premises Socialist Outlook and a New for round and round the mulberry table or Round bush? Poland
Page 7 Speed your contributions to: AFTER MONTHS ofsearch- and more problems, Socialist ficex in a self-contained building involved in, and offer space and facilities to some of the currents We can now do these things without the continual threat of Teases running out, and have our vestment, with our income goung into a mortgage as opposed to a But, as readers will know, even after the relative slowing together every peany we could Lay our hands on to pay the tens of thousands we needed for the tunately rich supporters of Socialist Outlook are few and far We need financial support from our rcaders to help us get the building into a usable state: returbished, repaired, with all the facilities necessary to make this a really uscful resource for the far left; and to help us with our mortgage payments so that we çan continue to improve our journal and direct our resources into organising political activity. Socialist Outlook PO Box 705, London SW19 IHA (cheques made payable to ing, fundraising, problems Outlook has at last acquired We have managed to buy three floors comprising seven of- in London: This will allow us to produce our magazine, support and organise the many cam- paigns and activities that we are down of the London property boom, it is still extremely expen- sive: we have had to serape deposit and lawyers bills: unfor own premises as a long-term in on the left with whom we work. appeal! new office premises. Socialist Outlook') new landiord's pocket. Dig deep! between! played a leading role in last demonstrated their misgivings about dropping action in retum for vague promises on a number of oc- In addition, the independent ganisation comprising a number of differing strands of anti-stalinist, socialist opinion, formed in 1987, tivity and organisation over recent tions and publishing various jour- increasing exploitation are the scribe to the model of cconomic reform implied hy support for the If used correctly, the current talks could play a useful role - to get Solidarnose legalised and widen the scope for independent union activity. The problem is that Walesa and those that think like him might concede the latter to gain the former- which would be a case of one step forward, two Patrick Baker Polish Socialist Party (PPS), an or- has been stepping up its level of ac- months, taking part in demonstra- price paid for participation in government by that part of the op position which is prepared to sub- The PPS have recently for funds and cheques Labour Party: Send to nals. They argue that "mass sack- should be payable for PPS(RD), 92 Ladbroke desperately appealing international office in London and have set committee. They are Walesa in the heyday of 1980: now he describes the 1981 'Golborne Branch the time being to unemployment up a support Grove, W11. opened an martial law imposition as an 'unfortunate incident. "anti-crisis pact". The current talks would seem to the regime is pursuing its strategy. institutions'. The round-table' may represent the beginning of tation between the state and the union, referring to the 1981 im- Though it would be unwise to pre-judge the current process of negotiations too mach in advance. ship over the last year has been to seek consensus - to the detriment as we saw last summer. However. by no means all of the opposition in Poland are in agreement with kind of action in apposition lo the dialogue was recognition of the ing role of the PPR by the op be very much a confirmation that outlined hy General Kiszczac some months ago, of incorporat- ing opposition leaders into official such a process. Walesa's down playing of the history of confron- position of martial law as 'unfor- tunate incidents', is not a promis the conduct of the Walesa leader- of independent workers" action - Walesa. Young workers, who regime. The condition of any Polish Constitution and the lead- Out now! Issue 2 postage London SW19 THA 40p inc Revolutionary Youth Magazine tunate incidents' РО Вок 705 from: SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 13 March 1989 provisor - the general aim of are if anything less united on their objectives than the PZPR. While Solidarose leader, Lech Walesa of consensus between a legalised prepared to legalise Solidamos, bat with a number of important which are clearly to restrict the AFTER MONTHS of hesita- tion and prevarication, the "round-table' talks between the Polish regime and the leader- ship of Solidarose have got Though by no means united on their objectives in these talks, the leadership of the ruling Polish United Workers Party (PZPR) have clearly decided that some form of compromise is the only vi- able way out of their long standing Solidarnosc, on the other hand, clearly believes that the only way forward lies in achieving some sort independent trade union move- ment and the regime, many in the rank and file remain under- standably dubious, as witnessed by the recent miners' strike in Bel- The regime is clearly now capacity of the union tolaunch any political and economic crisis. STRIPE RED
STOP THE RACIST BILL 33 RES
RICHARD JAMES explains his view of why socialists should critically support the Charter 88 campaign for Championing proportional representation (PR) is perhaps the Charter's most controver- sial aspect, certainly within the labour move- ment. Eric Hammond, leader of the ultra-right- wingclectricians union, and National Umon of Mineworkers leader Arthur Scargill, though not signatories to the Charter, are both enthosiastic proponents of PR. Tony Benn and Roy Hat- are die-hard opponents. What other As with PR, so with Charter 88 as a whole: the division between those in favour and those One reason for this is that while the hard left has been united amund many questions of policy, there is by no means agreement on strategy for socialist transformation. The dif- ferent strategic conceptions lead to different at- titudes to democratic rights in general andto PR For those whose strategy is cesentially par- hamentarist and reformist (of however left a variant) PR is anathema: it is seen as reducing against is not a simple left versus right split. political issue sees such a line-up?