11. “Black Friday”¶
Core Argument¶
Chapter 11: “Black Friday”¶
The aftermath of the First World War and the Russian Revolution catalysed profound shifts within the British labour movement. The Labour Party adopted a new constitution enshrining Clause Four’s commitment to common ownership, alongside the radical programme Labour and the New Social Order, which aimed at eradicating capitalism. The TUC’s Parliamentary Committee was reconstituted as a General Council, and the National Council of Labour was established. Union amalgamations accelerated, most notably forming the Transport and General Workers’ Union under Ernest Bevin. In 1920, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was founded, though it remained small and plagued by syndicalist and sectarian tendencies. Lenin intervened directly, arguing in Left-Wing Communism: an Infantile Disorder that revolutionaries must work within reactionary trade unions and the Labour Party to win the masses. He pressed for CPGB affiliation to the Labour Party, a move reluctantly executed but deliberately sabotaged by the British leadership, enabling the right wing to permanently bar future applications. The Red International of Labour Unions (RILU) was formed following expulsions from the reformist International Federation of Trade Unions, and both the RILU and the Comintern’s Fourth Congress in 1922 insisted on maintaining trade union unity and working within existing unions, condemning splits.
The employers’ counter-offensive arrived with the 1921 miners’ lockout, which triggered a call for solidarity from the Triple Alliance. However, the Alliance leadership withdrew support after a personal offer by MFGB secretary Hodges was disowned by the miners’ executive, breaking the alliance and leaving the miners to fight alone. “Black Friday” in April 1921 marked this humiliating climb-down, soon dubbed the “Cripple Alliance”. By the end of 1921, wage cuts were imposed on six million workers. The miners, isolated and disheartened, were defeated by June. The 1920-21 slump saw industrial production collapse by over a quarter and unemployment rise from 2% to 18%. The 1922 engineering lockout broke the Shop Stewards’ Movement and weakened workplace organisation. Trade union membership, which had reached six-and-a-half million, reversed sharply; TUC affiliations dropped by over two million between 1921 and 1923.
Attention turned to the political front. In November 1922, Labour won 142 seats, an increase of 85. Two Communists were elected on a Labour ticket. Philip Snowden reassured capital that a Labour government would not be a class government. In December 1923, Labour increased to 191 seats but lacked a majority; the Liberals handed them office. In early 1924, the first minority Labour government under Ramsay MacDonald took power. It invoked the Emergency Powers Act against a London traffic dispute and pursued orthodox capitalist policies. The government was removed after the forged Zinoviev Letter sparked a red scare. Labour’s vote actually increased by over a million, but the Tories won a massive majority. The Liberal Party was annihilated, losing 119 of its 158 seats. Despite demoralisation, the advanced sections of the unions began to fight back. By August 1924, the National Minority Movement was formed, following the Miners’ Minority Movement’s success in electing left-winger A. J. Cook as MFGB national secretary. The scene was set for the General Strike of 1926.