waged for the very soul of the Labour Party. This is not new or without precedent.
Ramsey MacDonald wanted to change the Labour Party and its constitution. Hugh Gaitskell wanted to remove clause four. It took a miners' leader and the movement to stop it.
Tony Blair and Gordon HOME NEWS Brown, the Clinton clones, want an American-style Democratic Party. Any one naive enough to think that they will be satisfied with just the removal of Clause Four is living in cloud cuckoo land.
The next step would be "we want a new name; one that is more acceptable; one that doesn't jar; one that is acceptable to the city of London".
History is littered with leaders and leaderships who ignored at their peril ordinary men and women who sought only common justice and a better way of life.
We've got in real terms five million without a job and at least ten million below the poverty line. There are hundreds of thousands homeless. What an obscenity to witness on televiThe thing that concerns me most is the differing views emerging from the left elements within our movement. We have a certain group of MPs and magazines like Tribune coming out with new variations. The wordsmiths are working overtime to sell something that they believe will be acceptable to Tony Blair.
There is no alternative, nor should there be any alternative. It's the very soul of our party that's being attacked.
Down the line
No fancy words. No dressing up of the arguments. Straight down the line defend clause four - defend socialism.
I speak with the full support of the National Union of Mineworkers. We are committed to Clause Four because it is also part of our constitution.
I say to all those inside and outside Parliament, inside the party and the trade union movement "remember the struggle ever since the party was born". It has been on the basis that we are different from parties who support capitalism. Fully backing the clause: Arthur Scargill It is Clause Four that marks this party out from the Tories and Liberal Democrats. It establishes a clear identity and one that has seen victory in at least five different general elections.
We should fight to retain Clause Four in its entirety and demand that there are no changes. Not a dot. Not a comma. Not a word.
We should say to Tony Blair and to the leadership that we not only want to retain clause four but that we want you at the next general election to show our class the same loyalty and dedication that the Tories show to their class. You should help implement the kind of policies that will create an equal society. One where helplessness, unemployment and indignity will be consigned to the dustbin of history. Scargill speak on Clause IV: Manchester Friday Nov 18 7.30 Mechanics Institute Nottingham Friday Nov 25 7.30pm Congregational Hall, Castlegate Leeds Wednesday 7.30 Civic Hall
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No.72, November 19 1994, Page 5 NATHE strikers faced new