London
Jan. 1, 1954
Dear Comrades,
It is claimed by the British Pabloites and their sponsors in Paris that by some miracle or other they acquired a majority in our Party.
In England this claim is regarded as a joke hatched up for International consumption. We would like to present some facts for our International friends so that they should be fully informed about the situation here. These are intended only for the leadership of sections and are strictly confidential.
National Committee
Majority 13 plus 2 alternates — Pabloites 6
(6 plus 2 alt. London) — (5 London 1 province)
7 provinces
Membership — (Pabloite)
[p. 177]
6 only in the provinces (3 lapsed in dues before discussion)
24 in London (6 lapsed in London before discussion)
Council group
Majority — 7 Labor counsellors
Pabloites — 2 Labor counsellors
Industrial publications
Portworkers Clarion (Monthly) complete majority control
Textile Machinery Worker (Monthly) complete majority control
The "weekly paper"
Management Committee — Majority 5; non-party 4; Pabloites 2.
Editorial B. — Majority 1; Pabloites 1; non-party 2.
General publications dept. M.P.P. Ltd. complete majority
The suspension of the Pabloites arose because they combined with non-party centrists on the Editorial Board and Managements committee against the section. They denounced the orthodox Trotskyists as "anti-soviet" elements. One of the Pabloites, Romney, draws money unofficially as wages from one of the centrists whom they are using as a spearhead in the public fight against us.
It should be understood, in the first place, that the Pabloites did not acquire these positions as a result of a group to group fight. They were placed there originally last May by us. Because these are public bodies it takes a little time to remove them — but it will be done before long. The great crime of Pabloism in Britain is that it took treacherous advantage of the difficulties of the section in its mass work to stab the orthodox Trotskyist organization in the back. This, of course, pays some dividends in the beginning because of our setup, but these are temporary.
The big centres for our paper's circulation, Birkenhead, Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham and London are firm majority strongholds. This goes for the main shareholders group. It is just a matter of time before we clear them out of the present posts which they hold under false pretenses.
Under present conditions our comrades are forced to work with great restraint.
The "conference" called by the Pabloites from which they claimed 58% of the membership was organized as follows. Besides invitations sent out to their followers, they invited people who had been expelled for inactivity over the past 6 years and others who had lapsed activity and had not been heard of for some time. Having reinforced their membership with these ghost fighters, they then expelled leaders of the majority and calculated from then strictly by percentages, taking great care not to mention upon what these are based. It was a fraud from beginning to end as any overseas comrade who knows our section will be able to verify.
We shall to very pleased to hear from you as soon as you can write to us.
Fraternally, Mason, General Secretary BSFI
P.S. Germain's reports on Britain are about as accurate as some of his past "facts" about Yugoslavia and U.S.S.R.