political agenda. IT IS VERY important to understand the nature of a society based on fear. Those who deny class, invent illusions and denounce anyone who talks about full employment. universal welfare or free health and education as extremist, in reality work compicicly at tac com- left. mand of the international financial markets.
When sterling drops three points, they close hospitals and "confidence is restored".
It is not hard to realise that this is not an attack on socialist locology but an alack on democracy. There is an article in the Financial Times, written by the BBC World Service cconomics correspondent be better if the countries were run by companies rainer that AFTER A LULL of several years, the Labour Party bureaucracy have restarted the witch hunt against the The lull did not mean that they had ment. become more tolerant. Rather they hoped that the weakened left would censor itself, give up in despair, or be swamped by the wave of recruits who are expected to toe the Blair line.
The atmosphere of witch hunting has not been much below the surface. Critics are dismissed as being "in need of therapy". selected by Leeds North East CLP as its prospective parliamentary candidate, is another expression of this mood.
She has been accused of all sorts of things. The latest dossier "proved" that she was a Trotskyist because she has been on the Labour Briefing board. submit emergency resolutions to party conference demanding Liz's endorseThe Walsall parties have also encountered the rouch edge of Blair's hand-not for making redundancies among the council workforce (New Labour has no problem with sacking workers), but for trying to make the Labour Group accountable to the District Labour Party.
The biggest witch hunt of all has been against black members. Four Birmingham CLPs are suspended. The Gorton has been suspended, along with several individuals. Witch-hunt victim Liz Davies It is estimated that as many as 5,000 people have been either suspended or had their membership refused, with 90 per cent of them black The Campaign Against Labour Party Suspensions (CALPS) has been recently formed to fight these injustices.
Photo: Tribute It is clear that the party leadership is maving on from hoping to marginalise the left, black members and trades unionists to a policy of actively crushing We need to make sure they meet the maximum resistance.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 91, October 7 1995, Page 4.