We stick to our guns!
Socialist Challenge1970sPhil HearseTranscribed or corrected by hand from the printed page.
AT ITS recent conference, attended by 20 people, the International Socialist Alliance decided to shut up the shop and form two caucuses. One of these would discuss fusion with Big Flame and the other with the International Marxist Group.
The ISA was born out of a regroupment of former members of the International Socialists (now SWP) most of whom had left or been expelled in 1974-5. These included over a hundred supporters of the Workers League, a group which included some of the founder members of IS and some important trade union cadres.
At the first ISA conference, attended by 150 people, Martin Shaw argued for participating in Socialist Challenge and ultimate regroupment with the IMG. This proposal was considerably modified. It was clear that the ISA would become a talking shop unless it had a clear political project.
The fact that its funeral assembly was attended by only 20 people reflected its inability to exist as an independent force. And now Martin Shaw, one of the founding members of the ISA, has decided that life is politically easier in the Labour Party under the Tories.
The ISA had come to the conclusion that it would join a broader regroupment involving Big Flame and ultimately the SWP. BF backed out of any regroupment with the IMG. In our opinion this is not unrelated to a refusal to come to grips with the question of building a Leninist party in the conditions of late capitalism.
The ISA, too, lost its nerve. The SWP had set its face against any short-term regroupment.
Since the ISA was never a properly structured organisation with its own programme but only a network of militants working towards regroupment, there was never any structured political activity on a national basis.
Indecision led the ISA to virtual paralysis.
Even the very modest proposal of the IMG for a joint discussion journal got no response in practice. Demoralisation set in, and militants dropped out of activity.
In our view, all this was the disastrous consequence of adopting a position of waiting for the 'perfect' regroupment to come about rather than taking immediate steps to regroup with those forces which were prepared to engage in common activity in a joint democratic centralist organisation, which could have acted as a springboard for a wider regroupment.
A section of the ISA membership has begun to move towards anti-Leninist, libertarian positions. This coincided with the unprincipled manoeuvres of Big Flame which despite describing itself as a 'Leninist vanguard' organisation — is attempting to build itself by becoming cheer leaders for the anti-Leninst ideas in Beyond the Fragments.
Defeatism
The introspection and defeatism of some members of the ISA fits in neatly with Big Flame's self-portrait as an 'open' and 'non-dogmatic' organisation. 'Open', that is, to everyone but the dreaded IMG. 'Non-dogmatic' on every question but regroupment with the IMG.
As for us, we are naturally disappointed. We do not regard this outcome as inevitable. We believe that if Martin Shaw's orientation had been adopted and the ISA had fused with the IMG, a tiny step forward would have been taken towards a broader regroupment.
Martin Shaw joins the Labour Party as an individual. We think he is wrong (and we are the ones who are always accused of being 'soft entrists'). While an orientation to the Labour Party and debates with the Bennites are vital, the constituency Labour parties are not the arena where these debates are being resolved at the moment.
We still maintain that it is possible in this period to build a large revolutionary organisation, based on democratic discussion and open debate which could challenge the Communist Party as the major force on the left of the Labour Party. It is on these and related themes that we will be discussion prior to the next conference of the IMG scheduled for February.