The answer to the above question has to be "'you'd better believe Young Labour sells out"' if it's the faces you see at its national conference you're talking about.
It's practically all that the leaders of the Labour Party's youth membership nationally ever do. I'II give you an example: angry students from all over the country have been battling to defend free education and there's still a hell of a way to go. But what has Labour Students been doing about It? Well, In the form of the NUS leadership it has been collapsing towards the goverment's position on tuition fees and loads, It's led no sort of fight and It reckons Blalr's graduate tax is a been Labour Party members who have led the fight to defend free education. We've done so despite the right-wing policies of the Labour student leadership and we want them to realise that not all young Labour Party members are prepared to accept policies which are not in the interests of young people from this party any more than we accept them from the Torles. We will fight all the way to stop the creation of Tory Party 2. So what have we been trying to do In our area? We've built up several campaigns around different issues (free education, nuclear testing and McLibel) and turned them outwards to youth who are not currently party members. This way, we can bulld up a group of youth who really will fight hard against the party leadership - they have not been groomed to think that we must shut up unsions where we devise our =o- Join: Demanes to take to Young Labour corterence art = :. stituency meetings. We alm to take forard the success a cour Students conference last year amere ma susner policy through in favour of free educater s! standing up to the leadership at ever! socra nity. I don't remember the days when the Labour Party had a radical youth wing but I know it needs one again now. It's Important to be inside Young Labour groups If they are open to ideas from the left and they want to be active. The youth will be crucial to the courage and the new Ideas that's needed to stand up to Blair's leadership and his constant erosion of every commitment the party ever had.
Get Active! soin ap with the left in Young Labour. Use the coupon on page 5 to join Liberation! or write to Liberation!, PO Box 1109, London, N4 2UU.
• Kathryn Marshall Last month the Association of Teachers and Lecturers published findings of a survey that revealed there to have been 4,000 redundancies in the teaching profession since the governmont's latest round of vicious cutbacks.
A total of around 10,000 Is likely to be closer to the mark once more schools have been forced to set their ludicrously low budgets. Despite the fact that many heads and governors have held out against the proposed cuts and have attempted to set "needs budgets", pressure on them is increasing all the time to weaken and to capitulate to the government's plans. The government now seeks to cloud the Issue by dangling a carrot in front of the thousands of parents, governors and students from the organisation FACE who have taken to the streets about these cuts. This week's carrot that has already gone brown and squidgy is in the form of 'funding' for sports and physical education. This is typical of the tactics we'll see In operation between now and the calto Ing of the next general election. The government will stitch together some attractive soundbites (I understand that references to improvGet Active! Ing our 'natlonal heritage' To affiliate to as has been said this FACE or to find week are attractive to some folk!) In the hope out more that concessions will be about the organisation's mands for a decent and at second the very least adequately national demo funded education system. in defence of Every 'concession' they education, make will carry the usual stings In Its tail; in terms write to: FACE, of the new plans for St. Giles sports, the paltry sum of 4 Middle School, Hayes Lane, fered for schools and more Exhall, work for no extra money at all is being expected Coventry, from the teaching staff. CV7 9NS.
WIll good sport suddenly course not. seen to be made to our deIquitous cuts. million pounds has been ofSCHOOL develop with a funding proposal full of hot air and hardly any funding? Of What will be very good sport Indeed, however, is giving the Torles another electoral pasting like they recelved in the local electlons back in May because of their Insistence upon these inIt's the job of all of us who have supported FACE to keep this Issue at the forefront of people's minds untll and beyond the election. Since Its conference In June, FACE has received a steady stream of new affillations including that from a group in Scotland. The organisation has grown way beyond just those who have been affected by the cuts so far. But as further cuts of around four to five per cent are likely to hlt counclis In 1996-7 there Is still a long way to go before the huge well of anger and support from the public, the student movement and the teaching unIons is translated into a government climbdown. That's why despite the lull in activity that the summer break brings with it, It's vital that the next FACE demonstration called for September 30 is bullt for with great enthusiasm. As FACE's own paper says: "To make sure of its success we must all start organising now."
Get Active! Transport from all over the country will be coming to the FACE demo in central London om Saturday 30 September. Phone FACE on (01589) 789104 for details.