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even between them muster enough votes to get near him.

Scargill's election has cleared things up a little with regard to the NUM Friday Decęmber. 18. The delegates will decide on the EC recommendation to ballot the coalfields for strike action in the New Year. If the conference bers was for unity at virtually any price in order to put in any sort of Labour government, it is now necessary to say very clearly thạt the only sort of Labour gevernment we are likely to see is one based on the clear defeat of the right in the party.

How is this to be done?

First, the left has to unite. Since Brighton, the left has been divided, with some sections blaming the defeat at Conference on a 'backlash' , and others urging the necessity of a high profile to rally support and morale. Moreover, such left unity as was ever East End just isn't good enough. Let': s show the Board and the Tories we aren't going to be bought off again with a few pennies extra! achieved up to now never managed to overcome the dislike that some groups feel for others.

In the face of a witchhunt, to the sort of snide attacks we have learned to live with must be left behind, and be replaced with a sense of solidarity against a common enemy.

The left also has to party and on its periphery that have so far been left out. There is a wealth of campaigns in and around the Labour Party, around a multitude of single issues. These need to be convinced that if the left goes down, they go down too. There is little point in them fighting for their particular interest to become policy, it Labour's policy is going to be ditched wholesale anyway.

Lead

Most important, the lett has to show it's still alive. People are looking for a land, and asking for a lead: 'tell us what to do" is something heard at every meeting. There is nothing to be gained by nut fighting: ther is no gesture or compromise to be made with the right, especially now that they have started a civil war.

We have to go onto the offensive. At the present time, the right have the initiative and they are choosing their weapons and the By Rachel ground they want to fight on. They have'nt even got to watch their back door. Its time we started defining what the fight is about.

Arsenal

Instead of having to reassure the world, as has happened in the last week, that "nothing in this (Peter Tatchell's) article is inconsistent with our support for democratic socialism and parliamentary democracy" the right wing should be having to answer for themselves - is anything they have ever done consistent with defence of working class interests and the struggle for Finally, we have to enlarge our arsenal. We must go beyond resolutions, letters, publications, lobbies and conferences (which is saying somethins, as we are far from having deployed all of these weapons yet) and link up with all the "extra-parliamentary' forces that the right finds so distasteful: strikes to beat the pay squeeze, direct action and confrontation against Heseltine and Tebbit, local actions, accupations, etc to save services and stop the sale of council houses, demonstrations strikes and sit-ins against unemployment, confrontation with fascists, and solidarity with the Irish Meanwhile, no part of our fight can be abandonworkers, linking up at ral and file level to ensu effective blacking, demanding real joint acti from the leaders. ed, or offered up in t hope of placating the rigi The only hope of unde mining their strength the undemocratica wielded block votes wield by a handful of gener secretaries - is to put uf fight that will spread to t trade union ranks, as t fight for the democra reforms, and the Dept Leadership campai began to do up to Brighto If we can get Duffy & Basnett - and Kits too - worried about th own positions, that will the best defence we c mount.

The bureaucrats want use their entrenched p itions in the unions as base for helping the ri wing reassert itself in 1 Labour Party. We ‹ defeat them by the opi site move - making 1 Labour Party democr struggle a springboard a fight for trade union de Fast These wide tasks sho not obscure the need specialise and concentr too: we need to build u body of experience in fig ing the witchhunt, and need to do it fast. To t end, a meeting has by called for 7:30 on Decem 21st at Room 166 at Cou Hall, to see how we i best support those ei rades under fire.

The meeting has br called by a number of i ividuals involved in the c ence of Bermondsey. those directly affected the witchhunt are be invited, as well as any ot organisations on the j and any individuals will to help.

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expand, and take itself into many groupings in the