Contents – Part 1

(1) Initial Proposals for a New Scottish Socialist Party – Scottish Militant Labour Executive Committee (6 March 1998)

(2) In Response to the Statement “Initial Proposals for a New Scottish Socialist Party” – Socialist Party Executive Committee (17 March 1998)

(3) Clarification of Proposals for a Scottish Socialist Party – Scottish Militant Labour Executive Committee (2 April 1998)

(4) For a Bold Step Forward – Scottish Militant Labour EC Reply to British EC (April 1998)

(5) New Tactics for a New Period – Scottish Militant Labour Executive Committee (17 April 1998)

(6) Reply to “New Tactics for a New Period” – Socialist Party Executive Committee (5 May 1998)

(7) Short Thesis on the Revolutionary Party, Peter Taaffe, General Secretary, Socialist Party (April 1998)

(8) In Defence of the Revolutionary Party – Reply to the Scottish Militant Labour Executive’s “For a Bold Step Forward” from the Socialist Party Executive Committee (5 May 1998)

(9) Scotland, France and the International – Special International Bulletin of the Committee for a Workers’ International (October 1998)

Editor’s Note: The Scottish debate, as it became known, began in 1998 within the Committee for a Workers’ International and continued, at varying intensities, until January 2001. The debate arose when the leadership of the Scottish section of the Committee for a Workers’ International proposed the formation of the Scottish Socialist Party, and a change in the political character of the Scottish section. 

It was one of a number of significant debates for Marxists in the 1990s, and covered the questions of the revolutionary party and its programme, reformism, and also the role of a workers’ revolutionary international – the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI).

The 1990’s presented significant challenges for Marxists. The collapse of Stalinism in the ex-Soviet Union and Eastern Europe – while vindicating the analysis of Trotsky and his followers – gave rise to a generalised political retreat from socialist ideas by the official labour movement internationally. 

What was falsely seen as “Communism,” and the policies stemming from the parties of Third ‘Communist’ International, were an abomination of Marxism, and had become an obstacle to the development of the genuine ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.

 This particular obstacle was removed, whilst at the same time many of these communist parties followed the road of the reformist parties of the Second International, (the Labour Party in Britain, the Socialist Party in France, the Social Democrats in Germany and so on), in becoming totally bourgeois formations.

For many years most of the parties or sections of the Committee for a Workers’ International had worked within or alongside these reformist parties since they carried the aspirations of the working class, and had significant working class input, despite their bourgeois leadership. However due to a number of factors this situation, and the CWI’s tactics, changed at the beginnings of the 1990s (see Marxists and the British Labour Party – the ‘Open Turn’ debate, on this website)

The question for the 1990’s was, as always, how to build a new bridge between the ideas of Marxism – for the thorough-going socialist transformation of society internationally – and the current consciousness and preparedness to struggle of the working class, which is the only class which can realise that goal.

The Scottish debate consisted of an exchange of over 36 articles, many very substantial and wide-ranging, beginning with an exchange of articles in four Members’ Bulletins published by the Socialist Party, the England and Wales section of the Committee for a Workers’ International, in five months of 1998, and continuing over two years with documents and innumerable discussions at every level of the Scottish, British and international organisations of the Committee for a Workers’ International. 

It marked a clear difference of analysis, of ideas and method between the Committee for a Workers’ International and the Scottish section. This led, after a prolonged period of discussion, to a parting of the ways.

Background

In the mid 1990s the Scottish section of the Committee for a Workers’ International, Scottish Militant Labour, initiated the Scottish Socialist Alliance, a genuine alliance of socialist and “Green left” organisations and individuals. Then in March 1998 Alan McCombes, on behalf of Scottish Militant Labour, presented Initial Proposals for a new Scottish Socialist Party (below) which were published in the March 1998 Socialist Party Members Bulletin (no. 27).

The discussion focussed both on whether to form such a party, and if so, how. The Scottish section proposed to transfer the “apparatus of Scottish Militant Labour, including our paper, our finances, our membership, our premises and our full time staff” to the new party, in the process of consolidating the broad Scottish Socialist Alliance into a party.

This was particularly contentious, as well as symptomatic, in the view of the Committee for a Workers’ International as a whole – that is, in the view of the other sections of the Committee for a Workers’ International and not just the International Secretariat of the Committee for a Workers’ International, the body charged with the day to day leadership of the CWI, which body is singled out for criticism by the Scottish section in various documents presented here.

Without reaching international agreement, the Scottish Socialist Party was nevertheless formed as a broad party, and simultaneously  Scottish Militant Labour became the ‘International Socialist Movement’ platform within it, but with policies now moving towards those of a reformist character moving in a clearly reformist direction, (see the new 2004 introduction to A socialist world is possible – the history of the CWI for more details – buy the pamphlet by clicking here). The effective dissolution of the Committee for a Workers’ International’s section in Scotland, which had great prestige as a result of the campaigning work of the Anti-Poll tax battle and other campaigns, was a great loss. 

A minority in the International Socialist Movement that supported the majority of the CWI declared a faction, which led to a further exchange of documents also included here.

Eventually, in January 2001, the majority of the ISM decided to leave the CWI and the former minority faction became, in March 2001, the International Socialists, a completely separate group affiliated to the Committee for a Workers’ International.

For over five years the International Socialists were a respectable force within the broad Scottish Socialist Party but, after the majority of the SSP leadership supported the “News of the World” in its libel case against Tommy Sheridan, the International Socialists helped found ‘Solidarity – Scotland’s Socialist Movement’ in September 2006. In the May 2007 Scottish parliamentary elections Solidarity won 31,066 votes (1.6%) and the SSP 12,831 (0.6%).

It is common and natural for observers to lament the disputes that take place on the Left. Yet from time to time serious debates of this character are necessary to clarify the tasks required to challenge international capitalism. We believe the documents presented here will help to clarify many questions which are being debated on the revolutionary left today. They also remain a record of the position of the Committee for a Workers’ International in relation to the development of these issues.

The revolutionary party is the midwife to the revolution, not the embryo of the new socialist society, and the birth may well be painful. Passionate debate by dedicated revolutionaries is inevitable, but those who fully understand the need for a socialist transformation of society will neither be persuaded by invective nor be put off the pursuit of socialism by this unfortunate fact of life.

The Texts

The Initial proposals for a new Scottish Socialist Party (below) written by Alan McCombes and published in the Socialist Party’s March 1998 Members Bulletin No.27, is the first document in this section of Marxist.net archives.

The ‘Initial Proposals’ called into question the basic premises of a revolutionary party, which were summarised by Peter Taaffe in the  following Members Bulletin (April 1998, no.28): 

“Scottish Militant Labour is an autonomous part of the Socialist Party, which is a revolutionary party. The Socialist Party is the British section of our international revolutionary organisation/party, the Committee for a Workers International (CWI). 

“The CWI is present on all continents with official sections or groups in 34 different countries, with sympathisers in many others. The Socialist Party and Scottish Militant Labour are based upon a clear revolutionary programme, perspectives, strategy and tactics, and a separate revolutionary organisation.

“The aim of the Socialist Party/Scottish Militant Labour and the CWI is to build mass revolutionary parties in Britain and throughout the world, and a mass International. The whole of working class history attests to the fact that the socialist revolution, which will be the greatest change in history and yet the most difficult, cannot be realised without the creation of mass revolutionary parties, the nuclei of which are in the affiliated sections of the CWI. 

“The programme, the main documents and the decisions of the CWI which all affiliates accept, are democratically decided at a World Congress.”

Short thesis on the Revolutionary Party, by Peter Taaffe, April 1998

The publication of Initial proposals for a new Scottish Socialist Party led to the ‘Scottish debate’ within the Socialist Party and the Committee for a Workers’ International. The British Socialist Party Executive Committee replied on the 17 March, (published in the March 1998 Members Bulletin No.27)

“It is no exaggeration to say that its contents were a bombshell for the EC [Socialist Party Executive Committee]. ” (In response to the statement ‘Initial Proposals for a New Scottish Socialist Party’)

The following Members Bulletin (April 1998, No.28) published For a Bold Step Forward from the Scottish section of the CWI, which developed the ideas presented by Alan McCombes below.

The British Socialist Party executive committee replied asking for ‘Clarification of Proposals for a Scottish Socialist Party.’ In this document the British Socialist Party EC outlined in its view the two main options facing the Scottish section, presented as Option 1 and Option 2, and subsequently referred to throughout the following documents (April 1998 Members Bulletin No.28.) 

Peter Taaffe also presented his short summary of the tasks of a revolutionary party from which we quoted above (Short thesis on the Revolutionary Party, by Peter Taaffe) in this Bulletin.

However a full reply from the British Socialist Party Executive Committee followed in a very significant Marxist analysis presented in the next Socialist Party Members Bulletin (May 1998 No.29): In Defence of the Revolutionary Party. 

While the Introduction of this important work recognises the “outstanding achievements” of the comrades in Scotland, it goes on to outline the Ideological Differences (Section one) that have opened up. It answers the question What Is A Revolutionary Party? and proceeds to analyse The Role Of The International, the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI.) Finally it examines the Electoral Strategy of the Scottish section and that of a revolutionary party. It exposes the primary or initial motivation of the Scottish section to initiate the Scottish Socialist Party: “the arguments put forward in the first section of Initial Proposals are predominantly electoral.”

The next exchange of documents appeared in the July 1998 Socialist Party Members Bulletin (No.31), published barely a week after Members Bulletin No.30. This was New Tactics for a New Period, and the Reply from the British Socialist Party EC

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The Texts are complete and unabridged. Extra paragraph breaks have been added for clarity of reading on screen. For the most part full names have been used instead of initials for ease of reading, particularly for the benefit of readers new to the subject. Some documents have been scanned in; while every effort has been made to spot errors introduced, the webmaster welcomes comments on the text.

Contents – Part 2

(1) The Platform of the Minority Faction (April 2000)

(2) International Socialist Movement – Political Reply to the Factional Document and Platform (May 2000)

(3) Party, Programme, Reformism and the International (August 2000)

Editor’s Note: This document, produced by the Political Committee of the International Socialist Movement, and the Committee for a Workers’ International’s reply to it, Party, Programme, Reformism and the International, was printed in the August 2000 CWI members Bulletin. They are the last substantial documents to be produced in the Scottish debate. (See Introduction)

The International Socialist Movement (previously Scottish Militant Labour) was the leading organisation within the Scottish Socialist Party. The Scottish Socialist Party also contained within it various other political organisations and unaligned individual socialists. At the time this document was produced, the International Socialist Movement was still the Scottish Section of the Committee for a Workers’ International. 

However, due to the drift towards reformism by the International Socialist Movement, a Minority Faction within it was declared by Philip Stott in Dundee and other longstanding members of the CWI, in 2000. It was fully supported by the Committee for a Workers’ International, and was formed in order to:

“struggle to build a cohesive revolutionary organisation that defends the programme of the Committee for a Workers’ International.” (Party, Programme, Reformism and the International)

ThePlatform of the Minority Faction was printed in the May 2000 CWI Members Bulletin. The Political Committee of the International Socialist Movementproduced a Reply. That Reply, reproduced below, challenged many of the fundamental positions upheld by the CWI.

The CWI then produced the document entitled Party, Programme, Reformism and the International to take up the issues raised.

The Minority Faction later became the CWI’s section in Scotland. Called the International Socialists, it has gained some significant support in the Scottish Socialist Party.

The text is complete and unabridged. Extra paragraph breaks have been introduced for ease of reading on screen.