Widespread movement against Tories¶
Core Argument¶
This chapter presents a polemical analysis of British domestic politics during the Second World War, arguing that the ruling class is preparing a coordinated offensive against the working class, both at home and abroad. The core narrative thrust is that the wartime coalition government, far from representing national unity, has systematically used the war to enrich monopoly capital while imposing all sacrifices on workers, soldiers, and the middle class. The text contends that this exploitation is generating a rapid leftward shift in mass consciousness, evidenced by recent by-election results. In West Belfast, a traditional stronghold of Ulster Tory reaction, the Labour Party won its first seat from the province; in Midlothian, a supposedly safe Tory seat was nearly lost. The Times is cited as reluctantly acknowledging this as “something of a portent,” revealing ruling-class alarm.
The chapter argues that the government’s announcement of the Beveridge scheme was a cynical manoeuvre to deflect this growing opposition, a repetition of Lloyd George’s post-First World War promise of a “land fit for heroes.” The emptiness of this gesture was exposed when the Tories voted against even the modest Catering Bill, and when Sir John Anderson’s Commons statement accepted Beveridge “in principle” while refusing any specific commitments. The Daily Worker and Daily Herald are quoted to demonstrate that the government has already surrendered to the most reactionary Tories. The Times itself is shown to have concluded that the government’s position implies action may be postponed indefinitely or abandoned entirely in a coming era of poverty. The text’s polemic is directed squarely against the Labour and trade union leaders in the coalition, accusing them of holding the masses in check with the fiction of “national unity” while the capitalists make no sacrifices. The Labour MPs’ threatened “revolt” over Beveridge is dismissed as mere hot air; the demand is for an end to the coalition and for Labour to take power independently on a militant socialist programme.
The chapter extends its critique to foreign policy, arguing that the “war against fascism” is a farce. It points to the miserable trickle of aid sent to the Soviet Union, the imposition of blood and famine in India and the colonies, and the installation of French fascist quislings in North Africa. British troops are reported in the Daily Telegraph to be burning villages and seizing cattle in Tunisia, using methods as brutal as those of the Axis. The conclusion is that the capitalists are planning a future of reaction and fascism at home and quisling regimes abroad. The Workers’ International League positions itself as fighting alongside workers who still have confidence in the Labour leaders, aiming to convince them of the need for independent working-class struggle and the end of the coalition. The chapter closes with an appeal to the labour movement to rely on its own strength and to put into force the programme of the Socialist Appeal.