The role of the Communist Party¶
Core Argument¶
This chapter presents a polemical analysis of the British government's introduction of Regulation 2D, a piece of wartime legislation aimed at suppressing the activities of the Trotskyists. The core argument is that the Stalinists, having betrayed the working class and aligned themselves with the bourgeoisie, have been forced into a hypocritical and treacherous position. While compelled by rank-and-file pressure to offer demagogic opposition to the Regulation, figures like D. N. Pritt ultimately call for police-state measures against their revolutionary rivals, explicitly advocating for the suppression of the Socialist Appeal. The chapter contrasts this with the principled opposition previously mounted against Regulation 18B when it was used to suppress the Daily Worker, asserting that a blow against any section of the labour movement is a blow against the whole.
The text draws on parliamentary debate, quoting both Pritt and Ernest Bevin. Bevin’s speech is used to expose the cynical logic of the ruling class: the Regulation is designed to insulate industrial production from the disruptions caused by shifts in diplomatic policy, whether those disruptions come from Trotskyists or, as Bevin ominously notes, from Stalinists should their line change again. The chapter argues that Bevin, acting in concert with the TUC leadership, has imposed this tyranny without consulting the rank and file, who will bear the brunt of it. The vote in the House of Commons, with 23 Labour MPs opposing and 14 abstaining, is presented as a reflection of working-class pressure, but the text insists that parliamentary gestures are worthless without a mass struggle to break the coalition government’s stranglehold.
The polemic is directed squarely against the Stalinists, branded as traitors and renegades who have sold out to the boss class and who fear the revolutionary truth told by the Trotskyists. It also attacks the trade union bureaucrats, who are said to hate the Trotskyists precisely because the latter fight for democratic control of the unions, including regular re-election of officials. The chapter concludes by linking the fight against Regulation 2D to the broader struggle against all anti-working-class legislation, including the Trade Disputes Act, and calls for a campaign to end the coalition government.