The
Gerry Healy
Archive
Political Letter
Editors Foreword
Gerry Healy was always astutely aware of the contradictions in the forms of practice and consciousness which manifested themselves in the Party as reflections of the class struggle. His method of dealing with these quickly was to send out “political letters” to the committees and branches for all members to read. What follows is such a political letter.
To all Branches, Members
Area and Sub. Area Committees
19 July 1974
Dear Comrades,
Special Conference Decisions
The Special Delegate Conference of the Workers Revolutionary Party held on the weekend of July 13th-14th. Was the best conference in the history of the British Trotskyist movement. It demonstrated the political maturity of our party and the keenness of the comrades to fight, to learn and to make great sacrifices to carry out the tasks in hand. Delegates not only voted overwhelmingly for the political line of the draft resolution placed before Conference, but for the constitutional change necessary to prepare the party for the struggles ahead. Most important was the insistence of the delegates that the leadership accepts the responsibility of leading in all the fields of work in which the party in engaged. Let us take the most important of these in the following order:-
A. TRADE UNIONS
Cowley. The Central Committee worked consistently with our comrades in the plant. [British Leyland motor factory at Oxford – Ed]. Not only did we defeat the all-out attempt to smash the party organisation in the complex, but, as delegates were informed, we emerged substantially strengthened as a result of the conflict.
In Equity, [actors union – Ed], the consistent work of our party members has completely altered the relationship of forces within the unions annual general meeting.
B. YOUNG SOCIALISTS
The Young Socialists’ Conference of 1974 at Blackpool was the largest in the history of the YS. To enable the Young Socialists to meet the important political changes affecting youth, the Political Committee has set up a youth sub-committee to assist the Young Socialists.
C. EDUCATION
The leadership has striven continuously to raise the political level of the party. This effort is concentrated on the basic theoretical issue facing the party, that is, Dialectical Materialism as the theory of knowledge of Marxism.
HOW ARE WE GOING TO CARRY THE DECISIONS OF OUR CONFERENCE INTO PRACTICE?
a). Arrangements must be made immediately for Branch and Area report-back meetings. Area conferences should be held not later than the middle of August.
b). The turn to the working class begins at once. Each branch must be responsible for covering factories in its vicinity each day with Workers Press with the object of recruitment and setting up factory branches. Educational classes should be continuously in progress for all contacts. The success or failure of branch work after the conference will be estimated on the basis of how they tackle this work.
c). Local branches of the All Trade Union alliance are required to direct the party’s broad work inside the local trade unions, the purpose being to increase politically the party’s influence in the trade unions. This work is inseparably tied to a constant struggle to build up the readership of Workers Press within the factories.
d). The party conference provided the Central Committee with a powerful mandate to strengthen security within and around the Workers Revolutionary Party. This, however, cannot be achieved without the constant vigilance of every single member of our party. Spotting the informer and the provocateur is a skilled political job. In essence it lies in the constant effort to test our theory in practice through the struggle to build the party. All comrades who grasp the serious nature of the present crisis will in time acquire the essential knowledge to protect the party from such enemies. Their main source of knowledge will come from their consistent efforts to politically protect the party from its enemies.
We appeal to all members of the Workers Revolutionary Party to proceed at once to implement these decisions of our Special Conference.
Yours fraternally.
G. Healy
National Secretary,
Workers Revolutionary Party.
We invite you to come along and discuss these points at you next branch meeting of the WRP I your local areas which will be held on:
Time……………………………………….. Place …………………………………………………………………………………………………..
DETAILS OF LOCAL ACTIVITIES