13 The Militant Tendency and entrism in the Labour Party
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Christopher Massey
Abstract
This chapter explores the tactic of entrism within the British Labour Party pursued by the Revolutionary Socialist League and the Militant Tendency between 1955 and 1991. It also explores Labour’s response to such tactics by assessing the impact of the party’s internal investigations into Militant in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly the expulsion of the Militant Editorial Board in 1983, and the Inquiry into the Militant Tendency in Liverpool in 1985-6. Through an examination of the Militant newspaper, the group’s penetration of Labour’s youth wing, and its activities in Liverpool, this study analyses the extent of Militant’s infiltration of the Labour Party.
Abstract
This chapter explores the tactic of entrism within the British Labour Party pursued by the Revolutionary Socialist League and the Militant Tendency between 1955 and 1991. It also explores Labour’s response to such tactics by assessing the impact of the party’s internal investigations into Militant in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly the expulsion of the Militant Editorial Board in 1983, and the Inquiry into the Militant Tendency in Liverpool in 1985-6. Through an examination of the Militant newspaper, the group’s penetration of Labour’s youth wing, and its activities in Liverpool, this study analyses the extent of Militant’s infiltration of the Labour Party.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Revolutionary vanguard or agent provocateur 11
- 2 Not that serious? 30
- 3 Protest and survive 48
- 4 Anti-apartheid solidarity in the perspectives and practices of the British far left in the 1970s and 1980s 66
- 5 ‘The merits of Brother Worth’ 88
- 6 Making miners militant? 107
- 7 Networks of solidarity 125
- 8 ‘You have to start where you’re at’ 144
- 9 Origins of the present crisis? 163
- 10 A miner cause? 182
- 11 The British radical left and Northern Ireland during the ‘Troubles’ 201
- 12 The point is to change it 218
- 13 The Militant Tendency and entrism in the Labour Party 238
- 14 Understanding the formation of the Communist Party of Britain 258
- Index 277
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Revolutionary vanguard or agent provocateur 11
- 2 Not that serious? 30
- 3 Protest and survive 48
- 4 Anti-apartheid solidarity in the perspectives and practices of the British far left in the 1970s and 1980s 66
- 5 ‘The merits of Brother Worth’ 88
- 6 Making miners militant? 107
- 7 Networks of solidarity 125
- 8 ‘You have to start where you’re at’ 144
- 9 Origins of the present crisis? 163
- 10 A miner cause? 182
- 11 The British radical left and Northern Ireland during the ‘Troubles’ 201
- 12 The point is to change it 218
- 13 The Militant Tendency and entrism in the Labour Party 238
- 14 Understanding the formation of the Communist Party of Britain 258
- Index 277
