Blackpool was a disaster.
The reasons for their common conclusion are listed in It notes that the conference passed mandatory reselection and the widening franchise leader, right wing and the trade union leaders into cisarray.
The conference rejected kind of incomes policy,_ ally callea Ior wilnarawal Iron. the EEC, 35-hour week without IOSS pay, and scrapping Britain's nuclear wcasulls.
Although the attempt to widen the franchise was thwarted by the trade union leaderships refusal to permit conference to decide on method to implement this the best delaying tactic available was a fresh conference in January.
This future government. ine allacks after the TUC Congress were HOL conceived of the right. be disciplined for rocking the 1uc boat which was steering by trom anv controntation with the LAURIE SPARHA the on the electoral college the Tories. The 'no action' deal dominating the forced the Labour sharpen its attack on the TU right. the They had to step up their appeals to the unions; secondly they had to tie their fight to a much clearer set of policies, tailored to win support in the unions - a plan of
Labour action which
Challenge has argued for.
on Channe purge was registered Chapple was to proach at Blackpool. SummWing up on the debate about the control of consensus away Tony Benn made a dramatic appeal to the ERIC HEFFER - proposing the NEC's motion leadership, nim in the Blackpool Winte left to Gardens.
He said that with the approach unions on many issues and did they not agree ulal to get government achion on these control of the manifesto was required? HIS ~ Socialist just too consistently union DIOCK A significant step forward of the manifesto. for this ap- But his year manifesto, ficials, trade union didate Bob up with the many of the issues ference. other for the left, trade union how to relain exercise socialist should be in with him democratic appeal came taken into the unions.
clearVictory tant.
the day of a large allow the Margaret underwear.
late, and the trade vote killed the motion on democratic control of meetings wl me regona committees the combines, the district of culaure rallies with AUEW presidential canWright, partly paid off. The left in the concompletely behind Benn, managed to link union • vote on most important conwords, defeats delivered by the unions block vote, were not at all the diet of this year's conference.
A link up between the left be fought. in the Labour Party and the leadership pape policies the last constitutional changes far in the Labour Party in 1918.
that link up is the overriding and deepen In the the sighted of Labour's lefts.
Some folk have been say- tacks ing it is the amount of in fluence that the trade unions ranks vote that is the problem for through the block alive and Their answer is to their toll. dismantle the block vote. This notion should be emphaticalThis po bot was dramatically bureaucratic behest. of the maximum trade unior fight for democracy must be against the proposed means of electing The next day the badge was adorning the chests of hundreds of delegates. It TWO more quotes from the CLV meeting 'There is an element of fanaticism in the party which wants no compromise' Shirley Williams. 'It's time the comhunting speech by right winger Andrew Faulds at the conference, the left winger Reg Race MP applied a nice touch when he opened a fringe meeting the same 'Fellow infiltrators, SEXIST of the conference was the MiliThroughout the proceedings sup. porters or inis journar were seling copies poster which portrayed Thatcher in grotesque Few delegates seemed to be buying SMILES and grimaces: the platform looks on conference has passed left reformist policies - • Labour's left ship and implement their programme thev need the sup port of the most important It that the decide the fate of Labour's left wing and its policies must The trap is that for future Labour Government will be as the present union leadership go.
meantime Tory attacks on the working class will continue unabated, danger increases that these atwill go unanswered.
While the fighting spirit in the is, for moment, well, retreats would eventually take A victory for the left in the unions in the fight against this positions of the Labour lefts policies are either inadequate of just wrong, like the supout, in the course of the strugleft to apply socialist policies - voted against all proposals.
discussion now practised a wonderful thing?
Such a course will bring the movement slap up against the right-wing leadership of the trade unions. And they are the key log jam to any ad vance for the left Joint Labour Party/ trade against Tories is the call of Socialist the campaign against missile madness shows how opposition to the missiles can be turned into action against me ones necame co ference against the cuts offers a similar perspective.
The same approach is vital on unemployment. The ocCurato! of the Gardner's factory in Manchester against 10b lOSS must be the focal point for a massive campaign of support and solidarity at every level within the labour movement.
Mons atones and Tore demonstration, and Labour Co-ordinating Com ideal launching pads for th pay. big national gatherLabour's conference to of LP conference electing the Header whole of the workers' movebarometers of public opinion,' he claim ed. But what public opinion? Terry supplied the answer: 'What I am glad about is that the CBI view is now playing our LAST thought on the union block vote AUEW were mandated on the principle of DuL Once me coolwo contro the conference the question arose, did the mandate still apply when it came to working out the details of the election.
Yes, according to Terry Duffy, who — without consultation with his delegates No, said Clive Jenkins of ASTMS who took the issue to his delegation where a was held on vote. Jenkins persuaded them to vote No to both. Isn't Labour Party democracy as