19 July 2009 8:52 AM
The Defence Secretary and the International Marxist Group
In a number of newspaper stories last week, it was suggested that the latest Defence Secretary, Bob Ainsworth, had been - at the age of 30 - a 'candidate member' of a body called the 'International Marxist Group'. The IMG, originally associated with the prominent student revolutionary Tariq Ali, was a Trotskyist group active in the 1970s and 1980s, whose members at one stage adopted the slogan "Victory to the IRA".
Why does this matter?
It is my belief that many prominent Labour MPs were directly or indirectly connected with this or similar revolutionary groups in the 1960s and 1970s, and this is a significant current in New Labour. Those involved tend to prefer to keep quiet about it. In my view this is because it still matters, and still gives an important clue about the general opinions they hold, despite the bland image of 'new Labour' as a 'right-wing' tendency, because it no longer wishes to nationalise the railways.
The full extent of this will probably never be known. These groups were very secretive, and relevant MI5 files have almost certainly been destroyed; it is very hard to establish the facts without first-hand information. Recently the former Home Office minister Tony McNulty revealed that he had been a revolutionary, mainly in the hope of currying favour with a largely left-wing audience. I happened to find out about this, because I was at the same gathering, but I do not think Mr McNulty can have expected - or intended - this to happen.
It has been claimed by prominent left-wingers that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, once belonged to the IMG, though sources in the Treasury have denied this to me. Two senior ministers in the original Blair Cabinet were widely believed to have been revolutionaries. John Reid was without doubt an adult member of the Communist Party. Peter Mandelson was a Young Communist.
When I sought more information about Mr Ainsworth's alleged links with the IMG, I talked to a 'spokesperson' who, after an unsatisfactory phone conversation, sent me a written statement. This is what it said: "Bob Ainsworth has never been a member of the International Marxist
Group. In the early 80s he attended a couple of their meetings, at the request of a colleague, which reinforced his firm view that he did not agree with anything they had to say."
On Friday afternoon, shortly before 4.00 pm, I e-mailed this spokesperson (and alerted the spokesperson by text message that the e-mail had been sent). I have had no response of any kind since then.
This is what my e-mail contained:
"I would like to ask the following supplementary questions:
1. It was never alleged that Mr Ainsworth was a member of the International Marxist Group (IMG). The allegation made in some newspapers and in the Wikipedia entry was that he was a 'candidate member', that is to say someone who was being considered for membership. Does he confirm or deny that this was the case?
2. It was alleged that he was in this position during two years, 1982 and 1983. This suggests that his connection with the IMG extended to more than "a couple of meetings". How many meetings did he in fact attend? "A couple" is generally taken to mean "two". Does it mean two in this case, or more? If so, roughly how many and how often?
3. Did he participate actively in those meetings, engaging in debate at them?
4.Did he subscribe to any of the publications of the IMG?
5. Did he sell IMG publications to colleagues or in public places, or distribute IMG material of any kind?
6. If he already took the view that he did not agree with anything the IMG said, as implied by the use of the expression "confirmed his view", why did he then attend any of their meetings?
7. Given that much of what the IMG 'said' was the standard expression of left-wing opinions on foreign and domestic policy, cultural and educational questions, almost all of it shared at the time and since by many members of the Labour Party and the Trade Union movement, can he please be more specific about the things with which he disagreed? Would Mr Ainsworth describe himself as having been a 'right-wing' member of the Labour Party at this time?
8. Was there no part of the IMG's position with which he then agreed?
9. Has he complained about the newspaper stories on his links with the IMG, in any way?
10. Will he seek to alter the entry in Wikipedia which says: "During 1982 and 1983, he was a candidate member of the International Marxist Group, but he was never a full member of that organisation." What would he substitute for these words?
11. Can he supply the name of the colleague who introduced him to the IMG?"
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