Political parties and trade unions

The existence in Britain of organized political parties each laying its own policies before the electorate has led to well-developed political divisions in Parliament. The party system has existed in one form or another since the seventeenth century, and began to assume its modern shape towards the end of the nineteenth century. Whenever there is a general election (or a by-election) the parties may put up candidates for election. The electorate then indicates, by its choice of candidate at the poll on election day, which of the opposing policies it would like to see put into effect. The candidate who polls the most votes is elected: an absolute majority is not required. Such an electoral system is called the majority system, which is unrepresentative and undemocratic because it gives predominance to the most powerful parties — the Conservative and Labour parties. These parties as a rule control Parliament. In this context there is a two-party system in Britain. The Conservative and Labour parties share power, they control the state mechanism, only these two parties have access to the management of the state, though in reality there exist other parties.

However, in recent years new trends are becoming more noticeable. These changes which occurred under the pressure of the working people, disappointed with the existing state mechanism, make it more complicated for the two main parties to dominate the political scene. A reflection of the tendency is the fact that more votes are given to the other political parties.

The modern party system in Britain is a result of the Industrial Revolution which took place in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the emergence of new classes on the political scene — the capitalists and working class, the organized political struggle of the working class. The Industrial Revolution brought into being the industrial proletariat and with it the fight for civil and political rights, trade-union organization and the right to vote. Under such conditions the ruling-classes found it necessary to create political organizations which were intended to defend their class interests. This in its turn led to the emergence of the Conservative and Liberal parties in the nineteenth century as parties of the propertied classes.

By the end of the nineteenth century, both major political parties had become organized on a nationwide basis with election agents, constituency organizations and a London headquarters. In Parliament, the two-party system which had been emerging from the end of the eighteenth century was given formal acknowledgement when the House of Commons was rebuilt after a fire destroyed the old one in 1834. A new chamber was provided with two sets of benches, one for an administration party, one for an opposition party. Political struggle led to the formation of the Labour party in 1900 and to the foundation of the Communist party in 1920.

The Communist party. The Communist party was the first political party based on socialism directly voicing the real interests of the working class and the true interests of the vast majority of the nation.

The Communist Party of Great Britian was founded on July 31 — August 1, 1920 on the basis of amalgamated socialist organizations (the left wing of the British Socialist party and of other socialist organizations). The party was formed in the years of upsurge of the working-class movement, dissemination of Marxist ideas and under the direct influence of the Great October Socialist revolution in Russia. In 1920 it joined the Comintern. The Communist party played a decisive role in the 'Hands off Russia' movement which developed in Britain in defence of the October revolution and the first socialist state.

The defence of the working people's interests has always been in the focus of attention of British communists. The record of struggle of the British Communist party against the employers, the Conservatives, fascism, colonial oppression and war is a proud page of British labour history.

The Communist party was in the forefront of struggle of the working class in the twenties against the capitalists and in the General Strike of 1926. It played the leading part in the organization and struggle of the unemployed in the.thirties during the Great Depression of 1929—33. The Communist party organized vigorous protest condemning the government's policy of collusion with the fascist aggressors, it was the inspiring force of a broad antifascist movement (the British batallion of the International Brigade in Spain fought against the fascists).

Throughout its whole existence the Communist party has campaigned for the unity of the British workers and the colonial peoples in the struggle against imperialism.

During the Second World War the Communist party fought for the unity of the British people in the struggle to defeat fascism. Much was done for the earliest opening of the second front. The selfless struggle of the British communists against fascism won them many friends among the working people and enhanced the role of the Communist party.

Following the Second World War, the Communist party offered a three-year plan of the development of the British economy aimed against the dominance of monopolies and suggesting nationalization and technical modernization of the leading branches of the economy. The Communists warned against the Government's foreign policies of the cold war, against subservience to the USA, restrictions on East-West trade, the arms race, etc.

The activities of the British Communist party are based on the programme 'Britain's Road to Socialism' adopted at the 35th Congress of the party in November 1977. The draft programme was first published in 1951. It makes provision for building socialism by means of using the traditional institutions of parliamentary democracy by winning majority in Parliament with a broad democratic alliance under the leadership of the working class.

Today the British communists are in the forefront of struggle of the working class against the onslaught of the government and the monopolies. British communists are peace champions, they are ardent advocates of friendship with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. The British communists are actively protesting against the policy of the arms race, they support the INF (Intermediate Nuclear Forces) treaty signed by the Soviet Union and the USA in December 1987 and demand that the government should scrap its programme of rearming the nuclear-powered submarines with the Trident system, which will cost the British people more than 10 billion pounds, as well as other costly plans of modernization of British nuclear forces.

The BCP is based on the principles of democratic centralism. The local party organizations form the basis of the party. The supreme organ of the party is the congress convened once in two years. The congress elects the executive committee, which in its turn elects the Political Committee (The Politburo) and the general secretary. The 41st Congress of the BCP held in December 1989 emphasized the necessity of unity of all the left forces in the country.

The main publications of the BCP are Marxism Today and News and Views. The Morning Star is the daily newspaper of the British communists and of all those progressive people who support the struggle of the communists for peace and socialism in Britain.

The Conservative party. The Conservative party of Great Britain (the official name The National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations) — was officially organized in 1867 on the basis of political groups of the English landed aristocracy. The origins of the party go down to the 17th century, when it was called the Tory party. The Tories (formed in 1679) staunchly supported the claims of monarchy. 'Tory' was initially a derogatory nickname, meaning an Irish bandit. In the course of its evolution in the 19th century the Conservative party became the main party of British top monopoly capital. It is also supported by the top military clique and bureaucracy, partially by bourgeois intellectuals, the well-paid employees and the labour aristocracy. Supported and financed by the clique of company directors, aristocrats, big business politicians the party is an advocate of capitalism and inperialism, openly defending capitalist exploitation at home and abroad. Its home policy is aimed at the limitation of trade union rights, prohibition of strikes, suppression of basic rights of the working class. The foreign policy of the Conservatives is likewise motivated by the interests of the British ruling class.

The Conservative party has no official permanent programme. On the eve of general elections the party issues a pre-election manifesto which states the main aspects of the home and foreign policies of the future Conservative government if the party wins the elections. However, it is necessary to emphasize the point that there is always a great gap between the pre-election promises and their actual implementation when the party comes to power.

Being a party of 'big business' the party always reduces state allocations for social security, gives priority to private enterprise by slashing funds for the nationalized sector of the economy, introduces taxation profitable for the big companies. The activity of the party is marked by further offensive of the monopolies on the social and economic rights of the working people, the anti-trade union measures, violations of basic human rights, especially in Northern Ireland.

Structurally the party consists of 650 local associations, each one covering an electoral constituency. One should remember that the House of Commons is formed by the deputies who have won majority in each of the 650 constituencies of Great Britain.

The Conservative party has no official membership, no membership cards and party dues. Formally the highest organ in the party is the annual conference. However, actual power is concentrated in the hands of the leader of the party. The leader is not elected by the annual conference, but by the MPs sitting in Parliament on behalf of the Conservative party — the so-called parliamentary party. The leader personally appoints the holders of the key positions in the central office. The decisions of the annual party conference and of the various organs of the party (the executive organ of the party in between the party conferences) are conveyed to the leader so that he may be kept constantly aware of the moods and opinions of the party members, but the leader is in no way bound by these resolutions. Pronouncements of party policy are the responsibilities of the leader. The leader may not even attend the annual conference except to deliver a speech at the end of the conference which is not open to discussion. Thus the relations between the ordinary members and the party leadership can only be described as undemocratic. The party issues its own paper Newsletter, the official journals of the party are Time and Tide, Politics Today. However, one should remember that the majority of the British press supports the Conservative party. The papers and journals are owned by the big monopolies.

The former Liberal party. The Liberal party of Great Britain existed since 1832, though it was finally organized in 1877. The history of this party is closely associated with the Whig party, which emerged in 1679. Initially the Whigs voiced the interests of the financial and the trading bourgeoisie. The party was opposed to the policy of Charles II who tried to restore the absolute powers of monarchy after the bourgeois revolution (1640 — 60). The Whig leaders headed by the Earl of Shaftesbury and his followers in the Green Ribbon club attempted to exclude Charles's Catholic brother, later James II, from succession to the throne. As a result, they became associated with the cause of the opponents of the regime and the defence of the liberties of the subject and parliament against the threat of monarchical absolutism. The term 'Whig', from 'whiggamore (cattle-drover), began as a term of abuse used by opponents. In the nineteenth century the Whigs served as a nucleus in the formation of the Liberal party. The middle and petty bourgeois intellectuals formed the social basis of the party.

Before the First World War it was second only to the Conservatives in political and social influence. Quite often did the Liberals hold office. However, due to the intensification of class struggle and a split among the Liberals the party's influence declined. Having suffered several defeats at the parliamentary elections in the twenties the party could not restore its former prestige. To a great degree the newly formed Labour party won the votes of the former Liberal supporters.

The results of the general elections of 1979 and 1983 indicated a marked growth of influence of the Liberals, though in 1987 they suffered a setback. They formed an alliance with the Social Democratic party which emerged in 1981 as a result of a split in the Labour party. In 1988 the Liberals and Social Democrats formed a united party under the name the Social-Liberal Democratic party or just the Democrats. This event highlighted the formation of a new political party in Great Britain which claimed to have a membership of about one hundred thousand supporters. The party was set to take a centrist stand in the political spectrum of Great Britain. Its political platform remains vague reflecting a diversity of views of the members of the two former parties. In the political system of Great Britain the Democrats hope to fill the gap which exists between the Conservatives and Labourites.

The Labour party. The Labour party was established in 1900 on the initiative of the trade unions and several socialist organizations (the Independent Labour party, the Fabian Society and Social-Democratic Federation). The main aim was to win working class representation in Parliament. This was initially reflected in the name of the party — Labour Representation Committee. In 1906 this Committee officially adopted the title of the Labour party. The Labour party is a classical party of social-democratic reformism. Up to 1918 the party had no clear-cut programme. Though the Labour party proclaims that socialism is its aim, its concept of socialism is anti-Marxist. In all the years of the Labour party's existence, the conflict between working class politics and the policies of the leadership, reflected in the struggle between right and left in the movement, has always been inherent in the Labour party.

The Labour party has always been an association of different class elements — the working class and groups of the petty bourgeoisie. The working class mass organizations, the trade unions provided the main body of the membership and the finance. The reformist politicians in alliance with the right-wing trade union leaders formed the right-wing leadership.

The party has no long term political programme which would determine the final aims and means to achieve them. Instead the party endorses current political issues containing measures, which the future Labour government intends to implement if the party takes office as a result of a majority in the general elections.

The home policy of the Labour party is based on the principles of reformism. However, the Labour party politicians acknowledge the necessity of carrying out limited socio-economic reforms. In this context they favoured nationalization of the economy (i. e. greater state control of the economy), a state-run health and educational system, some improvements in social security, better housing, etc. In foreign policy the Labour party leadership firmly supports NATO, military, political and economic cooperation with the USA. At the same time the Labour party politicians display flexibility and in their policy statements support peace, detente, arms control, an improvement of relations with the Soviet Union and other socialist states.

The most important development in British politics in recent years has been the growing strength of the militant section of the labour movement reflected in the growing influence of the left wing in the Labour party. Under the pressure of the left-wing positive changes were introduced concerning the election of the leader of the party and the selection of Labour MPs. If in the past the leader of the Labour party was elected by members of the so-called Parliamentary Labour party (that is Labour MPs), now according to the new rules, the leader of the party is elected by a college of electors including representatives of three bodies — the trade unions, local organizations and the Labour Parliamentary party. These rules provided wider opportunities for the rank-and-file members (in the trade unions, local organizations of the party) to have a greater say in the election of the leader and in the nomination of candidates of the Labour party to represent it in Parliament.

The positive changes in the constitution of the party carried out under the pressure of the working class infuriated the right-wing members. In protest some right-wing politicians left the Labour party in 1981 and formed another party known as the Social-Democratic party (SDP). The latter formed an alliance with the Liberal party and the two parties acted together in one bloc in the elections of 1983 and 1987. In 1988 the two parties finally merged together under the name the Social-Liberal Democratic party. The split in the Labour party revealed new important developments in the labour movement.

There are about 7.3 mln members in the Labour party, of which over 600 thousand are individual members and more than six million collective members. The latter as members of trade unions, cooperative organizations and other institutions which are incorporated in the Labour party automatically become its members. Local party organizations which exist in most of the electoral constituencies form the basis of the party. The annual conference which elects the National Executive with 25 members is the highest organ of the party. The Executive is responsible for the everyday affairs of the party outside Parliament. The leader of the party, his deputy, the treasurer, the Chairman of the party and the general secretary are all members of the National Executive. Debates at annual Labour party conferences are mainly based on resolutions or policy statements from the Executive, and resolutions from the local organizations of the party. Resolutions from trade unions are generally few in number.

As has been noted there is a constant struggle between the right and left wings in the party. The general trend is such that the right wing has a majority among the members of the Parliamentary party, whereas the left wing exerts greater influence in the National Executive.

The Labour party is a member of the Socialist International (an international organization which unites socialist and social-democratic parties). The headquarters of this organization is situated in London. The Labour party politicians strive to play a leading role in this world organization. Between the two World Wars the Labour party grew to supplant the Liberals as the major opposition to the Conservatives, they formed minority governments in 1923 — 4 and 1929—31, and came to power under Clement Attlee in the landslide victory of 1945. In the post-war period the Labour party was in office in 1945—51, 1964—70, 1974—9. When in opposition, the party elects by secret ballot the 'shadow cabinet' to guide the activity of the Labour faction in the House of Commons. The 'shadow cabinet' includes the leading politicians of the Labour party. The Labour party issues its weekly paper Labour News.

As regards some minority parties which are represented in Parliament one should note that the interwar years saw the establishment of the Welsh Nationalist Party (1925), which voices the interests of the Welsh population, and the Scottish Nationalists (1934). After 1945 further minority parties were born, such as the extremely reactionary, anti-immigrant National Front, and the conservationist Ecology Party.

Trade Unions. In nearly all industries and occupations some workers (and in some industries nearly all workers) are organized into trade unions. They have grown up gradually and independently over many years and, consequently, their form and organization vary considerably, as do their traditions. Trade unions may be organized either by occupation (for example, they may recruit clerks or fitters wherever employed) or by industry. Some are based on a combination of both principles.

In the past in some firms membership of the relevant trade union was required by agreement between the employer and union ('closed shops'). This principle was abolished by the Conservative government. The total membership of British trade unions is 11.1 million. There are about 480 unions, but nearly 80 per cent of all trade unionists were in the 26 largest unions, each with a membership of 100,000 or over, while only 0.6 per cent were in the 263 smallest unions with under 1,000 members each. In Britain the national centre of the trade union movement is the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which was founded in 1868. The TUC's objects are to promote the interests of the affiliated organizations and to improve the economic and social conditions of working people. Its affiliated membership comprises 108 trade unions which together represent about 10 mln work-people. The TUC deals with all general questions which concern trade unions both nationally and internationally and gives assistance on questions relating to particular trades or industries. The annual Congress convenes in September to discuss matters of concern to trade unionists and to employees in general. It elects a General Council which represents it between Congresses and is responsible for carrying out Congress decisions watching economic and social developments, providing educational and advisory services to unions and presenting to the government the trade union viewpoint on economic, social and industrial issues.

When the Conservative party came to power in 1979 it, in full conformity with the interests of 'big business' began to carry out an anti-working class policy aimed at neutralizing trade union activities. Within this context the Conservative government passed through Parliament two employment acts in 1980 and 1982 and in 1984 the anti-trades union act. These acts were an open challenge to the whole trade union movement.

According to the first two acts political strikes were banned, as well as solidarity strikes. Picketing was also limited. The 'closed shop' principle which required that all workers at a plant or enterprise should be trade union members was also abolished. The latter was intended to hinder trade union activity. The 1984 Trades Union Act gave the government a free hand to intervene in the internal life of trade unions. The Act demanded a secret ballot by mail of every trade unionist on matters related to starting or prolonging a strike. Such a move was intended to break up trade union solidarity and nullify decisions taken by general meetings of trade unionists. Another act was set to deprive the workers of elementary labour rights, in particular, it entails prohibiting financial support rendered by one union to another involved in a labour dispute. The 119th Trades Union Congress held in 1987 unanimously condemned the moves of the Tory government stating that with their adoption labour conditions in Britain would become inferior to those existing in other West-European countries. Despite such adverse conditions aggravated by a hostile political, economic and psychological climate created by the capitalist mass media and mass unemployment the trade unions vigorously reject government policies and are bent to challenge the onslaught of the monopolies and the Tory government.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-21