TONY SOUTHALL writes on Scottish CND's discussion about tactics. He is a member of Glasgow West CND committee and a delegate to its recent Annual General Meeting. He was prominent in CND's 'first wave' in the 1960s and together with Julian Atkinson wrote CND 1958-65: Lessons of the First Wave (available from Socialist Challenge, 50p).
The debate on whether CND should turn to nonviolent direct action came CND's Annual General Mo/li Septembers place at the end of a year of mounting successes in Scotland.
30,000 people marched against Trident in Glasgow this Easter, In the Hillhead by-election there was more CND propaganda and campaigners than from the parties. Phoned ing the showed per against Trident, cluding of Tories. Jenkins, who won was forced to shuffle off into shamefaced opposition to the new missiles.
The Strathclyde Region of half Scotland's population, HOUSES the new base on the Clyde.
This has been a focus for the highly successful Scottish Campaign Against 'SCAT is holding a SETECT CND. week of action at the end of October, culminating in a mass picket in Glasgow There will be a Scottish convention against Trident in the New Year Less people were involved in the 1982 Peace March Scotland. which Socialist Challenge 2 October 1982 went round the country for a couple of months, and the Peace Camp outthe Faslane Polaris wase, our wese actons got important publicity.
Against this background the CND AnGeneral Meeting recorded movement uncertain about just going on as before, and impatient for a quicker alterThe National Officers put a resolution expressing this. 'support for non-violent direct action as a campaiging tool while recognising that there is no obligation on any scouion or i lo back specific actions, and calling for every proposal to be judged in the light of the pressing need to build up and develop a broad-based campaign This is not the first call for a commitment to direct action. Why are these pro posals coming up after two To. apparent successful campaigning? First, the continuous arms race. Activists have a real tear of this and are recen tive to any formula that promises quick results second, activists despai of conventional' methods in face of an ever more powerful military machine page B backed by and media. Massive demonstrations, twice the number we got Toger twenty years ago. seem to have no effect I some of us want to caution against such resolutions it's not because we don't want to look for new ways to take the camDELET EOTWEED movement like CND would be on its way out if it didn't continually throw up the most diverse posals. If some of these arise from frustration should still be glad that this is leading to proposals for action and not to people throwing in the towel.
spirit dialogue fellow members.
the first wave of CND in the carly sixties are worth recounting to highlight the problems, The Direct Action Committee, pledged to pacifist organisation *non-violent resistance organised symbolic acLions to interfere WIEN military preparations: such as Holy Loch, May 1961, when demonstrators vainly tried to get onto the Polaris depot ship.
This kind of action has been and will continue to be the province of a small number of committed ac ivists who feel able amt willing to pursue this line of action On occasion provide they could be generalisco to become its main tactic. And they can promote the illusion that DUL ponents are essentiall reasonable people who wil be moved to disarm by our self-sacrifice.
The Committee of 100 founded in 1960, pursued direct action of a different kind. It promoted mass sit downs that would, it was claimed, directly challenge the government's ability to carry on war preparations Three such events too place London February, April and September 1961. More than ten thousand were involved the Thousands were arrested This took up the energy of campaigners throughout that year. held out the promise of a quike victory - but all we finished with was a pile of fines to pay!
Worse, it took us away from the fight to ensure the Labour Party, which had gone unilateralist opposition of stuck to its new line.
Nobody has yet proposed a similar course of action in 1982. Direct ac tion resolutions to SCAT and CND are very vague. Not a single specitic pro Yet the very opening orele has been proposed road in this direction could threaten the basis of mass action and political I camOUT campaign has grown ove the past three years.
Direct perspective for CND is inCOCOLES 1961's experience shows that it won't halt the war drive but it can easily demoralise the campaign. I believe it is also irrelevant to the main battle through which sal. to ensure the Labour Party sticks to its unlateralist despite the wishes of its present Icaders. Once again 1961 is full of warnings.
But, comes the objec tion: 'the state won't let us we must take illegal action. Especially, we must hit war preparations through strike action. How do we answer?
SOW CaRDE can already record several vicLOVIES Hard was cancelled. Reagan was forced to open the Geneva talks on theatre arms limitation - after refusing to for two years. The im pact our movement has made internationally responsible for both. • A campaign of in dustrial action will be defeated if it only appeals to workers directly involv WAH preparations There's no way they wil inrow un their lobs in the present recession. The Iesson of every real victory of our class is that we cant win in isolation. Wher UCS was saved in 1971 it was hecause WOTALL occupied the yards but because 80,000 others struck and poured onto the streets in their suppo Industrial action is needed to terminate war production it will have to involve every section o the union movement. It is on that basis that we have to make a priority of campaigning work every trade union. Then we can talk of direct action tha will really count!
The problem is that an orientation to the labour movement, which could prepare actions on a really massive scale as the health dispute has shown has been downplayed and resisted by many of CND's leaders.
Socialist Challenge growth of CND has one of supporters see the massive most importan Convinced at CAD reasserts a commitment to 511E5 campaigning prioritises an orientation to the labour movement, together we can win.
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