Why a new workers party is not just needed in Britain, it’s needed internationally

We are often accused of just wanting a new workers party to fulfil our own ambitions and interests not true as Marxists we don’t hold personal ambitions or targets in that sense. We in the socialist party CWI call for new mass workers parties all over the globe. There are countries where this call can gain more of an echo than others. In Britain we still feel a long way away from such a reality but during this new period of revolution and counter revolution and heightened class struggle a pole of attraction can quickly can gain a traction in the workers movement if armed with the correct slogans and programme for winning over the best layers of workers.

In Ireland our comrades are part of the ULA United Left Alliance with other forces on the left whilst not a new mass workers party it is an electoral focus in Ireland and provides workers with an alternative to vote for. But with the taking off of the household tax in Ireland and our comrades out in Ireland leading a mass movement despite their small numbers could if taken forward onto the political plain could lead to the formations of a new workers party if the correct conclusions are drawn.

One of the mistakes of the poll tax campaign many in the socialist party feel we made was to not stand candidates off the back of that victory. The landscape in Britain certainly would look a lot different today with us having MP3’s and councillors possibly even in majority in some councils as our stock was high at that point after leading a successful struggle against Margaret Thatcher and her vicious poll tax.

We see across the planet a huge vacuum of workers leadership from America wheel the two party capitalist systems still prevails and other nations where there’re small forces but not mass workers party anywhere to be found.
Only the circus’s of old social democratic parties who have moved fully to the right and have openly embraced capitalism much like the labour party today in Britain and the Socialist party in France.

Of course in other nations such as Germany there are left formations with workers support such as Die Linked which is translated as the left party which may play some part in the coming months if Germany begins to faulter but at present it hasn’t really made its mark on the political plain thus far.

As Marxists we take a flexible approach to working inside mass organisations much like our work in the labour party up to the late 80’s we drew the correct conclusions that work inside the labour party as a entrist organisation was not producing much success and our roads to winning over workers lay outside the labour party and have done till this day.
Other parties who stuck inside the labour party and took the dogmatic approach of labour or nothing have been left behind and are now no bigger than some of the sects on the outside. Left in a past era still fighting the same battles and tired arguments.

The socialist party CWI I believe doesn’t just react to situations it looks to see where we have come from and the perspectives for the coming period.
Clearly our work in the trade unions will always be key but our work among youth and young workers can really bear out some big gains I feel during this time.
Across the world we must look towards young workers and the youth to lead the way in opening up new areas of work for us.

Where a mass battle breaks out we can’t be shouting from the side lines we must be in among the workers and I feel confident we are so. Right across the world nation to nation, continent to continent the same problem exists take Greece for example 15 general strikes in the last year alone. The working class could have taken power several times over if there was a mass workers party with a revolutionary element based on the principles of Marxism explaining to workers and more militant sections of the class the tasks that face us and the strategy we must take. In Greece the need for a new party of the working class is more urgent than ever to give the class hope and belief that there is a way out of the hell they re living through under this rotten capitalist system.

All of our sections across the world in the CWI point out that there is no solution to the financial crisis on a capitalist basis and only a democratic working class lead socialist transformation of society can show the light out of this period.

So as the CWI we are part of an international group of workers, revolutionary looking outside the boundaries of bourgeois society and beyond to a new society and world that will benefit the many not just the few. We don’t see it just as a question of creating a new left force in Britain we don’t see it ending there. As Trotsky argued in his excellent contribution to Marxism the permanent revolution the mass working class parties must form an international and revolution must sweep across each continent and eventually the world. As socialism cannot be a single nation system that would not work and would quickly come undone unless spread to other nations. Although big gains can be made from having a socialist government only real lasting gains will start to be found once the revolution really takes off worldwide.

Of course we look at each nation and each section of our international on an individual basis and the struggles affecting them at the time but always look to link up the struggles and point towards the transformation of society on a mass global scale not just in one nation as explained above.

Change will not come from above it can only come from below by being part of one of the strongest workers based internationals the CWI is perfectly placed to lead struggles across the world leading to the eventual overthrow of global capitalism.