Chapter Synopses

Introduction

The Introduction to Renegades and Rats is available as a free download.

Bibliography

Index

Chapter 1: The Construction of Solidarity

As the labour movement organised in the second half of the nineteenth century, its move towards a shared identity (or closure) meant that certain individuals were excluded due to conflicting identities. Structural closure occurred gradually in the political wing of the British labour movement. Closure was gradual in Australia too but more complex because of the plethora of colonial labour parties. Symbolic closure also occurred, resulting in the exclusion of women and of some ethnic groups. Shifting relations between class, gender and race meant that solidarity in the labour movement had to be repeatedly re-negotiated and remade.

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Chapter 2: ‘The Greatest Curse and Traitor’: H. H. Champion in Britain and Australia

H. H. Champion may well have the dubious honour of being the only labour activist suspected of betraying the labour movement on one continent and accused of betraying the labour movement on another. The son of a minor aristocrat, Champion devoted himself to socialism. A foundation member of the Social Democratic Federation, he was arrested after the Trafalgar Square riots in 1886. Working-class activists were suspicious of Champion’s motives because of his background, a situation Champion himself did nothing to alleviate with his virulent anti-Liberalism, his secrecy over election finances, and his poor opinion of the organisational abilities of working people.

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Chapter 3: 'The Path of Least Resistance': William Trenwith and Victorian Labour

Increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress made by political labour in the 1890s, some sections of the labour movement accused labour leader William Trenwith of treachery. Trenwith’s commitment to the Liberal alliance and his refusal to formalise the organisation of the Labor Party made him vulnerable to such accusations. His accumulation of a large reservoir of trust through his work as founder and leader of the Victorian Operative Bootmakers’ Union protected him from the consequences of these accusations.

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Chapter 4: The Surrendered Fortress? John Burns and British Labour

John Burns is an important figure in the mythology of the British labour movement. As the first workingman to be appointed to a British cabinet post, he showed that anything was possible in the new ‘democratic’ Britain. Yet to many in the labour movement John Burns was a rat. He repeatedly refused to join the ILP, accepted a cabinet post from a Liberal government, and failed to defend the rights of workers in the House of Commons. Burns did not betray the labour movement: he was simply left behind in the push for labour representation. But Burns did betray the working class.

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Chapter 5: Scourging the Rebels: Victor Grayson and the Early British Labour Party

For a short period the independent socialist Victor Grayson became the most potent symbol of the struggle between an emerging Parliamentary Labour Party and its grassroots constituency. While the Labour Party saw Grayson’s flamboyant and individualistic behaviour as a betrayal of the labour cause, his constituency loved it. For his part, Grayson rejected any accommodation with the Liberal Party, believing that to be a betrayal of his constituency. For the Labour Party it seemed the only realistic way to improve the workers’ lot.

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Chapter 6: The 'Treachery' of Adela Pankhurst Walsh

Given the highly gendered code of honour that bound workers to act in solidarity, it is not surprising that there have been few prominent female rats. Adela Pankhurst Walsh is one exception. Her exit from left-wing activity in the 1920s and emergence as an ultra-nationalist during the Second World War has earned her the reputation of a traitor. But Walsh’s political motivation—maternal feminism—remained consistent throughout her life. Attracted by their criticisms of capitalism, she expected socialism and then communism to deliver the necessary moral guidance to save British society. When those creeds failed to do so, she turned to fascism. buy chapter

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Chapter 7: Behind Every Labour Rat: The Role of the Spouse in the Betrayal of Radical Organisations

The wives of alleged rats such as John Burns and Victor Grayson have been implicated in their treacherous ambition. This phenomenon is not uncommon: another example is Ethel Snowden, the wife of Phillip Snowden, and it is explored in Howard Spring’s novel based on Snowden’s life, Fame is the Spur. Ada Holman, wife of the NSW premier W. A. Holman has also attracted criticism for her influence on her husband’s ambition and treachery. An examination of her writing reveals her ambivalence towards her role as ‘The Premier’s wife’, her disdain for politics, and her attitude towards her husband’s expulsion from the ALP.

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Chapter 8: Chasing the Rat: The Language of Betrayal in Britain and Australia

The language of betrayal in radical groups shows the shared nature of those groups. Fearful of government spies, 'false friends' and women, the British Chartists used a language of betrayal that reflected those fears. They also made religious allusions—to Judas, renegades and apostates—and, occasionally, used the term 'rat'. Later, radical groups in Britain and Australia retained much of this language of betrayal. The 'rat' abandoned its British origins, however, and evolved into the ubiquitous and colourful Australian 'Labor rat'.

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Chapter 9: Loyalties: The Theme of Betrayal in Political Fiction

Working-class fiction imbued a sense of class solidarity that encouraged working people to fight together for social and political equality. At times of great stress, trade unions used literature to rebuild self-confidence and strengthen group loyalty. The examination of a wide range of radical fiction—from Ernest Jones, De Brassier: A Democratic Romance (1851–52) to Raymond Williams's Loyalties (1985)—demonstrates how stories of betrayal and false leadership have been used in this process.

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Chapter 10: The Usefulness of a ‘Well-Timed Rat’

Traitors appear destructive but they played an important role in facilitating change and reinforcing solidarity. Their stories entered Labor/Labour folklore to aid the expansion of democratic processes, to spotlight changes in policy direction, to explain setbacks and failures, to highlight the perfidy of the political opposition and the solidarity of those the rat has left behind. Accusations against the traitors helped to facilitate changes in organisational style and policy, and to reinforce solidarity by drawing attention to the shared ideas, ideals and objectives that bound the remaining group.

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