John Lawrence (political Activist) - Trotskyism

Trotskyism

Shortly after his expulsion, Lawrence was contacted by Sam Gordon of the Socialist Workers Party in the US, and began to work as the SWP and the Fourth International's representative in Britain. He helped organise a fusion of the assorted Trotskyist groups into the Revolutionary Communist Party. After a spell as South Wales organiser, during which he was active in supporting Jock Haston's candidacy in the Neath by-election, he became the editor of Socialist Outlook while working as a coal miner in the Cannock Chase. He allied himself with Gerry Healy to form The Club, remaining a key member through turmoil in the British Trotskyist movement.

The split of Lawrence from Healy mirrored the later 1953 split in the Fourth International. Healy supported James P. Cannon and what became the International Committee of the Fourth International, while Lawrence initially supported Michel Pablo and the International Secretariat of the Fourth International. This led to a dispute over control of Socialist Outlook, which Healy ultimately won. Lawrence resigned as editor and began contributing instead to Tribune, a Labour Party publication. He turned increasingly towards Stalinism. He also disagreed with Pablo's attempts to get the ICFI members to attend the ISFI-organised 1954 congress of the Fourth International. He allied himself with the Socialist Union of America's position, that the FI should dissolve, and claimed he was taking Pabloism to its "logical conclusion" - much to Pablo's disagreement.