In 1942 Ted Grant and Andrew Scott exposed the farcical call on Indian people by British rulers of a “war for freedom” while hundreds of millions were kept in chains. British imperialists promised the Indian masses freedom, but “after the war”, while cynically fostering the divisions on religious lines that would eventually lead to the bloody partition of India. British Marxists demanded Indian workers to be armed and to be granted immediate freedom from colonial rule.

“The government has proclaimed a crisis, exhorted the workers to greater exertions and sacrifices, only for them to be faced with the same situation in the next 2 years.” Back in 1961 Ted Grant analysed how the British ruling class constantly attempted to throw the weight of British capitalism’s decline onto the shoulders of the working class.

In 1961, the sixth economic crisis in Britain since the end of the Second World War was used once again by the Tory government to justify a policy of cutting taxes for the rich and introducing indirect taxation which affected the standards of living of ordinary people. Ted Grant exposed the ruthless class nature of these policies and invited the trade union and Labour leaders to action.

In this 1971 article (produced as a special pamphlet) Ted Grant exposed the capitalist character of the Common Market and explained that the EEC was nothing more than a “glorified customs union” to protect the interests of the European capitalists against the USA and Japan. This Europe would not carry out policies in favour of the workers of any country. While taking sides clearly against the EEC, Ted Grant also exposed the nationalist character of the arguments put forward by the Labour “lefts” of the Tribune.

“The arguments of the anti-marketeers in the labour movement have had no more substance than those of the pro-marketeers themselves. They have adopted a narrow nationalistic outlook, appealing against the loss of British ‘sovereignty’… Neither nationalism nor pseudo-Europeanism is a solution in the interests of the working class… The solution to the problem lies in the unity of the workers of Europe and the world against the capitalists of Europe and the world. A socialist Britain, in a socialist united states of Europe.”

In 1966 the Labour leaders after opposing entry into the EEC (the old name of the EU) on a nationalist basis did an about turn seeking entry on a capitalist basis. The Marxists opposed entry into the EEC on a socialist, internationalist position, as Ted wrote, "for the working class neither entry nor non-entry would solve their problems or lead to an increased standard of living...There is no road to the union of Europe except on a socialist basis, with full national autonomy, the abolition of tariffs, national armies and government state machines."