Socialist campaign ets organised

Scan page 12

NO TO MISSILES THE first meeting last Thursday, 17th, of the Socialists for a Labour Victory steering committee finalised the campaign's basic statement, elected the main officers, and agreed an immédiate programme for launching the campaign.

Mandy Moore and Andy Harris had already been elected joint-secretaries at the inaugural meeting. On Thursday Nigel Williamson was elected treasurer, and Reg Race, Joan Maynard, Jo Richardson, Ken Livingstone and Ernie Roberts as chairpersons.

SLV will be publicly launched at a Press Conference on Monday March 28. Representatives of campaigns and oppressed groups that SLV will be seeking to work with have been invited.

The immediate priorities are:

*Getting signatures and commitments for • the SLV's statement from PPCs, MPs, CLPs| and trade union bodies.

*Getting sponsorship SEV Afready Labour CD the has affiliated, and Southwark-Peckham CLP.

The priority must be affiliations from CLPs and trade union organisations, to ensure that SLV becomes not a left caucus but a campaign based on and representative of Labour's rank and file.

Affiliation/sponsorship ernment over its use of plastic bullets... The NEC, the PLP and our Parliamentary spokespersons on Northern Ireland were instructed to campaign for the withdrawal of Plastic Bullets..." Soley's Conference message. was nothing more or less than a repudiation of this. .

Where mainstream Labour Party Conference decisions are slapped in the face by our so-called parliamentary representatives, the entryist left are up in arms over it - or, more accurately, very indignant indeed. Why should it be any different in this case? Adopting a complacent political perspective towards Soley and his ilk won't result in the kind of broad withdrawal movement that Owen Carron was calling for - all it will result in is brown tongues all round, which will be wagging in conferences for ever more, when they're not in Committee Rooms et al in the ference was a is horement Palace of Westminster.

In conclusion, the Conture Labour Movement Delegate Conferences will have built into them all labour movement democratic norms - including the putting of resolutions so that delegates at a Conference can take whatever positions and decisions they like _ nad not be in the husiness of tracking such essential democratic procedures for spurious sponsorships.

Yours fraternally, Plan Juniper Conierence I Delegate from Worth & District TUC, memDer of ASTMS & North East Labou on irel 5355, 3XX.

is £5 for organisations £3 for individuals.

*Organising the SLV on both a local and regional level. Starting to campaign now for sponsorships from CLPs: getting CLPs to use the model leaflets that SLV will be producing; using the SLV bulletins and speakers to win support, particularly in'workplaces and trade union branches.

If Labour is to win, we must urgently turn to those who are fighting the Tories now, and establish an alliance between thein and Labour's rank and file.

Fight cuts

There is the fight to defend the NHS, and resist cutbacks and closures: the fight against racist attacks, and the CARL demonstration this Sunday: the fight against the threatened nuclear holocaust, with the Greenham Common and CND activities at Easter, the Greenham Common call for a one-day women's General Strike and peace canvass on May 24; the fight against unemployment and the People's March starting on April 23.

A central part of the SLV campaign, both nationally and locally, must be to mobilise Labour's organisations behind these battles. Islington South Labour Party last week passed this resolution:

"This CLP notes Ken Livingstone's article in the Guardian (7/3/83) and supports his proposals that:

'The government must refuse to be bound by the Unionist veto, should announce a planned withdrawal within two years and convene a constitutional conference of all northern and Irish parties."

We call on the London Labour Party Executive to convene a special policy conference to discuss how to win support for these proposals and how to implement Labour Party policy of a United Ireland.

Further we fully support Ken Livingstone's and other GLC councillors' efforts to win broad support for a constructive dialogue on Ireland."

Fi Committee land: Box BM London WC1/

----- pull-quotes -----

reiana: Lonaon