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''Straight Left'' was a left-wing newspaper published from 1979. The phrase was also the generic name given to a political faction of the Communist Party of Great Britain who disagreed with the leadership's emerging
Eurocommunist Eurocommunism, also referred to as democratic communism or neocommunism, was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more rele ...
politics, and were responsible for the production of the newspaper. The origins of this faction within the CPGB go back earlier, but it emerged under this name in 1977.


Organisation and ideology

The leading ideological force in the Straight Left faction was Fergus Nicholson, who had previously worked as the CPGB's student organiser. According to Michael Mosbacher in '' Standpoint'' magazine, the faction was "a hard-line anti-reformist pro-Soviet faction within the Communist Party". Unlike the leadership, they supported the
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...
in 1968 and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
in 1979. They also thought the party should concentrate its work in
Trade Unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
, and not in
social movements A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and ma ...
such as
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and
environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...
. Because the CPGB's rules banned the formation of factional groups, SL operated in secret. Members of the faction contributed funds to the organisation through significant monthly donations, which helped fund the groups educational gatherings, often referred to as camping weekends. Its meetings were not publicly announced, and writers in their newspaper ''Straight Left'' and their theoretical magazine ''Communist'' wrote under
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
s like Nicholson, whose pen name was "Harry Steel". The Straight Left faction also produced anonymous bulletins to try to influence CPGB Congresses, usually under the heading "Congress Truth". The faction produced a dissident internal pamphlet entitled "The Crisis in Our Communist Party - Cause, Effect and Cure", which was distributed nationally but not under its name. This was authored (in all likelihood in conjunction with others), by veteran miner and communist Charlie Woods, who was expelled from the CPGB for putting his name to the publication. Charlie Woods, who had been the CPGB's Northern organiser in the late 1930s, was the faction's oldest link to a period when the CPGB was operating in a manner to which the Straight Left faction hoped the CPGB would eventually return. A significant number of Straight Left faction members had developed close personal friendships with members of fraternal communist parties, particularly the
Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...
, Iraqi, South African and
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parties, who were well organised on most British University campuses. Many Straight Left supporters felt that the style of organisation and the overall ethos of these organisations was significantly more impressive than the CPGB at that stage, and as a result sought to steer the CPGB. They wished the CPGB to return to a more pro-Soviet stance, with high levels of membership commitment, a focus on working-class organisation, as well as a strong emphasis on
Marxist–Leninist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...
education in the branches. The faction recruited members from within the CPGB and required members to demonstrate a high level of commitment. The faction was critical of those who were increasingly focusing not on traditional class politics but on the new social forces around the environment and feminism. The faction's opposition to the leadership of the CPGB was visceral and extremely time-consuming for its members, and many faction members were expelled throughout this period.


Newspaper

In March 1979 the ''Straight Left'' newspaper was launched as a political monthly that claimed to be a "non-party, non sectarian journal of the left, committed to working class unity and class consciousness". It was edited by Mike Toumazou and the business manager was
Seumas Milne Seumas Patrick Charles Milne (born 5 September 1958)Winchester College: A Register. Edited by P.S.W.K. McClure and R.P. Stevens, on behalf of the Wardens and Fellows of Winchester College. 7th edition, 2014. pp. 582 (Short Half 1971 list heading) ...
. Though it was a faction within the CPGB it had supporters within the Labour Party. The editorial advisory panel consisted of Ray Buckton, Bill Keys,
James Lamond James Alexander Lamond (29 November 1928 – 20 November 2007) was a British Labour Member of Parliament who represented Oldham East from 1970 to 1983 and then Oldham Central and Royton from 1983 until he retired at the 1992 general election. ...
MP, Jim Layzell, Alfred Lomas MEP, Joan Maynard MP, Alan Sapper, Gordon Schaffer and William Wilson MP. Frank Swift was responsible for fund-raising. In effect, it copied the tactics of the Labour Party entryist tactics of
Militant tendency , native_name_lang = cy , logo = , colorcode = , leader = collective leadership(''Militant'' editorial board) , leader1_name = Ted Grant , leader1_title = Political Secretary , leader2_name = Pet ...
with the pretence that its members were merely readers of the ''Militant'' newspaper, Straight Left supporters chose to stay in the CPGB when rival factions split off to form the New Communist Party (NCP), in 1977, and the
Communist Party of Britain The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) is a communist party in Great Britain which emerged from a dispute between Eurocommunists and Marxist-Leninists in the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1988. It follows Marxist-Leninist theory and s ...
(CPB), in 1988. Some leading members, such as Andrew Murray and Nick Wright, formed a group called "Communist Liaison"; after the dissolution of the CPGB in 1991 they published a newsletter called "Diamat" but it later dissolved and most of them, including Wright and Murray, joined the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), soon taking up leading positions throughout the new organisation. Others, notably Fergus Nicholson, decided not to join any party; whether through a continued distaste at having to work with once reviled rivals, or a belief that the conditions were no longer suitable to the creation of a Communist party in Britain is not clear, but they stayed resolutely outside the CPB. Many former leading figures in the faction who did not join the CPB ceased political activity, whilst others remained active in broader movements.


Aftermath and ''The Socialist Correspondent''

The ''Straight Left'' newspaper/magazine, published by Nicholson and his most loyal supporters, continued to appear long after the bulk of the original faction had decided to follow Andrew Murray and Nick Wright into the Communist Party of Britain. After a series of annual conferences, ''Straight Left'' eventually ceased publication as a newspaper, due to the difficulties in maintaining sales and production. The main publication of the group is now ''The Socialist Correspondent'', which is available online. Other leading members of the group were Steve Howell, Peter Latham and Peter Hall. Howell, subsequently a lobbyist, later re-emerged as Deputy Communications director under Seumas Milne during
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
's leadership of the Labour Party.


See also

*
Tankie Tankie is a pejorative label for leftists, particularly Stalinists, who support the authoritarian tendencies of Marxism–Leninism or, more generally, authoritarian states associated with Marxism–Leninism in history. The term was origina ...


References


External links


''The Socialist Correspondent''
{{Communist Party of Great Britain Communist Party of Great Britain Political newspapers published in the United Kingdom Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Socialist newspapers published in the United Kingdom