The Catholic workers had attempted to ascertain the degree to which labour movement policy over Spain represented their interests and, to some extent, to change it. In this they shared common goals with the left-wing ‘rank and file’, formally and informally constituted, within the trade unions whose response to the Spanish Civil War stood as a critique of, and in certain respects an alternative to, existing policy. The activities of the rank and file over Spain took many forms, ranging from participation in and support for the International Brigades to a host of fund-raising initiatives, many of which took place outside of the specific context of trade unionism. Yet there were particular occasions when rank-and-file activists tried to impose their own vision of internationalism on the ‘official’ leadership. This corresponded to the continuing conflict in the later 1930s within the British trade union movement between ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ structures. Alternative organisations flourished, complementing more traditional forums for rank-and-file opinion such as the trades councils, and it was inevitable that these bodies would hold their own views on the correct response to the Spanish conflict just as they criticised other aspects of official policy. Because of the nature of these movements, however, their response did not present a coherent policy but rather flared up episodically and reflected the vicissitudes of the relationship between the rank and file and the official leadership.