Conference for socialist councillors

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Conference of Labour councillors and Labour Activists, called by London Labour Briefing Jim Ring, 52 Stonard Rd., London N13. Price £1 The following members of the Executive Committer Jeremy Corbyn, Vidya Anand, Paul Franklin, Mark Feeny, Andy Love, Nadine Finch, Neale Coleman, Conor McAuley, John Considine, Nick Bradley, Eddie McParland, Kevin Ramage, Bob Labi. councillors.

The statement publicly commits them, on taking office, to:

1. Defend jobs, services and living standards of the people of London.

2. Refuse to cut council provisions, no matter what pressures and threats are exerted.

3. Defy District Auditor's directives, except where they concern investigation into corruption ог related matters.

4. Not tolerate . the present level of racial harassment and attacks on people from ethnic minorities, street assaults on women and other forms of crime in London.

The conference will be chaired by Arthur Latham, chairperson of the Greater London Labour Party. The speakers will be drawn from successful Labour Councillors.

The conference will seck to deal with a whole gamul of options and possibilities for newly elected councillors to enable them to break out of the straight-jacket of the municipal committee-ilis and link up with the real municipal world - on the streets, on the housing estates, amongst the women's groups, ethnic minorities and cheap fare groups.

Labour activists will be taking part and shaping the character of the conterence, which it is hoped, will become a launching pad for the proposed Association of Socialist Councillors.

Never was there a time when such an association was more needed! The councillors' experiences, though varied from borough to borough. when pooled together in the battle for socialism in the Town Halls, ought to be shared and developed across borough boundaries and constituency frontiers.

Our experiences in the last few days, and Labour reverses, can only underline the acute urgency of such a conference.

. Looking back over the last year, it's becoming clear to some of us, that we should have known from the beginning, that long-winded speeches, and promises coated with socialist rhetoric can never be a substitute lor socialist action or a real commitment to the manifesto. Specially when the going gets rough!

We feel that the exper jences of last year have by no means been all negative. The relentless pressure on the elected comrades - MPs and Councillors - has often yielded the required results, even if in some cases, for reasons other than accountability. Never has the power of CLPs and trade union branches been stronger than today!

Gone, I hope, are the days when the MPs, Councillors and trade union officials could evade the democratic process of being monitored by those who have put them there. The wind of accountability is blowing, and in its wake it will sweep away "pocket' and 'rotten' boroughs - whether in the party or in the trade unions.

The conference will seek 1o debato, discuss and develop common socialist strategies on a whole range of issues, including: the fight against cuts, the problem of council burcaucracy, • and equal opportunity in local authorities. Most important of all, it will seek to deal with the ways and means of mobilising public opinion outside the town halls, in support of the socialist policies which councillors will be seeking to introduce through the mesh of council meetings and their endless committee structures.

Too many comrades appear to have managed to enter the party simply to • A creche is available advance their personal careers rather than to serve the party or its ideals. The municipal limelight - and dim it often is - is seen by them as a first hesitant step towards a career in the regional authority or parliament.

The task is to test the comrades on the basis not of wild promises at selection conferences but their actions and deeds.

June 19, 11am to 5pm.

Credentials from:

Stonard Rd., London N13.

Full agenda to follow SPONSORED BY members of the Executive of the GLRC: