By Kumar Sen and Vanessa Wiseman possibilities for an alternative inquiry.
Although there was no agreement about setting up an alternative to Scarman they did agree to collaborate in a broad cmpaign for the derence ot Brixton.
Represented were the Brixton Defence CamSouth East Region Relations Committee, the London _Labour Party, the Labour Committee for the Defence of Labour Parties.
This initiative is likely to be supported by the ISLINGTON Central Labour Party has just submitted a motion to the annual Labour Party conference which calls on the next Labour government to immediately begin a process military withdrawal from Ireland.
motion also sels out what would have to be socialist Darl strategy. of withdrawal ie of the DipUne abolition lock courts; the repeal of the Preventior of Terrorism Act; and the reverprevious governments' legitimation of the Ulster Detence Association.
There glaring omission from this motion Ine political status for political orisoneis I Allaga anc H Block.
The story behind this omission contains imporlant lessons ior une icil l On the day that Bobby Sands died, the Labour Committee on Ireland (a body set up to campaign for a Labour Party policy withdrawal trom land and whose aims include political status) issued its model resolution for Labour Party conference.
There are two major criticisms to be made, the first being that its unfortunate wording.
nicalis that, if passed, would still fail to give the Labour Party a positive policy on Ireland; the second, that the reintroduction political speical category) status.
At the June meeting of Highbury ward Labour Party, a member of the LCI this resolution. And repeal of the PrA and Amendments reintroduction of political The LCI member accepted the first amendment and argued against the second.
In doing this, he implied that ihe important thing was to get a motion SEVERAL organisations met on 2 July at the invitation of the Lambeth Trades Union Council to discuss the defence of the arrested youths after the Brixton uprising. the opposition to the Scarman inquiry and to explore the and the Lambeth Council.
It was agreed that there was a need to tackle the issues or bonce tability, unemployment, the poor housing and the social service cuts caused Dy lory culs in Lamocill services.
The Labour Committee argued that an alternative inquirv should be organised to run parallel to scarman order mobilise support for the Brixton community and also to expose the vicious policing methods used in full pontical and on reland to and that the demand for political status would jeopardise this.
Many members of the ward considered him to be 'expert' on ireland and in the subsequent confused voting, elther abstained or voted against.
Ironically, he to prepolitical purity, serve his voted in favour of political status but the vote was lost Dy 19 10 10 Meanwhile ward which did not suffer the handicap of having an LCI member present, successfully amended the model LCI motion to include political status and a demand for the Labour Party to affiliate to the National H Blocks Campaign.
Mildmay ward rejected
the format of the LCI motion and passed the following: "This Conference recognises the evidence over number of years that the clear popular wish of the Irish people tavours withdrawal progres. towards a united Ireland.
we recognise that the election of Bobby Sands and of the People's Demoсгасу councillors most recent expression of a significant section of the population of the north of for Britain's withdrawal from the north of Ireland and for a united Conference therefore: 1. rejects the current bipartisan policies PI P leadership; 2 :adates the policies 'tressive British governuents which have effectively guaranteed the right of veto the Unionist minority in ensurHowever argued that such inquiry wouldn't help the youths arrested and that it NO C the previously published report prepared by Lambeth Council into police-community relations.
In addition they felt that such an inquiry would be prejudicial to the forthconning court proceedings.
The spokespeople felt that the major tasks are to legally defend the arrested, to counter the publicity ne meda de to lackie ine wider issues. This would De te bass ol ar oncone campaign on behalf of the Brixton community.
Jack Dromey for SERing that the present disastrous situation mains unresolved tion by the British govern- condemns the legitimament of the UDA and calls for the disarming of the UDA. 4. calls for the abolition of the Diplock courts. 5. calls for the reintroduction of political status for prisoners in H Block and Armagh. 6. calls on the next Labour government to immediate Iv begin a process oI lul. political and military withdrawal from Ireland.
At the General ManCommittee meeting, hecause pressure of time, the ward withdrew favour of the above However, the majority of Highbury delegates are firm believers in accounConference of Socialist Economists 1981 On the theme of Exploitation and Oppression -Rethinking Socialist Strategy Bradford University, July 17-19 Booking/details: CSE 16 St Alphonsus Rd, London SW4 20p 1hp post, bulk order inter 20p, cost 15p posta: order o Made payable Hackne! DUON Group Co ru bor Lonaor NI 2XP.
TUC spoke about the need for the labour movement to be self-critical about the failure to take up racism in ine past, out leil Inal Il wa premature ahead because of the lack of supblack DON Varlou.
organisations.
However, he said, there was need for positive action to raise arrested youth, to consider the broader present a counter report to Scarman He said that a campaign for greater police accountability was needed Everyone felt that was necessary to broaden the campaign especially among the youth of BrixLULI tability and felt obliged to an amendment demand political status.
This amendment passed by 25 votes to 24 with the majority of the Highbury ward's seven delegates voting reluctantly for it.
The amended motion was then passed by votes to 14.
There are four lessons to be learnt from this ex. perience:
strength about in the Labour Parti and the extent to which the argument On the Frontline Brixton A picket of Scarman is to be called.
For primer ormallor contact the Brixton Defence I MUST confess Campaign c/o Abeng Centre London Donations to the legal.
the fulldefence can be sent to Brixton Legal Defence Campaign c/o tel 01-733 4245. Lenire Brixton Road, SW.
own ruling class and calling on the workers in both iraq and Iran to turn the war into a civil war.
the representative the of the bazaaris and the Iranian petty-bourgeoisie.
Surely porters of permanent revolution cannot sub scribe to the theses that either the Islamic fundamentalists or the Iranian (or more precisely the Parsee bourgeoisie) can carry forward the struggle for democratic demands.
can only be achieved by the work. ing leadership of a Leninist There are short cuts The policy, pursued by SC till now is nothing else but somewhat distorted version of the Stalinist stagist theory of the revolution
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I won't Thatcher , STOP CRUISE MISSILES