Table Of Content

erry euly A REVOLUTIONARY LIFE GERRY HEALY A REVOLUTIONARY L!FE "At a time when political memories are growing increasingly short, it is good that the effort has been made to record the life <lf Gerry Healy, a revolutionary Mar-xist who had a massive impact on the working class socialist molrement, in Britain and internationally--- I have rlever changed my belief that the split in the VRP during 1985 was the work of MIS agents" KEN LIVINGSTONE MP "Gerry Healy appeared intimate with materialist dia.lectics. For him it was not sirnply a phrase, not just an oath or lrow associated with a particular order, but an actual window on the world, a prism, through which he saw the surrounding world and reconstituted it irr the light of the class spectrum" vtrALY STARTSEV, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY' HERZEN INSTITUTE, TENINGRAD CORINNALOTZ & PAUL FELDMAN GERRY HEAUT A REVOLUTIONARY LIFE V b8'o1[t CORINNALOTZ & PAUL FELDMAN GERRY HEAUT A REVOLUTIONARY LIFE V b8'o1[t CONTENTS Foreword ry Kcn Lioingstone MP v Introducti on ry tbe Authorc viii Pmr I 1985-1990 1 Three months underground 1 2 Philosophy in Athens 26 3 A place of his own 44 + "The Awakening Giant" 58 5 New Year in Catalonia 76 6 The first trip to Moscow 100 7 The cupboard was bare 121 8 Copyright @ Corinna Lou and Paul Feldman, 1994 The clique-buster 140 All righs reserved 9 A promise kept t66 I rsBN0952345404 Postscript to Part 189 The moral right of the euthors has been assered Penr II 1913-1985 Published by Lupus Book 10 The early years 194 P.O. Box 942 London SWIV2AR 11 "The Group" in the Labour P.try 212 12 The Socialist Labour League 226 Printed and bound by The Book Facory, London 13 The daily paper 252 This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall noE b way of 14 The inner-parqr struggle 275 trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover 15 The state and the split 292 other than that in which it is published and without a similar condirion Conclusion 307 including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Appendices 3t4 l Notes 352 Index 362 In the centre of the book is a fold-out section showing the projection of the path of cognition developed as a teaching aid by Gerry Healy. CONTENTS Foreword ry Kcn Lioingstone MP v Introducti on ry tbe Authorc viii Pmr I 1985-1990 1 Three months underground 1 2 Philosophy in Athens 26 3 A place of his own 44 + "The Awakening Giant" 58 5 New Year in Catalonia 76 6 The first trip to Moscow 100 7 The cupboard was bare 121 8 Copyright @ Corinna Lou and Paul Feldman, 1994 The clique-buster 140 All righs reserved 9 A promise kept t66 I rsBN0952345404 Postscript to Part 189 The moral right of the euthors has been assered Penr II 1913-1985 Published by Lupus Book 10 The early years 194 P.O. Box 942 London SWIV2AR 11 "The Group" in the Labour P.try 212 12 The Socialist Labour League 226 Printed and bound by The Book Facory, London 13 The daily paper 252 This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall noE b way of 14 The inner-parqr struggle 275 trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover 15 The state and the split 292 other than that in which it is published and without a similar condirion Conclusion 307 including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Appendices 3t4 l Notes 352 Index 362 In the centre of the book is a fold-out section showing the projection of the path of cognition developed as a teaching aid by Gerry Healy. Foreword by l{en Liaingstone MP f)aul and Corinna have been friends of mine for over 13 years. I When they asked me to contribute a foreword to their biography of Gerry Healy f was delighted. At a time when political memories are growing increasingly short, it is good that the effort has been made to record the life of Gerry Healy, a revolutionary Marxist who had a massive impact on the working class socialist movement, in Britain and internationally. The fashionable obsession with the "end of history" is no more than a disguise for jettisoning valuable corrmon experiences and major contributions made by revolutionaries such as Gerry Healy. Naturally this suits those who would like to bury for ever the memory of his unique concept of political work. I first met Gerry Healy in 1981, shordy after I became Leader of the Greater London Council and was immediately captivated by his vivid recollection of events and personalities on the left. He had recognised the changed political climate which enabled Labour to take control of County Hall, and that we were using the immense resources of the Greater London Council to support those struggling for jobs and otrher rights. Gerry Healy saw that it was possible to use the GLC as a rallyurg fortress for Londoners who were opposed to Thatcher's hard-line monetarism. Contrary to the image spread by his opponents, I was impressed by the non-sectarian approach that the Nars Line took on the reforms the GLC introduced. Neus Line's coverage was thorough and objective throughout our struggles. Given we \rere under siege by the Fleet Street press, it was a relief to pick up the WRP's paper in the morning! The GLC's public relations department usually put the News Line articles on the front page of the daily press cutrings bundle. The first discussion I had with Gerry Healy made grettimpact ^ on me. Coming from a party where long tenn thinking is uzually defined by the next opinion poll, I was challenged by the broad sweep of his knowledge and the freshness of his approach. He knew how to operate in the political present through his understanding of the movement of economic and social forces. Foreword by l{en Liaingstone MP f)aul and Corinna have been friends of mine for over 13 years. I When they asked me to contribute a foreword to their biography of Gerry Healy f was delighted. At a time when political memories are growing increasingly short, it is good that the effort has been made to record the life of Gerry Healy, a revolutionary Marxist who had a massive impact on the working class socialist movement, in Britain and internationally. The fashionable obsession with the "end of history" is no more than a disguise for jettisoning valuable corrmon experiences and major contributions made by revolutionaries such as Gerry Healy. Naturally this suits those who would like to bury for ever the memory of his unique concept of political work. I first met Gerry Healy in 1981, shordy after I became Leader of the Greater London Council and was immediately captivated by his vivid recollection of events and personalities on the left. He had recognised the changed political climate which enabled Labour to take control of County Hall, and that we were using the immense resources of the Greater London Council to support those struggling for jobs and otrher rights. Gerry Healy saw that it was possible to use the GLC as a rallyurg fortress for Londoners who were opposed to Thatcher's hard-line monetarism. Contrary to the image spread by his opponents, I was impressed by the non-sectarian approach that the Nars Line took on the reforms the GLC introduced. Neus Line's coverage was thorough and objective throughout our struggles. Given we \rere under siege by the Fleet Street press, it was a relief to pick up the WRP's paper in the morning! The GLC's public relations department usually put the News Line articles on the front page of the daily press cutrings bundle. The first discussion I had with Gerry Healy made grettimpact ^ on me. Coming from a party where long tenn thinking is uzually defined by the next opinion poll, I was challenged by the broad sweep of his knowledge and the freshness of his approach. He knew how to operate in the political present through his understanding of the movement of economic and social forces. VI GERRY HEALY FOREWORD vlt Although we were in totally different political organisations, My own research and experiences have strengthened, not _ Gerry Healy always tried to find a point of connection with the weakened, my conviction that MI5 considers even the smallest left world in which I moved. He did this because he wanted to find organisation worthy of close surveillance and disruption. Given ways of working with the left in the Labour p"rry on common the pivotal role of Healy in maintaining contact with Yasser issues and principles. But he never laid down conditions. He Arafat's HQ through the WRP's use of the latest technology, MI5 accepted that there were fundamental differences between us, but clearly felt that they had to stop the growing influence of ttre they should not prevenr us from collaborating against the Tories. WRP. I have never changed my belief that the split in the WRP It was a refreshing change from the world of intrigues and back- during 1985 was the work of MI5 agents. stabbing politics of the Labour P.trF. That is why I felt h.ppy It was a privilege to have worked with Gerry H.dy. I know this about speaking at Nans Line rallies, even though I came undii a book will give those who did not know him an opportunity to lot of fire from those like Dennis Healey within my own parry. understand his contribution to the working class revolutionary _ During the 1982 Braeli invasion of Lebanon, Gerqz Healy and movement. the Nezas Line worked with a group of us in the Labour party to end Labour's silence on the repression of the Palestinian people. - Ken Livingstone In the aftermath of the slaughter of Palestinians in the Sabra and March L994 Shattila camps, we succeeded in winning the recognition of the Palestine Liberation organisation as the soli legitimate representatives of the Palestinian People by the Labour prrty Conference of 1982. _G9rry Healy and I both endured grear upheavals during the 1985-1986 period with the Tories abolishing the GLC and the wRP torn apart by a major split. we lost touch for a time, but renewed contact a few years before he died because of his work in the USSR. I was hrppy but not sulprised to discover that we had reached similar conclusions about the dramatic changes in the Soviet L]nion during 1987-1989. our last meeting in thi surrmer of 1989 was devoted to a long conversation abouithe significance of perestroika and glasnost. we both knew that the .rr*ts in the Soviet Union would change the lives of everyone in the world, and especially those involved in socialist politics. The other area we had a close understanding about was the role of the secret services in Britain. We knew that joint campaigning benveen genuine Marxists and socialists in the Labo"r part! *"I viewed as a dangerous threat by the intelligence services. rn particular, contacts berween us and national liberation movemenB such as the Palestinians drew even more attention from the British state. VI GERRY HEALY FOREWORD vlt Although we were in totally different political organisations, My own research and experiences have strengthened, not _ Gerry Healy always tried to find a point of connection with the weakened, my conviction that MI5 considers even the smallest left world in which I moved. He did this because he wanted to find organisation worthy of close surveillance and disruption. Given ways of working with the left in the Labour p"rry on common the pivotal role of Healy in maintaining contact with Yasser issues and principles. But he never laid down conditions. He Arafat's HQ through the WRP's use of the latest technology, MI5 accepted that there were fundamental differences between us, but clearly felt that they had to stop the growing influence of ttre they should not prevenr us from collaborating against the Tories. WRP. I have never changed my belief that the split in the WRP It was a refreshing change from the world of intrigues and back- during 1985 was the work of MI5 agents. stabbing politics of the Labour P.trF. That is why I felt h.ppy It was a privilege to have worked with Gerry H.dy. I know this about speaking at Nans Line rallies, even though I came undii a book will give those who did not know him an opportunity to lot of fire from those like Dennis Healey within my own parry. understand his contribution to the working class revolutionary _ During the 1982 Braeli invasion of Lebanon, Gerqz Healy and movement. the Nezas Line worked with a group of us in the Labour party to end Labour's silence on the repression of the Palestinian people. - Ken Livingstone In the aftermath of the slaughter of Palestinians in the Sabra and March L994 Shattila camps, we succeeded in winning the recognition of the Palestine Liberation organisation as the soli legitimate representatives of the Palestinian People by the Labour prrty Conference of 1982. _G9rry Healy and I both endured grear upheavals during the 1985-1986 period with the Tories abolishing the GLC and the wRP torn apart by a major split. we lost touch for a time, but renewed contact a few years before he died because of his work in the USSR. I was hrppy but not sulprised to discover that we had reached similar conclusions about the dramatic changes in the Soviet L]nion during 1987-1989. our last meeting in thi surrmer of 1989 was devoted to a long conversation abouithe significance of perestroika and glasnost. we both knew that the .rr*ts in the Soviet Union would change the lives of everyone in the world, and especially those involved in socialist politics. The other area we had a close understanding about was the role of the secret services in Britain. We knew that joint campaigning benveen genuine Marxists and socialists in the Labo"r part! *"I viewed as a dangerous threat by the intelligence services. rn particular, contacts berween us and national liberation movemenB such as the Palestinians drew even more attention from the British state.