| − | Labour supported British involvement in the war; the ILP (like the Communist Party of Great Britain until 1941) saw the conflict as one between two imperialist power blocs, and that the main enemy of the British working class was the British ruling class, not Germany. Co-operation with labour was therefore impossible. The war did see a minor upswing in the ILP's fortunes, as it attracted the attention of some left-wing radicals who shared its view of the war; and, as it did not participate in the [[electoral truce]] of 1940-45 (in which the main political parties agreed not to stand against each other in by-elections, the party previously holding a seat to have a 'free run'), it was able to get exaggerated numbers of votes in by-elections. However, it again faced problems caused by Trotskyist infiltration, and in the spring of 1945 a number of Trotskyists, including [[T Dan Smith]], were purged from its ranks. | + | Labour supported British involvement in the war; the ILP (like the Communist Party of Great Britain until 1941) saw the conflict as one between two imperialist power blocs, and that the main enemy of the British working class was the British ruling class, not Germany. Co-operation with labour was therefore impossible. The war did see a minor upswing in the ILP's fortunes, as it attracted the attention of some left-wing radicals who shared its view of the war; and, as it did not participate in the [[electoral truce]] of 1940-45 (in which the main political parties agreed not to stand against each other in by-elections, the party previously holding a seat to have a 'free run'), it was able to get exaggerated numbers of votes in by-elections. However, it again faced problems caused by Trotskyist infiltration, and in the spring of 1945 a number of Trotskyists, including [[T. Dan Smith]], were purged from its ranks. |