SOCIALIST ACTION'S attention is normally on the developments going on in the left of the labour movement. positive solution to Britain's crisis is going to emerge. are taking place in the right and 'soft left', which the left will ignore at its peril.
The first is the resurgence of the Labour right. The theoretical organisation of this is be ing carried out by the revamped New Statesman its new editor Statesman has firmly broken out of its woolly rut and been given a sharp new right wing cutting edge. In successive weeks it has carried articles against unilateral nuclear favour of tactical voting for the Liberals and SDP, in favour of the alliance with the United States, and joining in the attack against so-called looney councils. developed a sharp political cutting edge not seen on the Labour right for many years.
It is important to see where that has come John Lloyd was, editor of the Financial Times — as well as a guest contributor to Marxism Today. He is a reminder that the really powerful pro-coalition right wing force in the Labour Party is the right wing trade union bureaucrac none in the EETPU, Golding in the NCU the right wing of the parliamentary party. PLP right wing has also been in action with the publication Roy Freedom. The latter is evidently intended as the major intellectual statement Labour right EETPU, or NCU leaderships are committed to equality', Hattersley's than stout defence of their members differentials is rather laughable.
The other important development is inside the 'soft left'. In a major speech last week Tom Sawyer, deputy general secretary of NUPE, attempted to define a coherent soft left position in the unions, the Sawyer tries to take into account the increasing role of women and black people in the labour movement, loser, trade union links with the Labour Party.
But Sawyer was catastrophically wrong in how he saw these demands being taken up. While criticising the new realists, he sided with them in accepting the shackles on the trade unions proposed for a new Labour government.
If the unions are shackled there will be no defence of low paid workers — or anyone else for that matter. NUPE members should be seeking to bloc with Labour's campaign left, not the new realiststing out that the greatest mobilisation of support of women and black people around a union ever seen was in the miners strike led by the so-called economistic Arthur Scargill.
The other development on the soft left is the one we print at length on page three: the decision of the LCC Ireland to call for British withdrawal within the lifetime of one parliament. vote in our opinion. So far Labour's left has not succeeded in getting Ireland placed firmly on the political agenda in the way they have succeeded with Labour Party democracy, the demands of women, support for the black demand for the withdrawal of US bases. posed decision by the LCC opens up the way to joint work between the Labour Committee Ireland, Labour Left Liaison and the LCC to call for British withdrawal from Ireland. It is also lilkely to provoke a vicious backlash by the right wing of the LCC itself.
campaign together politically and organisationally the Campaign black-led left Labour councils like Haringey and Lambeth, and the influence of the LLL extending out into the student field. But it must do so in a where the where the 'soft left' is becoming increasingly incoherent.
It is here that a But significant developments John Lloyd. The New disarmament, in Statesman has of course, industrial the AEU leadership, HamThe Hattersley's book Choose of the resurgent although the idea that the AEU, central theme, rather realist right.
and the necessity of tighter, - and Sawyer was dishonest in not poinconsultative conterence This is an important community or the The proon left is itself - with Group forging closer links with right is strengthening and VOLCANIC pneumatic drill pummeling a bare rock face, chisel on an icy smooth granite tombstone hammering out its deadly message, apocalyptic musical accompaniment. Or, tor cinema goers, the information' you can icebergs svan floating menacingly above deep, dark, frozen The chosen images for the DaD.
public education' campaign AIDS imparts more information practices phobias the Thatcher cabinet than it does about the acquired immunity deficiency drome.
Leaving aside for a moment ne all-loo-readabie sexual imagery, this long resisted then diu vaunted media 'education' campaign is a bizarre combination of global admonishments to 'not ignore AIDS, it could be the death of you' with references to the fact that can acquire AIDS through sexual contact... full stop! Deaths After six years of peoProm suffering dying AIDS Britian alone, the first few weeks of long-awaited government action on AIDS has produced a campaign that palliative to a public out- MOTe than get vial Instead vital information "safer sex', high-risk sexual activity, preventative care, making help and advice easily avaiable - intormation specific heterosexual and gay men and women and to young people through our television screens we have received a series of coded signals about "sex' The well-publicised £20 million spent on this callpalgh years after the first record ed AIDS sutterer in Britain and five years after the establishment of the Terence Higgins Trust. The government has back Walkie! the number of sufferers to a recorded total of in December, 293 of whom have died already.
government ures, an estimated 4000 people will die of AIDS in Britain over the next three A clear and intor. mative campaign have prevented this rapid growth of the disease, and still can prevent a comgovernment. has made clear, with this campaign dedicated to innuen« accretion that it has no intention of willingsuch a cal paign, like that which has been left to a charity, the Terence Higgins Trust, to provide, combined with an intensive programme of research. Research ¡ervical Cancer
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THE GOVERNMENT TV and leafleting campaign on AIDS is now in full swing. It is turning out to be just as dismal and reactionary a flop that it promised to be. ANNE KANE reviews the campaign so far.