CND's annual conference in London. year's CND coined the slogan 'towards a demonstration of a quarter of a million'. demonstration has taken place, the culmination of a year of massive growth of the anti-missiles movement.
eMass were from CND aelegales were nom groups and regions. While decisions reflected LICH the experience of the last yal. they also showed that not all the lessons of the rebirth of CND have been learned.
Among the most positive decisions conference were those to re-affirm camaignıng opposition to ATO and to call for an internationally coordinated day of action against the missiles. This would aim to mobilise five TAR TONI people on Lne streets of Europe. NATO The decision on NATO is significant, despite being 'only' a re-affirmation CND policy. Powerful friends CND In the Labour leadership support rmamen' Socialist Challenge HUNDREDS of delegates met last weekend at At last conference Socialist Challenge One year later that unilateral but are opposed to withdrawal from NATO. Indeed this has been the decision of the Labour rarty conference years running.
Although the resolution was moved bv communist Party member John Elliot delegate Sheffield CND, members of the Party the conference opposed the Icsolullull. on the gounds that withdrawal NATO would leave the peace movement 'isolated'!
opposition NATO reflected a year's experience of the realities Nobody in Ine aebate aerenaed the idea that the Soviet Union and the United States were 'equally responsible' for the arms race.
The discussion on an international day of action 18 November 1981 against the missiles was in mine conference The conference. The proposal for such a day of action was moved by Redmond O'Neill Greater Manchester CND, who argued for the action to be co-ordinated with a joint CND-TUC-Labour Party demonstration Britain.
CND national council member Alasdair Beal argued DIO posal on the grounds that CND could not 'impose" such action on movements in other counYouth tries, and that the proposal represented arlogance O'Neill replied that the proposal, representing rogance represented 'the spirit of internationalism' The proposal was over whelmingly carried, reflecting an increased grasp of the power and potential of Some of the problems were shown however in the debates on youth and the labour movement. In the debate LIC labour HAVERUNS movement detailed resolution was moved by Kevin Holmes, ting Edinburgh CND. He slogan tor a campaign for support the lavour movelicul a even level, and for labour in all CND activities.
It represented the feeling of a large section of the conference that the decisive well or wit ing the campaign against the missiles Was be tound inside the : labour movement.
carried hands, it was lost on a card vote. Instead a resolution stressing the importance of TOR socially desirable alternative work the allancil ill~ dustries' was carried.
The net effect of passing this proposal was to the 'jobs bombs' theme, and to de- 1101 prioritise the orientation to the labour movement.
The discussion on youth only reached the conference floor after fight the youth •workshop and compositing committees. While this represented NAL small victory, it highlights a bizarre situation.
Anyone who took part LO G demonstration will realise that it was overwhelmingly composed of young people. A resolution was put to raise the age limit of youth CND to 25 and to make youth CND autonomous and self-governing was defeated in favour of a resolution and for YAND to remain a ксср 'special interest group' like Christian CND, Teachers CND etc.
Although the resolution stressed the impor tance youth, reflected the caution of the CND leaders in recognis ing tne decisive TOIC youth, and in organising the hundreds of thousands of young people who can be won to the campaign.
The failures of the conference relation youth and the labour demonstrate that the structures of CND ting these crucial areas in cesses, nor to maximising their invo vement in activi.
глото: pelt GRANT (Socialist Challengel This year's conference voted increase membership of the CND national counci • OIL Bus reform is pitifully inadequate.
The conterence delegates really represented the local CND groups and CND regions. But the existing CND activists are overwhelmingly middle the youth and labour movement are not organised in CND groups. need a more open structure so that major CND conferences can delegates labour movement and youth bodies decision-making powers.