Et Must Organise

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THE RESULT of the Labour Party conference at Brighton must be seen as a substantial reverse for the left forces within the Party.

Even though we managed to win broad and increasing support for important policy issues, such as unilateral nuclear disarmament, the alternative economic strategy, and withdrawal from the EEC without a referendum, nevertheless we clearly lost support in many key areas.

The close result of the Deputy Leadership election was a credit to all those who had fought for Tony THE Campaign for Labour Party Democracy is at present in the process of trying to evaluate the new situation arising mainly out of the Brighton conference. This week's CLPD column is a contribution by Vladimir Derer. to this discussion, to be published in the Boss goy position; but that com result should not blind us to the clear truth - namuly, that the left lost support over the democratic issues ar. suffered a major reverse in the elections to the National Executive Committee.

The five right-wing gains on the NEC reflect the growing organisational sophistication and expertise of the right, particularly that of the right wing trade It is not sufficient to say that Terry Duffy has learnt to put the voting card in the right box. The right wing general secretaries, based around the St Ermin's group with Roy Grantham (APEX), Dennis Howell MP and Bryan Stanley (POEU), are now employing paid researchers and organisers to put together a coalition of trade union block votes to oust the Left from key positions.

There is also a developing mood of paranoia in certain 'moderate' unions like the GMWU, where an executive council member has recently been suspended for left-wing activities.

What, therefore, should our response? In my