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| Rejoin The EU - Build A Workers' Europe |
Lenin advised the British Communists to remain in the British Labour Party, despite its own bourgeois ideology, which developed from the bourgeois ideology of the trades unions that created it. But, in none of these cases do Marxists simply give support to these Workers' Parties uncritically, or remain silent about the bourgeois nature of the politics these organisations inevitably are burdened with, when they are initially created. Nor do the Marxists give up their own organisation or political programme. Any mass workers' party inevitably arises on the basis of bourgeois ideas, because the working-class itself is imbued with those bourgeois ideas, the ruling ideas of the age, until it is freed from them, by a combination of its own experiences, and the drawing out of the lessons of those experiences, by the Marxists. Indeed, that is one reason the Marxists have to belong to those organisations, to get the ear of the workers, and to go through those experiences with them, so as to draw out those lessons, to educate, agitate and organise them.
In Britain today, the Labour Party fulfils this role of Workers Party, despite its bourgeois ideas, and despite it moving rapidly rightwards under the leadership of Keir Starmer. We can never let these ephemeral and superficial movements in the bourgeois ideology of the Workers' Party, sometimes more to the right, sometimes more to the centre, change our fundamental assessment of what it represents, and so our orientation towards it, which actually means our orientation to the working-class, whose party, for good or ill, it continues to be. All Marxists should be a part of the Labour Party, on that basis, to continue to play that role of gaining the ear of workers, so as to draw out the political lessons of their experiences, to continue to educate, agitate and organise that working-class within the party, so as either to fundamentally change, or, more likely, to create the mass working-class support for a new Workers' Party, a party with not bourgeois, but socialist ideas as its basis.
So, as members of that party, Marxists obviously call for support for Labour in elections. They do so, not on the basis of the sectarians, such as the SWP, or the Socialist Party, who for 99% of the time remain aloof from it, and so from the working-class, whilst giving uncritical support for Labour during the elections, but on the same basis that they conduct their activity 100% of the time inside the party, of continuing to educate, agitate and organise those workers inside the party and amongst its supporters. Elections, for Marxists, are a time when the political lessons can be drawn out most sharply, and so when their critique of the bourgeois politics of Labour should be emphasised even more forcibly, and the alternative to them provided.
In the elections next week, therefore, Marxists will call for a vote for Labour, but not uncritically, especially given the rapid shift to the right of the party under Starmer, and its undignified collapse not just into reactionary nationalism, with its support for Brexit, for the uncritical support given to Johnson's protection of British war criminals, his tightening of immigration controls, and general jingoism, as Starmer attempts to wrap himself in the flag, but even into reactionary parochialism as witnessed by its opposition to the creation of a European Super League, on the ridiculous grounds that football fans are only those that live in the home town of any club! Marxists will call for a vote for Labour, because they see through these current right-wing politics, to the basis of their activity in the party itself, which is to gain the ear of workers, primarily the most advanced section of those workers, to provide them with an alternative to organise around, and so create the conditions for ending the dominance of the reactionary politics.
But, the fact remains that the decisive issue of the day continues to be the rise of reactionary nationalism, and now reactionary parochialism. The latter is not just reflected in Labour's reactionary parochialist opposition to the ESL, an opposition that has been mirrored by much of the Left, which itself has drifted deeper and deeper into the mire of separatism, and nationalism, but also reflecting that seen in the creation of the Northern Independence Party, an idea so ludicrous that when I first heard about it, I thought that it was somebody who was just taking the piss to illustrate how ridiculous and reactionary those nationalist and separatist ideas actually are. This reactionary nationalism is the biggest threat to the labour movement we face. We must confront it mercilessly, and drag the labour movement out of that mire. The first stage of rebuilding the labour movement is that it should be able to breathe clean air, freed from that choking stench of nationalism and separatism. The tip of our spear is the militant struggle for internationalism, which following Brexit, means a demand to reverse that disaster, and to re-join the EU at the earliest opportunity, and begin the task of building a Workers' Europe.
In the last few decades, as conservative governments favoured the petty-bourgeoisie, which, at least in the developed economies, grew in relation to large-scale capital, that petty-bourgeoisie has asserted itself over those conservative parties, hence Brexit, Trump et al. Being an electoralist party, the Labour Party has responded to this move, by itself trying to compete with the reactionary nationalists of the Tory Party, by wrapping itself in the butcher's apron, which is a strategy guaranteed to fail. Voters will always spot a fake, or a pale imitation, and vote for the real thing, not the pale imitation. Its why, under Starmer, Labour has gone backwards, even from the disastrous position that Corbyn's reactionary nationalism left it in.
Worse still, large sections of the Left, influenced over the years by the reactionary nationalism of Stalinism, and Left reformism, itself is characterised by the same reactionary nationalism, demonstrated by its own opposition to the EU, and so on. Much of that Left is characterised by Sismondism rather than Marxism. In other words, its politics is based upon a visceral hatred of capitalism, rather than a passionate desire to build socialism. Instead of seeing, as Marx did, that the path to Socialism leads through the continued development of capitalism, and the heightening of its contradictions that brings, much of the Left sees its role being to instead hold back the development of capitalism, or even to turn back its existing development, to less mature forms. That is what opposition to the EU is about, what the desire to destructively break up the UK is about and so on. This is the stance of the petty-bourgeois reactionary, and romantic, not the Marxist.
This same position was taken by the Russian populists, or Narodniks. Lenin points to this attitude expressed by one of them, who thought that the role of the western labour movement had been, and was to engage in such holding back of development, and that they should aim for the same thing in Russia. Lenin responds,
“This is clear proof that in respect of not only Russia, but also of the West, our Narodniks are incapable of understanding how one can fight capitalism by speeding up its development, and not by “holding it up,” not by pulling it back, but by pushing it forward, not in reactionary, but in progressive fashion.”
(The Economic Content of Narodism, CW2, p 353)
The EU, and the ESL are such manifestations of capitalist development, and it is no part of a Marxist programme to oppose such development, or to call for it to be reversed. Rather our task is to represent and further the interests of the workers within that progressive development, so as to move closer to Socialism. The fact, that we have seen the rise of reactionary nationalism and parochialism, not just on the right, but also on the left, as well as opportunistically in the centre, is indication that this remains the most important class issue of our day. The job of Marxists is to stand against it all the more militantly.
The future of Britain inevitably remains in the EU, and Brexit is merely a temporary dead-end within that historical journey. The Brexit that the Brexiteers promised has not, and could not happen, because it was an impossible utopia, in which Britain would have all the benefits of being in the EU, without bearing any of the costs or responsibilities of membership. Britain has had to agree to abide by EU regulations, whilst now having no say in the formulation of those regulations. Its exports to the EU have crashed as, even with the trade deal, it faces mountains of paper work, and the costs that go with it, simply to show that it is complying with those regulations. Its fishing industry, has been effectively destroyed by Brexit. And, Brexit is creating inevitable centrifugal forces in Britain itself, with the most obvious being the creation of the border down the Irish Sea, leading towards a United Ireland, and increased support for Scottish independence, and now even growing support for Welsh independence. The idiocy of the Northern Independence Party, shows just how these centrifugal forces have been strengthened, not just tearing the unity of the state apart, but the unity of the working-class along with it.
In the elections, therefore, Marxists should support those Labour candidates that offer a clear pro-EU position, and the perspective of taking Britain back into the EU at the earliest opportunity. The victory of Biden, against Trump, has been a boost, particularly given Biden's own pro-EU stance, and consequent hostility towards Johnson. The EU continues to tear the Tory party in two, which is what is happening now, following the expulsion of Cummings and the Leave.EU crew from Downing Street. Again, Starmer has failed, given his own pro-Brexit stance, to run with this, instead focusing on the more or less apolitical issue of Johnson's home décor! It is mirrored in the absence of any politics from the literature of any Labour candidates in the upcoming elections, which makes it increasingly difficult for any socialist to enthusiastically support any of its candidates.
However, where they exist, we should support such pro-EU Labour candidates, and draw out the lesson that our perspective is not just for the development of the EU, but for the creation of a Workers Europe, on the basis of a united struggle by workers in all countries, for socialist policies. All resources should be mobilised to support those candidates, and elsewhere, we should develop pro-EU, anti-nationalistic programmes, to pursue, drawing in as many Labour Party members, trades unionists and so on as possible.
In 2017, Labour's vote increased substantially, because its anti-Brexit stance was able to draw in the support of Greens, Liberals, and others, as the only possible means of stopping Brexit, and certainly a hard Tory Brexit. Corbyn, by shifting back to his traditional pro-Brexit stance, in 2019, threw all of that away. Starmer, has gone further. He too has collapsed into reactionary nationalism and support for Brexit, along with all of the other jingoistic, flag waving positions he has adopted, but he has also lost the more radical social-democratic policies that Corbyn had mobilised support around. Its no wonder that Starmer is left flailing, as he slowly sinks beneath the waves he wants Britannia to rule once more. The likelihood is that Labour will be hammered in these elections, though the media's attacks on Johnson, in the last week or so, appear designed to try to mitigate that loss. They don't want Starmer to look too bad compared to Corbyn, after all.
In developing our anti-nationalist/pro-EU agenda for the elections, we should seek to win back those Greens and Liberals that Labour won over in 2017. It seems inevitable given the reactionary nationalism of Labour, combined with its complete lack of any political message in its election material, that this will be a hard task, and, just as many Labour members have left to join these organisations, many more progressive Labour voters, not just in the cities, but also in those red-wall seats, will give their votes to these parties too, which will enhance the losses suffered by Labour. Our message to those Greens and Liberals is to join with those of us that continue to argue for a progressive, socialist and internationalist programme within Labour, to continue that work to educate, agitate and organise those progressive and internationalist forces, to bring about the change we need, and to put a halt to the drift into the mire of reactionary nationalism and parochialism. In the end, until we build a mass Workers Party, built upon the ideas of international socialism, the reality remains that the Labour Party is the only Workers' Party we have, and it continues to be the case that the way forward runs through it.
Workers of The World Unite
Rejoin The EU
Build A Workers Europe
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