Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- Chronology
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Photographs
- Chapter One The Early Years in Sheffield, 1888–1917
- Chapter Two The Shop Stewards' Movement, 1917–1919
- Chapter Three Towards Bolshevism, 1919–1920
- Chapter Four The Communist Party and the Labour Movement, 1920–1926
- Chapter Five The Comintern and Stalinism, 1926–1928
- Chapter Six The ‘New Line’, 1928–1932
- Chapter Seven Towards Left Reformism, 1932–1936
- Chapter Eight Popular Frontism and Re-appraisal, 1936–1965
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Index
Chapter Seven - Towards Left Reformism, 1932–1936
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- Chronology
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Photographs
- Chapter One The Early Years in Sheffield, 1888–1917
- Chapter Two The Shop Stewards' Movement, 1917–1919
- Chapter Three Towards Bolshevism, 1919–1920
- Chapter Four The Communist Party and the Labour Movement, 1920–1926
- Chapter Five The Comintern and Stalinism, 1926–1928
- Chapter Six The ‘New Line’, 1928–1932
- Chapter Seven Towards Left Reformism, 1932–1936
- Chapter Eight Popular Frontism and Re-appraisal, 1936–1965
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Index
Summary
As we have seen, there was a very strained relationship between Murphy and other leaders of the CPGB from the mid-1920s onwards. There had been the major argument immediately after the General Strike, with Murphy's polemical article in Communist International (with Page Arnot) attacking the party's failure to criticise the ‘left’ trade union leaders. Then there had been Murphy's critique of the party's acceptance of the TUC's instruction to trades councils to disaffiliate from the Minority Movement. This was followed by the bitter and protracted battle to gain the party's acceptance of the need for a sharp leftward turn towards the Comintern's ‘Third Period’ new line, exemplified by the political bureau's attempt to prevent Murphy attending the Ninth ECCI Plenum and Murphy's resignation from his leadership position within the party in September 1928. Moreover, Murphy's proposal for a Workers' Political Federation, and his distinctive position on such tactical issues as the non-payment of the political levy, had even pitted him against those members of the central committee who agreed with the general thrust of the new line, such as Pollitt and Palme Dutt. Such tensions were reflected in a number of bitter exchanges within the political bureau during 1930 over a range of tactical issues, which resulted in Murphy's appointment to, and then removal from, the industrial department within the space of just a few days. This chapter explores the way these tensions were further exacerbated in early 1931 over a conflicting assessment of the Labour Party's fortunes, which eventually culminated in May 1932 with Murphy's expulsion from the CP over an argument about credits to the Soviet Union.
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- Information
- The Political Trajectory of J. T. Murphy , pp. 201 - 233Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 1998