"A new kind of counci"

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-Building a left opposition to Militant UPON our shoulders rests the responsibility to safeguard trade unionism, the Labour Party, socialism, democracy and peace.

First of all, if we are going to safeguard trade unionism, we have got to re-state the arguments for solidarity. Solidarity means that one trade union supports another trade union. It means that the miners support the nurses and thank god they have. I means that the nurses picket with the ASLEF strikers. And so they did.

It means the TUC supports workers in struggle. And alas we have not seen that support forthcoming.

Solidarity is the basis of the strength of trade unionism but it can only be understood if we have political trade unionism. Non-political trade unionism is a nonsense The second thing we must have broad Labour Party. It is totally wrong that the NEC should seek to arrogate to itself the right to excommunicate those with whom it disagrees. I do not believe for one moment that it has anything to do with a party within a party - that used to said about the Tribune group.

was present when Socialist Outlook was expelled, when Sydney Silverman had the whip withdrawn, when Michael Foot had the whip withdrawn. My direct predecessor in Bristol was Stafford Cripps, expelled at the 1938 Labour conference on the motion of a young trade unionist called George Brown and see what has happened to him.

We can never accept that the views of those of us in the party are views that must be licensed by those we elect to lead. Accountability means leaders are accountable to the membership. The register means that the membership is subordinate to the leadership.

'We are also defending democracy. And let me ask a few questions about democracy. We have two houses of Parliament. And yet the British people are only allowed to elect one of their two Houses of Parliament. We must be the only country in the world that still allows inheritance to lead to a seat in parliament; that still allows the corruption of mass patronage by prime ministers to pose in the guise of being democratic.

Do you know, the last UNREGISTERED eight prime ministers have appointed more members of Parliament than the entire electorate hve elected members of the House of Commons? 700 MPs -they call them peers -have been elected by seven men and one woman.

We cannot win unless we are united. I don't say unity without debate, because if you're going to be effective you must have unity and debate.

For at this moment one union to let down another unin, or for the party to turn upon its socialists and seek to expel them under the excuse of disciplinary IT was a sunny affair this year, as predicted.

If you're gay and unemployed would you take kindly to a socialist saying: stop talking about these minority issues 'like women, blacks and gays' and get on with fighting unemployment? No?

Well, neither did Judith Williams — the care worker sacked for being a lesbian. When this remark was made by a Militant supporter at a meeting on gay liberation organised by Wolverhampton SE YS, she simply said 'I would still have a job if I hadn't been gay' The way to fight anything that's wrong under the capitalist svatem. accordino to the majority in the YS is to fight for socialism. OK, but Militant insist that there's only one way to fight for socialism... and that's proclaiming the bold socialist programme of Militant.

The problem is that every measures is to weaken us, to make us fear to continue to operate in the party as well as in the country.

Mrs Thatcher is governing Britain by fear. Our strongest answer is hope.

It is a tragedy that between now and October we shall have to spend so much time on the question of the register. It is dangerous, irrelevant, unworkable, constituencies won't expel people, they'll suspend constituency parties, they'll find it unworkable. But why waste time, when above all the left in Britain and the trade union movement needs to be together. other campaign or group of people then aren't really socialist. They can be criticised for some failing or other, and consequently can't be worked with.

• For instance, Annajoy David, the national secretary of Young CND, was invited to the summer camp to debate with a YS NC member. Fine . . . a debate about what way forward for YCND. But no, the YS NC contribution was a denunciation of everything Annajoy said for not having a (sufficiently) socialist perspective.

Annajoy also spoke at a Class Fighter meeting which was much more fruitfu. We discussed the need for mara of an nriantatinn TIAMONITATIO ITO TA SEATTY YAT by YCND to the labour movement and how to develop links between the LPYS and YCND. We asked the YS NC to put its full backing behind the 'Jobs not Bombs' march organised by NW YCND groups frọm Manchester to Labour Arthur Scargill was also there IF anyone wants to examine closely the credentials of some members of our party, then I'm only too pleased to assist them. And the first question I would ask of any member of our party is this: do you support Clause IV of our constitution which calls for the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange. Now if they don't support that, the quicker they join the SDP the better for them.

This party has been through this witch-hunt once before. In the 1950s and in the sixties, the right party destroyed the chance of an effective socialist alternative policy. And for those historians who want to look back and wonder why our party has gone downhill, I'll tell them why: because ever since 1945 our party has tried to practice capitalism better than the Tories:

conference in Blackpool.

Militant's approach also causes problems in fighting the witch-hunt. Though there do seem to be differences among Militant supporters, the general argument was that Militant was growing as a result of the witch-hunt and could fight off the attacks from the right.

There was hostility to any idea of trying to organise the rest of the Left in the Party to fight the witchhunt and defend the LPYS together, and the Unregistered Alliance was summarily dismissed.

For the first time a Class Fighter supporter was allamad te Anhoto farm dhplatform with the mainritv - on women. Jane Ashworth, a member of the National Organisation of Labour Students National Committee, put the argument for positive discrimination (argued elsewhere in this issue of Socialist Nik Barstow (chair, Islington Labour Parties local government committee) reports on a Labour council that is set to fight Heseltine .

THREE months can be a lifetime in Islington politics. At the start of May we had the only SDPcontrolled council in the country. A week later it was 'Fortress Islington' to Labour left-wingers • London, as the local party defied all the opinion polls and won sweeping victory in the council Now, Islington Council looks set to be in the front line of a confrontation with the Tories. It has adopted a policy to fight back, neatly summed up in a local rag as: "Paying council workers whatever they demand" "Sending the government the bill for the cost of implementing the Labour Party's election manifesto" "Freezing rents and holding down rate increases"

Socialist Organiser supporter, and Chief Whip Alan Clinton explained:

'We are a new kind of The majority's answer to working class women is 'hang on till we get socialism'. We said that we have to organise now.

There was a similar argument on black youth. Neil James from Nottingham pointed out that, while the YS Black Youth Conference was a step forward. there were black vouth groups which the YS had no relation to, like the Bradford 12 Campaign, and self-defence groups in London and Coventry.

It is no use saying hang on for socialism. These black youth are fighting now.

A major debate throughvul ine week was about neat _ L organisatinne liko the TRA VILE MUM and the PLO, which the majority lump together as 'terrorists' Class Fighter held meetings on Ireland and Palestine where the speakers (John O'Mahony from SO and Clive Bradlev. respeccouncil. We don't start on the basis of good housekeeping. We start from what people need."

The local rag has branded Alan Clinton as the 'chief conspirator' hehind the policy.

But the real reason is that the local Labour Parties have started to exercise a firm control over the councillors who are there to speak for them.

All the major policy isues on the Council, and the committee chairs and the council leadership, are decided at regular joint meetings of the Labour councillors and of the borough-wide Local. Government Committee of the Party - so the views and demands of the rank and file can be heard.

Heard

Getting the rank and file voice heard, and acted upon, does take organisation. Islington Socialist Organiser group has been the driving force in a campaign to get the Party to support a strategy that can beat the Tory government's diehard opposition to every single pledge in the local party's election campaign.

The Socialist Organiser group held a series of meetings to work out a clear, but tively) argued that the IRA and PLO were leading necessary and progressive struggles.

We don't support everything that's done in the name of those organisations; but we do support the Republicans' fight against the British Army, for self-determination and to vet the tranne nut nf ·v OVY MEN VIVUTO VUU VA Ireland YS camp was smaller than last year. The recession has hit everyone! But Class Fighter is now firmly established as the growing minority in the LPYS.

As Mick Liggins, speaking at the Class Fighter 'What we stand for' meeting said, "We will not tell youtn to wait Ior social- 11. ... ism. We're about fighting for it now, building the LPYS and drawing working class youth into the YS now - not waiting till they accept all our programme.

Apart from the political dionnesinne detailed ex ›lanatio our policy government. Then approached every ward party policy.

Way By the last joint meeting between the councillors and the Party it was clear that there was only one set of proposals that outlined any way at all to fight the government. The leadership of the Council was forced to accept them lock, stock and barrel, resisting (unsuccessfully) only the commitment to keep rates down.

The Islington Parties now plan to link all those issues together in a campaign against the government: building up from September to force the government to pay up next March when the council has to make its new budget.

But the resolutionpassing is only a start. Many Party activists in Islington still need to be convinced that we not only have a duty to fight but also a real chance of winning.

Only vigorous campaigning will convince people we can win, and draw in other Labour Parties and councils alongside Islington.

Jo Thwaites reports on the LPYS summer camp Fighter won the Camp Quiz so we should get a picture of the team in Socialist Youth, but we didn't do so well in the football! Our meetings were well ded with 100 at the hunt and Ireland ings, and many contacts were made.

We'll be holding ference soon. Watch details.

PAPER OF THE NATIONAL LEFT MING YOUTH MOVEMET Class Fighter, articles on Defend the YSI London N1 2SY.

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HEALTH workers for the Full Claim: national meeting. Sunday August 15, 1pm to 5pm, Birmingham Labour Club, Bristol St. (opposNew issue of Health Workers for the Full Claim bulletin out now, in new big format! 10p (5p to strikers) from Anna Lunts, 78 High St, Atherton, Lancashire. HOWAL, PARITY JUDGES! FOR THE ite 'Night Out' restaurant). ARD BETRAYED VI W

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