John Lawrence (political activist)
Encyclopedia
John Gordon Michael Lawrence (29 September 1915 – 14 November 2002) was a leading far left
activitist in a wide variety of groups in Britain.
, Lawrence entered the British Army
at the age of fourteen, before discovering his skill as a musician
. He left the Army and toured the country during the Great Depression
. During this period, he was awakened to the suffering of millions of workers
around the country, and joined first the unemployed workers' movement, then in 1937 the Communist Party of Great Britain
(CPGB). His opposition to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
led him to leave the CPGB and join instead the Trotskyist Revolutionary Workers League in 1939. A supporter of Isaac Deutscher
, Lawrence followed him into the Workers International League (WIL) in 1941 and then left to join the Revolutionary Socialist League
(RSL). There he became the industrial organiser, and the prime exponent of Trotsky's Proletarian Military Policy
. However, this was a policy strongly supported by the WIL, who began paying Lawrence for his activities. As a result, he was expelled from the RSL.
's representative in Britain. He helped organise a fusion of the assorted Trotskyist groups into the Revolutionary Communist Party
. After a spell as South Wales
organiser, during which he was active in supporting Jock Haston
's candidacy in the Neath by-election
, he became the editor of Socialist Outlook
while working as a coal miner in the Cannock Chase
. He allied himself with Gerry Healy
to form The Club
, remaining a key member through turmoil in the British Trotskyist movement.
The split of Lawrence from Healy mirrored the later 1953 split in the Fourth International. Healy supported James P. Cannon
and what became the International Committee of the Fourth International
, while Lawrence initially supported Michel Pablo
and the International Secretariat of the Fourth International. This led to a dispute over control of Socialist Outlook, which Healy ultimately won. Lawrence resigned as editor and began contributing instead to Tribune
, a Labour Party publication. He turned increasingly towards Stalinism
. He also disagreed with Pablo's attempts to get the ICFI members to attend the ISFI-organised 1954 congress of the Fourth International. He allied himself with the Socialist Union of America's position, that the FI should dissolve, and claimed he was taking Pabloism to its "logical conclusion" - much to Pablo's disagreement.
organisation. Lawrence had joined the Labour Party with The Club several years before, and in 1956 was elected leader of St Pancras Council
. There he reduced rent
s, fought against restoring requisitioned property to the private sector, and declared May Day
a paid holiday, raising the Red Flag
over the Town Hall on May Day 1958 and as a result being arrested.
He worked increasingly closely with the Communist Party; his support for Nikita Khrushchev
's Secret Speech and the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 led to the dropping of links with the Socialist Union. Following the Red Flag incident, he was expelled from the Labour Party, and subsequently joined the CPGB with some of his supporters. For refusing to implement rent rises, he was surcharge
d and jailed for three months in 1960. His disagreements with the British Road to Socialism led to him leaving the CPGB again in 1964, while he moved to work for the Press Association
and became an activist in the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades
.
, then the Syndicalist Workers Federation, the London Anarchist Group, founding Workers Mutual Aid and most importantly the London May Day Committee.
In the early 1970s he wrote extensively for Freedom
, and worked on campaigns with Brian Behan
, but in 1973 he was expelled from his union and moved to Shoreham-by-Sea
into a semi-retirement.
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
activitist in a wide variety of groups in Britain.
Early life
Born in Sandhurst, BerkshireBerkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, Lawrence entered the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
at the age of fourteen, before discovering his skill as a musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. He left the Army and toured the country during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. During this period, he was awakened to the suffering of millions of workers
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
around the country, and joined first the unemployed workers' movement, then in 1937 the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
(CPGB). His opposition to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
led him to leave the CPGB and join instead the Trotskyist Revolutionary Workers League in 1939. A supporter of Isaac Deutscher
Isaac Deutscher
Isaac Deutscher was a Polish-born Jewish Marxist writer, journalist and political activist who moved to the United Kingdom at the outbreak of World War II. He is best known as a biographer of Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin and as a commentator on Soviet affairs...
, Lawrence followed him into the Workers International League (WIL) in 1941 and then left to join the Revolutionary Socialist League
Revolutionary Socialist League (UK, 1938)
The first RSL was formed in early 1938 with the merger of two different parties, the Marxist League led by Harry Wicks and the Marxist Group led by C. L. R. James....
(RSL). There he became the industrial organiser, and the prime exponent of Trotsky's Proletarian Military Policy
Proletarian Military Policy
The Proletarian Military Policy was a policy adopted by the Fourth International in response to World War II. It was an attempt to apply transitional demands such as trade union control of military training and the election of officers to transform what it characterised as an imperialist war into...
. However, this was a policy strongly supported by the WIL, who began paying Lawrence for his activities. As a result, he was expelled from the RSL.
Trotskyism
Shortly after his expulsion, Lawrence was contacted by Sam Gordon of the Socialist Workers Party in the US, and began to work as the SWP and the Fourth InternationalFourth International
The Fourth International is the communist international organisation consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky , with the declared dedicated goal of helping the working class bring about socialism...
's representative in Britain. He helped organise a fusion of the assorted Trotskyist groups into the Revolutionary Communist Party
Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1944)
The Revolutionary Communist Party was a British Trotskyist group, formed in 1944 and active until 1949, which published the newspaper Socialist Appeal, a theoretical journal Workers International News and an entrist paper for its Labour Party work The Militant .- Collapse of the RSL and founding of...
. After a spell as South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
organiser, during which he was active in supporting Jock Haston
Jock Haston
James "Jock" Ritchie Haston was a Trotskyist politician and General Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Great Britain.-Early years:...
's candidacy in the Neath by-election
Neath by-election, 1945
The Neath by-election, 1945, was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Neath in South Wales.Neath was considered a safe seat for the Labour Party and had been held by William Jenkins since the 1922 UK general election. No other candidate had stood in...
, he became the editor of Socialist Outlook
Socialist Outlook
Socialist Outlook was either of two publications edited by supporters of the Fourth International in Britain.-The first Socialist Outlook:...
while working as a coal miner in the Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Chase gives its name to the Cannock Chase local government district....
. He allied himself with Gerry Healy
Gerry Healy
Thomas Gerard Healy, known as Gerry Healy , was a political activist, a co-founder of the International Committee of the Fourth International, and, according to former prominent U.S. supporter David North, the leader of the Trotskyist movement in Great Britain between 1950 – 1985...
to form The Club
The Club (Trotskyist)
The Club was a Trotskyist group in the United Kingdom. It operated inside the Labour Party and was the official section of the Fourth International from 1950 until 1953 when, after the FI split, it became part of the International Committee of the Fourth International...
, remaining a key member through turmoil in the British Trotskyist movement.
The split of Lawrence from Healy mirrored the later 1953 split in the Fourth International. Healy supported James P. Cannon
James P. Cannon
James Patrick "Jim" Cannon was an American Trotskyist and a leader of the Socialist Workers Party.Born on February 11, 1890 in Rosedale, Kansas, he joined the Socialist Party of America in 1908 and the Industrial Workers of the World in 1911...
and what became the International Committee of the Fourth International
International Committee of the Fourth International
The International Committee of the Fourth International is the name of two Trotskyist internationals; one with sections named Socialist Equality Party which publishes the World Socialist Web Site and another linked to the Workers Revolutionary Party in Britain.-Foundation:The International...
, while Lawrence initially supported Michel Pablo
Michel Pablo
Michel Pablo was the pseudonym of Michalis N. Raptis , a Trotskyist leader of Greek origin.- Early activism :...
and the International Secretariat of the Fourth International. This led to a dispute over control of Socialist Outlook, which Healy ultimately won. Lawrence resigned as editor and began contributing instead to Tribune
Tribune (magazine)
Tribune is a democratic socialist weekly, founded in 1937 published in London. It is independent but supports the Labour Party from the left...
, a Labour Party publication. He turned increasingly towards Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
. He also disagreed with Pablo's attempts to get the ICFI members to attend the ISFI-organised 1954 congress of the Fourth International. He allied himself with the Socialist Union of America's position, that the FI should dissolve, and claimed he was taking Pabloism to its "logical conclusion" - much to Pablo's disagreement.
Labour Party
Lawrence united at the Congress with the American group and minorities of the French and Canadian groups and walked out alongside them after failed in their attempts to propose that the International should dissolve. He later claimed that he has been criticised at the congress for Stalinist views. In October 1954, he dissolved the British Section of the International Secretariat, tending to support the entry of its members into the Labour Party rather than the Communist Party. His supporters remained a loose grouping, with particular strength in car manufacturing trade unionTrade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
organisation. Lawrence had joined the Labour Party with The Club several years before, and in 1956 was elected leader of St Pancras Council
Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras
The Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it was amalgamated with the Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead and the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn to form the London Borough of Camden...
. There he reduced rent
Renting
Renting is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for all property charges regularly incurred by the ownership from landowners...
s, fought against restoring requisitioned property to the private sector, and declared May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
a paid holiday, raising the Red Flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
over the Town Hall on May Day 1958 and as a result being arrested.
He worked increasingly closely with the Communist Party; his support for Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's Secret Speech and the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 led to the dropping of links with the Socialist Union. Following the Red Flag incident, he was expelled from the Labour Party, and subsequently joined the CPGB with some of his supporters. For refusing to implement rent rises, he was surcharge
Surcharge
A surcharge may mean:*an extra fee added onto another fee or charge** Fuel surcharge, sky freight charges which represents additions due to jet fuel prices.** Bunker adjustment factor, sea freight charges which represents additions due to oil prices....
d and jailed for three months in 1960. His disagreements with the British Road to Socialism led to him leaving the CPGB again in 1964, while he moved to work for the Press Association
Press Association
The Press Association is the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland, supplying multimedia news content to almost all national and regional newspapers, television and radio news, as well as many websites with text, pictures, video and data content globally...
and became an activist in the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades
Society of Graphical and Allied Trades
The Society of Graphical and Allied Trades was a British trade union in the printing industry.SOGAT was formed in 1966 by the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers and the National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants...
.
Communism and syndicalism
Following his disillusionment with what he saw as the CPGB's reformism and opposition to real struggle, Lawrence became a syndicalist, associated first with SolidaritySolidarity (UK)
Solidarity was a small libertarian socialist organisation from 1960 to 1992 in the United Kingdom. It published a magazine of the same name. Solidarity was close to council communism in its prescriptions and was known for its emphasis on workers' self-organisation and for its radical...
, then the Syndicalist Workers Federation, the London Anarchist Group, founding Workers Mutual Aid and most importantly the London May Day Committee.
In the early 1970s he wrote extensively for Freedom
Freedom newspaper
Freedom is a London-based anarchist newspaper published fortnightly by Freedom Press.The paper was started in 1886 by volunteers including Peter Kropotkin and Charlotte Wilson and continues to this day as an unpaid project. Originally, the subtitle was "A Journal of Anarchist Socialism." The title...
, and worked on campaigns with Brian Behan
Brian Behan
Brian Behan was an Irish writer and trade unionist.Behan was born in Dublin, the son of Stephen Behan, younger brother of Brendan Behan and older brother of Dominic Behan...
, but in 1973 he was expelled from his union and moved to Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea is a small town, port and seaside resort in West Sussex, England. Shoreham-by-Sea railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre and London Gatwick Airport is away...
into a semi-retirement.