CHRIS WILSON issues a clarion call for a modern movement based on the best traditions of the past.
Like many activists in the Labour movement, I operate in a number of circles: as a trade unionist, in the Co-operative Party, as a Labour Party member (although living in Northern Ireland means I am on the periphery of that circle), within the ILP, and in various Christian socialist organisations.
What strikes me, again and again, is how many of these superficially different groups are advocating what we might call ethical socialism. By this I mean, an expression of socialism that is values based, wants courteous and comradely debate, and is concerned as much with how we conduct ourselves as with what we say.
In a sense, there is nothing new here. The old Independent Labour Party knew this tradition well and expressed it through its Clarion vans, cycling bands and idealism. But its roots go further back, from the writings of John Ruskin and William Morris, and later it emerges within the guild socialism associated with figures such as GHD Cole.
Some Christian socialists moved in the same direction and had a significant impact. One pioneering figure was John Ludlow who played a pivotal role in establishing the Co-operative movement.
Of course, the Russian Revolution and all that followed blew much of the movement off course, and ultimately led socialism down a dead end. But the ethical socialist tradition was never entirely extinguished. It’s there in the ILP’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War, in the writings of George Orwell, and in the work of RH Tawney, as well as in the theology of the Methodist Lord, Donald Soper.
All these figures were, in some way, seeking – and sometimes living – a socialism that was ethical, radical and thoroughly democratic.
Disconnect
The tradition is with us still today – in the work of Independent Labour Publications, in the Quaker Socialist Society, in the Society of Sacramental Socialists. It can be found in the William Morris Society and groups such as the Industrial Christian Fellowship (small in number but doing some excellent work in the Ella Baker School of Organising). You’ll find it, too, within Christians on the Left, and it is alive and very healthy in the Co-operative Party.
But – and this what I find frustrating – these modern, decent, thoughtful and hard-working folk are hardly and rarely connecting with each other. Yes, there is some overlap, and yes, some exchanges of goodwill and greetings, but how much stronger, more influential would we be if we could co-ordinate, and find new, innovative ways of working together?
At the end of the 19th century an earnest young socialist and ILPer called James Keir Hardie forced the TUC to call a conference to discuss the question of Labour representation in parliament. This initiative became the Labour Representation Committee and, ultimately, the Labour Party.
Different groups came together in common cause for the good of all of them. Isn’t it time we tried to co-ordinate again? After all, ethical socialism is needed more than ever. We still have a world to win.
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The Reverend Chris Wilson is a church minister, an active trade unionist and Christian socialist. He is a member of the ILP.
