LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE
The Scarborough Conference of the Labour Party took place in the shadow of growing discontent within the ranks at the ineffectiveness of the Labour Opposition. A recent Gallup Poll revealed that the mass of the voters do not see a fundamental difference between the policies of the Labour and Tory Parties. At the same time, supporters, and even many Tory voters, wished for a more left-wing policy on the part of the Labour Party in order to distinguish it more clearly from the Conservatives. Had an election been held this year it has been seriously suggested that the Tory Government could have won for the third time (something unknown in Britain for
Before the Conference, the leadership was worried about a possible reflection of this mood in a revolt of the rank and file against the tame policies developed by the leadership in recent years. decided, therefore, to take no chances, and in effect "rigged" the Conference. Arrangements were in the control of the well-oiled party machine and its boss, General Secretary Morgan Philips. This was very clear in the debate on the main document, "Plan for Progress." Cousins, who had permitted himself the luxury of opposition on the education question, in this decisive debate came out squarely in support of the platform. In the debate, hardly an oppositional voice was raised.
Gaitskell made a whole series of far-reaching promises as to the policy of the next Labour Government: full employment, advancing production, higher wages, lower prices, health, housing, pensions, schools. He left one account — how all this could be achieved within the frameof a capitalist economy, and a capitalist economy, moreover, spinning rapidly towards a deepening slump. It is true that he (Gaitskell) succeeded in mentioning socialism. But how this can be a substitute for a socialist programme he did not indicate. Conference, continuing the retreat that had begun with his sell-out last year. It remained true, as last year, that the
"Left" failed completely to develop any alternative lead.
The leadership succeeded in its attempt to run the Conference as an election rally, with "unity to beat" the Tories as the keynote theme. The rank and file, who want a socialist policy, accepted what the platform put forward in the belief that, with steel and road transport renationalized and the promised reforms effected, things would not be too bad.
Following the Conference, Gaitskell made a tour of the areas most affected by unemployment, and repeated to the unemployed many of the promises which he made at the Conference. All this is in preparation for the next election, which could be held next year. If unemployment reaches a million this winter, which is quite likely, it is virtually certain that Labour will win.
Under conditions of economic crisis, then will come the reckoning; in an effort to rally support, Gaitskell and the right wing have placed a noose round their necks in advance. The masses do not learn from theory, but from experience. This applies especially to the organized masses in the British Labour Movement, with its empirical tradition.
Symptomatic of the state of affairs in the Labour Party was the bureaucratic way in which a resolution on France, incorporating a demand for the expulsion of the Mollet Socialists from the International, was removed from the agenda. It is clear, moreover, that after over three decades of fighting Stalinist "infiltration," and a decade of combating small Marxist groups, Labour's bureaucratic machine is highly skilled in crushing all opposition. Each year it has become more and more perfect. But what the highly skilled manœuvrers do not understand is that the will of the working class to change society is unbreakable. When the eyes of the rank and file are opened to the inadequacies of the Transport House programme to bring socialism, or to defend, alone improve, the gains of the working class, this smooth and highly efficient machine will crack.
Meanwhile the small forces of Marxism within the Party are making progress, small and unspectacular, but sure. Events will come to their assistance.