History

Fredrick Engels once defined the state as "armed bodies of men",
together with their appendages, in defence of private property. Last month’s BBC
2 TV programme in Britain entitled True Spies by Peter Taylor examined
one of these appendages, Britain’s secret services. The programme revealed how
in "democratic" Britain, MI5 and the Special Branch systematically
infiltrated political groups and organisations, and secretly spied on trade
union leaders such as Arthur Scargill and Derek ‘Red Robbo’ Robinson. While none
of the revelations are particularly startling, what was of interest was the use
of first-hand interviews by ex-M15 agents in explaining their sordid undercover
activities.

This article is a follow-up to Britain's Summer of Discontent – An Earthquake in the British Labour Movement.
The magnificent one million-strong strike of local authority workers on
July 17 has forced important concessions out of the government. Anyone
who still doubted the power of militant industrial action has been
answered.

What a decisive answer to all the cynics who had written off the labour
movement in Britain. In scenes reminiscent of the late 1970s, scenes we
were told would never be repeated in Blair's New Britain, more than a
million local authority workers took strike action yesterday, the first
national public sector stoppage in 20 years. The action by members of
UNISON, the T&GWU and the GMB was described in the London Evening
Standard as "the biggest strike in Britain since the 1926 General
Strike".

The British working class has a history of swinging from industrial action to political action. This is as true today as it was in the 1930s. This article looks at the great struggles of 1929-31, when the polical leaders of the workers’ parties failed to respond to the tasks required of them, leading to the defeat of the workers and the return to power of the Tories.