Consigned To The Footnote Of History . . .

In a bogus attempt to give the illusion that there is actually more politics on this blog than there is in reality, I thought I would kick off an irregular series entitled 'Consigned To The Footnote Of History'*

When I can be arsed I will from time to time ocasionally cut and paste some of the more choice quotes, misquotes, misrepresentations and downright libel chucked at the SPGB down the years by friends and foe alike. Celebrities can bleat all they want when appearing on the 'Richard and Judy' show, about how they are misrepresented and misunderstood by the press and tv media but that's all a sodding cake walk in comparison to the brickbats chucked at the SPGB down the years. What other political organisation issues crash helmets with membership cards to new members to protect against unwelcome debris?

I have previously touched upon this theme in a post to the blog, when I commented on a reference that the part time actor and one time full time trot, Corin Redgrave**, made to us in a piece he wrote for the New Statesman earlier in the year.

The series will serve three purposes: 1) As mentioned above it will save me the hassle of actually thinking of something original to write - just a bit of cut and paste, sprinkle on a wee of leftist trainspotting anecdotary, garnish with some phoney self-deprecation and then I'm ready for my close up Mr Rusbridger. 2) "The emancipation of the working class is the work of the working class itself" and all that, coupled with all socialist adage of "No leaders need apply", but some of us are just as starstruck as the man and woman on the Clapham omnibus when some micro-celebrity throws a comment our way, even if it is libellous or just bastard cheeky.*** 3)It satiates the monomania that all politicos have whether they are the type to have a Karl Marx paperback in their backpocket or the type with a copy of the latest policy statement from the Demos Thinktank. The old maxim of 'any publicity is good publicity' shamelessly applies.

After all that verbiage, if you don't want to take the scenic route for a moment longer but just want to read the list of quotes and sarky digs without the piss poor jokes and references to obscure New Wave singles from the late seventies (what do you mean, you didn't spot them?), then just click on the following link which will lead you to an article in this month's Socialist Standard on the subject.

For you one or two still left, not succumbing to the instant gratification of the link listed above, I may as well start at the top of the tree with a quote about us from the former Labour Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, when referring to goings on in Russia in 1917: “The Russian debacle is rather appalling but quite explicable. Lenin and Trotsky appear to me to be of the SPGB type or the wilder types of the SDP.”Clement Attlee in a letter to his brother Tom, 20 March 1918 (quoted in Clem Attlee. A Biography by Francis Beckett, 2001).

The quote is top of the tree 'cos it was my good self that spotted it in Beckett's biography who, incidentally, also wrote a very readable history of the British Communist Party called 'The Enemy Within'. It is also top notch because Attlee, Labour Party leader for twenty years and Labour Prime Minister for six years in the post war years is the one Labour Party leader/Prime Minister in its history who is met with approval from all wings of the Labour Party. For the left of the Labour Party he was leader of the great reforming Labour Government of 1945-51, which founded the National Health Service and took into Public Ownership so much of the national economy. The right wing of the Labour Party and that strange bird going by the name of 'New Labour' - which is on no wing of the Labour Party, preferring to hang on to the tail feathers of Blair - eulogise him because he was leader of a radically reforming Labour Government, and radical shake up - any shake up - seems to be at the centre of their core beliefs. I shouldn't forget to mention the largest constituency within the Labour Party and that is those tens of thousands who wouldn't describe themselves of being on the right or the left wings of Labour, but just as 'Labour'. They loved Attlee 'cos he delivered that long awaited election victory with a working Parliamentary majority, and because he wasn't Herbert Morrison. (Of course, for a contrary view on Attlee's Government, and the Labour Party in general at that time, click on the following link. May as well have this one as well.

The passing reference to the SPGB in Attlee's correspondence with his brother, Tom, is fascinating for a couple of reasons. First and foremost because this was private correspondence written at a time - 1918 - when times were difficult for both Attlee and his brother. Both Public School and University educated they had thrown their lot in with the Labour movement and the Independent Labour Party through both of them witnessing at first hand the extensive poverty that existed amongst the working class at the time, whilst they were doing voluntary work in the East End of London. From reading Beckett's autobiography there is no doubt that there was a deep friendship and love between the brothers and this meant it must have been especially difficult during the First World War for them, with the two brothers having differing views on the war: Tom deciding to be a conscientious objector whilst Clement Attlee enlisted and fought in France, attaining the rank of Major before the war ended in 1918. The excerpt is taken from Attlee's correspondence with Tom, when his brother was was still in jail during this period for his opposition to the war.

I guess the second interesting aspect to the comments in the letter is the reference to the Russian Revolution when in fact it was the case that the SPGB were one of the first political organisations in the country to criticise what existed in Russia/Soviet Union post 1917 from a socialist perspective. I guess it is not so surprising at first sight - even the most ardent supporters of the Bolsheviks and their coup d'etat in 1917 were arguing blind, and perhaps the reporting of the Bolsheviks rhetoric of the time from friend and foe alike would have given the impression of Lenin and his cadre working towards building a revolutionary socialist society. I also happen to think - and I guess this viewpoint makes me a bit of a heretic within some SPGB circles - that there was an overlapping of sorts in the formation of the Socialist Labour Party and the SPGB in 1903/04 respectively, with the other radical currents that were agitating for change within their respective parties in the Second International of the pre-1914 period. These currents would includ people and tendencies such as Luxemburg in the German SPD; Pannekoek in the Dutch SaPD; De Leon and chums in America; the Guesdists in France; and the Talmud like debates that took place within Russian SDLP in this same period. (I guess one called also mention the formation of the IWW during the same period - it all pointed to an era when it was all kicking off, and such fierce political debates within the various Parties and organisations were all the more heated because they considered revolution was on the agenda at that moment in time.)

Attlee, I guess, wouldn't have been immune to those debates and that is why he was all too aware of the existence of the SPGB during his crash course in working class poverty in the East End of London. Mention those initials today to a New Labour type, living in N1 with his or her subscription to Prospect magazine and their capped teeth and forward facing haircuts and they would think you were referring to this SPGB. "Absolutely delish, darling, Tansy cooked us the dish at the little soiree we had earlier this year to celebrate Rup getting his promotion at the IPPR."

It was nice to discover that wee snippet in Beckett's book 'cos it was the icing on the cake to an anecdote that appeared in Robert Barltrop's story of the SPGB, The Monument, where Barltrop recounts an anecdote where a journalist, attending a press conference given by Prime Minister Attlee, happened to ask a question of the Government's performance which was similar to criticism expressed by the SPGB to the actions of the Labour Party in Government. Attlee apparently swung round and replied: "I know you, SPGB!" Barltrop records that the journalist nipped at knew nothing of the SPGB prior to Attlee's comeback, but was more than interested later on to know more about an organisation which could prompt such a reaction. Nice to know that the bloke who Churchill referred to once when stating: "An empty Black cab drew up to Parliament Square, and Mr Attlee got out . . ." had enough hackles to rise when the 'abstract propagandists - speakers' corner branch' came into conversation.

*(Lev Bronstein, you don't have to cross your legs in a huff and look away from me. I fully acknowledge that it paraphrases what you apparently said about the Mensheviks, in response to them steaming out of a meeting of the Council of the Soviets 'cos of the stitch up undertaken by the Bolsheviks, that they were: ". . being consigned to the dustbin of history . . .")

** Corin Redgrave photographed at the annual meeting of the Gerry Healey Appreciation Society.

*** I'm not immune myself to the odd bit of *cough* star gazing when doing my revolutionary duty. Noticeable mentions include: John McCririck blowing smoke in my face from his cigar when I attempted to give him a 'Right To Hunt Landowners' leaflet at the late Countryside Alliance march in London; me being a bit sniffy with Emily Lloyd by saying "We don't do petitions." when she had set her heart on signing something, anything. (WTF is it with some people and petitions? Sign this and it will salve your conscience.); and selling a couple of Socialist Standards to a Geordie actor I half recognised, impressing him no end when I said: "Erm - aren't you off the telly?" (It'll be no surprise when I mention that he hasn't been seen within a hundred miles of the SPGB since that particular faux pas.)