Boundless renegacy of the NCP
Going against reality and flying in the fact of all historical evidence, and in flagrant violation of Marxism-Leninism, the New Communist Party (NCP), which describes itself as a Marxist-Leninist Party, has for a long time been engaged in the shameful task of bringing succour to, and presenting in the brightest colours, the representative of counter-revolutionary social-democracy in Britain, namely, the imperialist Labour Party. It mindlessly repeats, in and out of season, the assertion that
“the Labour Party does not belong to the right wing. It belongs to the working class, and we need to reclaim it.”
Following this erroneous line, the NCP has become incurably reactionary. To give the reader a measure of the depth of the NCP’s renegacy, we would like to draw our readers’ attention to the proceedings of the Tribune Group’s fringe meeting, held during the recently-concluded Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the NCP’s response to the same. Speaking at this meeting, Ken Cameron, leader of the Fire Brigades Union, advocated the separation of the trade unions from the Labour Party, saying that such separation would leave the trade unions free to say what they wanted
“without trimming
[their]
words for fear of upsetting New Labour.”
Instead of welcoming these utterances of Ken Cameron’s as a breath of fresh air, the would-be Marxist-Leninists of the NCP went berserk at the very thought of organised workers coming to the realisation of the necessity of breaking with the stinking corpse called the Labour Party. The NCP gave expression to its anger at such a ‘rude’ suggestion through an editorial in its weekly organ, the
New Worker.
Entitled ‘Divided we fall’, this editorial, expressing as it does the utter bankruptcy, the rotten opportunism, the shameless class collaborationism, and the sheer mindlessness and stupidity of this organisation of mummies, deserves to be quoted in full. Here is the editorial in all its lurid splendour.
“It’s clear that the right-wing clique fluttering around Tony Blair like moths round a light bulb would like Labour’s affiliated trade unions to sit silently in some darkened corner where the trendy and upwardly mobile New Labour supporters can’t see or hear them. It is the case, as TUC leader John Monks remarked, that ‘they regard us as an embarrassing
relative’.
“
But that is all the more reason for the trade union movement to stand up and speak out. It underlines the need for Blair & Co to be defeated along with their class collaborationist ideas
.
“
This leadership group of petty bourgeois lawyers and economists with their mealy-mouthed talk of industrial partnerships, social partnerships, adapting for change and
‘no favours’ is more than an embarrassment – it represents an insult to millions of trade unionists and many Labour Party members and voters.
“Yet while Fire Brigades leader Ken Cameron’s anger is justified and understandable, his call for separating the unions from the Labour Party – voiced at Tribune’s TUC fringe meeting – is dangerously wrong. This idea, previously put forward by rightwingers, would divide and weaken the entire movement, throw away the achievements of decades of working class struggle and seriously setback the fight to defeat the Blairite leadership.
“
Ken Cameron said: ‘Separation could benefit everyone. It would certainly free us up to say what we want without trimming our words for fear of upsetting New Labour’. This is nonsense. There is no reason why the unions should trim their words or fear upsetting the Party bosses. Indeed, the more they upset them the better!
“
Surely, if the trade unions were to cast themselves adrift they would become just another ginger group petitioning from the outside. They would have given away their own history and abandoned the Party they founded to the wolves
.
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Also such a policy of just walking out of the door would force a separation between the many Labour Party members who are continuing to fight for the best interests of the working class and their allies in the trade unions. The result would be an even weaker left and an ineffective movement
.
“
Because the working class so greatly outnumbers the exploiting capitalist class it has always been a conscious and important part of ruling class strategy to promote divisions among working people
.
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This strategy includes the fostering of racism, regionalism, nationalism and sexism. Divisions within the organised working class and the labour movement are, to the capitalist class, the equivalent of winning a jackpot
.
“
There is nothing that would serve the bosses better than a TUC with no political links, a Labour Party with no organisational link to the unions, lots of little left parties standing on their ‘socialist purity’ tickets in elections and syphoning off votes from Labour and the Labour left abandoned and increasingly despairing
.
“
Down this road the likes of Blair get a free ride. He would be only too delighted to see trade unionists and the left of his party going off into the night alone. They would no doubt continue to protest but it would no longer be a protest on the inside made by people who can speak from his rostrum and vote at his party’s conference
.
“
The right may then decide to do the very thing the left failed to do – to consolidate its strength by building alliances. Closer ties with the Lib-Dems or nationalist parties
could follow.
“
It is vital that the link between the unions and Labour is defended vigorously. It is vital to defend the integrity and unity of the labour movement which should be the organisational bedrock of working class struggle
.
“
The fight to defeat Blair and the currently dominant right wing must be undertaken by first realising the need to keep the movement intact – it is after all our movement
.”
At a time when even those such as Ken Cameron, who have been steeped all their lives in the traditions of social democracy, are finding it uncomfortable and unconscionable to continue their support for the Labour Party, the NCP come forward as fierce defenders of the Labour Party, which is the most servile lackey of British imperialism. And this just a few weeks after the imperialist rape of Yugoslavia – a rape in which Labour, including its ‘left’-wing, played such an important despicable role.
The Kautskyites of the NCP are doubtless committed to reconciling the proletariat with the bourgeois Labour Party and, to use Lenin’s words,
“to preserve the unity of the proletariat with that party and thereby to uphold its prestige”. (Imperialism and the split in socialism).
Clearly the NCP’s renegacy is without bounds. As we have exposed the boundless renegacy and opportunism of the NCP so often in the past, any further comment would be superfluous.