the platform.
Labour Party can now be taken forward. I WAS brought up to believe, very strongly. from my father that the partition of Ireland was a crime.
And when I look back on the debates in the House Commons at the time of the or censure hat he thored, and НАЛОВ А І the amendments to the King's Speech, he regarded the work of the Lloyd George government on Ireland as one of the nackad pasodes malars imperial history.
My view has never altered on that and I must say quite plainly and quite clearly that although I have never had governmental responsibility Socialist Challenge 16 October 1980 Page 6 ON 2 October, at a fringe meeting held at the Labour Party conference under the auspices of the Labour Committee on reland, Tony Benn spelt out his views on reland for the first time.
With a few grammatical changes, here is the full transcript of his speech. The hecklers were loyalist-minded members of the Northern Ireland The specific reference to Jock Stallard is explained by Stallard s presence on In a subsequent issue, Socialist Challenge will discuss how the campaign on reland within the in that field, vanea in my view ullal lere was no future for a policy based upon partition, future for peace and cooperation in Ireland that did not include a clear presentation of an alternative perspective of of re-unification and dence If I say no more than that I will nave discharged obligation to my father and to those whom he supported. as simple as that, things have happened then. . I sạt in the 1969 cabinet were sent in and I remember Lue u clearly the discussions in that cabinet — and they were anguished — as time to save the population from the excesses of the B Specials and others I'm wrong, warmth of reception for the troops Catholic then we got escalating violence and the more that I have seen and thought about ll, une more 1 nave occonic persuaded that future for that policy and that that policy must change.
Failure
I have never Stallard who over this whole period have not been as silent as I and others have been, who have been against very unfavourable cirindepencumstances That theker ot hope been kept alive. there are a lot of people now, including Chose never thought about or who have no deep, inherited combecause mitment to Sincf aepenaence and recognise the failure ine trooDs policy. anguished couple of areas in which that failure has become apparent