Tories saw the real danger was Trotskyism

Tom BEFORE deciding to prosecute the leaders of the Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist Party for their part in organizing the Tyne apprentices' strike in 1944, Home Secretary Herbert Morrison presented to the War Cabinet a six-page printed document about the movement.

This forms part of the Cabinet papers which are open to public inspection at the Public Records Office.

It is clear that the memorandum information — a police plant in the organization — as well as a study of its literature Entitled 'The Trotskyist Movement in Britain, it was marked SECRET and dated April 13, 1944. Appendix A gives biographical details about the then leaders of the movement-James Ritchie (Jock') Haston*, Mildred Lee, Edward Grant, Roy Tearse, Harold Atkinson, Heaton Lee and Ann Keen. Appendix B gives the Programme of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

The document begins with a paragraph which says that Trotskyism is based upon the teachings of Marx and Lenin. As Britain was that time in alliance with Stalin, there is no wonder that it opposes "Trotsky's doctrinaire views and Stalin's realism'.

The British ruling class and its Labour hangers-on always found Stalin 'realistic'. After all, he murdered Trotskyists, while they sent them to jail.

The document goes on to say: "The Trotskyists do not regard the form of society which now exists in Russia as • socialism— they believe that true socialism can be achieved only by more or less simultaneous revolution over the greater part of the globe: and they are bitterly hostile to the Stalinist regime because it has not only • "betrayed the revolution" in Russia itself but, by using the national Communist parties as the instruments of its 'reactionary" policy abroad, has retarded the development of the revolution, Class towards world The Trotskyists hope to attain their ends, it continues, 'by campaigning alongside the workers on the issues which most closely tions'. It was precisely this that blood sweat, toil and tears' Churchill and his henchmen were most afraid of.

It defined the Trotskyist position as being hostility to fascism'-which it puts like that ir inverted commas - the. War Cabinet was not fighting 'fascism', simply its imperialist rivals.

"The USSR, although degenerate, is still a workers state, it says, 'and must be helped its resistance to fascism; but the Trotskyist believes that capitalist governments cannot by their nature effectively oppose fascism, and that he can therefore only help the USSR if he first overthrows his own government' Lord Morrison, photographed in 1960.

ization and membership and publications.

In dealing with the financing of the movement it says 'There are no indications that Trotskyist organizations receive money from abroad. The members are expected to contribute liberally and are apparently prepared to do so.' If the government had been able to find any trace of foreign financial support it would have hastened to say so. That it did not is a rebuttal of Communist Party allegations that the Trotskyists were in the pay of Hitler.

A discreditable pamphlet was being circulated by the Communist Party at this time called 'Clear Out Hitler's Agents'. This accused the Trotskyists of being supporters of the Nazis. Again, the government, which would have been only too happy to find some connection, is obliged to say exactly the contrary.

ECRET W.P. (44)

13th A pril, Doctrine. WAR CABINET. Cop No.