The left activists suffered a blow at the conference of Britain's largest union, Unison, this week, as the right wing launched a vicious offensive against the NEC. This highlights important lessons in the struggle to transform the union into a fighting weapon for workers.

In the Transitional Programme, written in 1938, Leon Trotsky explained that, “The world political situation as a whole is chiefly characterised by a historical crisis of the leadership of the proletariat.” Capitalism is ripe for overthrow, but the present stock of reformist leaders are damming up the struggle of the working class. In order to overthrow capitalism, the workers’ movement must be equipped with a revolutionary leadership that is up to the task.