1983 WILL BE remembered as a fateful year. The year of US imperialism renewing its role as world cop in America. The year of the Tories romping home to a second term of office.in the dection. This rightward shift is the background to all the current witch hunts.
It has given the green light to employers to root troublemakers' as at British Leyland. It has opened the door to further attacks on civil liberties through the extension of police powers and surveillance. It has prompted the ¿bureaucrats to start a purge of any opposition to the TUC's right strategy. Every now a target, and organised resistance is vital.
The Tories desperately need to drive down workers' living standards still further. The economy is in a dreadful state and getting worse. The miraculous pre-election boom has disappeared, exposed as a votewinning con. Inflation is up, production estimates are being revised down, jobless keep rising despite Tebbit fiddling the figures. Three per norms, further cuts in welfare services and the NHS and hiving off profitable state concerns British Telecom to the City are centrai projects for the government.
Bitter But these plans will meet bitter resistance from many rank and file workers. They will turn to their unions, their shop stewards mittees, and to the Labour Party to oppose these attacks. There too the Tories and the employers have plans up their sleeves pulsory secret ballots strikes, ballots on the political levy inking the unions and the Labour Party, and moves to weaken shop floor organisation in favour of 'incorporating' the official structures and officials.
Opposing privatisation and the Tebbit proposals are vital tasks for the left. But incidents like the infamous 'mole hunt' at Cowley used as an excuse to attack a militant work force and its stewards committee — will also be on the increase.
the build a Central against political victimisation.
to worry about.
remember just after the out should drop disarmament, if it was to government again.
Policies
wing don't immediately socialist is some others! numbers . Colll" Day tion with Alliance to get the Tories out. like Thatcher SO across the parties, which will Labour leaders aim to launch comTribune, combefore Labour left.
The shop Socialist Action 30 September 1983 tack:
premises alleged cillors, Every union activist is a 'mole' to the Tories and the bosses. That's why the left must respond to the appeal by Alex Lyon ment. national campaign But socialists have more than just the Tories and the employers There has also been serious rethinking within the labour movement since the general my general management committee discussion election result. paper was circulated by a right wing delegate arguing that Labour unilateral nuclear opposition to the EEC and to incomes policy, and concern with issues like gay rights, become a party of In other words if the electorate like your policies then drop them and find This right wing has balance sheet of the election result, blaming the left and its policies for the defeat, has been adopted by the TUC leaders at their recent conRather than rebuilding Labour as a mass campaigning party with more socialist policies, the majority of the TUC have now consciously adopted the reverse approach. They have opted for a move to the right and a course towards coalithe SDP/Liberals But just as the Tories will meet resistance to their austerity plans, and Labour bureaucrats will not find it easy to drag Labour to the right and coalitionism. A massive left wing exists movement, especially within the constituency oppose this strategy. That's why the union and massive witch hunt against the left.
But the Labour leaders are not stupid. They will not take on Benn, Scargill and the best known lefts straight away. After all they have a few years to carry through this project. They will start with those which have the least support within the broad Bennite left, and having disposed of them move on to bigger fish. The witch hunt will not be skin deep this time - it, aims eventually to crush the whole Switch. hunt is already underway in many areas without many comrades on the left realising it. Not only have the five editorial board members of Militant been expelled, many more are under at• Sales of Militant have now been banned from all party meetings and - party members locally face expulsion for defying the ban • The NEC, having refused to admit Tariq Ali into membership on the grounds that he used to be a member of the International Marxist Group, now plans to expel him • Wythenshawe Labour Party has been, suspended for months 'irregularities' over refusal to select right wing counand now chair Alf Home faces expulsion for allegedly speaking at a WRP rally • The LPYS as a whole had its budget cut amid threats of closure due to its strong Militant involveTọ carry through the witch hunt the party leadership seems set on banning certain left publications threatening disaffiliation parties which refuse to comply with this or with NEC expulsions. Banning left newspapers has always been the decisive step in previous witch hunts in the Labour Party.
The broadest possible opposition to such steps must be organised by Labour Against the Witch Hunt and every section of the left. Socialists inside CND also face a witch hunt. As the CND leadership tries to force the 'nuclear freeze slogan on to the peace movement instead of unilateralism and cruise, so it has gone on the offensive against all those on the left who oppose this right wing shift. That's why the CND leadership wound up Youth CND, and why it pul four executive members with veto powers Labour CND executive. And that's why CND leadership was not slow to join in the press 'mole hunt' last month as part of its against opposition inside CND.
A vital part of defence against the witch hunt must be organising the left throughout movement. In many unions broad left currents have emerged committed to greater union democracy and left wing policies. black trade unionists often play a for leading role in these developments. its The Labour left has taken the initiative in workplace strengthen the links between the party and the unions.
Within the Labour Party itself local Labour lefts have re-emerged often linked to the Briefing journal, which has now launched its first national developments should be welcomed as crucial steps in organise the left to resist the right wing onslaught. to left wing movement needed, within both the unions and the Labour Party.
The witch hunt will not go away inside society as a whole. It is too important for the ruling class and their Tory government to break the back of any organised resistance to austerity within the working class. But nor will it go away within the Labour Party, as many comrades wrongly suggest, because Kinnock is Party leader with a left NEC.
The majority of the Labour and no leaderships are absolutely determined to crush onto campaign the Women some areas to start branches bulletin. Such the fight to A new national is urgently the left's this THE