The Socialist inbox: letters to the editors, image Suzanne Beishon

The Socialist inbox: letters to the editors, image Suzanne Beishon   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

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The expulsion of the Militant editorial board began a widespread purge of socialists from Labour, photo Militant

The expulsion of the Militant editorial board began a widespread purge of socialists from Labour, photo Militant   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Militant erased

As Stalin consolidated his power he rewrote history and erased Trotsky from photographic records of the revolution. 100 years after the 1917 revolution, it seems Andy Beckett, in his Guardian article ‘Abbott, Corbyn, McDonnell: the wilderness years‘, attempts a literary equivalent.

In his recording of the events of the late 1970s and 1980s he erases from the record the role of Militant (now the Socialist Party) in the poll tax, the struggle of Liverpool City Council; or any mention of Terry Fields MP who was imprisoned for non-payment of the poll tax, Dave Nellist MP or Pat Wall MP; or Kinnock’s initiating of the witch hunt against Militant.

Militant was central in these and other struggles in the Labour Party at that time. Even if you are opposed to the ideas defended by Militant, surely trying to artificially erase it from the history books is not quality journalism.

Tony Saunois, Labour Party national executive committee 1979-81
  • This letter was also sent to the Guardian