of the sitting MP. Why would you make a better MP?
Stanley Clinton Davis and his style in the many years that he has been the MP for Hackney Central, epitomises wnal 1s wrong within the movement.
That is, that people who have held office in the labour movement have always taken to themselves certain rights and privileges.
They have the arbitrary capacity to accept or reject the views of the party that they represent.
Davis is totally against any mandation by his party at any level and says that at the end of the day he's independent and that his integrity will dictate that he is answerable only to himself.
Now if the labour movement were to tolerate that kind of situation then I think we would have the dichotomv between a party that would say one thing but its representatives would be doing something else, as a number of Labour governments have demonstrated in the last 10-15 vears Wilson and Callaghan are prime examples of this. They paid lip service to the party conferences which have largely been progressive.
They nave even gone so tar as to put progressive policies manifesto at election time.
But after the election they totally ignore the manifesto and the policies of the party and go on to sustain capitalism.
This has happened because the movement has made the concessions to allow these people to be a law unto themselves.
Stanley Clinton Davis epitomises that. My challenge to him is mainly on the question of accountability.
have fundamental disagreements with him over issues such as his multilateralist position on nuclear disarmament, Ireland, and public ownership.
If selected I quite categorically say that I will be mandated and accountable to the party.
I see the position of an MP as no more or no less as a delegate from the party to parliament to carry out the wishes of the party.
Is that actually the case? Your constituency party is mainly white with many racist views.
It's not at all excluded that the party could take very wrong posi tions on, say the Nationality Bill, or other things that particularly affact black people.
How would you see a confrontation between yourself as a black MP and your insistence countability?
It wouldn't necessarily be a comfortable life to actually tell yourself and your party that you stand for mandaracist and Labour councillor in the East LonHe is challenging the sitting MP, Stanley Clinton Davis, in a four way reselection contion when it could mean that the party and you disagree on Issuco.
But I see it as a viable partnership between YOU political dialogue — with active participation and raising consciousness on the various issues that are concernlabour ed with greater mobilisation into the vally.
At the end of the day if there was still a fundamental disagreement, I couldn't see myselt continuing represent a party or being a party spokesperson over questions I fundamentally disagree with.
The question of partnership cannot be viewed as a stagnant one. where one represents a party and its policles in a bassive sense It must be an active relationship and one should pav a kev role in moulding the views of the party in the process of representing it.
Would you say that you are part of the Benn current? Do you identify yourself that way?
You stand for nationalisation of the means of production and talk about shifting the wealth in the the interests of working and various other ideas that are associated with Benn.
The one big difference is on the issue of import controls, which their you re against.
Whether I'm part of the Benn current is not the important thing.
party LO people strand of thinking within the Labour Party at this time, but in no way is this current a unanimous brand of thinking.
Defence of Brick Lane in East London one of the most important campaigns for the black community Patrick Kodakara is from Sri Lanka and worked for a while in Singapore where he was involved in socialist activities for which he was thrown out of the country.
He has lived in Britain for twelve years and has been a Labour councillor for three and a half years.
He is a member of the Council for Racial Equality and the National Association of Local Government Workers.
This current represents a major liberation struggle.
For instance on the question of I have roW know ferent Ireland the Labour Party position is the not 'Troops Out' whereas I'm firmly same. committed to that and to recognising the struggle in Ireland as a nationa difference of opinion The Socialist Challenge been fought on that issue The issue has not been highlighted and has not been faced.
It has to a great extent been postponed.
On the question of the alternative economic strategy the trade unions, the TUC and the Labour Party are now calling out for import controls.
I feel that this position is too nationalistic.
Because economic pro. blems of this country which are essen generated by the capitalist system this doesn't mean thai whole trend can be reversed by pulling down all the shutters and going into isolation In terms of trading patterns, of output, of whole economic development Britain has to be seen as part of the total world, especially the Third World.
Import controls in the context of preferential treatment for goods as opposed to goods coming from outside could seriously damage the budding aspirations of countries in the Third World who are struggling to achieve a certain economic base through export.
If a socialist in one country ac. cepts import controls and so does one in another, in effect you outlaw internationalism which is basic to any socialist outlook How do you see mobilising people on rates or race or whatever. For example black people in the area vote Labour but broadly speaking they're not in the party? Yet we that it's only by people organising in their own interests they are ever going to advance Black people are organised at ditlevels, sometimes not very politically, but organised all the same So far, because of their general experience in this society where they have been discriminated agains. Can! people feel rejected and alienated.
1 inink une way black peopic ".. be brought into the mainstream political activity will be when the Labour Party is seen to be activel and sincerely interested in promoting equality moves to outlaw Another way is for the movement itself to embrace within its fold black people at all levels not just as foot soldiers.
Up to now the experience has been Line congress had just a handful of black faces with Labour •Party conference the Black people watching these events feel - well, look these places are not places for black people.
I think that it is not enough for the Labour Party and the trade unions to say black people must participate but at the end of the day 'participation' is defined as support for the white male leadership of these bodies.
This is not to say that somehow if I were elected as MP that I alone would be able to further the cause of black people or for that matter the cause of the working class struggle by bringing more black people into active participation in that struggle It is going to be a long hard road ahead but nevertheless these are a few ways of symbolically showing black people movemenl business about multi-racialism.
What are the issues you think are important?
most important issue for any socialist programme is who controls the economy, the means of produc tion, distribution and exchange.
I but the question of nationalisa tion very high in my programme bu state capitalism we've known in 3 cent years.
very important issi which needs solving is the achie/s ment of the goals of various liberatio wolfelt, minorities and gays. I feel these issue: can't be postponed until a socialisi society but need attertion now 5 November 1981
----- pull-quotes -----
don borough of Hackney Central. test to be decided on 12 November. You're contesting the nomination
TONI GORTON spoke to Patrick about his reasons for standing and what he thinks the