workers and students who continue the fight despite the huge repression unleashed upon them, the bitter lesson of the June 4 massacre is that there is no peaceful way to dispose of the ruling faction or reform the hopelessly bureaucratised Communist Party. Many of the ideas thrown up in the debates of the movement very close to those of Trotskyism: it is now even more im- portant that an organised current inside China takes up the for democracy since the early 1980s have already moved economy and oust the reactionary bureaucracy, and for an independent political party to direct that revolutionary slogan of political revolution to defend China's nationalised down, and could yet lead to civil war. privilege. struggle. sible counter-strike by troops supporting the more liberal' Whether or not the crisis escalates swiftly into an all-out diers of the 27th Army itself have already deserted their posts, armoured vehicles and weapons to join the masses in Beijing, while as we go to press rumours abound of a pos- civil war, there is no doubt that the crackdown was an ex- pression of the weakness and isolation of the faction around Deng Xiaoping, rather than a sign of strength. As a Stalinist bureaucracy, their power and privilege rest not on private property or ownership of the means of production, but on their monopoly grip on political power and control of the It is the fact that the mass movement for democracy has threatened this control, and challenged the very government itself, with explicit demands for the ousting of Premier Li Peng and of Deng himself, that has compelled the bureaucracy - after a period of obvious indecision and in- ternal crisis - to strike back, reverting to the traditional tac- backed by the workers, demanded democratic reform of the Communist Party and an end to corruption, the tanks that crushed their bodies were defending not socialism but the privileges of a bureaucracy all wings of which are steeped in covered. Indeed, irrespective of the mock 'statue of liberty" tics of Stalinism. While the students in Beijing, increasingly The regime's cynical claim that the students represented an anti-socialist opposition was never more than a flimsy pretext for repression. In over three weeks of massive mobilisations under the microscopic gaze of the western press, not a single serious pro-capitalist current has been un- erected by art students, the Beijing protestors were consis- tently demonstrating for socialist democracy, under red flags, singing the Internationale and even unwisely quoting Mao Zedong against Deng. The ruling bureaucracy are the ones whe have actually sponsored capitalism and privatisa- tion in China, to the extent where 30 million out of 130 mil- state machinery, especially the armed forces and police. wing of the Communist Party bureaucracy. SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 16 June 1989 corruption.
Kinnock's Review seeks ш F D.
unilateralism and accepting threat. His refusal to answer the question as to whether he would actually pressthe button, while the source of much humour, is of less im- to intervene in union affairs and to declare strikes illegal would secret ballots and the banning of many sympathy defence was the most awaited, even though its broad outline was widely foreseen. In its essentials, Kinnock has not failed the ruling class, rejecting the myth of a Russian would be relained, as statement on The strikes. bosses' approval AN ference in October to policies acceptable to Since the demise of the Liberals as the second tantly) used the Lahour Party as their fall-back at With the publication in mid-May, Neil Kin- nock now only needs the stamp of approval of Labour Party con- complete the process of bringing the Party back into line with main bourgeois Party, the ruling class has (reluc- of the Policy Review times of Tory the ruling class.
For years the soft left promised to keep Kinnock and Labour while in fact retreating all the time and directing their attacks at the hard left for their oppositionism', their attitude is leading-complete victory for Kinnock and the nght SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 16 June 1989 Labour Party conference and it is pected to put up some kind of Review on the NEC was restricted major issue, Even on disarnameat Bryan Gould failed to support an removal of nuclear weapons and bases within the lifetime of a single parliament. Short, feted by the "Time to Go' campaign against the British presence in Ireland, could not even see her way to sup- porting the deletion of a commit- ment to the Anglo Irish agree- policy out of the hands of the right, on policies they allegedly support, Now it is clear for all to see where Policy Review on disanna- ment has always been seen as the touchstone for the Left's fortunes. Formany Party members a commitment to unilateralism has been one of the strengths of the Labour Party in recent years, even if its Icaders have refused to cam- paign for it, It is around this that resistance will he greatert at the issuc on which the soft left on Yet opposition to the Policy to the hard left on virtually every Clare Short, Robin Cook and amendment calling for the The outcome of the the NEC might have been ex- with a top tax rate of only 50 per cent, perpetuating the role of Labour as the Party of high taxes bosses. There is no threat to exchange controis, only to reduce Key Tory anti-union laws, in- troduced by Thatcher to hamstring tempts to restructure British capitalism, would not be repealed by Labour, The right of the courts significant constitutional changes for Vauxhull), sailed through the Phase Iwo, to be put to this nificant and crucial tn Kinnock's the media. Its sections on the blueprint for the programme of a programme could not make it clearer that the "new" Labour Party Of all Thatcher's privalisations, only British Telocom and water would be taken back into state hands (and then bought back). There would be no wealth tax. - for the working class, not the nationalise the banks or institute the working class during her at- economy. the talk of individual rights rather than collective action, together with (one of which was used to keep Martha Osamor off the shortlist 1988 Conference with little op project, and recognised as such by economy. trade unions und defence contain Kinnock's represents no threat to capitalism. year's conference, is far more sig future Labour govemment. New realism for old: Kinnock has ditched unilateralism clear from the start that this was would not put op a challenge, the up process for the more difficult issues, in particular defence. Last year's phase one, with its bland credence to the Kinnock line that union bureaucracy to fight back against the Tories' onslaught on jobs and democratic nights or their programme of privatisation. Every time they have retreated or sold mined Left policies feeding the view that there is no alternative to capitalism and little chance of stopping the Tory onslaught other than by eventually electing a process of reversing policy by way of conference resolutions, Kin- Review two years ago. It was designed to change policies democratic procoss. Having defeated the hard left, reducing them to a handful on Labour's Na- tional Executive, and confident that the remnants of the soft left Kinnockites could be sure of win- The first year of the Policy Review was used as a softening- couraged by the media) gave Labour was 'unelectable" with left Throughout, Kinnock has been assisted by the refusal of the trade out a struggle they have under Frustrated with the slow nock instigated the Policy (very thin) vencer of being wholesale, while maintaining Labour govemment ning on the NEC. policies. these changes. In this he has been alterative Party of governoent - pressured and encouraged hy the Kinnock and the SDP renegades from Labour wanted the same thing - to bring "mainstream" ments over how this was best done - the Labour right believing they could beat back the left within the Party, and the Owenites believing this was hopeless and setting themselves the task of creating a new force to replace Labour as the they assisted each other in this The support for the Alliance (en orderly running of capitalism, and ces, police the working class more For a period after Thatcher cane to power in 1979 this arran- gement looked like being upset. In reaction to the policies of Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and James Callaghan the Labour Party moved (at cast on paper) con- siderably leftwards, introducing measures of democratic account- ability (such as the clection of the Leader and automatic reselection procedures for MPs) and some socialist policies, such as Ever since he was clected leader in 1983 it has been Kinnock's intention to reverse bourgenis media and the Alliance. British polities back into safe Despite their tactical disagrec- could even in certain circumstan- knowledge that it was also concered with the popularity, safe in the easily than the Tories. bourgeois channels. unilateralism. Page 2
Pete Firmin. We have to link up with the struggles taking place over pay. privatisation, not only to provide a strategy to win against the Tories forces to the battle against policies. At the same time the left has to look seriously at thie lessons of the last few years and how Kin- nock has managed to turn back the year's conference if all its sup the Poll Tax, the NHS and and bosses, but also to win new Kinnock's social democratic porters can work together. There is still an outside chance of winning on unilateralism at this the lack of any serious counter-at- The renewed wave of strikes reflects disillusionment with the Tories and contributes to Labour's rise in the polls without the Labour Party lifting a finger in support of those fighting back. Ar the same time Labour gains from the fact that the 'centre" parties have col lapsed - precisely because Kin- nock has stolen their clothes and the media no longer sees the need The Left, however, cannot sit back and wait for Kinnock's policiesto be shown to be a frilure. tack from Labour. to prop them up. + For the present, Kinnock's being the least popular, the Tories. demonstrated theirlack of concern astrous re-run of Wilson and Cal- laghan trying to run capitalism at strategy appears to be successful. tion results show Labour gaining support, with even the possibility on the horizon of winning a general election. Yet with the economy faltering and inflation rising, and the next round of privatisation (water, clectricity) ment to those policies, and with what sort of Labour gover ment all this might produce - a dis Council and parliamentary elec- the expense of the working class. Kinnock and his cohorts are so ferences) that they have not conference before launching the Policy Review to the media with The leaders of the soft left have gument - that to get Labour policies. In the process they have shown. like Kinnock, that they with only the hard left putting up certain of winning (especially unilateralism at some union con- bothered to wait for Labour Party all the razzamatazz of a Hol- conceded to Kinnock's central ar- elected it must jettison left lywood awards ceremony: after their "victories'
of militancy is beginning to drop the BMA's uncharacteristic flurry Laughing all the way: Kenneth Clarke However the campaign against not any hospital could 9 patients or the local community been asked 140 possible hospitals - would be no ballot or opt out would rest with Kenneth Clarke himself their views. There referendum: a Final New bosses aim to carve up NHS as Secretary of Stale. through the White Paper proposals themselves are faltering despite managing director of Sainsbury's. vices last year proposed a massive extension of means-testing of ser- vices for the elderly, and a policy term care to pay for it themselves out of their savings or through the sale or re-mortgage of their own pointed to help Clarke force His report on community care ser- of forcing those in need of long- These advisors have been ap- shatter the complacency of proposals. Perbaps it was even traditional apathy of the left on never bad any serious commit- It was a grisly sight: enough to anyone who doubted the dead- ly threat posed to the National government's White Paper enough to break through the alongside Health Secretary Ken- neth Clarke were some of the most Ranged on the platform Service by the fight for the NHS.
away, with GP negotiators having agreed a miscrable scll-out on the doctors, and with the BMA's con- sultant members already talking of "pilot schemes" to test out Mr The main resistance to the White Paper has so far come from the Hands Off Our Health Service campaign launched in London in most the only supply of ers, badges and other material It is vital that this type of cam- paigning is broadened and taken new contract for 32,000 family February, which has become al- pamphlets, leaflets, posters, stick- against the Tory proposals. Clarke's reactionary plans. these and other White Paper proposals has been almost n-ex- istent from the official labour ploit the unpopularity of the White Paper in May's local cloctions or in the current Euro election cam- paign, the Labour Party has slumpedintoitrusual indifference to the NHS. Indeed the new Policy Review includes a call for the im- plementation of the Griffiths proposals on community care - presumably indicating a cor- responding welcome for his in- Worse still, because their mem- ber are in the front line of the Tory movement. Having failed to ex- clusion on Clarke's new board, the threat that many more patients Trusts, taking all decisions behind tion more and more like private hospitals in order to balance their i Establishment of an "internal market" within the NHS involving the establishment of a massive. bureaucratic system of pricing and cross-charging for treatment, and will have to travel to find treat- • Proposals for hospilals to coming pre-NHS style Hospital # Imposition of cash limits on all family doctor services, with the "opt out of local NHS control, be- closed doors and driven to fun- Graham Day of the Rover Group (formierly BL); Bob Scholey of Durham of Woolies and British Aerospace. These men have heen drafted onto a new NHS policy board by Clarke, who raved on abour the qualities they have to figures who have shown their Their presence and advice will be a great encouragement to all Clarke of course meant that notorious asset strippers, plat closers and union-bashers in British industry, including British Steel, and Sir Kenneth offer: "They are formidable ahility to run giant organisations. managers in the NHS'.
Page 3 for the bealth unions, the TUC and al demonstration in the autumn, and throw their weight hehind a huge majority of the public who oppose the White Paper-forcing ment: the demand must be raised Labour Party to mobilise a nation- full-scale campaign to rally the Harry Sloan. Hands Off Our Hospitals, 446, Uxbridge Rd, London up by the official lahour move W12 ONS. 01-749-2525 the government to back off tial exception of the technicians" union MSF) have done nothing to "professional bodies' - the BMA, This not only leaves tens of norant of the dangers, but reinfor lusions that defence of the NHS can he left to the doctors. Already attuck, is the inactivity of the bealth unions, which (with the par- combat the White paper, leaving the initiative in the hands of the the medical Royal Colleges and the scab Royal College of Nurs thousands of health workers ig. ces all of the worst hierarchical il. preliminary fist has shown over attempt to press-gang the largest pendent budget holders, subject • The threat of still further privatisation of services within hospitals, despite the damage al- ready done by privale fins that have driven down standards of cleaning, catering and laundry ser Clarke is stepping up the pres sure on local hospital management and consultants to volunteer their hospitals for opting out. So far a GP practices into becoming 'inde- to rigid cash limits. SOCILIST OUTLOOK no 16 June 1989 policy board, Sir Roy Griffiths, with trepidation at the prospects business figure from an expanding corporation is deputy chair of the their experience in in running down giant industries: those who remember that British Leyland once employed 160,000 workers, British Stel over 100,000, and that Woolworths once had a much larger chain of stores will look for 1.2 million health workers, the hospitals they work in and their trade union rights once this cut- Nobody will he safe: the only ting crew" gets down to business.
causc of a change in the form of Another factor in explaining Fein candidates being knocked couraging one for Sinn Fein, and momentum for the Buropean the result in the existence of local lance - against Sinn Fein. Agreements to give each other their second preference votes - Sinn Fein supporters vote only for their own candidates - led to Sinn There is also some evidence that nationalist voters were turned away at the polling stations be- Overall the result was an en- the onus is on them to keep up the pacts between other parties - in- cluding the SDLI and the Al- Jean Reilly identification needod. cloctions in Junc. Sinn Fein vote holds Sinn Fein's electoral support, have to be made to counteract thie effect of the ban in Britain The decision by Sinn Fein, at their last Ard Fheis to allow their 'Declaration' against violence was clearly a correct one. However, a number of seats were lost by the Republican movement when supporters of 'Republican" Sinn Fein refused to sign the Declaration and therefore were Apart from the efforts of the British goverment to reduce candidates also had to contend with the response to IRA blunders over the past few years, The En- niskillen tragedy was undoubted- ly at least partly responsible for Sinn Fein losing control in Fer- to sign the not allowed to stand. Ш candidates + The mediu ban on Sinn Fein, which was only lifted during the election period because of the Representation of the People Act. had the potential to be extremely As it tumed nut, it seems as though the main effoct of the ban is to deny people in Britain and elsewhere informa- tion on the situation in the six counties and on Sinn Fein's well enough what is going on in their own streets and their own This fact, through their publicity depart- ment, has minimised the damage done. More strenuous efforts will overriding authority of the The people of the north know together with Sinn Fein's own ef- forts to counteract the ban how much they fear it. council chambers. political positions. damaging Despite losing 19 seats, their government were prepared to go The local government elec- bons in the six countes which were held on 17 May can be seen as a victory for Sinn Fein. share of the total vote dropped by only a tiny fraction - from 11.8% to 11.3%. In addition Tost were lost by a very small To have achieved this despite the strenuous efforts of the British state and its agents to undermine their clectoral strategy shows the depth of the support For Sinn Fein in the nationalist community. The lengths which the British are also a sign that they recognise the extent of that support - and of many of the seats which they margin.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 16 June 1989 the tactics, but the vast majority of We now have a number of taska to through a campaign to obstruct the register and organise collective There were disagreements on course, leaving SWP and Militan The registration issue has without doubt caused disruptions carry out in the next phase of the • Buikling the regular newsiet- • Participating in the huilding don federation of anti-poll tax groups, set up from a confercace in April. In the longer term we should work, together with Noth paigning all-London federation • Transforming SCRAP into a truly representative campaign. based in the community, and tate representatives active in ties, trade unions and community groups. Our aim will be to break the individual isolation of people Graham Topley SCRAP opted for the second comrades to re-consider their at- titude to the only cfcctive cam- in SCRAP but it has been a neces- sary part of claritying the debate. ter Community Rexistance of a lively and active South Lon London groups, for a real cun- made up of street stewards and es. tenants" associations, Labour Par News' throughout the borough: action to defeat the poll tax. based on non-compliance, campaign. These include; paign in Southwark. tax forns publicly. How we plan to SCRAP the poll tax vanised us in public work- it also who argued that registration was and we should leave it until a cam- Many of us, including Socialist overall framework of building a ing registration and burning poll "Delay it, don't pay it" and we en- couraged people to throw their cil, in their haste to do the Tories' dirty work for them, had unwit- da coup - and on top of that, legal advice had assured us that the anyone at that stage who didn't Even now, Southwark council ouly claim at beat a 50% retum of the formas - so much for jumping Registration not only gal- threatened to rip apart the cum- paign internally. There were two basic positions - which have probably been reflected in other campaigns, On the one side were the SWP and Militant supporters, not the key issue, it was got pos sible to build a mass campaign, paign had been built against non- payment which we could then Outlook supporters, saw this as a defeatist and politically wrong as- sessment of the campaign, and ar- gued that non-registration was an important tactical question in the mass campaign of non-payment. This of course could take many different forms, including delay- foms in the bin. Southwark coun tingly given us a huge propagan- council could not prosecute come in and exploit. Labour's protest petition and go come genuincly representative of courage council tenants and other successes have been notched up. shaken up however with the ques. lion of registration. Thia became a cil decided to send out the registra- they were required to do. In a rare they tried to intimidate people into Our weekly Saturduy stalls weretransformed. People came up and asked us what to do with their form. Could they be fined? Did they have to register in 21 days as it said? How could they pay? What rebate if any could they get? Our stall became a centre of infor- wark against the Poll Tax stall 50 yards away, and been told to sign We designed a poster, produced stickers and advertised our campaign. Our slogan became the community in which we we based. Our strategy has been to en- residents to organise local poil tax unions on their estates, and some with meetings in tenants halls throughout the borough. A num- ber of signficant tenants" associa- tions have now endoried the cam- paign, and we have had successful Our whole world was violently five issue when Southwark coun fion forms a month carlier than mation. Very often people had al- ready been to the official" South community display of 'socialist" registering early. public meetings. Labour Briefing- people pay it or not, Our meetings regularly attract 20-30 people, and Militant Workers Party (sometimes), as selves as anarchists, and people in Our discussions have always campaigus set up outside Scot- land - started in October 1988. borough to stop the Labour- run council implementing the government's poll tax legisla- It quickly became obvious that most Southwark councillors were not prepared to stand up alone against the Tories and that we could not rely on them to fight for us. We ngreed that a mass-cam- paign of noo-payment and non- workers was the most effective We have argued that the poll tax stands or falls by whether nised by many activists in the campaign: supporters of Socialist (sometimes), and Socialist well as people who define them- centred on how we can grow oul- Southwark Community Resis- rance Against tbe Poll Tax (SCRAP) - one of the first It was formed largely because there was no effective cam- paign in the south London implementation by council he composition will be recog- wards from this activist core to be way to combat the poll tax. Socialist Organiser. no political party. Chelook, Page 4
It is now clear that the factories of Beijing were in constant turmoil during this whole period. A motor- Tigers brigade sent bundreds of cyclist unit called the Flying Lion. Revolution in 1966. It seems liko- manders extracted promises of position to Mao Zedong which led to the unleashing of the Cultural ly that the regional army com- munist Party regional leaders' op PD Tienaman Square after the death of event was of course the visit of official independent trade unions, dent protests in late April. First, the death of Hu Yaobang, a veteran of the Long March, sacked two years ago by Deng following the student prutests of December 1986. Hu Yaobang was considered a liberal and "responsible for the student upsurge. The demonstrations after Hu's death had strong parallels with the mass demonstrations in Zhou Enlai in 1976. The second who established their own organis- Two events sparked off the stu- ing centre in Tienaman Square, Countdown to a massacre CHINA: and the students repulsed them, pretext for the carnage which troops were sent cynically to be On the evening of Friday 3 June unarmed Peoples Labera- tion Army (PLA) troops were sent on foot from the outskirts of Beijing towards Tienaman Square. The people of Beijing with minimum violence. But this was no serious attempt to break up the democracy move- ment protests. In fact, the beaten up, in order to provide a was to follow the following
disturbances in other major cities workers to factorics to mobilise The Beijing Independent Trade Union Federation began to recruit heavily, and in organise a per- Square, The workers soon came under heavy pressure, with wam- ings that anyone seen in Tienaman Squarc would be sacked. After 20 May the secret police began to visit the factories to arrest the leaders of At the time of writing (6 June) reports are still coming in of fight- ing in Beijing, and of strikes and them in support of the students. manent presence in Tienamen the independent union federation. broadcasting network, and mil more power and resources to the army, in retarn for their loyalty to tial law the democracy movement bad created deep divisions in the state apparatus, Magistrates and soldiers in uniform. journalists from the Peoples Daily and state lions of workers joined in the movement. The first attempts to niove troops into the city, on the weekend of 20-21 May, were met by a popular uprising of the workers of Beijing, whose bur- ricades and mass fraternisation Up until the declaration of mar- the reginie. two million people demonstrated and the reformers" led by Zhoa Gorbachev, clearly associated in the minds ofthe student protestors with the glasnost which China has not seen, despite the radical perestroika" in During Gorbachev's visit up to around Tienaman Square and the Forbidden City. It is clear that a Fierce struggle inside the CP leadership was already taking place during the Gorbachev visit, between the Deng-Li Peng faction Ziyang. In fact, there were already the economy since 1978. with democratisation, waiting battalions on the edge of the city were immediately told that heaten by the students. The units brought into Beijing to carry out the Deng Xiaoping Li Peng coup rian border. They had heen kept in ignorance of the events in Beijing and the other major Chinese cities. and fired up with stories of about counter revolutionaries trying to It is now clear that the Deng-Li But despite the almost non- violent dispersal of the troops, the their comrades had boen savagely were from Manchuris and the Rus- overthrow "socialism", evening.
incloding Shanghai. Some reports say Beida university has been in- vaded by troops, others that stu- dents have built barricades and are preparing to defend their cam- puses against the expected onslaught. For 48 hours groups of workers and students have been at- tacking military convoys with Molotov cocktails. There are also persistent reports of fighting be- tween army units, the meaning of which is not clear as we go to press. Whatever the immediate out- come of the fighting, the Li Deng faction in the leadership is bound to lose in the end. They have Inst with the troops prevented their entry into the centre of the city. For the whole of the next week, bar- ricades were erected each evening to keep out the troops as the But by the end of May the movement started to experience a crisis of perspective, as the news that Zhao Ziyang had been defeated and put under house ar- rest leaked out. In the absence of any organised political opposition to the Communist Party, the de facto perspective of the movement was for a change in the CP Jeader ship to implement democratic workers mobilised. tensions in the leadership before Gorbachev's visit, with Former president Li Xianian spearhcading a conservative atlack on the "liberalism" of Zhao Ziyang. By the time of Gorbachev's departure on 18 May, the Li-Deng faction had won the power strug gle, turing for support to the 'Consultaive Council' of party elders, which crucially includes the veteran Peng Zhen, fomer mayor of Beijing, who led a long struggle against Mao, from 1959 to the end of the Cultural Revolu tion. Also vital to Deng's alliances is Prosident Yang Shangkun, a Peng faction in the Communist Party leadership had intended all along to massacre the student protestersand the large numbers of workers who supported them. The bloodbath was postponed for two reasons; first because the regime could not carry out their ruthless action during the Gorbachev visit, and second becuuse the Beij- ing garrison and neighbouring units were unwilling to plough through the barricades crocted by The coup has a deadly logic. The CP leadership had the choice
the workers.
all popular support and legitimacy. The workers and students of China glorious chapters in the history of can never Imally defeat the mass people are prepared to die in the bundreds, in their thousands, to have written one of the most the struggle for socialist democracy. Army power alone opposition of millions, When defeat repression, then its days are Page 5 refonns. When this appeared less and less likely students began to dents about whether to end the To everyone, it appeared that and waiting for the movement to ing to bring hundreds of thousands drift off,hack to their campuses in niber cities or in Beijing itself. A the regime was staying its hand, of troops from Manchuria and the Soviet border to crush the rebel- debate broke out among the stu- peter out, In reality it was prepar- former field marshal, whose son is was apparently vital in securing Martial law was declared lato on the evening of 19 May. Reports suggest that Deng then left Beijing to consult with party and military leaders in Wuhan. China's party and military structure is heavily said in he army chief of staff. Yang's influence with the army the coopcration of its com- tion and leaders. It was the Com- dependent on regional SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 16 June 1989 movement, or to drive it off the carried through to the end. And protesters in their thousands - and sions to head off the democratic strects with terror. Once a military solution has hoon decided upon, it can only be successful by heing random killing to intimidate the workers. The ruthless action of the coup was prompted precisely by the link up between the students of either making major conces- murdering the and the workers, including the un that means
un DE -E A New Tory uL
Towed to discipline refuse to abide hy a has been carried out strike vote, even to dismiss strikers. Unions are not al- who though the ballot the stringent ballot government's