The past, present and future of the hard left examined

 

The Past

One of my favourite blogs Tendance Coatsey recently ran a story about the fitftieth anniversary of the ultra-left newspaper Workers Vanguard published by the seemingly defunct Spartacist League. An article aimed at only the most dedicated of "Trot spotters" since the organisation has been absent from all the major politcal protests including the BLM especially sionce it sought (in the uSA where it originated) to build a revolutionary party around the balck community.

Of course it's no different to most of the far-left organisations and is white, middle class and higly educated though in a cultish format. I've never seen a black or any ethnic minority member in this country at least. Their founder died and we all suppose there is a massive internal faction faction over what's remaining of the group world-wide. The workers of the world await the outcome with baited breath...not.

Getting involved in politics back in the seventies I came across the far left funnily enough by meeting the Coatsey who sold Red Weekly (Paper of the International Marxist Group) at my FE's student union meetings and canteens. I found it fascinating and moving on came across the rest of the far-left as it was then organised. There was Workers Press a daily Trotskyist paper published by the infamous Workers Revolutionary Party.

The WRP was an organisation that both fascinated and appalled me. Full of thespians including Vanessa and Corin Redgrave, Frances De La Tour and Bill Bailey amongst others. It's internal and external behaviour was cultish and could be violent. It's leader we found out not only reguarly lashed at at his supporters but also was found to have abused the Young Socialists and eventually expelled in the eighties. A row that was watched with fascination by all and sundry.

Other groups that were prominent were the International Socialists (who later became the SWP), Militant who were buried in the Labour Party until purged by Neil Kinnock. Of course there was also the official Communist Party of Great Britain and it's paper the Morning Star. The hard Labour Left had Tribune. Of course there were a myriad of weird and wonderful sects out there like the very trendy Revolutionary Communist Party whose trajectory became shall we say more than controversial

The left were quite identifiable and differences  between them to outsiders seemed almost religiously sectarian to outsiders. However at least they were out there and upfront with an agenda that was unachievable in it's revolutionary aims  despite the likes of the WRP were always preparing for a military coup hence their frenzied activity around the daily paper.

The Present

Today's left is barely recognisable in form and content. Of the old left the SWP survives albeit smaller due to a sex scandal some years back (see The full appalling story of the "delta affair" in the SWP on my original blog). The IMG broke apart and barely a hundred people form  it's successor Socialist Reistance whilst a handful went on to form Socialist Action who provided advisers to Ken Livingstone and it's main figure John Ross an apologist for the Chinese Communist Party.

Militant fell apart into numerous factions who themselves split continually over the years. Only the small Socialist Party and Socialist Appeal remain visible these days. The CPGB is now simply called the Communist Party of Britain and the CPGB name hijacked by a group of probably less than 40 individuals who publish Weekly Worker.

The most successful of these formations was the Revolutionary Communist Party which disbanded itself as they no longer believed a revolution was possible and went on to found Spiked! a website influencing the media and educational institutions. The fact is the hard core managed to stay together under Professor Frank Furedi and their by-lines are often found in the mainstream media. One of their number id now Baroness Cox and sits in the House Of Lords!

There remain a number of small sects such as the Alliance for Workers Liberty but the whole nature of the far-left changed particularly though the Corbyn experience.

The Future

Currently you can find people who would have previously been involved in such groupings taking a different course. Inside the Labour Party is Momentum a group with still much influence following the fall of Jeremy Corbyn., outside there are web based influencers who take a very media influenced approach. these include The Canary (which many of us consider a hate site), Novara Media home of luxury communism and the totally unreliable Skwawkbox.

Others remain in groups both outside and inside the Labour Party. Some of these groups are seeking to "work together even though despite having different names and some different members are all run by Tina Werkman a former plant from the CPGB who went "native" in the Labour Party along with PCS activist Lee Rock. These groupings held a conference on which  "Andrew Kirkland" of the Labour Party Marxists (a front for the CPGB (WW) inside the Labour Party) commented:

The October 14 joint meeting of members and supporters of Labour Against the Witchhunt, the Labour Left Alliance and the Labour In Exile Network highlighted the confusion and desperation that exists in this corner of the left.

The meeting was called to endorse the plan for closer cooperation between the three groups, with the suggestion of a weekly meeting for their combined steering committees. There was some debate about a suggested goal of full fusion, though the technical and political obstacles raised in contributions meant that the emphasis in the short term will be on ‘pooling our resources’ and the ‘cross-fertilisation of ideas’.

Real differences emerged over the question of the future orientation to the Labour Party. All three organisations were established on the assumption that the class struggle was taking place within Labour. Yes, expellees were welcome, but the objective was to get them back in to resume the battle in support of the Labour left. But now the heightened purge under Starmer has changed all that - what about those who are unable stomach the hostile environment for lefties in the Labour Party, and who have jumped ship or are about to do so?

No doubt the faction fighting amongst the comrades will continue unabated on their forums of which they have established many to appear larger and more influential than they are. 

So what of the extra-parliamentary newcomers to the scene? According to the hard-left website All That is Solid:

It was inevitable some of the left were going to decamp from the Labour Party with Keir Starmer's election as leader. But to do what? That was always the interesting question, and now it has a clear answer. Since Corbynism's defeat and the tightening of thumb screws on the left who've remained, several new left parties have come into existence. The best known and attracting the lion's share of media interest is the Northern Independence Party, but it is far from alone. The Breakthrough Party, self-identifying as a youth-led democratic socialist party, stood its first candidate in the Chesham and Amersham by-election. Joining it one would find the Harmony Party, the BLM-linked Take the Initiative Party, and Chris Williamson's Resistance Movement, which happened to hold a festival in Nottingham this Saturday.

We now know Williamson's hate-fest attracted fewer than a hundred followers. It seems that despite the claims of these groups The Breakthrough Party says it has "hundreds" of members whilst the Northern Indepence Party (whose leader lives in Brighton last time I looked says they have thousands. Who knows? The problem for these groups as we saw with the Left Unity group founded by the odious Ken Loach is that social media likes and followers does not translate into firm organisations.

The hard left will always be there in the background causing division and hate not just as open organisations or websites but through front campaigns such as the misnamed Stand Up to Racism group formed by the Socialist Workers Party. These organisations failed in the seventies, again in the eighties and then under Corbyn. For now they have mostly retreated. But the danger remains. The internet allows small groups of people to push ideas that undermine reason from antisemitic memes and conspiracy theories to bullying women for standing up for their rights. 

Forearmed is forewarned. Watch this space.