A Chaotic Conference

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.. VOTES TO FIGHT NATC THE outstanding growth in support for unilateral disarmament over the past year helped to make CND's annual conference both chaotic and partly successful.

The inadequacies of the present structure of national CND became apparent during the first session of conference, and did not improve as the weekend progressed.

Under the present constitution, voting rights are allocated to both affiliated groups and individual membEIS. This results in an undemocratic and proportionately unrepresentative assembly.

The obvious shortcomings of the voting apportionment were compounded by the difficulties delegates had in either gaining a fair hearing or receiving adequate advice on voting procedure from the chair. This led to an electric and acrimonious atmosphere in the conference hall for much of the proceedings.

It is to be hoped that conference arrangements for next year will take by Martin Thomas THE conference made step forward by voting for CND to campaign for withdrawal from NATO. CND has long had policy for NATO withdrawal, but until now has not made it a campaigning issue.

Around 1000 attended

the conference - delegates from local CND groups and affiliated organisations, and individual CND members - representing a movement which has grown enormously over the last year. There are now about 1,000 local CND groups, some very large. (Exeter CND, for example, reports 1400 members, with another 100 joining each month).

A conservative estimate of their total membership is 100,000, though only 30,000 have paid the £6 subscription for national CND membership.

Some trade union delegations attended, but nowhere near as many as would reflect the importance of the TUC and Labour Party decisions for unilateral nuclear disarmament. The conference was dominated by the CND groups activists.

Though successful on withdrawal from NATO, the left at the conference was defeated in the other big debate, on whether the organised working class, or the general public consoience, is the key force for fighting nuclear weapons. A composite supported by the Socialist Workers' Party (SWP) called for 'the major focus' of CND work to be 'building support in the organised working from Cardiff CND) account of these points and allow business to be conducted in a more organised and just fashion.

Having said all this, the 1981 conference itself marked a significant step forward for CND's political maturity.

National Council statements were presented on nuclear energy, 'Sanity' (the CND magazine), Youth CND and direct action. Perhaps the most significant of these was on direct action.

Direct Despite disapproval from headquarters, the Women's March for Disarmament set up a Peace Camp outside Greenham common USAF base. They have received overwhelming support for the action, and finally have national CND approval.

Following on from this, the National Council's statement pledges:

1. support to local and regional groups undertaking considered non-violent direct action, and 2. that national CND will organise and lead national class' with a view to 'winning support for industrial action against nuclear weapons'. It was amended to make such activity 'one focus', with a view to 'giving support'. A call for CND to adopt the slogan Jobs not Bombs was deleted.

Another composite, supported by Socialist Challenge, included the same ideas in a broader labour movement orientation, specifically calling for campaign work in the Labour Party and aimed not just at industrial action.

That was defeated on a card vote. A strong body of opinion at the conference evidently felt that CND should remain a single issue peace movement steering clear from class politics.

Leading CND author Dan Smith argued that a NATO 2:28310 SURYINA direct if arises.

This statement precludes, at least for the time being, a split in CND ranks such as that in the '60s between national CND and the Committee of 100.

In other sessions, constitutional amendments and aims and policy for the coming year were discussed. Debate on the constitution was drastically and tragically short as chaos overtook the conference and next business was moved. This meant no agreement was reached on changes in individual and group voting rights.

The National Council, therefore, should be pressed to present proposals regarding these as soon as possible.

Constitutional amendments that were passed resulted in a larger National Council (20) and extra regional representation. Joan Ruddock, Labour parliamentary candidate in 1979, was elected chairperson after standing against veteran CND activist John Cox.

withdrawal campaign would 'put us back on the margins'. Others argued that CND should 'try to divide military thinking', that NATO withdrawal 'would isolate us from other countries' , or that CND should take one issue at a time.

But they were minority.

There were two resolutions calling for a NATO withdrawal campaign one supported by Socialist Challenge and one by the SWP. Supporters of both argued similarly: that nu¿lear disarmament without withdrawal from the NATO nuclear alliance is a nonsense: Reference to NATO non-nuclear powers like Norway and Canada is irrelevant: these countries are simply marginal parts of the whole NATO nuclear TRON ASAR

weekend (13th-15th) was big,

Thomas present two reports.

Whatever happened at this conference, however, remains largely irrelevant to the majority of local CND members - that is, those who work in the local grass roots organisation. They will continue to do the necessary slog of leafletting, speaking, demonstrating, and activating the public and media, whatever decisions are reached at national level.

The two-tier system of membership, both local and national, with a substantial national membership subscription, ensures a national membership thousands lower than the actual active CND supporters at local level, and therefore places control at present in the hands of an unrepresentative minority of supporters.

Ego trip I did begin to wonder at one point whether the whole idea of the national conference of the CND elite is not just a waste of time and energy, but also a real egotrip for all of us there.

military machine that have other hardware than the actual nuclear weapons sited on them. CND must challenge the Cold War arguments head on.

Surprisingly, the resolution supported by Socialist Challenge WaS easily carried and the one supported by the SWP was easily rejected.

The best guess as to why is that additional clauses in the SWP-dominated text - supporting the fight against US imperialism in El Salvador and the workers' struggle in Poland -as well as the brasher, profile of the SWP in the conference, made that resolution seem more like an identification of CND. with left wing politics.

Continue Despite the conference votes, the realities of politics will inevitably make trade union and Labour Party activity a more.

important side of CND -as the mass movement develops - than the petition campaigns and the UN Special Sessions.

What socialists must do is convince the thousands of individual activists to consciously recognise this priority and the links between the fight against war and class politics.

If labour movement militants start getting more involved in CND, especially in the new NÅTO campaign, that should be possible.

Affiliate your trade union branch, Trades Council, or Labour Party to CND: write to CND, 11 Goodwin St, London N4 3HQ CND

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chaotic, and marked some progress. Gill Clark and Martin