Red Weeklys contusion about ine scott ish Labour Party is based on two weaknesses - a failure to understand the relation between nationalism and the workers movement, and an over-ripe eagerness to support any group declaring its willingness to fight the Wilson Whether or not the socialist rhetoric of the SLP leadership is genuine is beside the point, since it is not a question or leaders but or me real poutical tena encies of the party. The formation of the sur simply renects une pressures, intensified by the crisis, of petty bourgeois nationalism - represented by the Scottish National Party - on the workine class.
The Party is a split based on this nationalist current, and, despite the view of its secretary Alex Neil that the SLP only wants to 're-shape the relationship between the labour movement in Scotland and the labour movement in Britain as a whole', it weakens the unity or ine britisn labour movement it is cleariv a break trom une Labour Party not a arous within it militants should not be tooled by the promise of genuine democracy because of individual membership. A party based on individual membership is not based on the organised working class, l.e. the trade union move ment.
The founders of the Labour Party were well aware of the tundamenta weakness of the Chartist movement: The nauonal orcanisauon at te top nad no base in te trade union move ment only individuar union memoers. he sirenon or the Labour rort it in its roots in the trade union movement. To consider the sur as presenting two aspects - reactionary nationalism rep resented in the present leadership, and a 'socialist course in the struggle ag ainst the Wilson Government - is to ignore the real material basis of the party.
Marxists should not support parties organisational principle but a political set or tasks to unite tne working class in action against capitalism. We can see the difference between this position and that of comrade Parke when we look at the situation in scotiano.
The futility of an 'organisational" concept of unity between the Scottish and English working class is particularly dangerous. We would argue that the unity of the British working class will be considerably weakeneo it cnousn workers line up with me increasingy discrecited westminster rarliament and its most cynical representatives -Wilson, Willie Ross, and Edward Short - against the democratic demand for some form of elected Assembly in Scotlang This is not at all to 'confuse' the relationsnio between nanonarisin ana mne workers movement ine mont inside une abour movement tor scotland's Tiant to self-determination would cut across the petty bourgeois separatism of the SNP and strengthen the weight of the Britisn and scottish labour movement 1 side me scotusn Dontical arena Again on the SLP, comrade Parke misses the essentially political nature of working class unity. We argued from the very formation of the SLP that it snould tiant tor the nant to artiliate to the Labour Party. But that right of attilation was blocked from tne start by the right-wing clique in Keir Hardie House (Labour Party headquarters in Scotland). It is that same right-wing leadership which is directly threatening to oroduce massive demoralisation m side me working class. witn a conse quent electoral disaster tor the Labour Party, due to its policies on the cuts, unemployment and the to limit.
Our attitude towards the ser musi be seen in terms of the threat from the right wing to that unity, for the 'broadest unity' which comrade Parke talks abour will be essentiany me unity m action or all sections or the labour move International. these countries. Thunderous applause from a thousand strong audience greeted an appeal last Friday by Ernest Mandel, leading member of the Fourth International, for unity of the revolutionary left and the building of the Fourth Mandel's appeal made in St Pancras Town Hall. was the culminating point of a massive rally organised by the International Marxist Group. The rally addressed itself to the task of building the Fourth International in the new conditions created by the beginning of the European Revolution in Portugal and Spain. The audience heard of the fifteen fold increase in the size of the Fourth International since its reunification in 1963/64. For the first time in Spain and Portugal, Trotskyism has real forces to take up the tremendous tasks posed by the developing revolutionary crises of Mandel called for a sympathetic understanding of those groups on the far left who claim that their policy is to rebuild, re-establish or regenerate the Fourth International, but underlined the necessity to combat have seen it collapse.
building the Fourth International today. at the rally.
Photo: LAURENCE SPARHAM SIFL those who persist in the myth that today no international centre for the organising of world revolution exists, or that any group outside the United Secretariat of the Fourth International represents such a force. As Mandel pointed out, all those who have tried to build an alternative in sectarian opposition to the Fourth International - Lambert, Healy, Lutte Ouvriere Following the rally, a weekend educational school of over 600 people discussed the history and development of the Fourth International in detail. Mandel, who gave the main report to the school, analysed that these problems had to be seen in the context of The collection taken at the rally made £1.250 which added to the receipts for tickets sold now takes the IMG Fund Drive well over its £10,000 target. Next week we will carry a full run-down on the final totals in the Fund Drive, and a future Red Weekly will also carry extracts from Ernest Mandel's speech