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----- pull-quotes on this page ----- IRELAND DOUBLE FEATURE -FREE THE BIRMINGHAM SIX
fered to the respect- able Catholics in the S.D.LP, the Irish government and the Church delivered for fear of further annoying the casional outbursts of pique shown by the government - such as playing fast and loose with the British over extradi- tion - have been one Unionists. The oc consequence, Irish IRELAND DOUBLE FEATURE You les WILL MELT FEON THE HEAT OF KE VARNED RON LAD ULSTER understanding of Irish history', and he in- his Brooke has declined repcaled his willing- ness to talk with Sinn Fein in the event of a has said no ceasefire without a dramatic shift in government remarks. Since then 1o do so, but has IRA McGuiness, in Brooke The ceasefire. elaborate vited created in the UK since 1983 only a paltry employment million jobs situation is "of the 2.5 18,000 had been in the Ireland. In short, the North of
have further dented the whole strategy: So has the continued support for Sinn Fein, (even though that has ebbed slightly), and the military prowess while if 15 true that there is not the militancy in the op- position to the Anglo-Irish agreement within the loyalist camp that there once was, attempts 1o involve the Joyalist leaders in serious talks with the British goverment still fall an the Those within loyalism who lavour a more con- Loyalist noses were put out of joint by the Angio-Irish accord only a paltry 18.000 had been in the employment situation is bad and will There is no indication that the ameliorate this connomic situation by inlerventionist policies. Other dreams of money from America, and else- of Ireland. In short government added, "if that really is the case, and Mr Brooke is genuinely struggling with the intricate realities of Irish politick, then republicans - who want peace and justice as much as anyone - have a responsibility to examine carefully any signals that may hold secrclaries of state". Fortnight had again sagent gung-ho style April edition of the had Friendly words for Brooke, saying he less from the intran *does appear to suffer bad and will get worse"
more than public expressions of what have been saying for yoars, meverthe- ciliatory response to the British are now saying there will he no move- ment from their side until after the If that is the case it is not surpris- ing that Peter Brooke has decided to concentrate his attention on tha His promise of talks with republicans if they became constitutionalists, and even more dramatically his likening of the North of Ireland situation lo other colonial ones, were, it is true no some sections of British ruling circles less it was the timing of the pronoun- nationalist/republican general election. where, which followed the signing of tanled to muterialise. Accordingly, the oconomic and social conditions which helped to create mass support for Irish republicanism in Catholic work- ing class districts will remain. The British government does not scem 100 worried about this: neither is there any indication and it is battling for Catholic hearts and minds by lower- ample, the alterations in the opera- of the Vister Defence Regiment which were also promised it the Anglo-Irish Agreement remain Anglo-Irist Agreement repression levels. guarantee the perminent partition of would be allowed some participation out even the tiniest opportunity for The difficulty in figuring out if the British are really up to anything new is that the signals have been confus- ing. At the start of March the Daily Telegraph revealed that Brooke s Junior minister. Richard Necdham. had suggested in a speech the pre- vious month to business poopic in the North of Ireland that the revamped Helsinki Convention in 1992 should Ireland. In relum. providing they openly accepted partition, Catholics in power-sharing in the North and the new moderate strategy - the defeat of Sinn building of a "The British consensus Fein, the political
approaching the rumours of splits that were probably exaggerated in percep- tion by Brooke and his advisors. But through which Brooke could poke his some puzzled faces behind. Scen in cement that was important One fac- tor which informed this was a very public and honest self-examination by republicanism as to where it was going, and a recognition of the failure in establish a significant base of sup- This self-examination was nothing appeared in the British media, and they did provide a useful opening head, utter a few sentences and leave this way the remarks, rather Lhan rep- port in the South of Ireland. the Agreement, was the degree of Despite its unfulfilled promises, the Anglo-Irish Agreement remains relevant. The Britch stralegy indi- cated by that agreement - the political defeat of Sinn Fein, the building of a new moderate consensus throughout Ireland and the establishment of a devolved power-sharing administra- ton in the Six Counles - remains in place. What has changed since the Agreement was signed are British Lac- The first problem the Hritish faced, as soon as the ink was dry on loyalist opposition to it. This in tumm meant that some of the reforms of- tics within thal strategy job prospects for the six courties. Un Helsinki Convention would sup- But perhaps most telling of all was a report issued at the end of March by scarch Centre on thic economy and omployment there is currently at 14 per cent, and the prediction is that it will, at the best, remain there until 1995. To stop the jobless figures get- ting higher would need government wages subsidies, a massive growth in internal investment and the promotion of migration of up to 10,000 a усаг. I was reported that of the 2.5 million jobs created in the UK since 19X3 posedly guarantee their civil liberties. the Northern Ireland Economic Re SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 24, May 1990 administration establishment power-sharing of a devolved throughout Ireland and Counties - remains in in the Six place" the
IRELAND DOUBLE FEATURE Just resenting some great sea change in British one of those rare x- British politicians being a lit- their the tle clever in WCEC with amples of strategy. dealings Irish:
Brooke was in a did strengthen a ceasefire no-lose situation: if within republicanism, all to the good, if they did words wing his
not at least they would cause a hitic The degree of seriousness disorientation.
British respect of conditions of the North of Ireland to the familiar Indifference and political much to sustain "the slum problem over economy testify laziness in Ireland, which have done so Ireland's British the centuries" SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 24, May 1990 vative than sections of tance of Ireland to Britain may have The depressing thought 1s that the ges from the current convulsions. In such circumstances the age-old Irish want to cut ils losses and get out may mentality when it suits nock, such baggage and republican helief that sooner or later, if the pressure is applied, Britain will опе circumstance where this seems unlikely to occur is the As Labour's attacks on Brooke's: willingness to consider a chalogue with Sinn Fein indicate, the the Tories on the Irish national qüestion. British Tory government's have always been willing to dump their chauvinistic For Heseltine gets his act tory at the next election. haggage and colonial such a mentality are al- together preity soon, or there is some front the politics of the stand-off in diminished when new Europe cier- event of a Labour vic- today spectacular development in the war the North of Ireland scem unlikely to Labour is more conser someone like Neil Kin change for a few years yet. So, sorry Labour, cortinly most first principles. folks, but there is no end in sight. interests. More flexible on colonial policy than Lahour: Is Thatcher heading a rethink on Ireland? that indeed come into its own. Labour, wider truth. PARCELS, AND RECWFACILTIES NºS 1.NO PRISON UNIFORM 3FREE ASSOCIATION. 5. FULL REMISSION. CHARA 2 NO PRISON WORK 4 VISITS LETTERS FRANCIS WHICHES PATSY Ircland, the unwillingness of Brilain to do anything about it, and the very peripheral place occupied by the North of Ireland in British politics. Not only may the readership of this, magazine not know who the Northern Ireland, Socretary of State is, notonly inly not know, it can even be And yet the world is changing If docs the British general public cer- Thatcher really is on the way out, commitment lo Unionism. A modern European, Tike Michaci Hesclune, would he unlikely to have any such that the tractional strategic impor- DEMANDS then so, too, is her own very personal Unionist hang ups. It could even be wondered if, at times, FIVE Thatcher remembers. THEN MECREESH SANDS BOBBY RAY to what could very well be seen as fit- making. On the other hand, the Either way. there is no great direc- le more than a bit of mischief- British political system is always keen to offer prestige, recognition and • scat a negotiating table to its most opponents. providing they accept the ground rules of that From her ulwa Unionism, bur with the tion. The reality is the growing trying to display his independence Tories in crisis and the general elce- tion hot so far away, the idea that economic depression in the North of deep-seated political initiative is un derway does not stand up to examina tional change in British Richard Needham's search for permanent guarantees for partition indicate that Britam's bottom line of constitutional boundaries conditions of the North of Ireland economy testify to: support for the existing does not change. The slum the familiar British indir- ference and political lazi which have done so much lo sustain Ireland's British problem over the cen turies. Peter Brooke may indeed be an exception to he may wish to prove himself not ihc political has-been everyone assumed he was Thatcher, or he may be place. ness in respect of Ireland. when he was exiled by such characteristics. with which Sinn Fein appears to have taken Brooke's words da indeed suggest they have over-responded taking political system. intransigent Page 17 policy
spoke af the Ard Fheis on the nood to address the protestant being squeezed at the mo- Republicans who want to At the other pole, and Fein a working class party in its politics as well as its these are people who arc those turn to the Southern work- ing class and make Sinn 5 both the North and the can't say yes to talks composition. Why Republicans workers. social needs ment, IRELAND DOUBLEFEATURE in the near future in Peter Brooke? LIAM declare a ceasefire exchange for some Is the IRA going to Belfast headed by that the answer is MAC UAID argues administration in granted by the concessions present "no'. *In the South, differentiate Labour Party themselves nelther the Workers' from the nor the union Party
struggle party with an un- understanding of the connection be- space which the view of most of the South there is a large tween trade union struggles and the could be filled by a class derstanding of the nation- al question which reflects Im the North there Is simply no apposition to the collaboration of the union burcaucracy in dis- nationalist workers have only a dim Conscquently: Insh working class- political Gerry Adams: wants new approach to protestant workørs Sinn Fein, in the cycs of radicalis- ing irish working class volers, was not seen as a political alterative to In the North the situation is not the crisis of capitalist rule. sive Democrats who split from Fianna: claiming to represent the demand In the circumstances it was not far short of a catastrophe. The Progres- of the Irish pople for freedom. pared to 1.99 percent in the Last year's elections in the thoroughly marginalised as percent of the vote as com- any 26 counties saw Sinn Fein a political force. IL won 1.2 standards il was a terrible result for an organisation election. By 1987 counterposing Fein instead bureaucrats, enemles and bureaucrats .... But Sinn tries to play Itself to its political the of
need for cuts. But Sinn Fein is con- scious of its isolation, and instead of national question. The SDLP, a mem- Party nor the Workers' Party differen- burcaucrais who participate in what is ber of the Socialist International and party of the Catholic bourgeoisie has an attitude lo class struggie that makes Kinnock look like a Trotskyist. In the South, neither the Labour hemselves from the union called "The Programme of National Recovery", and do not challenge the counterposing itself to ils political enemies and the bureaucrats, it tries quite so dire. In last year's council elections Sinn Fein won 69,000 votes, 11 percent of the total votes cast. The party considers this to be the solid Republican bedrock. Another more accurate way of describing the same political radicalisation that followed the H-Block struggle and was ex- pressed by the electoral rise of Sinn has created iwo political At one extreme, activists talk of the need to dig in for a long war'. In practice, because the lack of mass poles in the Republican movement. phenomenon is that the Fein has been halted. In fact the election marked a seats, one to an independent on the hospital. Most significantly it lost of the vote Tall from 11.8 percent to 5.5 percent Fianna Fail retained its of transfers from Fine Gae! and the radicalisation in Trish politics. The British in its politics saw their share percentage of thie vote but lost four single issuc of the closure of a local large numbers of working class votes and only saved several seats beacausc Fail hecausc it wasn't sufficiently Thatcherite in its economics and pro Progressive Democrats. game on their the political terms"
gradation of views. The Republican cipal concem is to hold the movement But sometimes there is a political lo play the political game on their Beroen the two poles, there is a leadership is pragmatic and occupies the centre ground because its pon- ly successful, thus far only losing some of the more politically primitive together. In this it has-been remarkab- Page 18 struggles allows the repressive forces to concentrate almost entirely on the Republican movement the armed mOre adven- turist, and civilian deaths now com- prise a grater proportion of those To compound this, Shorts aircraft factory, a major industrial employer lacked wice in recent monts, once in the same week that Gerry Adams of protestants in Belfast has heen at- killed by the IRA (39 percent). struggle has become perspoctives are really no different stalinist Workers" Party and the class collaborationist Labour Party each Fianna Fail, turned not to Sinn Fein made a net gain of three seats and against an economic crisis and years but to Iwo parties whose economic The Irish working class, reacting of usterity offensives, abandoning Sinn Fein didn't win a single seat. even the Greens had two TDs elected. From the bourgeois parties. SOCIALIST OUTLOOK nD 24, May 1990
IRELAND DOUBLE FEATURE PRISONERS DUN'T LET THE IRISH movement is to integrate mswer, even when these price in be paid for or- unity, The mechanism through which the leadership preserves the unity of the Republican those ideas which it cither Finds attractive or can't result in an uncomfortable Banisational
Republicans themselves with Mandela's they just do not collapse of respond to the stalinism" *while the happily Identify the Palestinian Intifada and quote Nelson comments on armed struggle approvingly, know how to SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 24, May 1990 Republican movement is not able to produce a crilique or attempt to win Of nocessity this survey of the prescat situation of the Republican Movement has been gloomy. But remember that 100,000 people al- most 1,125,000 in Britain. Remember numerahle Republican militants who every day face sudden death at the hands of the UDA. UDR, RUC and Most important of all remember ing class. There have been worse movement was lillle more than a military machine and it was the mass movement created by the campaigns in delence of the prisoners which There is: no mass movement tion victories have been the product of conflicts inside the Irish ruling class rather than the fruits of mass It is the political heterogeneity of the Republicans which allows us to There is a layer of active and passive support which they know they can to lead the Irish working class in the battle against British imperialism and tended Bobby Sands' funeral in 1981; this is the equivalent of a crowd of al- the resilience of the nationalist work- roughs in the present struggle. Be- tween 1974 and 1979 the Republican dominated by the Republicans at the moment and even the rocent extradi- predict that they will not lay down their arms in the foreseeable future. rely on. The challenge facing them is Irish capitalism - and that is the chal- also the awe inspiring heroism of in stimulated its political development. The 100,000 at Bobby Sands' funeral was the equivalent of 1.1 million in Britain Jenge they have still to meet. strands of opinion in the Republican movement do not have a ercal deal in common ideologically: Republicans, Republicans who are becoming marxists, people who in Britain or Europe would be quite happy as social democrats and large numbers of people who just hate the thing of a triumph of pragmatism hut it produces such equivocation as Sinn Fein's position on abortion and its reluctance to campaign openly for divorce. It also means that a lot of what happens in the world is simply ignored because it cannot be fitted within the movement's ideological This has very dirost political con- sequences. While the Republicans happily identify themselves with the Palestinian intifada and quote Nelson Mandela's comments on armed strug- gle approvingly, they just do nor know how to respond 1o the collapse This is partly because they do not there is some stalinist influence in their ranks. However the Workers' Party has recently expelled a leading idcologue, Eoghan Harris, who ar- gued that socialism is now nothing Pronsias de Rossa propounds murket solutions to the crisis of the Irish есолоту. YeL al a time when a political enemy with a large working turmoil, the Accommodating all these is some- British imperialism, Meanwhile Workers' Party They include rampant marxists who British army in their sircels. understand it. and partly -QR IRISH UNIT I being crushed, The SDLP is the most Irish Agreement, an agreement whose Republicanism as a force in Irish politics. What earthly reason is there for the SDLP to form an electoral Similarly in the South, Sinn Frin makes constant appeals to Fianna Fail. In a press conference given just alic a Dublin court decided notto ex- tradite him, Owen Carron implored Fianna Fail to put an end to all ex- tradition. They are no more likely to repeal the Section 31 restrictions on broadcasting statements by Sinn Fein members; indeed such appeals to them on this basis only reinforce the view that they are the parliamentary Appealing to the bourgeois parties as representatives of nationalist voters is not the same thing as trying te break the large numbers of working class voters from these parties by put- ting demands on them. To do so demands a clear understanding of the class nature of the SDLP and Fianna Yet at the same time statements by Adams and the pages of Republican News are filled with references to the working class. Holding the movement together demands that the adoption of programmatic advances is done at the speed at which it is felt the average cumann (branch) can handle ihe Meanwhile the working class, the Brits and the bourgeoisie Without their common acceptance of the necessity for armed struggle enthusiastic supporter of the Anglo defenders of Irish nationalism. Fein for a pact or alliance Hunger didn't dare stand against grasp that this was because combination. So, for ex- ample, virtually every elec- tion in the North sees some sort of appeal from Sinn Strike in 1981, the SDLP he to. the Republicans don't properly of the SDLP's terror Sands when pact with the Sinn Fein? But election Fail. This is lacking. the with the SDLP. Westminster. During Page 19 sought Bobby didn't
them as double-edged. The removal of deterrent to fighting for significant wage that Labour's John Smith would make a better Chancellor than John Major. Even the (Eddled) figures for the fall in unemploy- ment are no longer heralded as a major achievement since the Tories recognise high unemployment as a psychological beheving Tory crisis: why Kinnock won't put the boot in two-thirds The boot seems always to be on the other foot: and the other foot is always on a policeman! The March Poll Tax demo. showed the fruits of Labour's commitment leadership style of Neil's team, or Labour's response seems to get swinging votes Kinnock's way, As the Tories' crisis worsens, weaker, argues PETE FIRMIN. IN DEPTH But is this simply the new Gorbachev will surprisc few Labour from low profile to no profile on all The news that fewer young people in Britain rcognise the name of Neil Kin- nock than Nelson Mandela or Mikhail activists: it is perhaps more surprising that a Labour Party which has veered the key issues of the day should be 20-
rises is the last thing the Tories want at a "matural allies have deserted them on other issues loo, with the banks withdrawing from the stadent loans scheme and the Engineering Employers* Federation criticising the proposed arrestment of wages of non-payers of the Poll Tax as time of nsing inflation. The Torics" "detrimental to industrial relations". to reforming a capitalist system plunged deeper into crisis by Thatcher's policies? workers, helping to make the Thatcher govemment the most unpopular for a long time, Since the self-destruction of the "centre parties which reforms, have followed the massive popular support for the ambulance This lead has little to do with Labour's. economy, together with the massive hatred policies. The Tories' handling of the of the Poll Tux and Kenneth Clarke's NHS 24 percent ahead in the opinion polls.
Thatcher's isolation internationally on a wide range of issues only adds to the impression that she is a lame duck. Now that the Tories are on the run over their economic policies they seem unabie to recapture and order"- with crime figures still sky-high, and Thatcher's barmy foothall identity card scheme ahandoned - and racism, with Norman Tebbit leading a reactionary revolt over the immigration of Hong Kong business people that makes the Thatcher leadership seem like woolly lost ground on anything, even their usually reliable standbys of law liberals in comparison. formed the Alliance' in 1987. Labour has been the main beneficiary. Confidence in the Tories handling of the cconomy, usually the issue over which they keep 4 lead over Labour in the polls, has evaporated, Not only does inflation look like topping the 10 percent mark, with inletest (and most significantly mortgage interest) rates ability that on May 3 the Parly could even improve on its previous peak picking up a massive lead in the opinion polls, and achieving the spec tacular by election victory in mid Staffordshire: now there is the prob support of 1986,
profitability of Brilish capitalism not only seemed to be working, but was always a Thatcher won the support of an important layer of the skilled work- ing class in 1983 and 1987 because her strategy for restoring the SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 24, May 1990 Skilled workers desert the Tories democracy The share-owning, property-owning also seemed to be in their interests. showing no sign of falling, but the Tories are under attack from their town" side. Both the director general of the CBI and the governor of the Bank of England have disputed Chancellor John Major's more forecasts for the economy, and underlined the Tories" A survey of City and academic cconomists for the Economis failure to avert the decline in manufacturing invesiment. opsimistie" Page 20
police been defeated). The difference with the Poll Tax is that they are attack- union rights or jobs and working conditions, to comes more and more obvious. At the height of Tax. Instead they write in condemning any notion tions against it, and merely say Pay up and vote Since becoming Labour Leader in 1983. Kin- nock has avoided giving support let alone en- couragement, to any section of the working class in conflict with the Tories, from the miners through to the ambulance workers. The most he has ever done is call for arbitration. More often his contributions have been seen to attack or un- dermine the working class fighthack, as when he condemned violence by miners who fought back against police brutality without even the notional violence. and called on railworkers to call off Even within the rules of the pariamentary game. Kinnock has refused to attack the Tories, the Zircon spy sattelite affair and leaving it to hackbenchers (occasionally even Tory ones) to probe issues like Colin Wallace's claims of psychological warfare in the North of Ireland and even refusing to go onto the offensive when this Page 21 Of course, the Tories have been ably assisted throughout their 11 years of attacks on the working class by the Labour and trade union bureaucracy, From their persistent refusal to lead any defence of trade their political bankruptcy in failing providing any market, which is now the starting point of the Labour programme, Thatcher couldn't have done As the Tories' crisis becomes starker, this be- the Tories' unpopularity, the TUC and Labour Party are not willing to defend the working class against the universal attack on its living standards and democratic rights represented by the Poll of con-payment, refuse to call even demonstra- backing them on 'national security" grounds over their strike and accept BR's pay offer last year. The Tories have their chickens coming home to roost: the Labour Party has these two Ideological alternative to condemning Thatcher's loyal lieutenants Labour when the time comes". 'even-handedness" it wilhout them. in conflict convincing ing nearly everyone at one. threatening to produce manifes- tos promised not to fine people regional officials imposed upon for non-payment of the Poll Tax demands that a Labour govem- ment implement policies in the the stakes are too high for the interests of the working class. which Walworth Road clamped our responsibilities. There has to be a Socialist Campaign for down on those constituencies Those Parties whose manifes- them, and face suspension of Kinnock's policies, or to duck IN DEPTH a Labour Victory which, while for May's council elections. Yet in the general election calling for a vote for Labour, together, would be to evade 'official' line on the Poll Tax have a manifesto written by silenced. To keep our heads were told to remove this or Left to allow its voice to be tos which differed from the out of the campaign al- down and campaign on Labour's electoral roost, Until now the Tories have heen very careful to attack only one section of the class at a time. Indeed, this was part of a pre-planned strategy, down to the detail of what order to take on different unions (steel workers first, miners only after other significant sections had the Party. strategy sham, but the myth could be sold to those who benefits of privatisation and council house sales were casy to accept while the share market was buoyant revealed for what they always were - part of a strategy of putting all industry into the hands of large Tax cuts, even ones which disproportionately benefit the rich, look different once they no longer offset higher mortgage payments, inflation and the Poll Thatcher's policies have always been a direct and immediate allack on that section of the working class which is low paid or unemployed. Bur in providing short term benefits to better off sections, she managed to persuade them that her policies were in their interests, despite pangs of conscience which have meant that the Tories have always done worse in the opinion polls on issues such as unemployment Now the economic crisis, and particularly the Poll Tax, mean that the chickens are coming home to gained from it in the short term. The ideological and interest rates were low. Now they begin to be financial companies and attacking the "welfare state". promises to be even less politi- cal, judging by the standards of making no policy statements or candidate is Glenda Jackson or paign of 1987 was the Kinnock better than the Tories'. Yet the Labour's general election cam- Tories still won, because more Come the next general elec- media personalities with right SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 24, May 1990 mination to prevent the left's voice being heard in the elec- Kinnock's favoured type of the mid-Staffs by-election. To The supposed high point of those who matter (the public relations 'experts') as much An indication of the deter Tories unpopularity means video, widely acclaimed by people still preferred their Peter Mendelson, polished washing powder adverts'. Kinnock, cashing in on the tion is given by the way in policies to Labour's bland tion, Labour's campaign promises whatsoever. wing politics. and the NHS. Tax.
Kinnock's concern has been solely with = fruitless scarch for issues on which he could unite with "wet Tories or even the Lords against Thaicher. Detence of working class interests the Tories are loss popular then ever, he docsn'l hasn't entered his thinking. Now, at a time when even call on them to armounce a general clection pulling their policies "to the verdict of the people'. DUCE Smile! It's candid camera! Has Kinnock persuaded these keen photographers to run him off a set of contact prints to ease expulsions? unearthed a can of worms. the All-Britain Federation of Anti-Poll Tax groups, threatening to take action Kinnock's oflensive against the anti- Poll Tax movament fits nicely in with the IN DEPTH The witch-hunt and the against the activists involved. Poll Tax The witch-hunt that has been going on for years against individuals, particularly Milltant supporters, and Constituency Parties Is once again
Tories to do: Instead he only seems to echo the bleatings of the Tory wets" that Thatcher is had a change of Tory leader rather thin confronting that Thatcher's personal unpopularity is a major factor The Labour leadership's concem has been something Harold Wilson regulurly called on the for the courtry. It is almost as if he is arguing for their policies - perhaps not realising Kinnock's strategy in Labour's electoral support attempts of the media to label the move- ment as the puppets of Militant, the Socialist Workers Party or Class War (with the additional neat touch of the blaming Militant for the NUT conference decision for industrial action). At the same time we have the scandalous decision of Labour-run Hackney Council to suspend wing and the press right Socialist Or- ganiser. The additional objective Is focussed on Merseyside, with the Labour Party machinery stepping In to protect Frank Field by attacking to prevent Wallasey from selecting a left candidate. But the witch-hunt Is also being stepped up a notch Militant and around the Poll Tax. both
solely for respectability and acceptance by the ruling class and their media. Turing their backs on the working class, they have done the full round of businessmen's lunches and conferences to win the capitalists" confidence. This quest for respectability reached its most sickening depths when Roy Hattersley, in his role as Shadow or evidence - for "the stiffest possible sentences" Home Secretary, called - without benefit of trial Andy Murphy for being interviewed on Class War's attitude to the Trafalgar The left must have a principled posi- tion of fighting this witch-hunt both in- side and outside the Labour Party with must refuse to accomodate to what the witch- hunters consider acceptable, and in- defence democratic rights. Socialists possible broadest Square 'riot'. the Councillors from Brighton to Strathe- action for prevented from standing as councillors on May 3. In Swansea the selection of the Chair of the Wales anti-Poll Tax refusing to vote to set a Poll Tax. Many on the left with a track record of opposi- tion to cuts and the Poll Tax have been Federation (a Militant supporter) to lyde are facing disciplinary
This has gone hand-in-hand with a remorse- less drive to ditch every last Labour policy which contained even a whift of socialism, and clamping could The lesson" Kinnock drew from the Wilson SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 24, May 1990 which Tor those involved in the Poll Tax 'not". down on the party democracy threaten this course. stead step up our involvement in the mass anti-Poll Tax movement. replace the sitting mayor has been over- turned, the party suspended, and the in- telling parties to have nothing to do with dividual concerned now faces expulsion. This systematic witch-hunt has now extended to letters from Walworth Rd Page 22
Party conference, and then the Winter of Discontent'. The defeat of Callaghan in May 1979 was followed by the adoption of left policies on a wide range of issues, wide-ranging mcasures towards Party democracy, and the near-election of Tony Benn as deputy leader in For some sections of the media and their paymasters in the ruling class it appeared that the Labour Party might change fundamentally, to be- 1981 IN DEPTH
in the interests of come a socialist party, committed to more than As a party based on working class support, there are, in the last analysis, two possible routes Labour can take. One is to embrace the system, and reassure the ruling class that - despite its more unruly volces - it is a 'respoctable" party capitalism and better able to control the working class when the Tories are unpopular. The other committed to policies tinkering reforms.
sovereign bodies to talking shops, and ul- ges, intended to cut off the possibility of Page 23 Kinnock, like every previous Labour leader. ther than wanting to gain recognition from the bourgeois media. That the cynical mail shot glossy Labour Party News, the very antithesis of a campaigning publication and epitome of Kinnock has been preoccupied with two. issues: firstly, reversing all policy commitments unpalatable to the ruling such as nationalisation, repeal of anti-union laws, increases in public spend- unilateral disarmament Secondly, he has attempted to close down all avenues of resistance to these policy changes both now and in the future. This explains his opposition to the self-organisation of black: people and women in the Parly, the closing Labour Party Young Socialists, and the prolonged witch-hunt, involving the suspension of Constituency Parties and districts which dared to cross him, and the expulsion of individuals The attack on Party democracy con- tinues relentlessly, with the proposals to reverse mandatory resclection of MPs (one of the gains of post-1979) for all sitting MPs, the extension of one member, one vole' (and posial hallots) to all local party decisions, the downgrading of party con- [crences, both national and regional, from The eventual abolition of the block vole is the most far-reaching of these chan- working class opposition to a Labour into would be to break with the system, and fight for the interests of the working class and socialism is committed unquestioningly to the first road and implacably opposed to the second. In desiring to become prime minister he can see no fur- there is not the slightest concern with winning working class support for policies which might contain the merest hint of a challenge to capitalism was symbolised carly on by the closing down of even the mealy-mouthed Labow Weedly newspaper, and its replacement with timatcly the abolition of the block vote. government's policies reaching (primarily Militant supporters). down of the against capitalism. building of a broad, democratic organisation of the Labour Left at a time when Labour is riding members interested in fighting the politics of The Future Of Socialism In The Labour This conference offers the opportunity for the high in the polls and active resistance to the Tories is greater than at any time in the last should be fighting for Labour to adopt in the ference will be discussing campaigns over the This is an essential conference for all Party bring about in Labour's structures, the con- 1990g and the democratic changes we want to In addition to discussing what policies we witch-hunt, Poll Tax and general election. The Student Union, Pond Street Labour Party Socialists MAY 19th & 20th and Callaghan governments of 1974 79 is not that they came to grief doing so, and failed to suppress the revolt within the labour movement making bodies of the labour movement, culminating in the autumn of because they attempted to resolve the crisis of capitalism by attacking working class living standards, but that they weren't ruthless cnough in 1978 in the rejection of incomes policy by both the TUC and Labour The austerity measures of those governments met increasing work within the decision SHEFFIELD POLY Conference "new realism' Kinnock's style of twist could leave us all on the rock and roll eleven years. Party both through strikes and SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 24, May 1990 ing class resistance, against those policies.
SCRAP IT' ABOMINATION IT'S AN POLL TAX? IN DEPTH as wage controls, without the speed with which he has moved on this, attempting lo "tamed before giving them of some, this would not restrict the influence of trade policy, but rather make it even harder for the rank and port for Labour policies, such the leadership. Of Kinnock wants to be able to tic the bureaucrats to sup. backlash from their members. He has of course. had to tread carefully over ensure that the CLPs are fully Labour conference and over- course, despite the demagogy union bureaucrats on Labour file to call them to account
•Sit back and wait sole decision-making rights. to be elected'
time when the left is weaker than it has been for years. The setting up of ing those fighting the Tories now into the Party on a perspective of op- an initial demobilisation of struggles, while people waited to sec what it would do. (We only need think of the opposition we would mcet in ar- guing for continued resistance to the Poll Tax after a Labour victory.) While it would be wrong to pose the Labour Party Socialists con- ference in Sheffield on May 19th/20th as 'the answer" for the left, it can go some way towards preparing the left for the tasks ahead, even at a a national, democratic organisation of the Labour Left and campaigns around the Poll Tax and the witch-hunt, and the launching of a left cam- Tories (especially over the Poll Tax), offering both a perspective for these struggles and laying the basis for opposition to the policies of a Despite Kinnock's fervent wishes, such opposition will spill over into the Party itself; our task is to ensure It is organised and united around a clear alternative. The groundwork for this can be laid by draw- The clection of a Labour goverment would most probably lead to But we cannot wait, we need to start now if an altemative 15 1o gain SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 24, May 1990 policies are the only way to beat Thatcher. Yet a Labour government Unless we build a pole of attraction which can offer an alternative political lead, against a Labour government if necessary, conflict be- tween Labour and the working class will lead to demoralisation and dis. illusionment, with the possible replacement of Lahour by a Tory The tasks of the Labour Left are clear. In addition to building the largest possible opposition now to Kinnock's policy and constitutional changes, we have to link up with those engaged in struggle against the The view that Thatcher was unbeatable, or at best could only be beaten by pacts with the Liberals and SDP. put about not so long ago by Marxism Today, has been replaced by one that says that Kinnock's carrying out the Party's current policies could be a disaster for the paign for the general election would be a big step forward. government even further to the right, as happened in 1979. The Tasks of the Left and is an indication of their problems to come. posing the politics of 'new realism'. Kinnockite government. working class. Fighting the Poll Tax today... the roof tax' tomorrow? Tax with an unspocified "roof tax" makes their line even less attractive, Kinnock's line of 'Pay Up and Vote Labour" - the equivalent of the old This is already coming to the fore over the Poll Tax, where promise of 'pie in the sky' - conflicts with the desire of millions to defeat the Poll Tax here and now. The Labour leadership's insistence that it would take them two years after an election to replace the Poll In wanting to suppress Party democracy. Kinnock recognises the contradiction for the Labour Party. While desiring the endorsement of Regardless of Kinnock's insistence that a Labour government will promise nothing of any substance, a Labour clection victory will raise expectations in the working class that it will carry out measures in their Indeed, as the Tories hit more and more problems, working class confidence is boosted even in advance of an clection. Conflict between a working class fighting for its interests and a Labour govemment com- mitted to austerity measures in the interesis of capitalism are virtually Above all else, Kinnock desires a smooth change of goverment without unrest as part of dampening working class expectations of a The risk — one