BOOK REVIEW

Shaking The Chains!

by Eric Trevett

Shaking the chains: by Fred Westacott , foreword by Tony Benn, 400pp, Pbk.
£12.00, 2002.

CLASS CONSCIOUS from an early age, Fred Westacott was an engineer by trade,
an active trade unionist, peace campaigner and communist.
He set high standards and was well respected in the labour movement. For a
number of years he was district secretary of the East Midlands District of
the CPGB. He played a leading role in the prevalent revisionist trend in
the CPGB that eventually led to the dissolution of that Party.

intellectual

Fred Westacott would probably not have thanked anybody who described him as
working class intellectual. But he was that and his grasps of revolutionary
theory helped in his work to mobilise working people to participate in
their own struggles.
His biography is of great value to the working class and labour movement.
It is written in the context of the struggles of the time. His writing
brings to life past struggles and more than that, he strived to enrich the
movement by drawing out the lessons of those events.
He also gained inspiration from the role and achievements of the Soviet
Union. Probably the most stressful period of his life was the years he was
at odds with his Party’s revisionist leadership. With vicious attacks and
in an unprincipled way, he was targeted.
For communists interested in the recent history of the movement, his
chapters dealing with the 20th Congress of the CPSU and the adoption of the
British Road to Socialism (the CPGB’s programme) and the general struggle
against revisionism are of great interest.
Whilst not agreeing with the totality of his analysis regarding the British
Road it has to be remembered that his opinion was formed after deep thought
and very much discussion with his comrades.
It is clear that Rajani Palme Dutt was one of the few comrades in the
leadership of the party who had endeavoured to counter Khrushchev’s
negative and destructive attack on Stalin.

heartened

Fred Westacott may have had sympathies for Palme Dutt’s position, and was
heartened by his “Notes of the Month” on Czecho-Slovakia in 1968 in Labour
Monthly.
And like all those fighting revisionism, Fred Westacott’s principles were
not to be laid aside for lure of a comfortable career. Whilst operating the
Party’s policy, he made no apology for his opinion on matters of contention.
In spite of having the overwhelming support of his district he was removed
from office by the Executive Committee and in the ensuing period strenuous
efforts were made to discredit him.
On the British Road to Socialism Fred Westacott justified abandoning the
Marxist position of smashing the capitalist state machine in favour of
transforming the existing state machine in light of the developments in
eastern Europe with the emergence of people’s democracies.

determining

He instances communists and anti-fascists acting together and the positive
relationship between communists and social-democrats when forming
governments. But what also should be taken into account was the presence of
the Soviet Union which also had the effect of determining socialist
orientation of these countries in contrast to what happened in western
Europe.
The question that has to be asked and can’t be dodged is which ideology
triumphed – the ideology of social-democracy or the ideology of
Marxism-Leninism.
Before the Second World War the communist movement in most of eastern
Europe was weak. After the war and the general swing to the left, those
communist parties grew very rapidly.

consolidated

But as capitalism was consolidated in western Europe and social-democratic
governments were weakened or replaced by more conservative elements the
revolutionary fervour of parties in the east were also affected. Especially
by the apparent rapid rise in living standards and lack of sharp economic
crises.
Other factors which suggested that social-democracy was gaining the
ascendancy in the international arena was the inability of the communists
to hold regular international conferences and the lack of a consistent
fight against Euro-communism which had deviated from Marxism-Leninism and
had its roots in social-democracy.
The huge size of the communist parties in Eastern Europe gave the
impression of strength but in many cases the ratio of cadres to members was
small.

revisionism

Here in Britain we tended to fight the battle against revisionism on a
national basis. To some extent we were all guilty of not recognising the
global picture.
Fred was victimised by the EC for his struggle against revisionism. But
this book also relates the determined way his comrades on the district
fought to get him restored to office and they succeeded in doing this. In
the struggle against revisionism the main centres of resistance were to
found in the smaller districts. Namely the East Midlands, Sussex and of
course Surrey which in 1977 realised that the time had come to make a
decisive break with revisionism altogether and with individuals from other
districts, formed the New Communist Party.

mistake

Fred Westacott and the East Midlands district chose a different path. In
our opinion, it was a mistake to remain loyal to the road which led to the
CPGB’s inevitable dissolution. But they made an even greater mistake to
form the CPB on the basis of the revisionist programme of the British Road,
which as well being weakened by further revisions was in fact flawed from
its inception.
Nevertheless this is an important book. His insight into the class struggle
over the decades is worthy of careful consideration. It was written by a
man who dedicated his life to the struggle for the advancement of the
working class.

shook

He shook the chains of bondage. Others will take up his banner of communism
and break those chains — the chains of capitalism, exploitation, and war.

The book can be ordered by post. Cheques for £12 plus £2.50 p&p to :
“Westacott Memoirs”, c/o Chesterfield Unemployed Workers Centre, 54
Saltergate, Chesterfield, S40 IJR.

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