Labour's First Year : 1945-46
1946 1946 1940s 27 pages FOREWORD The scope and intention of this composite pamphlet must be clearly understood. Common Wealth has never stood for a policy of "oppositionism;" mere opportunist carping at blunders and jeering at failures will not advance the cause of Socialism one w...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
London : Common Wealth Publications Committee
1946
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/2ED4B777-08A0-4FBC-B072-63E687B68168 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/CC8F9D0D-2E86-49BA-9FE0-C4A8BDA49645 |
| Summary: | 1946
1946
1940s
27 pages
FOREWORD The scope and intention of this composite pamphlet must be clearly understood. Common Wealth has never stood for a policy of "oppositionism;" mere opportunist carping at blunders and jeering at failures will not advance the cause of Socialism one whit and we may safely leave this task to the Tories, who will find it more congenial. The Labour Government finds itself confronted by problems at home and abroad, such as no British Government has had to face in the past. No responsible socialist can withold [withhold] his sympathy either from the Party or from the individuals called upon to deal with the present situation. This brings us to the first vital point connected with this pamphlet. COMMON WEALTH WANTS THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT TO SUCCEED IN ITS TWO-FOLD TASK OF ESTABLISHING SOCIALISM AT HOME AND A DEMOCRATIC PEACE ABROAD. We must assume that the Labour Party is in earnest about its task. Bearing this assumption in mind, Common Wealth reviews and analyses the national and international situations, criticises Labour policy from a socialist viewpoint and makes counter-suggestions based on that criticism. As for the scope, the reader will find that the question of foreign policy has been pretty fully covered. In the case of domestic policy it has been impossible to cover every inch of the ground. The proposed Health Bill, Housing, Industrial Democracy, Finance, four subjects of vital importance and of universal interest, have been selected as fairly representative of Labour's Home policy. Not even the most ardent supporter of the Government will claim that the outlook in the foreign field is anything other than gloomy. Having established, during the darkest hours of the war, a position of seemingly unassailable moral leadership among the democratic Resistance Movements of Western Europe, Britain has forfeited that leadership after a few months and it may be many years before there will be another such glorious chance of taking a long stride towards a united socialist world. No-one blames Bevin for all the troubles in the international sphere, but surely even he must wonder when his utterances are accompanied by Tory nods and Socialist headshakes. A ghastly game of naked 1
15X/2/98/21 |
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |