Kinnock creates a Party fit from such a government once in tories for them on this road: the acceptance of Tory anti-union laws; the insidious economic policy of John "only spend what There were three crucial vic- Blackpool Conference 1990 for capitalism Image Is more Important than pollcles in the new Improved' Labour Party UPDATE office. seemingly little trouble at home- but at the same time little to offer the electorate. This year's con- ference did nothing to change recent opinion poll findings that 61% think Labour's policies are vague. * Jerusalem' faded, were Neil and company satis- What, exactly, had they achieved? THERESA fied with their week? As the strains of John Harris/EL
her sister parties in Europe. At the elected every two years, and the one-member one vote, further reducing accountablity at the top and collective decision making at same time the NEC will only be CLP section will be elected by you can afford" Smith, and the package of measures that mean come even more of a rubber on will create a new series of hoops Democracy and Policy Making' that Party Conference will be- proposals stamp for the leadership. The NEC The whole tone of Looking to the Future - offering no more than tactical changes within the framework of the capitalist free market - the atmosphere of con- ference, and Kinnock's vacuous speech were all attempts to con- vince us all that we would march Moments of glory had been carefully executed, like the The leadership looked smug. CONWAY sums up this year's events at Labour conference.
Its true that these changes ciple; the leadership still has to come back with rule changes to enact them. However the fight to tum them back will be difficult; have only been approved in prin- the bottom. through which party activists will have to jump to have any impact Key changes include; holding conference only every two years, and then based on a rolling policy programme; abolition of the on decision making at all. together; but they gave little idea of what, beyond the election, was The leadership had a dual aim in Blackpool; to continue the supposed to be our purpose. Dual aim And the few occasions on which conference asserted it- self against the platform were encore to upstage Maggie. no more than troublesome rip- Thatcher's well timed an- ples on the pre-election pond.
and it is also clear that the NEC would wish to make further at- on local On the anti-union laws, Tony Blair wants to keep most of the SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 28, November 1990 particularly functioning. tacks, through a 4 stage vetting process amendment stage; and the dead- line for resolutions brought for- ward to April - before they go on Standing Committees, Policy process of sanitisation - creating a class - and at the same time make pected by the labour movement party 'fit for government', a party , not of the working it clear how little could be ex- of 'the nation' fully cut off debate in the press on the outcome of conference. The tedly of a cheery platform, with nouncement on the ERM success- images of the week were undoub Page 4
together with the Socialist of conference demanding that "Labour Unshackle the Unions", guing this position. It was unfor- tunate however that LPS also decided to call for support for the FBU resolution; this was a sign of the amount of pressure ex- Useful contacts were also built up amongst anti-poll tax ac- Movement Trade union Commit- tee organised a successful lobby led the debate on this issue on erted on even the principled left. tivists and councillors. tunate lists, calling delegates by name occasion calling A number of speeches appeared in the Press office before the The debate on the Gulf had of the stage managed show. It was impossible to grasp that what was at issue in this discussion in the possible murder of millions in the Middle someone who wasn't in the hall. perhaps more of an air of un- was Labour's complicity relevant discussions had UPDATE and noticed. On the question of pen- that the ment to restore index-linking at 1979 levels was really too much to bear. Last year's conference policy on cuts in defence spend- ing was re-iterated, but so was the platforms intention to again NEC's junking of the commit- PARTY GONTARENON delegates felt GONSERVATIVE 38380 closed shop. The TGWU-backed position, but it was a disgrace which called for the repeal of all Tory's chains, especially the ban on solidarity action, on picket lines of more than 6, and on strikes not sanctioned by court- Composite 39 was a small step bins from among the trade union leaders supported Composite 40, The NEC did an about turn this year by supporting a Black Socialist Society, hoping that platform's that only the NA's Tony Dub- approved ballots and the anti-union laws. from forward
major fringe meeting on this Conference confirmed that it before the general election, so great is the feeling that our eyes must be kept on this prize. In this context, the importance of LPS, other organisations such as the Campaign for Labour important role particularly on is unlikely that the overall situa- tion in the party will change a force on the left prepared to hold its ground, cannot be under- Party Democracy have played an conference floor, and held East. Kinnock's speech, which had talked of perialism) and of the permanent monitoring of Trag for chemical and permanent occupation - had set the tone for the discussion, but aroused Confusion on the left was rife 'extending the intema- (more than shades of im- nuclear weapons - surely possible through little comment, even on the left. Confusion on Gulf GETTING SOSUILAR WE COULD HAVE GOT AWAY WITH FILING THE SAME COPY FOR BOTH CONFERENCES. WITH TORY AND LABOUR POLICIES large picket, was unable to ignore it. Again, conference reas serted its commitment to the Per- gamon strikers, but despite a tic, with support for quotas ( and gued demands that the women's Despite a well organised and vocal campaign from 'End the troublesome demand for Black Sections within the party, and at the same time enable them to sell the party more effectively to the lack electorate. On women, the anyway too little too late) being Ban', fully supported by Labour situation was even more tokenis- played off against the long-ar- will derail the power within the party. this
constitutional issues, this year typing error!) to support the one resolution that called for power Women's conference, and completely ignored the fight on election, it will be important to and outside the party, working more than ever their overall posi- tion left much to be desired. Not only did they participate in the stifling of debate on the Gulf, they also failed (because of a Between now and the general continue to consolidate LPS by linking up with activists inside the anti-union laws. on this issue. We were told that the way to defeat Kinnock's hind the resolution from the sanctions against Iraq, but would The majority of delegates with emergency resolutions in opposition to the line of the leadership accepted this position, tively silenced: the result was bipartisanship was to rally be- FBU. This not only agreed with even support 'offensive military action' - as long as it was sanc- and dissenting voices were effec- that conference had no oppor- tioned by the United Nations. Dewar defying delegates' wishes did show a groping towards a ferent vision of what a labour government could and should be, ment than any imminent threat of explosion that could rock the prevent people such as Donald different economic policy, a dif- but they were more an indication of a slow time bomb ticking away in the belly of the move- These victories for the Robert Maxwell's reception. leadership now. the party of the number of local parties now suspended and the suspension of Brighton Labour ference voted to support the ban on Socialist Organiser. There is little knowledge at the base of taking place. The latest, just days of party members in the CLPs tive held out by the platform. Party Socialists (LPS), con- Party for its stand on the poll tax. Conference, like the majority and the unions, saw no clear al- temative to the overall perspec- No alternative? plethora of witch hunts
particularly on the poll tax, the socialists fighting for a Labour victory, campaigning in the in- terests of working people. And we need a strong organisation of the left in place for the period in the party will begin to unravel again as the tightrope Kinnock has so far successfully trodden We need a profile, particular- whatever the result, the situation during the election, Gulf and the witch hunt. tunity to debate a position which called for the withdrawal of troops. Many accepted Benn's and should be an instrument of peace; others given way to the notion fed by the new realists Labour Party Socialists( LPS), at its first conference since its launch. LPS led the fight for a debate on troops out of the Gulf, gaining support from over 50 delegates, and put out extensive sincerely held (but in our view mistaken) belief that the UN can Positive work was done by material in its daily bulletin ar- that debate can only be divisive. short discussion on the poll tax, and one delegate was Jo Richardson's chairing was was no discussion on British prevented from leaving their Many key issues did not ap pear on the agenda at all; there withdrawal from Ireland, or on Lesbian and Gay Rights. And other crucial debates were given little time. During the abysmally the Liverpool delegation were surrounded by stewards and appalling - it was clear that she was working for pre-prepared pushed and verbally threatened. SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 28, November 1990 On the majority of issues, con- ference voted for right wing New realism has not only been absorbed, but was regurgitated suited young men at the rostrum. policies, believing that this was the only way to get rid of the There were some things that reselection must be retained, though when the majority of the NEC report was sneaked through without discussion on Friday morning, while virtually no-one wholesale by many bright be it would not swallow. Mandatory hated Thatcher goverment.
crisis of Stalinism. The decline of cessful though, we have to under- jective factors that lie behind the This is not the place to go into the detail of the reasons behind the current problems. That would require a lengthy text of the his- tory of the post-war socialist movement. It is clear though that the Gulf crisis has come at a time where much of the left has been thrown into confusion with the Labour left over the last ment. If this is going to be suc- stand both the objective and sub- Weakened Labour left present situation. and officials from other unions: FTAT, NUR, MSF, SOGAT, BETA, NUM, USDAW and ACTT. CAWG's paigns should co-operate in the fullest way possible. In practice this meant withdrawing its own ber in favour of that called by It was during the mobilisation tions between the two campaigns began to sour. A leaflet issued by response was that the two cam- demonstration on the 15 Septem- for this demonstration that rela- CAWG to build the demonstra- tion was objected to by sup CND/CSWG on the same day. Brigades Union UPDATE peaceful settlement WAR NO
period has meant a much weaker Labour leadership's betrayal over the question of unilateralism was symptomatic of ment over the last few years. Also we have seen the marginalisation of international solidarity work, dish liberation. Related to this is the marginalisation of anti-racist challenge to Kinnock's predict- able policy of tail-ending the war- the decline of the peace move- solidarity with the Palestinian In- tifada and the struggle for Kur- mongering of the Tories. struggles in this country. tee on the grounds that it implied that they endorsed the "Troops The disagreement was clearly unfortunate, but certainly should not have proved an obstacle to fu- ture co-operation. However the experience of the last two months has shown us some of the worst tarianism, undemocratic practice, sexist behaviour and out and out stupidity that the left has seen in a porters of CND and the Commit- Sectarianism long while. Building the anti-war movement Stop War in the Cel Organised by the Com
lenge to Kinnock on the Labour conference floor came from an FBU motion (which in effect ac- widespread support for anti-Iraq sanctions, even among the left. This is a reflection of a total lack of understanding of the role and class nature of the United Nations and an indication of the fact that a wide section of the left is politi- cally blinkered by the influence When we see that, despite the fact that the majority of women At Blackpool the only chal- cepted war - only within a U.N. framework!). There regions as we have seen all too paign which, by and large, is dominated by the (very) far left - Fortunately this experience is not universal. Outside of central London the indications are that all anti-war forces are co-operating in a responsible and comradely fashion. The danger is that the problems which exist at a national level will spill over into the The existing situation - com- prising of a Committee in which participation is by invitation only (a complete negation of any norms of democracy) and a Cam- is not a healthy situation to be in. movement, and in particular with et of the US Embassy, called by A public meeting immediately followed the picket and the Cam- paign Against War in the Gulf was set in motion. It was agreed should be around the two slogans Women for Socialism, we sup- ported and built for the first pick- that the political basis of CAWG and