A Left Front in Great Britain

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21973, 23 December 1936, Page 8

A Left Front in Great Britain

It is announced by the “ Daily Herald,” the organ of the British Labour party, that the leaders of the Communist party, the Independent Labour party, and the Socialist League have 'agreed to the formation of a united left front to oppose the Labour party, the Government, and fascism. Proposals for a consolidation of the left political groups in Great Britain have been in the air for at least 12 months and owe their origin in part to the disastrous lapses of British foreign policy during the Abyssinian crisis, in part to the growth of fascism, and in part to the inability of the Labour party to make any substantial progress in the electorate. In the later stages of the Abyssinian crisis it became apparent that in its foreign policy the Government was out of touch with the electorate. It was therefore suggested by the “ Manchester Guardian ” and several weekly 'political journals that some sort of popular front was needed to express the opinions, in foreign policy particularly, of the several millions of Labour and Liberal electors opposed to the Government. It is conceivable that, even now, such an alliance would serve a useful purpose, since it is beyond question that the Government would benefit from a stronger opposition. Among the Labour members of the House of Commons there are perhaps two debaters of more than average ability, while the opposition Liberals are a group of brilliantly ineffectual individualists. But between the class-consciousness of the Labour party and the middle-class inteilectualism of the Liberals a gulf is set which cannot be bridged by formulas. Moreover, in foreign policy the Labourparty has enough difficulty in settling its own internal differences without seeking to adjust its differences with the Liberals. The scheme for a Liberal-Labour front having come to nothing, an attempt was made later in the year to secure a consolidation of forces further to the left. The 1936 session of the Communist Internationale had pronounced in favour of cooperation with social democratic parties and accordingly, at the annual conference of the British Labour party, the Communists attempted to secure affiliation. The voting showed that adversity had not driven the Labour party any further to the left. For allies the Communists have now found the Independent Labour party, which is alive only because Mr Maxton is alive, and the Socialist League, an organisation which is more academic than political. Both in the electorate and in the House of Commons the left front will be negligible. Its purpose may'be to fight fascism, but the only effect it can have is to weaken further a Labour party already sadly disrupted.