Letter to Comrades in the International Socialist Movement (ISM)

The International Socialist movement (ISM) is a marxist platform or group within the Scottish Socialist Party. (SSP) It evolved out of Scottish Militant Labor which was the Scottish section of the Committee for a Worker International. (CWI) It has provided the main leadership for setting up and taking forward the SSP. This is a letter that Labor's Militant Voice Comrades have sent to the ISM concerning a statement made by leading ISM and SSP Comrade Tommy Sheridan. It also deals with the issue of the ISM and its future to a limited extent.

 


Dear Comrades,

The breakthrough of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) in winning six seats in the recent elections is an inspiration. This victory results from the party's courageous fight against the attacks of capitalism on the Scottish working class. Workers the world over are stronger for the rise of the SSP. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the SSP Comrades and to the International Socialist Movement (ISM) Comrades.

The revolutionary socialist/Marxist group the ISM, which grew out of a former section of the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI), took the initial steps to build the SSP and have been at the center of the Party's development ever since. When they moved to build the SSP, they met the stiffest of opposition from the CWI leadership, but thankfully they held their ground. These election results more than vindicate the position they took.

As far as we understand, in building the SSP the ISM Comrades were attempting to address issues which confront all revolutionary groups: How to take revolutionary ideas out to the wider sections of the working class and build a semi mass and mass base and the related issue of how to work in a united front manner with other groups and individuals from different revolutionary traditions. After the election results there is no doubt that real progress has been made along both these lines. We believe that the experience of the SSP should be studied by all.

It is in this context that we would like to raise a few issues for discussion with the ISM Comrades. In doing so we would like to separate ourselves from the attacks on the ISM and the SSP leadership that are coming from such sources as the CWI leadership and some other left groups. Unlike these groups we have always supported the building of the SSP and the work of the ISM in this regard and we have always defended the SSP against sectarian and dishonest criticism.

Look at the most recent dishonesty of the CWI. After the recent election in Scotland it wrote: "The Scottish Socialist party (SSP) now has six MSPs elected to the Scottish parliament. This important breakthrough can assist socialists to reach a new generation who are looking for an alternative to poverty, low pay, racism and war." So according to the CWI this is an "important breakthrough".

But at their 1998 world congress, the CWI passed a resolution the first line of which reads: "This world congress of the CWI places on record its strongest possible opposition to the decision of SML to launch the Scottish Socialist Party". (Scottish Militant Labor - SML - was at the time the name of the ISM when it was the Scottish section of the CWI). There should be no misunderstanding, if it had been up to the CWI "this important breakthrough" would never have taken place, the SSP would never have existed. Now, they fail to even mention their earlier "strongest possible opposition" to the entire SSP project. Any criticism from the CWI has little value if it doesn't criticise its own mistake in opposing the building of the SSP.

However, this incorrect approach of the CWI leadership cannot be allowed to prevent us from recognizing the increasing pressures that are making themselves felt on the SSP. In this context we would like to raise with our ISM Comrades the recent statements by comrade Tommy Sheridan when he was being interviewed by "The Herald" and other media outlets.

We think a discussion of Tommy's comments is vital especially now because of the recent electoral breakthrough of the SSP. This breakthrough means increased pressures on the SSP as well as the ISM. There is now all sorts of "friendly" advice to be more "reasonable" and "practical," which really means making compromises with capitalism. There will also be increased pressures in the future to make compromises in order to keep the seats that have been won.

As the best known voice of the SSP and the ISM Tommy is particularly targeted by the bosses' media in this regard. For instance "The Guardian" on May 27th wrote after the election victory: "Sheridan, too, once rallied against the injustices of the capitalist world, but the causes he espoused were modest and just......Now that he has been joined by five others, the SSP has the chance to build on that, to function as devolution's social conscience. It is said that Sheridan tried to persuade Fox to stop after one verse of Burns. He needs to control his singing socialists. He needs to tell them that if all they bring is disharmony, they will not have served their comrades, their constituents or their country well."

(The reference here is to Colin Fox singing Robbie Burn's "A Man's a Man For All That" at the swearing-in ceremony in the Scottish parliament as a protest against having to swear allegiance to the monarchy.) It could not be much clearer than this. The Guardian is calling on Tommy to reign in the other MSP's of the SSP and turn the SSP into "devolution's social conscience". The capitalist press is targeting Tommy to get him to bend the SSP to their will. To be a "social conscience".

CONCESSIONS TO NATIONALISM AND CAPITALISM.

In raising the statements of Tommy, we recognize the heroic work Tommy has done in helping Scottish workers and youth organize themselves to fight the attacks of capitalism. This includes going to prison. We also know the pressures on any public spokesperson of a revolutionary movement to popularize the ideas and how this can lead to errors. We also know the pressures and dangers in speaking to the big business press and the need to see things such as public statements in context.

However, having said this, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the statements made by Comrade Tommy Sheridan at the very least indicate a shift in the direction of adapting to the pressures of capitalism and nationalism. To our knowledge there has been no public statement from the SSP or ISM on Tommy's comments. If this is the case and continues to be the case it will be difficult not to conclude that the SSP and the ISM are moving in this direction also.

Tommy is reported as follows: "What we're saying is that in a future independent socialist Scotland we want to work on training, on skills. We want to offer a very highly skilled economy, a motivated work force for big business. If that can work in places like France and Germany, where they have higher wages and better standards, and produce better products, why can't that work here in Scotland?" And in relation to the question: "Would you nationalize Tesco?" Tommy said: "I don't think there's a need to nationalize right now" and "What we would be doing is regulating business. You don't have to own it, you just regulate it." Tesco is one of the largest supermarket chains in England, Scotland and Wales.

Comrades, there is no other way of looking at this other than a capitulation to the pressures of big business. If Comrade Tommy and the ISM has or does issue a statement saying that this was a mistake then this would begin to go some distance to rectify the position, but even if this is done the question still has to be raised how such a statement could have been made in the first place.

We in Labors Militant Voice have agreed with the demand put forward by the ISM and the SSP for an "independent socialist Scotland". However we have raised that we did not agree with putting this forward without also putting forward that a socialist Scotland could only resist the pressures of international capitalism and solve the problems of the Scottish working class if the revolution spread to England, Wales, Ireland etc. In other words we have been for putting forward the demand for an independent socialist Scotland as a step towards a socialist federation of Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales as part of a Socialist united states of Europe, not putting forward this demand in isolation.

Not only is the demand for an independent socialist Scotland continually put forward in isolation by the SSP but we also have the statement on the SSP web site quoting the SSP manifesto; "We reject the scare mongering of those who claim that Scotland is too small, too weak, or too poor to go it alone and defy the new world order of the global millionaires. We repudiate the fictional claim that in the new globalized economy an independent Scotland would be powerless to tax the rich, wipe out poverty or initiate large-scale investment in public services". And to add to this Tommy talks approvingly of the situation in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany. Comrades we should note here specifically that the SSP manifesto claims it could "wipe out poverty" within the borders of Scotland.

Comrades, it seems to us that the tendency can be seen in these comments of Comrade Tommy to increasingly see the SSP's day to day politics within the boundaries of Scotland itself and within the boundaries of capitalism. It seems to us that the ISM and the SSP should be arguing exactly the opposite than from where they say that Scotland can "go it alone". Yes the Scottish working class can win certain partial and temporary reforms by organizing and fighting. However, a solution to the problems cannot be won within the borders of Scotland, within the confines of capitalism, or by the Scottish working class acting alone.

It seems to us that the work of the SSP on the ground in Scotland, while fighting for every reform that can be won, should also intimately link these struggles with an explanation of how the fundamental problems cannot be fully resolved within the confines of capitalism or within the borders of Scotland. That is, the SSP should be explaining how these struggles must be linked with the struggle of the international working class to challenge capitalism internationally. What we are raising here, comrades, is that there appears to be a retreat from internationalism as the central core of the practical day to day politics of the SSP/ISM.

It is useful to think more about building an international working class movement in the context of what Tommy says about Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway - countries he holds up as examples. It is likely that these countries do not appear much of an example to the working class in these countries. Also, from what Tommy says, he envisages Scotland competing with these countries for investment. How could the SSP/ISM build an international with the workers from these countries on this approach, competing with them for investment?

It also appears that increasingly the central role of the Scottish working class acting independently as a class is not being explained in the approach reflected in Tommy's statements. Missing is any idea of workers' control or that capitalism should be ended and replaced by a democratic plan of production based on the democratic decisions and organizations of the working class. There is no hint in any way of the new economy being based on new workers' councils and structures and the democratic decisions of control and management by the working class through these bodies. Instead it is talk of offering a "motivated workforce for big business." This last statement by Tommy is almost unbelievable.

The approach seems to be to explain and fight for what can be implemented within the laws of the Scottish parliament and within a Scotland with a majority SSP government in the Scottish parliament. And what this can achieve is explained as being within the context of capitalism such as exists in France, Germany, Denmark, etc. No matter what way you look at it, this is incorrect. Leaving aside any socialist principles, the history of the last few decades of "global capitalism" shows that capital - that is, investment - will seek out the areas with the lowest wages, low taxes, and least environmental regulations. Tommy's "motivated workforce" will also have to be low paid and prepared to work in any conditions.

The approach implied by Tommy's statements leads inevitably to the policy of encouraging the working class of one country or region to compete with workers in another region for who will work cheapest. This is the race to the bottom and cuts across class solidarity. It is what the offensive of global capitalism wants every worker to accept. Compete against other workers to attract investment. And of course Tommy's position flies in the face of fact. Europe is currently mired in an economic slowdown, and the German economy is experiencing double digit unemployment and actually contracted in the last quarter. In other words, Tommy's approach is not "working".

Comrades, we are raising the following for discussion: Do the statements of Tommy not reflect a retreat from internationalism as the central core of the day-to-day practical politics of the SSP and the ISM? Do they not reflect a retreat from the explanation that only the working class organized internationally can carry out the policies of ending capitalism and solving the fundamental problems of Scottish society?

We would also like to discuss these issues in the context of the transitional method. Does Tommy's statements not reflect a full scale retreat from the transitional method which as we understand it is to make a connection between existing consciousness and the need to end capitalism and build a new socialist society. The SSP is showing itself to be very skillful in making a connection with the existing consciousness, in taking up the day-to-day struggles that are to the front of working class peoples' minds. But it seems to us that Tommy's statements show that the connection is not being made with the role of capitalism and the need to end capitalism in Scotland and internationally. Instead the connection is being made to how things can be improved under capitalism and under capitalism within Scotland.

THE ISM, IS IT FUNCTIONING AS A REVOLUTIONARY MARXIST CURRENT?

Of course the statements of Tommy are not the responsibility of Tommy alone. They are also the responsibility of the ISM. In this context we would like to raise issues that we have raised in the past with some of the leading ISM comrades. We have been worried for some time that insufficient attention was being given to building the ISM as a revolutionary Marxist group within the SSP. We have been worried that the ISM was less and less functioning as a revolutionary Marxist group as opposed to being a left pressure group inside the SSP.

We have raised that as the SSP grows and develops so will the reformist forces within it and on it. And that in this situation if the ISM is not built and is not functioning as a healthy revolutionary Marxist group, then the most likely development would be that the ISM would stagnate and eventually cease to exist to all practical purposes. This would make more likely the capitulation of the SSP to the pressures of global capitalism.

We are very worried that our worst fears are being realized when we read Tommy's statements. In light of these statements being made by its best known member, how can the ISM be functioning as a revolutionary Marxist group? Tommy is the best known member of the SSP and of the ISM. The bourgeois have clearly set their sights on influencing Tommy and through Tommy influencing the SSP. See the "Herald" quote above. The pressures on Tommy and all the comrades in the parliament are set to intensify enormously. Standing against these will only be possible if there is a healthy functioning revolutionary Marxist organization to give support and clarity, that is to help these comrades. From Tommy's statements it is very, very difficult to see how this could be happening.

The comrades on the front line such as Tommy, need to be able to be part of and get the support of the ISM as a functioning revolutionary organization in order to withstand the pressure. This means an organization based on revolutionary Marxist theory, continually discussing the issues of the day in this context and continually recruiting and developing and collectively discussing and making decisions. Looking at things from afar it is impossible not to question the degree to which these comrades have this support at this time. It is very difficult not to conclude that the ISM is not carrying out the functions of a revolutionary Marxist organization.

Tommy's views on issues are well known to the ISM and SSP membership and wider layers of the working class. These ideas did not just appear on May 27th. So how has the ISM responded to the development of Tommy's position along these lines over the past period? We find it impossible to believe that the ISM is united in agreement with Tommy's statements. If we are right on this, then has there been a debate and a struggle within the ISM on these issues?

If the ISM is functioning as a revolutionary Marxist organization it would be impossible for Tommy to come to these positions without a major political and theoretical struggle inside the ISM. If this did take place and it was kept secret then this was a mistake. The old, overly secretive methods of the past, including those of the CWI, are not correct. The working class should have access to the debates taking place in the revolutionary organizations. These debates should be explained in the open publications and web sites of the revolutionary group and the working class who read these asked to participate and help clarify the issues.

But if, as appears to be the case from afar, such a theoretical and political struggle did not take place in the ISM, then this raises in the most stark fashion to what extent the ISM is functioning as a revolutionary Marxist group. To repeat, Tommy's statements did not dawn on him the moment he sat down to give the interview to "The Herald". They had to have been developing for some time. How then could the ISM, if it was a functioning revolutionary Marxist organization, not have taken up a major struggle against these ideas?

Comrades, to be blunt, what Tommy's statement indicates is that the ISM is no longer functioning as a revolutionary Marxist group inside the SSP. If Comrades think this is too strong then please consider how Tommy's positions have developed without a major theoretical and political struggle and how Tommy has been able to make these statementswithout an outcry inside the ISM and an alternative position being put forward.

One of our arguments has been that as the SSP grows so will the pressures of reformism increase. Thus the more the SSP grows, the more need for the building of the ISM to counter these pressures. But what seems to be the case at present is that far from the ISM being built as a functioning revolutionary Marxist group, including recruiting new members, and standing against the reformist pressures, these pressures are actually being articulated by the best known ISM member and without being contradicted in any way by the ISM.

We see that in the last few days Rosie Kane has come out for nationalization of some major companies. We welcome these statements from this comrade. We do not know if this is an effort by others in the ISM to counter Tommy's statements. We hope it is, but even if this is so it is insufficient. Tommy'sstatements need to be openly discussed in the ISM and the SSP, with this discussion shared through the ISM and SSP publications and web site with the working class.

Leading ISM comrades have made the case in the past that openness of the revolutionary organizations is vital especially in this period. This is the time now to see this open debate and struggle inside the ISM and the SSP.

The ISM correctly challenged some of the incorrect methods of the CWI. However there is one tradition of the old CWI that may still be with the comrades: When there was a difference in the CWI, there was tendency in the membership to wait for a section of the leadership to take this up and open up debate. We hope that this tradition is not alive in the ISM. We hope that the members of the ISM, when they hear Tommy's statements, are not shrugging their shoulders and getting on with their work locally and not taking the issue up directly. We hope that there is not the tendency, conscious or unconscious, to wait until a section of the ISM leadership takes up the issue meanwhile locally "we will get on with our work". This would be a major mistake.

Comrades, all members of the ISM no matter how inexperienced they may be, have to participate fully in the internal life. They must not simply look to the leadership for the general position while they get on with the work on the ground. If there are comrades in the ISM who have differences with Tommy's positions, and we cannot believe there is not, they have to speak out. If they do not, they are contributing to the development of Tommy's positions. That is they are contributing to the concessions he is making to nationalism and
capitalism.

For the health of the SSP and of the ISM there has to be an open debate and struggle over these issues involving the entire membership. The longer this is postponed the more difficult it will be to combat these ideas. This means that all members, including members with less experience have the duty to insist on this debate. They must not as tended to be the case in the old CWI wait on a section of the leadership to take up the issues.

The SSP initiative has been of great interest to activists internationally and a source of hope. In the course of its development the ISM Comrades have explained their position and policies publicly to all. If this initiative were to end in a reformist swamp without at the very least having contributed to the development of a large international Marxist current, then this would be a severe blow to all working class activists. As they have done in the past, ISM and SSP activists have the duty to debate these issues openly. If this is done then the entire movement can benefit, if not then real damage can be done.

John Throne on behalf of Labor's Militant Voice

Chicago, IL, USA