ONE OF the best tests of any polemic is to find out how honest its arguments are. Polemicists with something to say go right to the heart of the matter, concentrate on their opponents strong points of argument, accurately criticising have to say, and then refute their antagonists most serious arguments.
A debater with nothing to say necessarily engages in trivia, points, avoids dealing with the main issues, and continuously misrepresents their opponent -thus depriving themselves of any possibility of influencing their antagonist and dragging the entire discussion downwards, Judged by these standards Patrick Seyd's widely reported article Bennism without Benn in the May issue of New lamentable piece. There's indeed a great deal to be discussed-in the present Labour Party the political situation in the coun try, and the recomposition of the labour movement.
Fitting topics themselves would include, for example, how do get rid of the unemployement? How do we eliminate rising poverty! How do nuclear war? How do we stop the policies of ag gression being carried out by the United States in Central America? How do we get the imprisoned miners out of jail and get those victimised their jobs back? How to fight for the liberation of women? How to get Britain out of Ireland? How to fight the rising scourge of racism? These are SSUES millions of people.
Seyd however chooses to addresses himself to none of these matters. Instead, in page after page, he treats us to such delectable pieces of information as that Dennis Skinner is supposedly a 'bully' (tell that to the tens of thousands of miners he has spoken in support of.), power' has been 'enhanced', has taken the lead and Benn and the rest of the left have backed him'. We are treated to a great deal of statements allegedly made at private dinThis type of debate has no place whatsoever in any serious political discussion. The positions for polemicised against have nothing to do with his private utterances, whether he raises his voice or not. That is for a rather sordid type of gossip columnist, not a proposal for a political debate.
The positions for which Neil Kinnock should be, everyone - his refusal to speak at the five national rallies of the NUM to which he was invited, token appearance on a picket line, his declared view that the anti-democratic laws on rate capping membership of NATO, his refusal to support black sections and so on.
The fact that Seyd should find it necessary to resort to because he wants to avoid the basic political The real reason that Tony Benn, Dennis Skinner and others are under attack has got nothing to do with the matters to which Seyd devotes a major part of his article. It is to do with the fact that they defended, totally down the line, miners and others in struggle.
Arthur Scargill, whom Seyd also picks out for oblique attack, led 140,000 miners, and tens of thousands of supporters, in a struggle to defend jobs when others, such as Sirs, ran away and became a policing agency of employers destroyprice than the slanders against Benn, Skinner, prison. That is why there is 'division'.
We will come back to these matters of policy, again In failing to address the real issues which confront the labour movement, the new grouping -. the Bennites without Benn - for whom Patrick Seyd's article is written has got off to a very inauspicious start indeed.
present what those they are concentrates on secondary Socialist is a pretty politics of the that immediately suggest horror of mass we prevent annintation which affect the lives of literally or the issue of whether he is a bully this sort of tittle-tattle is simply struggle, again and ecause they are what counts in politics. CAROL TURNER looks at the prospects of a reemergence of the policies of capitalism as the predominant ideology of Labour under the leadership of Kinnock.
AT the turn of the decade new elements began to join the Labour Party in increasing numbers - peace Canvalucis activists from the women's movement, and more recently, black activists. They saw the opportunity CLO turn Labour, into their party, and added their weight to demands for radical polIcies countability of Labour's representatives.
This helped speed up the leftward shift in the At the same time there has been increasing differentiation within the left. Despite successes, that battle is far from over.
managing welfare exclusive of the so More recently, an oath of loyalty has been introduced to invalidate reselections in constituencies where black section delegates take part, contain the mands of black activists.
At the same time come moves on the policy front. Kinnock has mage. nis first, cautious, statement on coalition -2107010Ved it up by Labour's participation in the all-party committee on unemploy-