LABOUR'S Dame Judith Hart was asked an embarrassing question on Robin Day's 'Question Time'. 'Why are you a Dame Commander of the British Empire, asked the speaker, 'if you aren't prepared to defend it?' The exchange spotlights Labour's Achilles Heel. For despite sentimental humbug, it does support the empire.
role for investors and their armed forces; dorses the Commonwealth; over the Malvinas it has tried to outdo the Tories in nationalism and aggressiveness.
This is the biggest obstacle between Labour and socialism.
It dates back to Labour's early days. 'Socialism means an organised rooted autonomous nationalities, says 1920 lecture by Sidney Webb, collective guardianship of the nonauul ales. The socialist conception of empire is not domination but a democratic federal hierarchy.' But a 'democratic hierarchy' is naked domination clothed in fine rubber description is softer than the real just lethal.
empire and then argued with the Tories about how to run it nicely.
It never understood that Britain's world role was a cover for British bosses' money-grubbing. realised that so-called 'backwardness' was not a natural state of "interior' races but subjection caused by British greed; that jingoism, racism and warmongering had to be fought at source challenging Britain's capitaliss right to operate abroad In the First World War Labour's leaders entered a coalition government, in exchange for the slaughter of millions of workers. The system of wartime controls seemed to them an ideal way to run socialism. reforms became the orthodox Labour Party creed.
But the confidence of the capitalist class = wilen was onented to toreign in vestment. Labour's vision of state socialism committed it to safeguard this foreign investment.
In 1924 and 1929 it administered and propped up the colonies. In 1940 it went into another coalition government which hatched both the welfare en- state and the postwar division of the Labour's Attlee replaced Churchill in the international conference at Potsdam in 1945, secretary of state noted that 'as far as we could discern there ference!' Labour helped suppress the partisans in 1947. It committed the army to the 'with a Korean war and even signed a secret agreement to Under the 1964 prosecuted a vicious anti-communist war in Malaysia and in the late 1970s supplied more arms than anyone else to Chile and Argentina. the involvement Africa and with NATO has always been maintained by Labour Benn was nearly thrown out of the cabinet for arguing against joint naval extrases the navy.
British troops were sent to Ireland never by Callaghan in 1968 and a bipartisan policy was held ever since.
Most important of all, even when Labour did oppose a military adventure in Suez in 1956 to nationalise the Suez canal The working class has paid a terri ble price for this attempted short cut to socialism.
particularly excessive act of international banditry it faces the miseducation it has given its own supporters. It state finances depended on Aneurin lateralism the mercy short.
obstructs the American was no difGreece between 1945 and make war on China Wilson government it night's hysteria.
government policies in South - in 1974 ships back. • End South African all other : dia ro: de erd Stering sortige el which When Labour tried to combat a • Support commitments led Bevan uniin 1957, and is leading Michael Foot down the same path. Every Labour government has been at the IMF and bankers - half of whom are British.
Labour has become the prisoner of the most backward and parasitic sections of British society.
Worse still, Labour's approach has created the very conditions which uniter working class response to the capitalists. Ramsay MacDonald's betrayal in 1931 was much easier because Labour OUU porters, led to believe in a 'national interest' standing above parties, had come to think that a crisis of the bosses' making was actually produced by an 'external threat' against which everyone had to unite Michael Foot's betrayal has been brought ten times nearer by last fortEveryone who fights for a Labour carry out socialist should fight Labour's traditional commitment to empire by demanding • No nukes, no navy. Bring the Britain's world military role: British forces out of Ireland Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Belize and overseas possessions Withdrawal from all involvement in NATO and SEATO • End Britain's neocolonial role no reserve role for the pound wind up the Commonwealt and Discose Trag 15503 "9c= British investors, hand them to the governments of the countries the assets are, and oroanise international trade unior struggle for worker control of the multinationals.
for anti-imperia is: struggles the world over.
Socialist Challenge 15 April 1962 Dage 3