5. End of an Era¶
Core Argument¶
Between 1947 and 1949, the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) entered a terminal crisis. Financial collapse was the immediate cause: wealthy sympathisers, including the hat manufacturer Spiregen, withdrew their backing, forcing the party to slash its full-time professionals from sixteen to just six or seven and reduce the Socialist Appeal from a fortnightly to a monthly publication. General Secretary Jock Haston, suffering from stomach ulcers and growing disillusioned with the International’s leadership, proposed entry into the Labour Party in December 1948. Initially isolated in the Political Bureau, he secured a majority after Harold Atkinson’s support, and the Central Committee voted on 8-9 December for dissolution and public entry into the Labour Party. Jimmy Deane and Ted Grant opposed entry but declined to campaign against it, hoping to preserve the leadership’s unity.
The decision provoked a rank-and-file rebellion. In February 1949, an ‘Open Party’ faction led by Sam Bornstein and others opposed entry, gathering about 25 per cent support. The International backed Gerry Healy’s leadership, insisting the RCP fuse with his group on his terms or face disaffiliation. At a special conference in June 1949, the RCP voted by a majority to dissolve the organisation and enter the Labour Party as individual members, a decision announced the following month. Under the fusion terms, Healy secured a majority on the Political Bureau and National Committee, then launched a campaign against the old RCP leadership. He expelled opponents without National Committee reports. Haston resigned in February 1950 and was expelled; Healy called an aggregate, moved a resolution condemning him as a renegade, and ordered that any member in contact with him be expelled. Healy then purged the organisation, closing and amalgamating branches. Tony Cliff and his supporters were expelled for their state capitalist position, with the International’s approval. The author was expelled for protesting the violation of democratic rights. Arthur Deane, Sam Levy, Sam Bornstein, Roy Tearse, Jimmy Deane, and the entire Liverpool branch were also expelled. The author and around thirty comrades regrouped in London and Liverpool, rebuilding from scratch with no resources. Despite these setbacks, the author argues that the experience of the WIL and RCP provides a treasure-house of ideas for building a genuine Trotskyist movement, culminating in the Militant tendency.