•PEACE has broken out in the Labour Party, proclaimed the Daily Mirror on 7 January.
The occasion was the Stortford meeting between leaders of the trade unions and the Labour Party.
practical terms the achieved little. But, scenes, Tony Benn is reported to have promised not to contest the leadership of the party before the next general in financial support for the party is to be forthcoming from the unions. Other reports suggest the anti left witchhunt may be slowed down.
i first sight, Bishop': Stortford appears to ¿ the end of a road that carted with set-backs infusion in the Bernite camp as to the next At the same time the new centre-right Nild began to revive one of the vides tradino of the party and launched a witch-hunt.
Not only was the marxis left to come inder thie hammer, but the middle-of-the road Ramnite. Peter Tatchell, despile overwhelming import from his local Bermondsey Party. had selection rejected. Over 300 constitueney parties have so far sent resolutions calling for ine reversal of these attacks.
Thus the stage was set for the trade union cosses to make cheir move. inances in a desperate state. they feli they had he whip hand.
Tone frankee their sedan the 0 second aim construct The Bennile left were invited 1o lake anourable course of participating in their own corder by kindiy committing suicide.
reason for the workers movemeni id • union leaders are far from an ai rion of how things stand in the parThe terms of the confrontat0D bet ..n the left and the right in the party will cha ze, cut te win not supside. Con the cen Tary. iat confrontation is written into the case realities of present day British pollic This is illustrated by the other event, which party Brighton Bishop's Stortford, the Crost The SDP Liberal Alliance comped home Socialist Challenge 14 January 1982 Labour were humiliated by being pushed into third place, and its vote dropped by nearly 16 per cent.
But another, less publicised statistic which Bishop's came out at Crosby tended with a further 500 turned away meeting To but it another wav. the party's suppor!
the in the workers" movemeni may be being whittco back to a manori. out that minora is more and more committed to some radical change in deputy a socialist direction.
further The same situation is visible in the unions.
The denuly leadership powerful minority of the workers' movement moving in the direction Despite the heavy hand of the bureaucracy, this movement surfaced at the unemploynient marches, the election of Scarpill and the anger of -the BE and hord workers at their beirayal. That case winen prevents ine debate and crushing the Beneites in the party.
the men in ine part and the ares sace massie dilemma manet allergathe to the tories jay d/prete fame any elber ent buildine the SDP/Liberals.
Callaghan. He wrote recently, results in a sulemate. ihe Labour Party must take the immediate decision whether in siay in remove the Thatcher government ine paliy Spelt out, Callaghan coalition government beiween Labour's right in parliament and the SDP/Liberal. The programme of such a government will be written in was lo The Bank of England Si.
For the Bennites, the struggle is to ensure that the future lies with the most active, radical and self confident section of the working class piving a lead to the whole of the workers' so dist policies. That is the only way to fight ..it in the party and the unions. That is the only possible policy for a Labour victory.
Therefore, not the slightest possible concersion is possible to the witch-hunt. This would concede the argument responsibility for Labour's dismal election probi-clection. specks. and would prepare lor the bigges betrayal since 1931.
was the enormous size of As manv as )x(0 alcampaign revealed a of radical change.
right from They wish to beseen as the centre has the sole effeet of Fi the election or io co-operate with others lo is preparing for a the Pentagon and Wall ' morethat ! in bears CROSS MASSACRE Public Meeting on Monday January 18, 1982 at Deptford Town Hall, New Cross Road, London SE14 at 7.30pm
----- pull-quotes -----
FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE NEW