Battle on G rights

Scan page 7

Petti personal independence, and

Action

minority groups . an ected an NEC with some 14 members of the Dennis Healey hard Right, as against 8 left-wingers and 5 from the Foot/Kinnock centre.

• That the NEC establish a Register of non-affiliated groups of members to be recognised and allowed to operate within the Party. • All such groups must apply to and be acceptable by the NEC for registration. The decision of the NEC on eligibility for registration shall be final. • There must be no secret organisations in the Party. • All groups organised in the Party must be open and democratic. • The NEC should update the register annually. The register should include details of the aims, officers, employees, membership and accounts of groups and should be available for inspection by any Party strengthen women's trade recognised the PLO as representative of the Palestinian people, supported Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and called for a democratic member. • No group inside the Party should be permitted to operate their own internal discipline or be associated with any international organisation not supported by the Labour Party or the Socialist International. • Any group found to be in breach of these rules should be given a period of not more than three months in which to put an end to such infringements. • Individuals or groups found to be in breach of the constitution and rules of the Party thereafter should be liable to disciplinary action in accordance with the constitution and rules of the JOHN HARRIS for compulsory inclusion in the Party Programme. (The constitution still, however, gives the Shadow Cabinet the last say on the manifesto). More narrowly, conterence backed nationalisation of the arms industry.

• Conference called for the banning of plastic bullets. A call for troops out of Ireland was defeated.

• A call for incomes policy was defeated, but the conference let through the NEC's vague talk about a 'national economic assessment' Conference modified the formula on compensation when industries are ie-nationalised to 'on proven need and at a level which ensures that the recipients do not gain from their investment' Some important motions were defeated: proposals on women's rights in the Party, a national minimum wage, nationalisation of the banks, and a 24 hour general strike against the Tebbit bill.

An NEC statement on Poland was approved, but there - a system that will give added weight to the block votes of unions such as the GMWU, COHSE, USDAW, and NUPE representatives at Women's Conference.

Only in this way will we be able to persuade the trade union movement to take the Women's Organisation seriously, and to give power to a policy-making forum which at present is denied an effective policy- and decision-making voice, and which therefore fails dismally to advance the struggle for women's rights. LAST week's Labour Par conference spent about minutes on gay rights whi it heard Andy Conway. u successfully move that the should be a debate on t issue.

Yet there is no dou that we in the Labour Ca paign for Gay Righ (LCGR) and our succeeded this agenda of futi conferences.

always been ‹ intention that 1982 be a focus for the struggle the Party. However, frankly had not. expec that the NEC would sell: its own discussion docum "The Rights of ( Women and Men", , desi its endorsement by over CLPs.

We were astonished 1 the NEC proposed to per uate discriminal unchanged in the art forces and merchant thi where homosexual acts totally illegal in all circ stances, and in a modi form by making The all consent for gay men against 16 for hets.

Our anger was shared our allies, who squared with us for the fight. So ist Organiser gave us | licity. did Lon Labour Briefing in its conference issue, with!

pages of contributions i Street Life section The meeting undoubtedly a great suc But one major problem clearly be to put across our fight is about st Pole Rights of Gay Wi not civil and Men actually got :

votes in the NEC thar the women's rights mo We in LCGR are detern that we will keep aliv wider arguments of gay ation within socialism.

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Next week: more from LCGR, and other views and comme on the conferenc