The Decline of the ILP¶
Core Argument¶
Chapter Digest: The Decline of the ILP¶
Trotsky’s polemic on the Independent Labour Party is a definitive obituary for a once-promising organisation now reduced to a spent force. The core argument is that the ILP has degenerated into a centrist and pacifist clique, wholly incapable of revolutionary leadership. Trotsky recounts having patiently observed the party for years, initially urging British comrades to join it from within. However, after assessing the results—including the ILP’s failure to break from its own leadership—he concludes that continuing to harbour illusions about the party would damage the revolutionary cause. The ILP must be openly broken with, and comrades should transfer to the Labour Party, where more can be achieved, as demonstrated by youth work.
The key evidence for this verdict is drawn from the ILP conference’s handling of the Abyssinian crisis. Trotsky condemns the conference’s pacifism, where James Maxton forced a reversal of a principled anti-pacifist vote by threatening resignation. Trotsky calls this a dictatorship worse than Mussolini’s, proving the ILP is not revolutionary. He dismisses Fenner Brockway’s centrism: Brockway held the correct position but capitulated to Maxton, treating principles as incidental. Trotsky characterises the ILP as a local Glasgow machine, corrupt and dominated by Maxton, with a pattern where Brockway leads rank-and-file rebellions only to capitulate. The key task is to compromise the ILP leadership through pitiless attacks, identifying Maxton as a lackey of Chamberlain and Brockway as Maxton’s lackey. Trotsky cites Maxton’s public thanks to Chamberlain after the Munich pact as conclusive proof of the ILP’s degeneracy, arguing that Chamberlain’s “peace” is merely preparation for war and continued imperialist violence.
On the international question, Trotsky argues that centrists lack principles and hesitate to build a new one; revolutionaries must work out the programme of the Fourth International independently. He insists the Marxist Group must enter the Labour Party, with or without the ILP, treating the ILP as a dying corpse. Entry allows revolutionary work among the masses, and he rejects staying in the ILP to win waverers as formalism. Inside the Labour Party, the group must start secretly, avoid early expulsion, and attack centrists before the bureaucracy. Trotsky also criticises sectarianism toward the Labour Party, urging flexibility and a tactical approach of supporting a Labour government while making necessary reservations. He advocates an independent paper, even when working inside the Labour Party, to remain outside ILP control. The Fourth International is not yet a mass issue, but the programme must be prepared.