Labour Party and for them to believe mey nave the power to do so is sheer adventurism. There is a long hard fight w vc gone lirouga ocrore lnose Tully supporting struggles such as the miners win a majority in the labour movement.
Tony Benn would of course attract a support far wider than simply strong supporters or the miners. But the rela tion of forces in favour of Neil Kinnock, even if one does not like it, was clearly expressed in 1983. There is no reason to believe there has been any Fundamental shift on this — and we do not agree with those (for example the Campaign for Детостасу), who say that regular use of channels for electing the leadership is aver.
Actually a challenge to Neil Kinnock today would simply result in an under-representation of the strength of the left wing of the labour movement. Whole sections of people who do support the lett would simply not vote for a candidate such as Tony Benn because they disagreed with him but because they thought that this was not the right issue at the right time.
This means essentially that we agree with the attitude adopted Benn and the Campaign group of MPs: that a key fight today is not around the leadership of the party. Socialist Action expressed that view two years ago. The key fights are against Thatcher to put the Labour Party clearly behind those in struggle, to fight for new alternative policies which actually would defend the interests of the working class and oppressed, and to carry through the lecisive fight for the demands of the Women's Action Committee and black sections. These areas, which are entirely complementary with those of securing a Labour government at the next election, are the areas on which attention should be concentrated.
It is not because of non-existent campaigns. for the leadership precisely because the left wing of the party concentrated on these activities that it has come under attack. Taking some of the concrete areas will make the situation clearer.
Firstly as regards supporting struggles we, of course, now have an example which beats anything seen for sixty years. Ine support movement tor the miners was rightly described by Financial Times as 'the greatest civilian mobilisation since the Second World War .
smaller scale, to every struggle.
ner, and the Campaign done. view paign group substitute for the miners, miners what to do. It miners - together, activists and trade not have been doing.
activity is regardless of whether wants it or not.
Tony Campaign Labour Party being launched on them.
La priority for the entire party.
still inadequate.
but Wing the miners' be solidated.
role whatever to play in Ireland.
ine Naturally a movement on the scale of that for the miners cannot be built for anthing except the greatest struggles. But the basic lessons shown by the miners strike — intransizent leadershin basing itself on mass mobilisations and democratically organised support activity, real social alliances being built around the strike — can be applied, if necessarily on a In that not merely Arthur Scargill, Peter Heathfield and the NUM leadership but also Tony Benn, Dennis Skingroup of MPs gave an examole or what should be As Tony Benn put it in an interwith Socialist Action the cam• did NOL attempt or tell the supported the still more importantly, with hundreds of thousands of Tony belm and Dennis skinner gave an example of what Neil Kinnock should The left wing of the labour movement has to ensure that carried on quite Neil Kinnock Because once the labour movement stops defending the working class and its allies it is dead.
The second great issue is that of representivity of the Labour Party its role as a real mass party of labour. It is absolutely vital that the present mass affiliation which are the core of the - the trade union affiliation — is defended against the attacks national This means winning the vote on the political levy is Bin degexist five key quions Luciulis must be decided as the basis of the șocial alliances on which a popular majority for socialism can be achieved — alliances which came into existence durstrike in struggle but organisationally conThe first is a negative. Labour must recognise that Britain has no positive complete unequivocable commitment that a Labour government will take Britain out of Ireland must be adopted. Any movement for the Labour Party to mittee organise in the north of Ireland must be totally rejected. Complete withdrawal is the sole basis for Labour to make one of the most vital alliances of the entire British struggle for socialism alliance between the British working class and the people of Ireland.
The second key alliance is the interworking struggle.
Labour must develop its solidarity with those fighting the United States in Central America, those fighting apartheid in South Africa, and all those fighting imperialist wars and nuclear weapons throughout the world.
The third key alliance for Labour to function as a real 'party of labour' is women. The grotesque situation where men, the trade union leaderships, elect the women's places on the NEC must be ended. It appears even more in its shameful light after the incredible role of Women Against Pit Closures in the Election of the women's places on the NEC by the women's conterence, and the meeting of all the other demands of the Women's Action Commust be achieved. Women Against Pit Closures should be accepted for affiliation to the Labour On black sections the situation is equally clear. The phenalia of loyalty oaths now demanded against black sections shows just how far the Kinnock machine is prepared to go.
The only way the leadership is going to be taught sense on this matter is by having a mass revolt on Whites have no right anyway to determine whether blacks want to organise themselves or not. right to do so in an organised relation to the labour movemen elementary requirement of socialists.
Photo: JOHN HARRIS (Report)
These granting of the most elementary demands of self organisation of women and blacks would do far more to bring the Labour Partv into line with the changing composition of the working class than any theoretical demoralisation which is currently adorning the pages of Marxism Today, New Socialist and other journals.
Fifthly the party must build a mass youth organisation. Here the complete inability of Militant to build on the huge potentla young people was shown more clearly than ever before at this year's LPYS conference. After greatest working class struggle outside the war for sixty years the LPYS emerged smaller than it was before!
The reason for this complete failure is the politics of Militant itself. Militant loathed the politics which emerged in the miners women's self-organisation, self-organisation, the united work.
The entire strike went in the opposite direction to that which Militant sees the class struggle going in. As the strike intensified it saw not an increased concentration on economic questions but the struggle turning into a 'carnival of the oppressed'. It saw the emergence of a lett wing of the labour movement going far to the left of Militant. It is our of this left wing that a mass LPYS can be built.
The third key area for the left is that of policy. disagree with others, of the key policies which are being put forward by the the dubious are at.
such as Tony on the left.
grotesque pap- lent in lne being ongoing basis its hands.
Support of their is the most such priorities miners, against America, tivity.
amount of the pontificating among made by the left.
• 12 months of the in Taken They hated the the black policy non-sectarian front nature of the support attack in societv.
stitutional ment politics miners' We agree with some, the right, that Socialist Action 10 May 1985 campaign coupled with organisational aspects, indicates clearly this campaign is not a serious one for organising the left.
Ultra-left Labour Briefing likewise has being basing its perspective on a quite ultraleft and exaggerated view of where we The editorial statement in its May issue also seems to fall into a sec tarian project of calling for a candidate Benn running against Kinnock. This is made clearly explicit in a letter circulated by Labour Briefing to various newspapers and organisations The Labour Herald or the Briefing initiatives are sectarian and ultra-left on all these issues. They reflect the fac that we are not at the level or cross sea toral and cross issue organisation of the movement on an The real priority at the present time Is supporting the struggles which con tinue to break out and developing the various serious single issue campaigns and organisations which have grown in the labour movement. This of course with defending the political levy, and building the women's. black and youth organisations of the party There are of course many fields for single issue campaigning. Top LOUR However defence of victimised and imprisoned launching a mass : campaign US intervention in Central continuing to build CND building the National Abortion Cam paign, building the Labour Committee on Ireland and similar key areas of acIt is in these three fields - supporting all those in struggle against Thatcher, opening up the discussion in the party on policy, campaigning to defend and build up the mass affiliations to self-organisation within the Laobur Party and labour movement — that the priorities for the labour move. ment lie and where the gains are to be They do not lie in il lusory views that it is today possible to organise the entire left across the party sectarian campaigns demanding that someone run against Neil Kinnock for leader of the party.
these policies amount to the fight for the labour put forward a hegemonic strategy for society. It is a which can only be based on defending the interests of those under It is a policy which transforms the social alliances created in embryo around the miners' strike, for example, into a permanent and in feature of move • and transmits them to the level of the whole of society and not just that of an individual strike.
It is precisely because during the strike the Labour movement and working class did show elements of an alternative to the path being follow ed by Kinnock, and because Kinnock himself is going further and further to diversions of the Ben without Benn' type have beer
Socialist Action 10 May 1985
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AND RAPHAEL SAMUEL • EMMA GOLDMAN WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE WAR MUM? ARGENTINA'S DEMOCRACY AT RISK • FASCIST CHIC