Support gay rights
Socialist Organiser1981 1981-07-30Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 6 →
Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: expect misread words, and now and then a caption or a line from a neighbouring story. For anything you quote, read the scan.
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remains fundamentally undemocratic. When the Party is in power, all decisions are taken by an unelected cabinet.
The vast majority of MPs are no more than lobby fodder, unconsulTeo and taken for Proposals to democratise the PLP mean that all MPs would be involved in deciding how best to implement Party policy.
In turn, their accountability would be ensured by verbatim reports and voting records of PLP meetings being made available to the Party as a whole.
Therefore we suggest the following amendment to Conference resolution 22, submitted by Melton CLP:
"Furthermore, Conference believes that the Parliamentary Labour Party can only be made truly democratic when it ceases to act as an autonomous AFTER being virtually dead for two years, the Labour Campaign for Gay Rights [LCGR] has been revitalised. In Huddersfield on 4th July, LCGR selected a National Coordinating Committee.
The Campaign aims to win the Labour Party to a full and firm position and ACTION on gay rights. Speakers from the Campaign are available now to address Branches and CLPs, and LCGR plans to invite prominent members of the Labour Party NEC to introduce their Discussion Document, 'The Rights of Gay Men and Women' [40p from 150 Walworth Rd, SE17] at regional meetings.
The first meeting will be in Glasgow on Saturday 31st October. The Scottish Council of thé Labour Party and the Scottish TUC General Counci will be approached for their support, and union and Labour Party branches invited. OXFORD C.L.P. have selected a gay rights motion for 1981 Labour Party conference.
Comrades should move tactical amendments at their next CLP meeting to show the NEC that there is grassroots support for the Campaign Co-ordinator is Chris Beer, 10 Burstock Road, London SW15 [01785 9515], and Campaign Treasurer is David Etherington, 181 Coal Clough Lane, Burnley, Lanes to whom affiliations, only £2, should be sent!.
Scottish Gay Rights conference information from lan Dunn, 031-557 1662- John Wilde, 041-339 3679.
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Socialist Organiser 30 July 1981 Page