The Trotskyist Movement¶
Core Argument¶
This chapter, a 1944 British Security Service report, presents a detailed internal history of the Trotskyist movement in Great Britain from 1939 to 1945, charting its transformation from a "handful of talkers" into a disciplined, clandestine political force. The core narrative thrust is the movement's organisational consolidation and strategic adaptation during wartime, culminating in the formation of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) in March 1944. The report is itself a primary source, a piece of state surveillance, and its argument is that Trotskyism, though numerically small, warranted sustained and sophisticated investigation due to its conspiratorial methods and growing industrial influence.
The report traces the movement's origins to two main groups: the Revolutionary Socialist League, the official Fourth International section operating inside the Labour Party, and the more dynamic Workers’ International League (WIL), founded in 1938 by South Africans Raphael and Mildred Lee. Key claims include the WIL’s adoption of James Cannon’s "Military Policy" during the 1940 war crises, which departed from revolutionary defeatism to permit workers' defence of their homeland under their own control. This shift is presented as a bitter theoretical quarrel within international Trotskyism. The report details the WIL’s programme: a "Transitional Programme" demanding a Labour government to expose its leaders' sell-out to capital, thereby preparing the masses for a full Marxist revolution. Evidence for the movement's growth is given in concrete figures: membership rising to 800 full members and 2,000 associates by February 1943, with twelve full-time organisers.
The chapter draws heavily on the historical context of the Second World War, detailing the WIL’s early semi-legal existence, use of false identities, and evasion of military service, exemplified by the 1940 Sheffield conspiracy case where members stole medical cards. The report documents the movement's industrial strategy, viewing strikes as the principal weapon of the proletariat. It provides specific examples: the 1941 Rolls Royce Glasgow strike, the Betteshanger colliery strike, and the orchestration of the 1944 Tyneside shipyard apprentices' strike. The latter led to the arrest of leaders Jock Haston, Roy Tearse, and Heaton Lee under the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927, though sentences were later quashed. The report notes the RCP’s use of cover organisations like the Militant Workers’ Federation and its clandestine international work, using seaman delegates and couriers to link with the Fourth International and Trotskyist groups in Belgium, France, Italy, Egypt, India, and Ceylon.
The report is a notable polemic in itself, not against Trotskyism, but as a document of state security. It argues against the earlier neglect of the movement by Special Branch and the Security Service, who considered it "negligible." The report’s final section on "Investigations" is a methodological critique, arguing that Trotskyist conspiratorial methods—use of pseudonyms, cover addresses, guarded telephone talk, and close scrutiny of members—required a more intensive and interpretive approach than the simpler methods used for the Communist Party. The failed RCP attempt to run a double-cross agent against Special Branch is cited as evidence of the movement’s sophistication. The report concludes that the study of Trotskyism demanded a disproportionate share of resources relative to its size, precisely because its important work was conducted clandestinely.