The Conference held by the Network of Socialist Campaign Groups on 'A Socialist Strategy for Labour' on Saturday 3Ist May was only attended by about 80 people, most of them probably supporters of one formation or another.
i nis is an incication or the disarray of the Labour Left about the way forward, Nevertheless, important issues facing the Left both inside and outside the Labour Party were discussed. Key among these was the question of economic policy and the European single currency.
In the opening plenary both Alan Simpson, secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs, and Gill Lee, fresh from the British leg of the Euromarch, spoke of the importance of the Euromarch in shifting the debate on Maastricht and the single currency in the laDour movement.
A well-attended workshop on Labour, Europe and economic policy not only allowed for fuller analysis, but also for discussion of an internationalist, socialist alternative and whether we should only op. pose the convergence criteria or the single currency as such.
Links with other struggles were also highlighted, with speakers from the Liverpool dockers and the Southwark college strike, both of whom also spoke of the need for a campaign around the repeal of the anti-union laws.
Issues
Workshops on a variety of other issues such as local government, racism, women, lesbian and gay rights and the unions, showed both the range of issues which the left need to take up within the Party and the campaigns around which they need to be involved.
The plenary on Defending Party Democracy produced a lively discussion on the tactics involved in fighting the 'Labour into Power' proposals which would effectively abolish the right of CLPs and trade unions to influence party policy.
Pam Tatlow from the Labour Women's Action Committee pointed out how the Labour women's conference was being carved out of any input into the discussion, and Maria Exall from 'Keep the Link' pointed to some of the lessons of the way in which the 'Labour into Power' proposals were overwhelmingly defeated at CWU conterence.
While Ann Black from Labour Reform argued the need to submit amendments to the final 'Action Plan, and others saw some positive aspects of the proposals, the majority felt they should be rejected altogether.
A more nuanced debate took place around the issue of whether the Left should go for outright defeat of the proposals at conference or attempt to get a decision deferred for a year.
Many speakers felt that while we should argue for rejection, delay тЕН less demand and the deep recession of the early 1980s in Britain and the US.
New Labour's policy uses the monetarist idea that high interest rates keep down inflation by forcing money out of circulation. Labour's top priority is low inflation -not high New Labour thinks the Tories have let the economy grow too much. Labour's upcoming budget will add a new twist to their neoliberal policies. It is possible that tax allowances will be reduced, excise on fuel increased, mortgage relief cut, and BT included in the upcoming windfall tax.
These tax increases could give - as part of its effort to restore British capitalism. Gordon Brown's collapse is the quickest yet. was a useful fallback where this could not yet be won.
Alan Simpson and Ken Livingstone in the opening plenary, and Greg Tucker and Tony Benn in closing the conference spoke of the wider issues facing the Left following the eleccon victory, particularly how to campaign around key issues without cutting ourselves off from those who think Blair will deliver given time.
Ken Livingstone made clear that the Campaign Group of MPs has no intention of dissolving into a looser formation, and Tony Benn talked of the need for the refounding of the Labour Party, incorporating environmental groups, pensioners, peace "See how much better you can do without going to college? You've got a job, you're working in the great outdoors... What more could you ask?" the government an extra £6 billion. Unlike the classical monetarism of Margaret Thatcher, Labour is pledged to using much of this money to slightly inflate the economy, by putting an extra 250,000 into cheap labour schemes.
Reagonomics
Labour faces the same problem as Ronald Reagan's inconsistent experiment with monetarism. Reagan aimed to cut both taxes and the government deficit and bring down inflation.
But the deficit could not be cut. Income from taxes continued to rise. The increases in government spending provoked increases in interest rates from 1982.
It led to serious pressures on borrowers and forced companies into bankruptcy. It made central banks much more powerful in forming state policy, to the extent where the heads of the German and US central banks are presented as having more control over the economy than their governments!
It is quite possible that Labour will face the same dilemmas. Labour must increase taxes if it fails Stressing Euromarch: Alan Simpson campaigners as well as the trade unions.
However, this was left rather abact rather than spell out a strategy for the Left. to cut state spending. Higher taxes will mean less saving and more money in circulation.
The Bank of England will raise interest rates in order to prevent inflation. High interest rates will contract the economy, increasing the budget deficit still further.
The cycle can be temporarily avoided by a basic attack on state spending much more profound than that considered by the Conservative government.
Socialists argue for all banks, not just the Bank of England, to be nationalised and put under fully democratic control. Parliament's Treasury Select Committee could be expanded to include delegates elected by trades unions, women's organisations, consumer groups, the unemployed groups combating homelessness, environmental bodies and every other part of society.
These elected representatives should ensure banking works for full employment, invests in community projects, develops fair trade with countries in the East and the South and serves the interests of working people in this country and abroad.