LABURISMO. — Labourism may be regarded as the beginning and subsequent development of that phase of the English workers’ movement corresponding to the workers’ entry into political life. It presents itself as a characteristic form of democratic and reformist socialism, based on the guarantee of popular freedoms and respect for every religious faith, and therefore not strictly bound to the ideological schemes of Marxist materialism and opposed to every form of dictatorship, including that of the proletariat. Hence the adherence to Labourism on the part of Catholic forces.
Between 1840 and 1876 the English trade-union organisations—the Trade Unions—had achieved their most important aspirations, including legal recognition and the possibility of organising strikes (the latter concession, however, was limited by the “Criminal law amendment act” of 1871, which prohibited picketing, that is, the action undertaken by striking workers to induce their fellow workers to abstain from work). All this had been obtained by English workers on a strictly trade-union basis, since, after the unsuccessful experience of the Chartist movement, this had proved the most profitable course. But especially during the last twenty years of the century, various developments occurred that encouraged the Trade Unions to consider with some interest the possibility of taking an active part in politics. First came the multiplication of organisations of unskilled workers, organisations with a clearly socialist tendency. It should in fact be remembered that the protection and organisation of the working classes undertaken by the Trade Unions did not extend to all categories of workers, but only to skilled workers (shilled workers). Unskilled workers (unshilled workers), those who were in the worst conditions even from an economic point of view, were prevented from organising by the Trade Unions themselves, which regarded their own position as a right and a privilege.
Now, it was precisely in these surroundings of the disinherited that socialism—which until then had failed to penetrate deeply into the English working class, so much so that the latter had given little support even to the Marxist “International”—found an easy foothold. In 1881 the “Democratic federation” was founded; shortly afterwards it was transformed into the “Social-democratic federation”, with a programme inspired by that of German “Social Democracy”. The work of the new body—which was political in character—and the situation of the unskilled workers convinced ever broader sections of public opinion of the desirability not only of extending the organisation of workers to all categories, but also of coordinating all the nation’s trade-union forces; these developments soon became realities.
At the same time, a change of attitude also took place among the classes that had traditionally opposed workers’ participation in the direction of public affairs. Many prejudices fell away, and a greater sense of tolerance entered the aristocracy. The work of the “Fabian Society” also contributed to creating this new climate: by proposing to spread socialist ideas without revolutions, it carried out an intense activity in disseminating the principles of social justice. Moreover, following the electoral reform of 1867, two workers had already entered the House of Commons by 1874, and ten years later workers’ representation in that same House had risen to twelve members.
Despite all this, in the absence of a genuine workers’ party, the working class had to rely either on the Conservatives or on the Liberals, thereby suffering a dispersal of votes and, above all, remaining at least partly tied to those parties. Beginning in 1887, a Scottish miner named Keir Hardy initiated a movement intended to demonstrate the incongruous situation in which the working class found itself and the need for the proletariat to achieve in politics the full independence that it had already won in the socio-economic sphere, participating in political life through the strength of its numbers and abilities. In 1893 Hardy founded the “Independent Labour Party” at Bradford; at first, however, it was not viewed with much sympathy either by the leaders of English trade unionism or by the workers themselves.
The economic reality constituted by various setbacks suffered on the trade-union front—and especially the judgment delivered by the House of Lords sitting as a High Court of Justice against the “Amalgamated Society of railways servants”, as a result of which this trade-union organisation was ordered to pay compensation for the damage caused by the railway workers’ strike—soon brought about a change in this attitude of opposition to political action by the forces of labour.
The unfavourable judgment of the Court of Justice in fact restricted—almost nullifying it—the right to strike, thereby depriving workers of the only effective instrument of struggle capable of supporting those demands that trade-union action had succeeded in securing. The Trade Unions then realised the vital necessity of overcoming their non-political position and of fighting, through their own party, both to guarantee the effectiveness of labour laws and promote further legislation, and to defend the trade-union organisations themselves. Once this conviction had been reached, the transition to practical action was rapid. In 1899 a congress of all the trade-union forces took place, and Hardy achieved considerable success. The following year the “Labour representation Committee” was founded, an organ of the Trade Unions intended to coordinate the political action of the forces of labour. In the elections of 1906, 29 deputies belonging to this committee entered the House of Commons.
Meanwhile, the working class continued its efforts to achieve unity of action in the political sphere. In 1906, the “Independent Labour Party” merged with the “Labour Representation Committee,” and the “Labour Party,” or Labourist Party, came into being. From 1906 to the First World War, the new Party underwent considerable development. The only event worth noting during this period was the prohibition imposed on the Trade Unions in 1911 against using their social funds to finance the “Labour Party”—a right that until then had been unquestioned. This prohibition lasted until 1913, when a Trade Union Act defined the political purposes for which the unions could spend their funds, though only following a regular vote. In 1924, the first experiment in a Labour government became possible, but it lasted only eight months; thereafter, serious events disturbed the world of English labour. The miners’ strike and the ensuing general strike led, in 1927, the Conservative government then in power to enact a new law on industrial disputes and trade unions. This law limited the legal field of action of the unions not only within the strictly trade-union sphere but also in their political activities, while making illegal lockouts and solidarity strikes aimed at coercing the government, either directly or indirectly, by inflicting damage on the community. Although in 1929 the Labour Party returned to government, its majority in Parliament was not sufficient to exceed that of the other parties collectively, and consequently the 1927 law remained in force. The government then returned entirely to the hands of the Conservatives, until, in May 1940, following Chamberlain’s resignation, the Labour members entered the coalition government, presided over by Winston Churchill, with the Party leader, Attlee, as Deputy Prime Minister, while two other Labour members (Greenwood and Bevin) entered the War Cabinet. In this capacity of considerable responsibility and collaboration with the Conservatives, English Labourism contributed to the victory of the British Empire.
With the return to normal conditions, the Labour Party regained complete independence, which culminated in the elections of July 1945 in a complete victory, expressed in a majority that enabled the party to assume full responsibility for power and consequently to begin implementing a broad social programme. This majority was confirmed, though to a lesser extent, in the elections of 1950.
The Labour social programme is essentially centred, besides the execution of major public works to prevent unemployment and the solution of the housing problem or the full application of the Beveridge Plan, on the nationalization of the most important sectors of the economy. By the middle of 1950, nationalization had in fact taken place in the following sectors: the Bank of England, telegraphic and radio communications, civil aviation, coal mines, transport, and the electric-power and iron-and-steel industries.
The narrowing of the gap between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, highlighted by the elections of 1930, has placed English Labourism before greater difficulties. It does not appear, however, that Labourism intends to halt the development and implementation of its programme.