Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T02:35:17.767Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
This chapter is part of a book that is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core

Chapter Seven - Towards Left Reformism, 1932–1936

Ralph Darlington
Affiliation:
University of Salford
Get access

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.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Print publication year: 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×