The present Anarchist movement in England was yet unborn in 1926. The betrayals of a decade, the failure of two Labour Governments, the Labour desertion of the Spanish Revolution and the Socialist-Communist support of the second world war were to later make inevitable the creation of our present Revolutionary Movement.
Without a Syndicalist minority among the miners, factory workers and transport men, on the picket lines and local strike headquarters; the strikers were easy prey to the Judas Iscariots. Without an Anarchist Federation, a strong, compact and resolute body of conscious revolutionaries such as the Spanish F.A.I., no alternative to the treacherous leadership could be found.
Of the workers nothing but the highest praise is sufficient. They responded to the strike call magnificently. When the Government wished to publish the British Gazette not one linotype operator could be found to set up its paper. In thousands of cases trade unionists walked out to certain dismissal. In many cases, especially on the railways, men in supervisory jobs sacrificed jobs and pensions to join the fight. There was never any drift back. What the workers lacked was revolutionary understanding and organization. It is our task to create these. The General Strike is not dead. Weighing carefully the treachery and cowardice of labour leaders and drawing inspiration from the courage and sacrifice of the workers, we prepare our hearts and minds for the Second British General Strike.
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