Dave Mcleod (T&GWU)
On March 22nd - the day after Lord Underhill published his witch-hunting report into the Militant tendency - leading Labour rightwingers pitched into the internal debate in the Labour Party.
Adding his voice to the campaign being waged by figures such as Shirley Williams and David Owen, Neville Sanderson proclaimed that "..the worm has eaten so far into the apple that it is now rotten". His witch-hunting speech, which called for the expulsion of the Militant tendency, was published widely in the Tory press, anxious to support their right-wing allies. DESPERATION The heat in Sanderson's attack is a measure of the desperation now creeping into the manoeuvres of the pro-Callaghan right-wing. While singling out the 'Militant' current for special venom, what they are really hitting out at is the overall shift to the left that has developed in the party in revulsion at Last January, Tottenham CLP Callaghan's pro-capitalist policies.
These policies - which lost Labour the last election - alienated thousands of Labour activists and supporters. Moreover, that alienation has deepened as it has become increasingly obvious that Callaghan has no intention of leading a real fight-back against the Thatcher government.
On the contrary, while limiting opposition to Parliamentary debatescoring, he has directed his main criticism against those trade unionists - such as the steel pickets - fighting to defend their jobs and living standards.
CONFERENCE Opposition to the Callaghan leadership could be seen most clearly at the last conference where significant victories were chalked up against him on the question of democracy. To curb MPs calmly overturning conference decisions, mandatory re-selection was agreed upon and discussion even extended to the question of whether conference -and not the 300-odd MPs - should elect the party leader.
Moreover, since the conference, further moves towards internal democracy have occurred. The NEC for example, recently voted against the proposal to publish Underhill's witch-hunting report into "infiltration' of the party. Even worse, for the right-wing, was the NEC decision to put that vote into practice by rejecting the expulsion of Ted Heslin, one-time EC member of the Oxford CLP and self-proclaimed Trotskyist.
Such moves show the increasing isolation of the right-wing as the mainstream of the party accepts the need for democratic internal debate as the way forward in deciding party policy. The fact that Eric Heffer, speaking at last month's YS rally could refer to Williams and her friends as a Tory 'fifth column in Labour's ranks' shows tactics are not likely to succeed. Labour party and trade union of the Callaghan government -the right to present its ideas for notion of 'democracy' seen by more and more labour activists as an elementary right.
LOYALTY been preparing an escape route. Figures from Bill Rodgers to Roy Jenkins are, it seems, already sounding out "moderate' opinion the party and either allying with the Liberals or setting up a third pally.
Just how many potential Mayhews and Prentices there are sitting on the opposition benches does not figure in the Guardian report. What does figure is the clear contempt for democracy among Labour's oh-so-democratic right-wing. As far as they are concerned, if they can't dictate to the party, they will wash their hands of it and walk away. just who are the 'fifth column' in Labour's ranks? The marxist left, which has remained loyal through figures who are willing to split and