The pressures on anti-war activism inside the British Labour Party. The Phoney War between September 1939 and April 1940, when no

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1 1 The pressures on anti-war activism inside the British Labour Party The Phoney War between September 1939 and April 1940, when no land warfare took place in Western Europe, created an opportunity for anti-war elements in Britain to advance their cause. Peace campaigns did not materialise in any generally directed sense, though one event during the Phoney War could have focussed antiwar protest. This was planned aid to Finland following the Soviet invasion of November The Winter War lasted fifteen weeks and presented the British and French governments with an opportunity to intervene. Serious consideration was even given to sending troops. Seen on the Left as a plan to switch the war from Germany to the Soviet Union, any intervention would have resulted in Britain facing the prospect of being at war with both the Soviet Union and Germany at the same time! As A. J. P. Taylor put it 1 1 A. J. P. Taylor, English History , 1965, Oxford, 469 n10

2 2 At Present, the only charitable conclusion is to assume that the British and French governments had taken leave of their senses. One of the main vehicles for anti-war protests would have been the Labour Party and its ranks of activists. There were, though, several factors that limited the extent to which they could promote a campaign, had they wanted to. It is these that we shall explore. First, some context is required. Activists faced the dominance of the Labour Party leadership; a leadership by 1939 frustrated by the internal and external conduct of the Soviet Union. The signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939, the invasion of Finland, and Soviet conduct during the Winter War (the actions of the Red Air Force were summed up by the Labour Party in the phrase indiscriminate slaughter 2 ) reduced sympathy for any campaign to oppose British aid. Finland itself was a barrier to any opposition to intervention. It was a progressive nation, similar to that 2 Labour Party Annual Report, 1940, 13

3 3 which the Labour Party leadership envisioned for Britain. 3 Clearly, here was a society worth saving. Our focus now turns to the Labour party s activists. They could have opposed Britain s efforts to make war in Finland. However, in , various restrictions and limiting factors impeded any such effort. In exploring these, the archives of twelve District and Constituency Labour Parties have been examined. They are all in London; Bethnal Green, Clapham, Feltham, Greenwich, Hornchurch, Ilford, Lewisham, Northolt, Poplar, Southall, Uxbridge and Woolwich. The records are patchy and scattered. Some are the archives of individual wards within districts and constituencies, not the full district or constituency itself. There are gaps and missing records. Some are in poor condition. However, they do enable us to reach some important conclusions about the limitations faced by Labour Party activists in mounting anti-war dissent. 3 The Labour Party, Finnish Facts and Russian Promises, April 1940, 84-87

4 4 The first thing to say is that, like all party activists, those in the Labour Party in 1940 had a wide range of regular peacetime issues to face; as well as many new demands brought on by the outbreak of war. The papers of these local Labour Parties show that peacetime issues such as education, food prices, pensions and unemployment still occupied the time of activists. With the coming of war, new issues joined existing ones. Rationing, evacuation, air raid precaution, wartime defence regulations, and allowances for the dependents of those in the armed forces became new demands. Time for anti-war campaigning was limited by these many and important commitments. The war itself brought with it limiting factors. When war began, the British state put into operation its pre-war preparations. A vast evacuation scheme took thousands of people away from the big cities, especially London. Alongside this, people were called up for military service or war work. A strictly enforced blackout was introduced to hide cities from the threat of German bombers at

5 5 night. In addition, the blackout and the evacuation plan disrupted all forms of transport. After a few months of war, one of bitterest winters in British history took a grip on the country, further disrupting both transport and the war effort. All of these factors served to limit the ability of Labour Party activists to pursue any sort of anti-war campaign. Additional limitations materialised. These can be explored by looking at three themes. First, the impact of wartime conditions on the ability of activists to hold regular and effective meetings. Secondly, we shall explore the impact of the war on the membership of the Labour Party, both nationally and locally? Third, the extent to which local Labour parties lost vital income from members subscriptions as a result of wartime conditions. For any political campaign to be possible, regular communication is required to plan and organise strategy and tactics. In the 1940s, social media did not exist. Meetings had to take place at regular times and in accessible physical locations. As the Minutes of the

6 6 Town Ward of Hornchurch CLP put it, regular meetings were important in wartime as they would, at least keep the members of the party together until such time as the conditions under which we are working were relaxed. 4 With the impact of war, even though no actual fighting was taking place in Britain, there was a great impact on the ability of political activists to achieve the necessary communication and organisation required to challenge the march to potential war over Finland. The local Labour Party archives show that meetings were often cancelled because of the demands of the war. Northolt s South section ceased activities entirely owing to war conditions. 5 Lewisham suspended meetings from September until November By 4 London Metropolitan Archives, Hornchurch CLP papers A/HHL/013, Minutes and Papers, Town Ward, , Minute Book, November London Metropolitan Archives, Northolt Labour Party, LMA/4023/02/003, Executive Committee, General and annual general meetings, minutes 1937 January to 1940 April, Minutes March Lewisham Local Studies and Archives Centre, West Lewisham CLP papers, A89/100/9, General Committee Minutes, , Letter to Members of West Lewisham Labour Party, September 1939.

7 7 January, reports still showed some wards having great difficulty in meeting, particularly in Forest Hill and Ladywell. 7 In Bethnal Green, the local party women s section found organising meetings almost impossible after the impact of the changes brought by the outbreak of war and the introduction of the blackout. 8 In Greenwich, ward meetings were suspended or reduced in number. In the St Nicholas Women s section, Attempts to revive meetings failed owing to practically all regular Members being evacuated. 9 Only in April did the situation improve as evacuees returned. 10 In Feltham, Women s section meetings were cancelled. 11 In Woolwich, 7 Ibid, Minutes of General Council Meeting, January Tower Hamlets Local History Library, NE Bethnal Green Labour Party, S/LAB/B/1/2, Minutes of Management Committee, October Greenwich Heritage Centre, Greenwich Labour Party, G.L.P. 2.3, Minutes of Finance Committee Meetings, October Ibid, G.L.P. 2.4., Minutes of Executive Committee Meetings April London Metropolitan Archives, Feltham Local Labour Party, ACC 2417/H/019, Women s Section minutes, December

8 8 Ordinary party activities were seriously affected by war conditions and particularly the organisational activities usually conducted through our war committees. 12 Here, the point to be made is that emergency arrangements designed to assist the party in maintaining its operations (in this case a war committee) were also affected by the very war conditions they were designed to circumvent. The Woolwich records show how the war impacted on the effectiveness of party organisation in another way. In the 1920s, the party Executive Committee met on average 23 times a year. In the period meetings numbered 20 times a year. In this number declined to 14 meetings, in 1941 the figure was nine. 13 What all this suggests is that wartime emergency conditions reduced opportunity for communication, organisation and decision-making necessary for the prosecution of an effective anti-war campaign. 12 Greenwich Heritage Centre, Woolwich Labour Party, W.L.P. 40.3, General Council Report and Statement of Accounts, Ibid, W.L.P. 39.7, Woolwich Labour Party Executive Committee, , figures for

9 9 Although the impact of war on the ability of party activists to meet was not uniformly negative, some wards and sections met uninterrupted during the Phoney War period, the war did damage party meetings to some considerable extent. Not only was it difficult to hold meetings. Attendance at meetings that did take place was impacted upon by the wartime conditions. Women s sections within the Labour Party were most affected. Feltham Labour Party had to cancel meetings because of poor attendance. 14 In Ilford, attendance at meetings declined from an average of 14 out of 19 in the summer of 1939, to an average of seven of nineteen from the outbreak of war until April As the minutes of the local party Central Women s section concluded, we held regular meetings until September: when the war started and attendance fell 15. Hornchurch Women s section was forced to make a major effort to attempt to contact absent members before the 14 Feltham Local Labour Party, op. cit., Minutes June 1939 to July 1942, figures for London Metropolitan Archives, Ilford South Labour Party, ACC 2527/004, Minutes of General Women s Section, June 1938 to March 1942, figures for

10 10 party AGM in January In Woolwich, by January 1940, Executive Committee meetings were hampered by the nonattendance of up to half of the eighteen members. 17 At Uxbridge, the same thing occurred, with as few as four members attending instead of the usual fifteen. 18 Whilst some local parties did suffer dislocation, it is the case that others were able to function as normal. However, once again it can be concluded that the war did interfere with the ability of local parties to function properly. In any political organisation, especially the Labour Party with its commitment to internal democracy, the holding of inquorate meetings may well have been regarded as anathema. Beyond this, absent members would have deprived meetings of expertise, more varied opinions, sources of information and possibly impetus for action. Of course, absent members could just as readily have advocated caution, as well as action, in the pursuance of an anti-war agenda. 16 Hornchurch CLP, op. cit., A/HHL/026, Women s Section, Minute Book, January Woolwich Labour Party, op. cit., W.L.P. 39.7, Executive Committee attendance lists, , figures for London Metropolitan Archives, Uxbridge DLP, LMA 1267/1/2, Executive Committee attendance register, , figures for

11 11 What about the impact on membership? As a national party, Labour saw its total membership decline a little between 1939 and ,663,000 down to 2,571, London-wide, the Labour Party lost 6,000 members up to September , bringing its membership total down to 249,494. Of the 6,000, 4,335 members were lost because their party affiliations were not renewed due to call-up and evacuation. These membership figures include those affiliated to the Labour Party through their membership of a trades union. If we look at real members of the Labour party, and we can do this by looking at the figures taken from members who had paid affiliation fees directly to the party, the numbers from 1939 and 1940 show a drop from 63,663 to 41,756 among London-wide members. 20 Members are vital to a political party. They communicate with the electors, campaign locally and both canvass and advise constituents. In November 1939, the Labour Party leadership wrote to local parties 19 D. Butler and A. Sloman, British Political Facts (Fourth Edition, Macmillan), 1975, London Metropolitan Archives, Clapham Labour Party, LMA/4284/02/002, Correspondence, publications, annual conference agendas, reports, , The work of the London Labour Party

12 12 urging them to continue to meet and to maintain the highest levels of political participation as could be possible in the circumstances. 21 In local parties we can see evidence of decline in membership from the study of their archives. Bethnal Green in the heart of the East End saw its local membership fall from 964 to 784 between January 1939 and November 1940 (dead four, moved 67, lapsed membership 109). 22 Lewisham lost 800 members in 1940 alone, with membership falling from 2,295 to 1,495 between January and December, though it has to be said that most of this decline came in the last three months of 1940 when the Blitz on British cities had begun. 23 In Woolwich, at the end of 1940, local party membership was a healthy 3,567. This, however, represented a decline of 1,300 from the 1939 figure. In the words of the party Annual Report, this was due to evacuation and other removals Ibid, LMA/4284/02/001, The Labour Party and the War, November NE Bethnal Green Labour Party, op. cit., Minutes, November West Lewisham Labour Party, op. cit., Annual Report, Woolwich Labour Party, op. cit., W.L.P. 40.3, General Council Report and Statement of Accounts, 1940.

13 13 Local parties demonstrated their concern by attempting to launch membership drives. There is mention too that the political truce, under which the major parties decided not to campaign against each other, had removed the motivation of people to be involved in political activity, or, indeed to join a political party at all. 25 What was most crucial, however, was that the loss of members deprived local parties of vitally needed funds. It is to this matter we shall finally turn. The wartime conditions impacted on the ability of the Party to collect subscriptions from members. These provided essential income in the days when political activity was funded in this manner. The money raised from local contributions was spent on a variety of things: mortgages for party property, rent, tax, utility bills, repairs, cleaning, stationery, postage, administration, election campaigns, delegate expenses for conference attendance, salaries for agents, affiliation 25 London Metropolitan Archives, Labour Press Service releases, LMA/4284/02/007, March

14 14 fees, telephones, loudspeakers and typewriters all the vital components required to operate a local political movement. How was the money collected? Local Labour Party CLPs were divided into wards. Each ward was then further split into a number of streets from which the collection of members subscriptions was the responsibility of a local collector. This, of course, was in the days before direct debits. Collection was of cash payments and was, therefore, a task needing the time and effort of local collectors. 26 It is possible to extract some figures from the records to show the amount of monies lost. Across all of London, the Labour Party lost 1,000 worth of subscription fees in 1940 compared to the 1939 figure. In terms of the entire balance sheet, including all party income, particularly that from the trades unions political levy, Labour saw its figures fall from 8,538 17s 1d in 1937 to just 2, /2 in Across local parties and local wards, this decline 26 West Lewisham Labour Party, op. cit., A/91/15/7, Lewisham Labour Party Papers Accumulated by the Chrisp Family, Deptford Labour Party subscription Book, Town Hall Ward, Clapham Labour Party, op. cit., LMA/4284/02/002, The Work of the London Labour Party,

15 15 was reflected, too. Bethnal Green, Greenwich, Hornchurch, Ilford, Lewisham, Poplar, Southall and Woolwich all saw their income from subscriptions fall. In Lewisham, concern was expressed at meeting mortgage payments on party property and questions asked of whether they could continue paying their party agent, who in effect acted as the chief operating officer in a local political party. 28 In Greenwich, the local party was overdrawn at the bank and debated whether it was worth spending 10 10s on a new typewriter (they decided it was worth it). 29 Hornchurch CLP was forced to send out demands for members to pay up. 30 The loss of collectors to war work, or evacuation, was also keenly felt. Northolt Labour party appealed for people to become collectors, with no response recorded. 31 Bethnal Green lost some of its collectors to war service and asked members to quickly 28 West Lewisham Labour Party, op. cit., A/89/100/9, General Committee Minutes, , September , September ; Minutes of the War Emergency Council, September Greenwich Labour Party, op. cit., G.L.P. 2.3, Minutes of the Finance Committee, April Hornchurch CLP, op. cit., LMA A/HHL/013, Minutes and Papers of Town Ward, Minutes November Northolt Labour Party, op. cit.

16 16 settle their accounts to assist the party. The branch party secretary crossly reported that there was no money for cleaning, and that This work has been done by ME and other volunteers. 32 There was, therefore, a shortage of cash to fund activities in some local Labour Parties, though again some parties suffered less. The loss of income was an issue, however, and did impact on the ability of local Labour parties to do their existing tasks and perform others made necessary due to the war. There was little money to fund antiwar activities even if the parties had wanted to. So what does this tell us? Britain did little to prosecute the war against Germany, however did make considerable moves towards intervening in Finland. Although the war there ended before these plans were brought to fruition, it was nevertheless a dangerous time for Britain. The need for a strong campaign against war was perhaps never more necessary. Evacuation, call-up, transport disruption, the blackout and winter weather all severely limited the ability of 32 NE Bethnal Green Labour Party, op. cit.

17 17 activists to organise such a campaign. This was also the period before the Blitz on British cities, which caused even greater disruption. It is therefore the case that the conditions resulting from the outbreak of war with Germany served to limit the ability of those potentially inclined to oppose the move towards war with the Soviet Union.