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Ted Grant was born in South Africa in 1913. Travelling to Britain in search of broader horizons, he stopped off in Paris to talk with Leon Sedov, Trotsky’s son. With Ralph Lee he formed the Workers’ International League (WIL), which subsequently fused with the Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL) to became the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) in 1944.
After the war he defended Trotsky’s analysis of the Soviet Union in that it was a deformed workers’ state - one in which private property and capitalism had been abolished, yet where the workers did not hold political power. He argued that the so-called “communist” countries of Eastern Europe were in fact run on the same lines as the Soviet Union, and he used the term Proletarian Bonapartism to describe them.
During the 1960s he extended the analysis to the colonial countries that had become “communist”. He argued that the intelligensia of these countries looked towards Stalinism as a way to develop their economies and alleviate the desperate conditions; but since the masses had not been roused on a socialist programme, the bureaucratic nature of these regimes was inevitable.
Ted Grant was most famously the political editor of Militant and was expelled from the Labour Party in 1983. Throughout the 1990s he continued to contribute to Socialist Appeal and In Defence of Marxism. He died in 2006, after being an active Marxist for over 75 years.
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Biography
Images
Videos
Works
1930s
Lessons of Spain (with Ralph Lee, 1938)
Against “National Defence” (March 1939)
The Robbers Quarrel over Tientsin (July 1939)
Workers Want Peace—Bosses Prepare for War! (August 1939)
Down with the War! (September 1939)
Wartime
Our War Is the Class War (February 1940)
Not for Imperialist Slaughter (March 1940)
How to Win the Class War (April 1940)
No Peace Without Socialism (May 1940)
The Workers’ War Is the Class War! (June 1940)
Workers Must Be Armed Against Capitalism (July 1940)
Defend the Soviet Union—Fascism Can Only Be Defeated by International Socialism (July 1941)
Daily Herald—A Public Statement, Not a Private Admission (July 1941)
An Analysis of the Social Basis of the Soviet Union (August 1941)
Why USSR Is Suffering Reverses—Internationalism Has Been Abandoned (October 1941)
A Challenge to the Communist Party (November 1941)
ILP and the Stalinist Slander (January 1942)
Stalin Threatens New Turn—Anglo-USA Imperialists Fear Soviet Victory (March 1942)
Masses Losing Confidence in Boss-class Government (May 1942)
The Road to India's Freedom—The Permanent Revolution in India and the Tasks of the British Working Class (with Andrew Scott, June 1942)
British Refuse Arms to Indians (June 1942)
Preparing for Power (June 1942)
Labour Lefts Rehearsed Debate with Tories! (July 1942)
Right Wing Tories Fear Our Programme (August 1942)
Constitution of Workers’ International League (WIL) (August 1942)
An Open Letter to the Yorkshire Miners’ Association (August 1942)
New Allies of Communist Party (September 1942)
The ILP—A Ship Without a Compass (October 1942)
Wainwright and Doriot—Birds of a Feather (December 1942)
Wainwright Blunders Again on the Chinese Revolution (February 1943)
Statement of the PB on the Expulsion from WIL of Gerry Healy (February 1943)
Coalition Cracking—Labour to Power (March 1943)
Aid Red Army with Lenin’s Weapon (April 1943)
ILP Conference and Tasks of the Left (April 1943)
The ILP in Transition (May 1943)
Reply of WIL to the RSL Criticism of “Preparing for Power” (June 1943)
The Need for the International (June 1943)
Labour Party Endorses Truce—Not Reflection of Rank and File Feeling (June 1943)
The Rise and Fall of the Communist International (June 1943)
Labour Leaders Back Vansittartism (July 1943)
Second Front Will Not End Fascism (July 1943)
Fascism Collapsing—Europe’s Revolution Has Begun (August 1943)
Aid the Italian Revolution! (August 1943)
The Italian Revolution and the Tasks of British Workers (August 1943)
Rift Widens in Allied Camp (September 1943)
Churchill’s Speech Marks a New Stage in the War (September 1943)
The Moscow Conference Plans Post-War Reaction (November 1943)
Lebanon Clash Bares De Gaulle-Churchill Aims (November 1943)
Allied Talks Plot World Carve-up (December 1943)
[Speech] Our Tasks in the Coming Revolution (January 1944)
Stalin Scraps “Internationale” (January 1944)
Internationalism and Centrism (February 1944)
Churchill’s Support Crumbling (March 1944)
Stalin Recognises Badoglio (April 1944)
ILP Conference (April 1944)
Bevin Defends His Anti-Labour Laws (May 1944)
Churchill Preparing Peace of Revenge (July 1944)
Tories Riding High—Land Bill Satisfies Owners (July 1944)
Germany—What next? (August 1944)
Leon Trotsky (August 1944)
Capitalists Fear Armed Paris Workers (September 1944)
The Allies Fear Fraternisation (October 1944)
The Coming German Revolution (October 1944)
National Question [in Europe] (October 1944)
Communist Party Conference Prepares Post-war Sell-out (November 1944)
TUC Helps Goebbels (November 1944)
Why Hitler Came to Power (December 1944)
Labour Party Conference—Labour Lefts Sell Out (December 1944)
British Labour Betrayed Greek Workers (February 1945)
The Changed Relation of Forces in Europe and the Role of the Fourth International (March 1945)
Communist Party Leaders Want Post-War Coalition with the Tories (April 1945)
The ILP at the Crossroads (April 1945)
Postwar
Allied Troops End “Non-Frat” Order (July 1945)
Labour Must Fulfil Its Promises—“No Excuses This Time” Say Workers (August 1945)
Lease-Lend Crisis (September 1945)
Labour’s Policy (September 1945)
The Character of the European Revolution—A Reply to Some Comrades of the IKD (October 1945)
US Loan and British Workers (January 1946)
Stalin Versus Marx (February 1946)
Economic Perspectives 1946 (April 1946)
Labour Party Conference: Triumph for Right Wing—Labour Leaders Living in Fools’ Paradise (June 1946)
Perspectives in Britain (July 1946) (substantial extract)
Stalin Liquidates Two Republics (July 1946)
The Bournemouth Conference—Reality and Illusion (August 3, 1946)
Democracy or Bonapartism in Europe—A Reply to Pierre Frank (August 1946)
New Purges in Russia (October 1946)
German Workers Vote Labour—Demonstrate Opposition to Nazism (November 1946)
Transport Bill—Workers Must Demand Control (December 1946)
National Democratic Revolution or Proletarian Revolution: The Tasks in Germany (January 1947) (substantial extract)
Once Again Setting the Record Straight—A Reply to M. S. (February 1947)
Opposition at CP Conference—Reformist Policy Criticised (March 1947)
Henry Wallace—What He Stands For (April 1947)
Stop Threatening the Miners—Capitalist Coal Board Must Be Replaced by Workers’ Control (July 1947)
Russian Workers in Britain Barred from Joining Trade Union by Russian Delegation (October 1947)
Czechoslovakia—The Issues Involved (April 1948)
Wall Street Victory in Italy (May 1948)
The Menace of Fascism—What It Is and How to Fight It (June 1948)
Behind the Stalin-Tito Clash—Yugoslavs Too Independent (with Jock Haston, July 1948)
Tories in Conference—A Bankrupt Policy (October 1948)
Against the Theory of State Capitalism—Reply to Comrade Cliff (1949)
Stalinist Land Programme Wins Peasants—Chiang’s Conscripts Roped to Prevent Escape (January 1949). Known from The Unbroken Thread as “The Chinese Revolution”.
The Ruhr Statute (February 1949)
Reply to David James (Spring 1949)
1950s
Open Letter to British Section of Fourth International (September/October 1950)
Stalinism in the Post War World (June 1951)
Bevan and the Crisis in the Labour Party (April-May 1952)
Labour’s Foreign Policy (June 1952)
Marxism Versus New Fabianism (Part 1) (November 1952)
Marxism Versus New Fabianism (Part 2) (May 1953)
Socialism and German Unity (1954) — Known from The Unbroken Thread as “Socialism and German Rearmament”
The Purge of Stalin (May 1956)
Hungary and the Crisis in the Communist Party (November 1956)
Suez—The Crisis of Western Imperialism (December 1956-January 1957)
The Case of Wolfgang Harich (April-May 1957)
Letter to an Opposition Communist (April-May 1957)
The Crisis in British Communism (April-May 1957)
Slump This Year? (January 1958)
Campbell Somersaults—The Communist Party and the Slump (February 1958)
France in Crisis (May 1958) — Known from The Unbroken Thread as “The Rise of De Gaulle and the Class Struggle in France”
Force a General Election Now (May 1958)
The Generals Capture France—Workers Must Resist (June 1958)
Hands Off the Lebanon (July 1958)
Labour Must Go Left or Go Under—Says Gallup Poll (September 1958)
Tory Rule Must End (November 1958)
The Future Labour Offers (January 1959)
Miners Fight for Jobs (February 1959)
Nyasaland—Another Kenya? (March 1959)
Problems of Entrism (March 1959)
Fight Unemployment Now (April 1959)
Labour Debates the Bomb (July 1959)
Labour to Power (September 1959)
1960s
Defend Labour’s Socialist Programme (January 1960)
Fascism Menacing Germany? (January 1960)
Revolution Begins in South Korea (May 1960)
Russia and China—“Is War Inevitable under Capitalism?” (October 1960)
Will There Be a Slump? (1960)
Lessons of the Belgian Strike (February 1961)
What Causes War! (May 1961)
The Algerian Revolt (June 1961)
Crisis in the British Economy (July 1961)
Tories in Crisis Attack (August 1961)
Tory Crisis: Labour’s Opportunity (October 1961)
France Threatened—Franco-type Coup? (February 1962)
France: the Class Struggle Intensifies (March 1962)
Behind the Bye-Election Results (April 1962)
Meaning of Russia’s New Constitution (May 1962)
Franco’s Spain Facing Collapse (June 1962)
Democracy and Discipline (July 1962)
Wall Street Slump (July 1962)
Socialist Foreign Policy (October 1962)
Railwaymen—Stand Firm! (November 1962)
What Is Happening in Russia (June 1963)
The Colonial Revolution and the Sino-Soviet Dispute (August 1964)
Wilson Drifts Towards Disaster—Emergency Action Needed (January 1965)
Labour Must End Aircraft Deadlock (March 1965)
Moscow-Peking, the Real Differences (May 1965)
Britain: Director Shows the Real Face of Capitalism (June-July 1965)
Crisis in Russia (September 1965)
Neither India or Pakistan—For a Socialist Federation (October 1965)
A Socialist Policy for Labour (October 1965)
Rhodesia—Let the People Decide (November 1965)
A Reply to Comrade Clifford (1966) (substantial extract)
Prices and Incomes—No Wage Restrictions—For a Socialist Plan (February 1966)
Fight Election on Socialist Policy (March 1966)
Connolly and the 1916 Easter Uprising (April 1966)
Only One Solution—Budget Demonstrates the Impossibility of Capitalist “Planning” (June 1966)
Yugoslavia: The Meaning of Tito’s “Reforms” (July 1966)
The Economic Crisis—What Labour Should Do (July 1966)
Freeze—Profits Grow, Wages Lose—A Socialist Plan Means Higher Wages and Lower Hours (September 1966)
Cousins Calls for “£15 Minimum and Workers’ Participation”—How? Take Over the 380 Monopolies, Socialist Plan Only Answer (November 1966)
Common Market—No Answer to the Problems (December 1966)
Bureaucratism or Workers’ Power (with Roger Silverman, 1967)
Easter ‘67—Socialism on the March (March 1967)
East-West Trade—Profits Cut “Iron Curtain” (April 1967)
International Conference Shows CP Rank and File Must Fight for Real Marxist Policy (May 1967)
Common Market—Impasse of British Imperialism (June 1967)
The Middle East (June 1967)
Miners, Dockers, Printers & Bakers Fight Restrictions – TUC Must Attack Capital Not Workers (September 1967)
Russian Revolution: 50 Years After (November 7, 1967)
Left Must Fight for Socialist Alternative—Cuts in Health, Housing and Education, Handouts to Leyland/BMC, Lairds/Vickers and Steel Bosses (February 1968)
Britain’s Crisis and Labour’s Left (March, 1968)
The French Revolution Begins (July 1968)
The French Revolution Has Begun (August 1968)
Coup in Iraq (August 1968)
The Financial Crisis: What It Means (December 1968)
Perspectives for Britain [1968] (October 1968)
[Book] Lenin and Trotsky—What They Really Stood For (with Alan Woods, October 1969)
Communist International Conference [1969] (autumn 1969)
A Strategy for Socialism (November 1969)
1970s
Dutch Labour Party Goes Left (March 1970)
Programme of the International (May 1970)
Defend Nationalised Industries Against Tory Attacks (October 1970)
Tories and Workers—The Coming Clash (Autumn 1970)
Socialist Answer to the EEC (1971)
The Truth Behind Inflation (January 1971)
Fight Tories’ Scandalous Cost of Living, Unemployment, Anti-Labour Laws (March 1971)
Unemployment—Use Resources for People Not Sabotage Them for Profit (June 1971)
The General Strike and the “Communist Party” (July 1971)
World Currency Crisis (September 1971)
Fight Crisis with Socialist Policies (October 1, 1971)
Pakistani-Indian War? (November 1971)
Unemployment Debate (December 10, 1971)
The dis-United Nations (December 31, 1971)
Miners’ Fight Is Our Fight (January 14, 1972)
Jan Sling Arrest—“Communist” Party Apologies (February 4, 1972)
Crisis of Power (February 25, 1972)
Nixon-Mao—What Talks Mean (March 1972)
TUC—Call One Day General Strike (May 1972)
LPYS Housing Rally Gives Lead to Labour (May 19, 1972)
America Doomed in Vietnam (July 14, 1972)
The Dockers Fight (July 28, 1972)
Lessons of the Docks Strike (August 25, 1972)
TUC: End Collaboration with Tories (September 1, 1972)
All-out Campaign to Bring Down Tories—Lessons of TUC (September 8, 1972)
Profits up—1,200,000 Unemployed? Bring Down the Tories (September 15, 1972)
Lasers—New Weapons for Annihilation (September 22, 1972)
Labour’s Programme—1964-70 Disaster Was a Warning (September 29, 1972)
Blackpool, October 1972: LP Conference—Analysis and Perspectives (October 13, 1972)
The Spanish Revolution—Past and Present (October 27, 1972)
Britain—Perspectives and Prospects [1973] (January, 1973)
The General Strike 1926 (April 27, 1973)
The Argentine Revolution (July 13, 1973)
The Spanish Revolution 1931-37 (Autumn 1973)
The Middle East (June 1967 EC Statement) (June 1974)
Workers’ Control (July 19, 1974)
Cyprus War (September 20 and 27, 1974)
Some Fundamental Questions on the Policies of Lenin and Trotsky (November 1, 1974)
57 Years After the Russian Revolution (November 8, 1974)
Capitalist Common Market – No! For a Socialist United States of Europe (May 1975)
The Iberian Revolution (May 1975)
The Revolution in Portugal (May 1975)
Russia 1917, Europe 1970s (November 14, 1975)
No Handouts to Bosses—Nationalise Chrysler (December 19, 1975)
Spain: Towards Revolution (March, 1976)
Europe’s Communist Parties: Russia Loses Control (November 5, 1976)
Witch-hunt Against Militant (December 3, 1976)
Indian Communists Go Down with Mrs Gandhi (March 25, 1977)
World Perspectives (1977) (substantial extract)
Spain—Elections Show Class Tensions (June 17, 1977)
Britain in Crisis (September 1977) (substantial extract)
After Victory... the War Goes on (January 1978)
The Colonial Revolution and the Deformed Workers’ States (July 1978) (substantial extract)
Syria—A Reply to Kumar (Summer 1978)
Would Reflation Solve Our Problems? (November, 1978)
The Iranian Revolution (February 9, 1979)
Britain in Crisis (February 23, 1979)
The Bureaucratic Road to Conflict (March 1979)
Militant’s Programme: For a Socialist Plan of Production – Capitalist Crisis Deepens (April 1979)
The Times—Workers’ Unity Beats Scab Plan (May 4, 1979)
World Perspectives (August 1979) (substantial extract)
1980s
Afghanistan—Why the Russian Bureaucracy Invaded (January 1980)
British Capitalism Faces Catastrophe (July 20, 1980)
A Coup in Britain? (April 1981)
A Coup in Britain? [pamphlet version] (April 1981)
The Falklands Crisis—A Socialist Answer (May 1982)
Appeal Against Expulsion, Labour Party Conference (September 1983)
George MacDonald (Obituary) (March 15, 1985)
Arms Race, War in the 1980s—“Politics by Other Means” (Summer, 1985)
The Colonial Revolution and Civil War in South Yemen (1986)
Russia: Reform or Political Revolution? (February 13, 1987)
Election Result a Prelude to Future Storms (summer, 1987)
[Speech] In Defence of Trotskyism (July 1988)
World Peace or Uneasy Truce? (summer, 1989)
[Book] The Unbroken Thread (1989)
1990s
Trotsky’s Relevance Today (Summer 1990)
The Impact of Trotsky’s Death (August 17, 1990)
Scotland—Socialism or Nationalism? (March 18, 1992)
Ireland After the Ceasefire (1994)
The Relevance of Marxism Today (March 1994)
The Collapse of Stalinism and the Class Nature of the Russian State (February 1996)
Strike Wave Highlights Disillusionment with Yeltsin (January 8, 1997)
The First Tremors—An Analysis of the Global Economic Situation (October 31, 1997)
Crisis in Central Africa (November 1997)
Imperialist Bullying and the Crisis in the Middle East (February 13, 1998)
Indonesia: the Asian Revolution Has Begun (May 22, 1998)
Marxism and the Struggle Against Imperialism: Third World in Crisis (June 25, 1998)
Help us!
We always welcome readers pointing out spelling mistakes and other errors! These are extremely helpful. Also if you have an article by Ted Grant that you don’t see here, then we would like to know! (Especially from the 1930s and 1940s.)
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