Strike against NHS cuts

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ERIC ian a comn muni: Debate Hobsbawm, British stord ideologue of thi uroinists in the Britis Com Party, has recent procould present itself as a viable alternative to the Tories In short, nothing particularly new was said by the speakers.

meanwhile John Ross from Socialist Action insisted that the Tory Party did not have mass popular support. soviet in August 1980. the Morn ing Star presented Poish event not from the Polish workers' point of view, but from that of the official police-state 'unions' and the Polish government.

Compare it with the lying rag 'Newsline' and the Morning Star is possibly a decent paper. Some standard of comparison!

No, the Morning Star does not deserve sympathy or support from anyone in the labour movement who does not share its Stalinist-reformist politics. Merseyside dockers and seafarers will be joining local bus workers and workers at Yorkshire Imperial Metals in a 24. hour strike on Monday February 20 in protest at NHS cuts.

A meeting last Saturday [February 11] of local shop stewards and officials finalised arrangements for the day of action, calling on all other trade unionists to strike over planned cuts which include the closure of the Duchess Ward at the and proposed closures of Princes Park and Newsham General Hospitals.

The strikers are asking NHS staff to remain at work that day, where they are most needed.

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LAST Saturday, 11th, India hanged the Kashmiri secessionist leader When India and rakistan separated in 1947, the Hindu monarch of Maqbool Butt, sentenced eight years ago. His supporters kidnapped and mainly Muslim Kashmir took the state into India. India denies selfkilled an Indian diplomat in Birmingham recently.

Socialist Organiser no.166 ú tH • J Jeremy Corbyn MP spoke to Jahn Bloxam.

THE Campaign Group consists of 35 Labour MPs who are committed to carrying out Party policy by campaigning outside Parliament as much as inside it.

We meet every week to discuss not only Parliamentary business but also support for industrial struggles outside Parliament.

We have been very active in supporting the POEU in their struggle against privatisation and supporting the NGA at Warrington. We sent delegations to the picket lines on both occasions and issued messages of support.

We're continuing that work, particularly on the NUM dispute and on GCHQ Cheltenham.

We see the Cheltenham dispute as a fundamental attack on trade union rights which could lead to the Tories dictating that section after section of public employees can no longer be members of independent trade We see that the trade union leadership has not stood up on the issue of the NGA and has not stood up effectively on GCHQ. It has not stood up with effective action to defend those members who are in struggle.

So part of our work has to be building an understanding and a leadership in the trade union movement which will recognise that there are political attacks February 16 1984 Page against the witch-hunt is plete and total.

We have discussed the chestertield by-election, and -with, I'm glad to say, a lot of other people in the Party -we'll work to ensure that Tony Benn gets returned. We want the Party nationally to organise the fullest support for Tony Benn as the candidate in Chesterfield and we'll übviously ail be up there ourselves.

I think there is a degree of confusion on the Left now. People are worried that we lost the general election and some think that to recover the Party must maintain a low political profile but a high personality profile.

I wholly reject that view. To win the next general election, the Party must grasp the seriousness of the situation we inherit, the crisis that millions of people are facing, and offer them some real alternative to it.

Since the election I've noticed an increasing politicisation of campaign meetings about the future of the education service, the health service and local government.

I think that is something the Party must understand and must reflect in its propaganda and in its publicity.

Every constituency party has to take seriously the need to he out continuously campaigning and putting forward an alternative policy.

I believe we can win on the issue of local government democracy - but only if we continue to expand and mobilise more people.

Recently, 40,000 people marched in London against the government's proposals for the GLC and ILEA. That was excellent. It was a wonderful start. But it can only be seen as a start.

The people on that march were, by and large, ILEA and GLC workers, students and parents.

We need to expand the campaign into the industrial sectors.

In terms of political debate inside the Labour Party, I think DOWN!

INDIAN

IMPERALISM DowN WE DEMAND FREE determination to the Kashmiri people.

PHOTO: JOHN HARRIS (IFL)

*41CASHMIR FOR KASHMIRIS JENNa TASKMIR UBERATION FRONT

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Women's Hospital, the closure of Heswall Children's Hospital

IN KASHMIR CASHVIR KASHMIRIS PROTEST AT INDIAN RULE