CONTINUES TO DECLINE
(The British Communist party has undertaken a number of rather desperate measures in the recent period in hope of counteracting a steady decline in men-~ bership, influence and prestige. The moves were aimed at refurbishing its image among petty-bourgeois circles. Thus it changed the name of its official publication, the Daily Worker, to the Morning Star.
[A wit quipped that perhaps it would have come closer to reality to baptise the paper the Evening Star.
(How serious the situation has become for the Communist party on the eve of its forthcoming congress can be judged from the following article submitted by the Surrey District Committee to the party's weekly review, Comment, which
published it in the September 2 issue. ]
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A major question for Congress is
why in this favourable situation there
is a serious decline in our mobilisation,
organisation and influence. Claiming that
our mobilisation is growing, that the
Morning Star is advancing and that there
is a "very great improvement in attendance
at our public meetings" does not help.
Selecting certain positive features is
not a substitute for analysis. These
always exist and must be seen as part of
the whole.
There is a decline in practically
every measurable aspect of our work since
the last Congress. The claimed membership
is slightly up, but the dues payment, a
better reflection of the real situation, is down to 58 percent. Sales of Comment declined by 1,096 (13 percent) in 17 months. The Morning Star sales, despite the large expenditure of reserves and its increased size, are below the paid circulation of the Daily Worker at the time of the last Congress. This includes a loss of one-quarter of the weekend extras. The financial situation has caused staff cuts in many districts and at party centre.
These facts are a reflection of the serious and growing problem in many branches.
Despite the new councillors elected our overall vote is falling steadily. Between the two General Elections our vote dropped by 16 percent. In this year's local contests the votes in most big towns fell, e.g., Glasgow by 7 percent and Greater London by 28 percent! Among the reasons for this are serious errors which the Party leadership is making.
Our electoral policy is a distortion of The British Road to Socialisn, giving us the worst of all worlds. It helps isolate us from the Labour movement and not only hinders the development of left unity, but our independent work as well. As our votes fall the mobilisation of our members around our candidates gets less. It has led to a neglect of the mass movement, a failure to fight sufficiently on Vietnam and other peace, industrial and social issues, and not enough help to the various broad organisations' canpaigns.
Above all this is seen in industry, where our support of the campaigns against TU legislation, the various wage demands and the lockouts has been totally
inadequate.
The aim is apparently a new respect-
able image, but with it we have unfortu-
nately lost much of our campaigning fer-
vour and fighting spirit. Two examples
were the disastrous decision to change
the name of the Daily Worker and the way
it was rushed through immediately after
the Congress, for which we paid a heavy
price; and our attitude to the World Com-
munist Movement. Our Party refuses to
support the proposal of 67 Communist
Parties for a world conference. This
undermines the feeling of international
and class loyalty.
The new EC must give a dynamic
lead to overcome the problems. It should
be instructed to do so with a fresh ap-
proach and emphasis, including:
A much greater proportion of the
Party's effort to be directed to industry,
the mass movement, and our work as part
of the Labour movement;
an electoral policy based on this,
in which we contest only where our mass
work and Party development justifies it;
the redevelopment of the paper
along fighting, class lines, so that it
will grow with the help of a much greater
proportion of our members and supporters;
assisting the unity of the world
communist movement by supporting the call
for a world conference.
This will provide the basis to
resume the party's advance, particularly
in the factories.
Surrey District Committee
SOCIALIST SCHOLARS