After Oct 22 Is CND waiting for 1988?

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made their way home from the biggest British demonstration in the post-war period, the bitter reality is that the CND leadership has explicitly rejected any perspective of taking action now to halt the deployment of Cruise.

Their new message seems to be, 'wait until the next election' This was put forward quite clearly by CND chairperson Joan Ruddock on Sunday October 22, as she launched a new 'Send Cruise home' campaign for CND.

"We shall be taking a longterm view towards the next general election, when voters will have a choice of one major party committed to the removal of all nuclear weapons from this country, and another (SDP/Liberal Alliance) which has expressed grave doubts about their wisdom"

We cannot afford to wait until the next election.

CND, the Labour Party, and the trade unions must go out and fight for their existing policies.

But they also need to clear up the contradictions in those policies. In particular, we must recognise that unilateral nuclear disarmament and membership of NATO are not compatible. The NATO generals will not be prepared to see the second biggest military power in the capitalist world opt out of its nuclear 'commitments' , and we should not pretend otherwise.

-XTS transed lati The ked + the Fini * WORKSHOPS Ж£s SELF-DEFENCE Sang a sleeping bag - crash arcamocation mantable. Foed. Further details from p Classfighter" Sickert Count, London N1.9 We will need to challenge the witch-hunting, bureaucratic, and right-wing leadership of CND.

That means rejecting the call for a bilateral US-Soviet nuclear 'freeze' , defending the autonomy of Youth CND and Labour CND, and building a hard, firm unilateralist core within the disarmament movement, drawing in Constituency Labour Parties, trade unions, active CND groups, Youth CND, Labour CND, and the more radical sections of the women's peace movement.

Link up

We will also need to link up the struggle against the missiles with all the other battles going on against the Tories.

Finally we must recognise that if — as seems likely - the Tories are successful and Cruise missiles are deployed, then that does not mean the end for CND.

That may happen, if the CND leadership get their way; but it is not inevitable.

The basis for a mass movement against war still exists. We should go out and build it.

come to the int.. at amden lenants Association Hall teckham tigh Street LONDON SEVIS Costs: 12 wasad InWagEd PHOTOS: JOHN HARRIS PECANH STOP THE CHE TOMS

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CLASSFIGHTER CONFERENCE,

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