Tribune MPs support it
Socialist Organiser1982 1982-08-26Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 2 →
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THE TRIBUNE Group of MPs confirmed last week that it is committed to the witch-hunt. In a ballot of members it voted 39 to 27 to support the introduction of a new proscribed list through the NEC's register, and thus to confirm a previous Group decision.
The justifications given for the ballot result are not even a convincing smokescreen - "defence of the constitution" and "it's not a witch-hunt"
And who can seriously believe that the present compulsory register, which is explicitly part of a system of control and exclusion (initially of Militant) is the same as the NEC's request for voluntary information from all groups two years ago?
The fact that all groups replied to the NEC's request then, but almost all (except the Tribune Group of MPs!) are refusing to register now, should suggest at least some difference.
The ballot result raises a further question. Time and again over the last year we have heard the Tribune group declared dead, notably after last year's Party conference and their decision to register last_ month. Chris Mullin in Tribune wrote the epitaph: "Monday's vote was the final straw in a process that has been underway for years. The left in parliament must regroup. The Tribune group is dead"
Since then, however, silence. The only visible action taken by the "left in parliament" has been to boycott Tribune group meetings! They have continued to meet unofficially in the "Campaign Committee' , but with the new round of meetings in September, the TUC, and the run-up to the Party conference, the rank and file have a right to expect an open lead to organise against the Right, not the present collective hesitation and verbal opposition.
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Socialist Organiser no.97