Witch-hunt

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SATURDAY'S Labour Against the Witch-hunts AGM will be a scaled down affair compared to the founding meeting a year ago, when over 100 CLPs sent lelegates to discuss reisting the witch-hunt then in full flight and dominating the Party.

The general election, defeats at October's conference, and the pressure for unity, have taken their toll.

Clearly there is a hope in the Party that the witch-hunt will just go away. And there has been some shift amongst those who have fought in the last year.

Hammersmith North CLP are still refusing to kick out Militant Editorial Board member Keith Dickenson, but the most recent GC decision was only carried on the chair's casting vote. In Islington South, the issue is postponed pending a discussion with Peter Taaffe and Ted Grant to find out their views. The conditions to fight are not as favourable as they were a year ago, but the problems should not be exaggerated. The recent defeats and the mood for unity behind Kinnock are not the only factors in the situation.

The major event since the Conference, the expulsion of Tariq Ali for his ideas, has reinforced the wishful thinking of many that a 'new' witch-hunt hasn't started, only the 'tidyingup' of an old one.

And the dithering of Militant itself has had a damaging effect. It is much more difficult to launch a fight in defence of people who don't appear to know what they want to do.

More importantly, as the Hammersmith vote showed, a solid core still does want to fight and a section of the left is prepared to give them firm support. Last week's meeting of the Campaign Group of MPs decided, following a delegation from LAW, to issue a clear statement defending the right of CLPs against attacks, and in the meeting there was support for the strategy of defiance.

In this situation, the main issues for the LAW AGM are: rallying support for those Party organisations that are still fighting; publicising the local incidents of the witch-hunt already underway, and which will continue to break out; and patiently explaining why the witch-hunt will continue and its inevitable effects.

This work, particularly in the trade unins, is essential for preparing the resistance that will be needed when the Party establishment relaunches the purge in full earnest. 1984 Trade Union conferences LAW will shortly be circulating model resolutions for the 1984 Conference. The deadline for a number is soon, in the case of ASTMS and NUPE, the December meetings:

Copies available from: LAW, 11 Wilderton Road, London N16.