Islington - test bed for SDP

Scan page 4

Pat Longman: "The job of Labour councillors is not to be managers, but to lead a fightback Islington, in North London, has the only SDP Council in Britain. A solid Labour majority (50 Labour councillors, 2 Tories) was returned in the last election, but the majority of those Labour councillors have now gone over to the SDP - and joined up with the Tories to run the council.

All three of Islington's MPs, elected as Labour, have also gone over to the SDP.

These councillors and MPs were right wingers, who mostly gained their positions when the Islington Labour Parties were weak, inactive and bureaucratically run. But recent years have seen a big expansion, and a sharp shift to the left, in those Labour Parties.

Islington is therefore a test case for the SDP - and for the ability of the new left wing in the Labour Party to fight the SDP.

Why are you running council?

For three reasons:

First, it is important that people run for Council who want to help and extend those campaigns and organisations fighting to protect and defend the interests of the working class.

Second, we need Labour councillors prepared to stand up to Heseltine - to refuse to implement the cuts or to pass on the attacks in the form of increases in rents and rates. It's no good arguing for these policies in Labour Party meetings unless you are also prepared to put forward candidates who will fight for the policies, and to replace the councillors who collaborate with the Tories.

Third, it is important also that more women are prepared to stand for the council and to fight for women's rights.

How do you think a Labour council can help working people in Islington fight for their rights?

One of the main points Despite the Islington Labour Parties' shift to the left, their manifesto for May 6 is still - like many other local Labour manifestos -full of commitments to improve services but vague on exactly how far a Labour council will go in defying the Tory government.

A Labour victory on May 6 will therefore be only an essential first step. What happens after that will depend on the ability of the Labour Parties and unions to hold the Labour councillors to account, and on the activity of those left-wing councillors who are determined to take on Heseltine.

Pat Longman is a Socialist Organiser supporter, a member of the print union NGA, and a Labour candidate in St. George's ward, Islington. She told us how she sees the issues.

of the Islington Labour Manifesto is to decentralise: to build up neighbourhood groups and to provide onthe-spot help with maintenance and repairs. We want to put more control into the hands of those who are directly affected by council services.

In this way we hope a Labour council will be able to strengthen tenants associations and community groups, which traditionally have been very weak in Islington.

A Labour council must also refuse to police council workers in the usual management role. Instead, we want to strengthen union organisations and to act as a team with them in fighting the Tories.

A Labour council must also support and help trade unionists on strike, giving them verbal, financial and physical support.

Do you think your stand as a woman councillor fighting for women's rights can be important in that? How?

The section of the isling-