dissected Right turn: the Conser- Ken Jones has written an impor tant book, which should be read vative revolution in Debbie Epstein (1989) published by Hutchinson Radius plans class Tory By Ken Jones war education
Page 31 Tory attack and of how the neces- Education, for the line a genuine- ideas, in the form of the Socialist as well as the left, Ken Jones has education would take. However, investigated from a left perspec- succeeded in writing clearly and Nevertheless, the book is not resist the Tory artack, and offers turn is one which Ken Jones ac- he points out, post-16 education has already been well dealt with sary alliances can be developed. fuller discussion of the place of knowledges in his introduction. primary schooling remain to be In spite of being an undoub- tedly "intellectual" book, which depressing, since it outlines the grapples with ideas of the right Teachers' Alliance Charter for Another limitation of Right English secondary schools. As alliances which can be built to ly democratic and progressive it could be strengthened by a This is that it concentrates on union action in opposing the by others, the the changes in interestingly. Read it! tive. It was adroit in establishing an in- the icachers' unions to oppose ef- have not yct understood this, and toral terms, and that so many dis- weakness which reformers in the the education system, but less at- policy. He points to the essential Ken Jones also examines the fectively the ERA and the effoct "Progressivism. expressed in a heightened way all that was sectoral about education refor. point of campaigns for change." parents - apart from a ritualistic 1960s and 70s displayed in un- derstanding the need for allian- see their struggle purely in sec- failure of the Labour Party and fluence at certain points within criticism, rather than a rallying of "new malism" on cducation Tentive to secking support out- side it. In popular lens it was It is depressing that certain sections of the left in teaching nod in the direction of "com- cussions about education fail munity" or "black parents". more likely to be the butt of even to mention students or Education: now the playground of the Tory think tanks brielly in his article. ces: them. Ken Jones analyses the ten- then and their fundamental intel- the material basis for the success of these writers in gaining politi- (ERA) bears the clear imprint of and traditionalist strands of Tory power of its arguments has to be lectual weaknesses: At the same thinking about education, which distance between the rhetoric of time be offers an explanation of power of right-wing arguments. Tory politicians and the reports: "progressive" methods of teach- This section of the book oc- cupies its first four chapters. In this joumal, and which provide an explanation for the apparent cal support, with the result that sions between the modemising Working Partics - which have. Right turn does register the but at the same time shows the registered, or a strategy for its he touches on In his article in ing. Again, this is discussed contradictory strands within of the National Curriculum the Education Reform Act defeal will not develop." by and large, endorsed their thinking- SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 18, October 1989 of the Tory right — Scruton, Pal- detail the history of Conservative more alluring than one's own. ... In certain ways, Conservatism in thinking about education and ex- ing their strength and appeal. Ar education has made contact with in argument with the ideologues and, in order to do so, to prescot "At a time when the ideas of system. In doing so, he enguges important to know your enemy, tigers, hut clearly and recognis who wish to understand the na- mer, Honcyford, the Centre for been decisive in linking educa- cducation, but by all of the left ideological attack on the work- dangerous method of presenta- nature of the British education Policy Studies and othere. It is their arguments- not as paper ture and method of the Tory's amines the reasons for ils suc- tion: perhaps the evocation of not only by those involved in cess in changing the face and popular discontents, and has In Right turn he traces in the right are so ascendant in opponents' ideas will prove tion to overall strategy. The public debate, this can be Jones himself says:
tion lo lobby the conference. We trust that Socialist Outlook will help us in publicising SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 18, October 1989 Hatteriley's bigotry. Such a campaign can only succeed with the assistance of straight socialists, if we are to make it to the agenda of party conference. Once there, we can be more confident than any other socialist campaign that we can swing the balance of forces suffi- LCLGR will he organising a demonstra- Repeatedly our efforts to convince lesbians and gay men that socialists understand that fighting our oppression is an integral part of socialist strategy come unstuck through the betrayals of the Labour right and the regular failure of the left to treat us as anything apart From a name on a shopping list of worthy In the case of the Labour Party Policy Review, this is doubly unfortunate, because we are currently organising a major campugn to reverse the capitulation of the NEC to Roy for its reinstatement, were both notahle for sion, and the fight against it, as important an issue for the labour movement as it is for the Labour Party's Policy review. Lo and behold. decision of the National Executive to equality for lesbians and gay men, and the decision of the Laboar Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Rights to wage a vigorous campaign gay socialists have been fighting an uphill struggle to make our oppres Socialist Outlook No.16 carried a letter of the "disappearance" of lesbians from your In that same issue you carried a thousand words from Pete Firmin on the betrayals of the abandon the conference commitment to full from Rebecca Flemming rightly complaining this and building a substantial mobilisation. LCLGR: off the shopping coverage of Women for Socialism. ciently to actually win the vote, list, onto the lobby! Peter Purton Challenging the platform at Labour Conference: this year LCLGR will try Lessbian and Southall LCLGR the women organise to chieve it, not when men It is all very well for us as feminists to say they lose these privileges, hut most men would Surely women's oppression will end when Having your children looked after, your house cleaned, shopping done, clothes washed It allows men the sort of free time most you have, the greater the real value of thesc that men will be better off emotionally when pected to worry about how men will deal with seriously underestimates the practical value to women have to fight for. And the less money services (rich people can employ others to per- women are conditioned to worry about other I hope Valerie Coultas's article (Socialist Outlook No.17) was not implying that we are going to bring that attitude into the arguments for women's liberation. All we can do is for- mulate our own demands; we can't be ex- men in general, and working class men in par- It is a feminist eliché that men are condi- see that as an abstract gain for a concrete loss. This year the key debate for Labour's con- We need to develop a response throughout the movement. Union lefts must address the issue and take a collective lead. Events like the Socialist Movement's Trade Union Con- ference must place the block vote issue at the leged clectoral unpopularity of the block vote Next year it could well be the block vote. I believe the lat- ticular, of the subordinate position of women. realise that it will he in their own interest? tioned to worry ahout themselves, On a more serious level, l feel What men stand to lose them - that's their problem, not ours! ter might even be the more important. and meals cooked is very Liberating. LETTERS lerence will be on unilatemlism. as a cover for the real motivation. Dorothy Macedo centre of their concers. London NW4 Manchester Chris Jones have not mentioned: nonetheless we have to cept that there are many complex factors 1 see beyond the media pressure using the al- tolerale these same unions and workers having a direct structural say in the decision-making With full-scale attacks on trade unions and 3) Kinnock is moving to the right to make workers' pay and conditions at the very heart of the bourgeois strategy. how can they This might sound a bit simplistic, and Tac- 1) The Tories do not have a guaranteed electoral majority - they win as a result of our lapsed - leaving Labour as the governmental Labour acceptable to the hosses as a political on. Certainly the lack of concerted response 18 To understand the importance of the issue 2) Centre party politics have probably col- me laugh. It's not that sort of journal is it? But Socialist Outlook view on it all?' Participant or There has been debate for many months if not ycars over the role of trade unions in the Labour Party. Yet the political left has Failed to grasp the full significance of what is going But seriously, it's not just the way he tells idca it was, and how we really should get of Britain into the Socialist Movement, and the enthusiasm of some left MPs for it is a crucial Hilary Wainwright's balance-sheet on the Sheffield conference left me with puzzlement rather than amusement: but it was interesting Most important, however, the two inter- views begged the question: "where is the commentator?.. An interview with Davy Asked whether he didn't see problems with making the Morning Star the paper of the Socialist Movement, he told us what a good them: the intervention of the Communist Party It's not often that Socialist Outlook makes I couldn't help raising a chortle at Tony process of the altemative government party? Don't forget the block vote! OUTLOOK SOCIALIST development worthy of more attention. over all this Trotsky Stalin argument'! we must appreciate certain facts: No laughing matter? two-and-a-half-party system. Benn's interview in No.17. Simon Kennedy Jones, perhaps? a big problem. nevertheless. Page 32
I have just been released from Brixton prisoners and prison officers alike are feeling prison after two and a hall months on remand. 1 am Irish and have lived in London a few As inmates in Brixton, we noticed a few the pinch of Thaicherism's cruel, inhumane stress and strain from under-staffing, and are taking out their misfortunes on the prisoners. The prisoner is the one who feels the flash- This takes the form of brutalisation, mistreat- Plight of prisoners under serious Culures within the prisoo ment, and mass cuts in exercise. years. I am in my twenties. Thatcherism The 'screws" To illustrate the necessity of this, I would point out that unemployment in most parts of with an electoral programme which mimics it will fail the Irish working class, leaving them to follow the reformists, The way is is not on our side. The need for this analysis has to be stressed to Sinn Fein as the dominant Dublin is the same as that of republican west Belfast in terms of numbers - even without The republican movement seems to think that a reversion to a 1970s style bombing can- paign, and a political militarism, combined The anti-imperialist movement is at an im- passe. I it does not analyse the reasons for this being left open for a generational defeat; time that of the Workers Party, is the solution. LETTERS sectarian discrimination. I fel 1 must criticise your mport of the local clections in the noh of Ireland. If you consider both the local and the European elec- tions in the north, there is obviously a malaise in the ranks of republican support. leaving the SOCIALIST OUTLOOK Danger of political defeat for Irish anti-imperialism
order to gain some recognition. Their effoits were made public by Wandsworth prison after ly held. robbed, and locked up for months on back from Thatcherite policies - for example being locked up for 96 hours at a stretch (myself, which is detrimental to mental health; and cuts made in food, giving us only Prisoners in F wing hospital in Briston as a Jast resort have had in start their own union in unsuccessful attempts were made to set up a remand, have been going on hunger strikes on and off for our political beliefs, but publicity We prisoners who have attempted to or ganise, and many of us who have been illegal the barest amount, so we are hungry and mal nourished Is the public taking any notice? peaceful strike. press my surprise at the lack of mention of Fastem Europe and China in the debates and coverage of the Socialist Conference in your workers, peasants and oppressed nationalities in Eastern Europe and China does not seem to On a separate issue, I would also like to ex- be important as a plank of your tendency at the conference. This is in stark contrast to the rest Unity of the left must be hased on prin ciple, not on ignoring differences and allowing Stalinists of all hues to make excuses for mas- sacre and murder. National independence is a right of Latvians is well as Nicaraguans. To refuse to delend the struggles in the of your excellent magazine and its coverage. The question of solidarity with anti-imperialist party- SDLP as the dominant party of the norther In the general and European elections in the south, the "left" (which is only 20 percent Workers Party. Even the extremely vague Trish native in hoth parts of the country has to he Sinn Fein has failed to come up with a meaningful programme that combines the demand for Irish muty with demands which have appeal for the workers of the total vote) is dominated hy the reformist Labour Party and the stalinist, pro- imperialist Whether we like it or not the whole ques ton of huilding a viabic anti-imperialist alter- und small farmers, especially of the south. reassessed in terms of strategy: Greens clocted a T.D.
humanely refused water while on hunger I myself was brutally attacked (I would I know one prisoner who was left to die We, the union for prisoners' rights feel it just to fight for our cause. We oppose being locked up 23 hours a day: we oppose our money being stolen; and we oppose the removal of patients who are ill from the work rota which grants them some cxercise describe this as altempted castration) and in after suffering continuous epileptic fits. was usually banned - hence my letter. strike, and not allowed to slop out. and socialisation outside their cell. London NW6 humanely refused John degenerated and deformed workers" states is similar to ignoring the fact that a friend, col league or comrade hoats his wife. Both posi members of Sinn Fein and other A year ago the Home Secretary broadcasting interviews with organisations in the north of Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin Imposed the ban on Lift the Ban! OCTOBER 19 James B. Monaghan Ireland. While reading David Grut's review of Paris by Night in Socialist Outlook No.17. I was rather taken aback when in describing the character of Claire Paige he uses a word which is totally wrong: Hare decides to invest Claire Paige with an almost schizophrenic longing to uncover a tender, loving side to her I have not seen the film, but Grant uses the tem 'schizophrenic" in a way which suggests she has a split personality: if this is what he Schizophrenia is definitely not a split per- sonality: though the word is derived from meant then I must point out he is wrong. Careful with term 'schizophrenic"!
Page 33 Labour Campaign for Les-