but good. However the article itself is marred by inconsistencies, factual inaccuracies and, naturally, a failure to carry out a serious analysis of the character of the ruling group in the