Jimmy Deane¶
Core Argument¶
This chapter is an obituary and political biography of Jimmy Deane (1921-2002), presented as a model of the proletarian revolutionary. Its core narrative thrust is to trace the continuity of genuine Trotskyism in Britain through the life of a working-class militant, from the pre-war period through the difficult post-war decades, arguing that Deane’s political trajectory exemplifies the correct Marxist method of patient, principled work within the Labour Party and trade unions, in opposition to sectarian adventures and bureaucratic manoeuvres.
The chapter establishes Deane’s deep revolutionary lineage: his grandfather Charles Carrick Wilson was a member of the original Social Democratic Federation and Liverpool’s first Labour councillor, later alderman and deputy Lord Mayor. His mother Gertie knew James Connolly, H.M. Hyndman, and Harry Quelch, was an active suffragette, and became a lifelong Trotskyist. Jimmy Deane joined the Labour Party in 1937 at sixteen, was won to Trotskyism, and brought his entire family into the movement. The chapter uses Tommy Birchall’s recollections to detail the group’s growth in Liverpool, building a base on the Trades Council and Labour Party, organising a May Day section in 1938 with the anti-war slogan “Not a man, not a gun for imperialist war,” and carrying banners of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky. By the outbreak of war, the Liverpool group numbered 35-40.
During the war, Deane worked in Cammell Lairds shipyards as a shop steward, selling over 2,000 copies of Socialist Appeal in Liverpool. The chapter recounts a telling polemical incident: when Stalinists attacked Deane and Arthur Farrager during the 1943 Barrow strike for not supporting the war effort, Deane retorted “I’m doing my utmost – I’m a blood donor,” winning cheers from the workers. This illustrates the central polemic against Stalinism, which is portrayed as fervently pro-war and anti-strike.
The chapter’s historical context is the factional history of British Trotskyism. Deane supported the Haston-Grant majority in the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), formed in 1944. The key turning point is the 1948-49 crisis: when Haston advocated entry into the Labour Party, Deane and Grant opposed this but remained neutral, hoping to save the leadership. The chapter presents this as a mistake, leading to the RCP’s destruction and the expulsion of Deane and Grant, who rebuilt from scratch with only thirty people, launching International Socialist. The polemic here is against the International leadership (Mandel, Pablo, Frank) and Gerry Healy, whose undemocratic regime is blamed for the RCP’s destruction.
The chapter is sharply critical of Deane’s own later errors: his illusions in unification with the Mandelites in 1964, which he mistakenly hailed as “a very important step forward,” and a failed attempt to collaborate with Tony Cliff’s group. These are attributed to wish-fulfilment and a painful lesson in the impossibility of shortcuts. After these failures, Deane became disillusioned and moved to India, though remaining loyal to the ideas. The chapter explicitly states he was a victim of the period and of “the crimes of the so-called leaders of the Fourth.” It concludes by contrasting Deane’s proletarian integrity with the “ultra-left turn” of the later Militant leadership, affirming his closeness to Ted Grant and his enduring inspiration as a “proletarian revolutionist.”