Stop the witch hunt

THE DRIVE BY LABOUR LEADERS TO ATTACK AND ISOLATE THE PARTY Ss LEFT WING HAS NOW MOVED INTO A

HIGHER GEAR.

Since the expulsion of the Militant Editorial Board members at the 1983 conference there have been sporadic attempts right wing loca] constituencies to expe] Militant supporters. \ = scale of these moves was consistent with Jim Mortimer's Ciaim at the time that the expulsion of Militant's editors was not to be the green light for a witch hunt.

All that has now changed. Kinnock's direct assault on both Liverpool City Council and the NUM leadership at the party conference has opened the door to both nationally co-ordinated campaigns against Militant and local witch hunts against prominent left wingers.

Numbers of Militant supporters expelled have now reached

32. Devon Labour Briefing supporters in Exeter are currently threatened with expulsion. In Hattersley's Sparkbrook constituency councillor Amin Khan, organiser of a loca! black section and Kevin Scully, secretary of birmingham Labour Committee on Ireland were thrown out of the party last November for challenging what they saw as patronage and corruption there.

FEBRUARY 1986

Membership applications and transfers are being refused following allegations of support for Militant and Socialist Action and former membership of the Communist Party. Supporters of

the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy have been expelled

for repeatedly raising breaches of LP rules and procedures.

Meanwhile Nei] Kinnock has taken full advantage of the isolation of Liverpool Council and of the political weaknesses of the Militant supporters at its head. The so-called inquiry into Liverpoo! City Labour Party is a vicious ploy to attack these supporters and punish LP members for carrying out

the Labour Party's national policy .

In a general sense the right wing has always been prepared to resort to purges of its opponents inside the party. Well known examples include Stafford Cripps expelled in the 1930s, the expulsions in Norwood Labour Party in the 1950s and the closing down of the Young Socialists in 1965 by Harold

Wilson.

Closer to home in St Pancras, al] 14 members of the opposition Labour Group on the Council were expelled from the Labour Party for opposing the rent increases that sparked off the

St Pancras tenants’ rent strike of 1959/60.

So witch hunts are nothing new. But why dues the present wave come at this particular time?

In the wake of the miners’ defeat the right wing has become much more confident. It is bent on making the party appear "fit for government by being seen to put its house in order

But it is also using the witch hunt to clear the way for e possible coalition. As the recent speech by the chairperson

of the Parliamentary Labour Party delivered in Northern Ireland made clear, Labour leaders estimate that there is every likelihood of the party failing to win an outright majority at the next General Election.

Far from sending those under attack into disarray the witch

hunt is drawing them closer together. Labour Left Co-ordination with the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and the Campaign Group of Labour MPs are publishing e regular bulletin about the purges. The Greater London Labour Party has condemned the witch hunt and protested to the NEC. Labour Briefing supporters al] over the country are mounting a counter-offensive.

Clearly, every expulsion and every new witch hunting move, including the inquiry into Liverpool] City Labour Party must be fought all the way.

Camden Labour Briefing

STOP Tite

WITCH HUNT

PUBLIC FORUM 8.00PM

TUES 4 FEB CAMDEN TOWN HALL

Borough Conference: LEP Y MuST STAY

ON THE ALERT

With the Camden Labour Parties having now agreedthe manifesto for the Borough Elections in May, it is vita] that the Borough Conference on 8 March commits the incoming Labour Group

to honour present counci!] commitments plus

the manifesto proposals. The present Labour Group should also cost these proposals.

-— Whether or not the result of this process will mean a deficit budget for Camden this year, there can be little doubt that confrontation with the Government is inevitable in the future if the new council maintains a commitment to

defend jobs and services and to expand services

Selection of candidates in all the wards where Labour should win indicates that the composition of the Labour Group will probably not alter drastically after the loca] elections.

A right wing group will be opposed by the left with those in the middle holding the balance of power.

In this context the left in Camden will have to mobilise outside the council chamber. It is contact and work with Camden trade unions and with local working class organisations that will count more than ever in the battles

to come.

EAMDEN LABOUR

stop the

witch hunt! ©

LENTNIGH'1

si STRIKERS FIGHT ON

The hardest-fought dispute since the miners’ battle against pit closures is now entering its eigth month. Support for the 500 strikers at three Silentnight factories in Sutton Yorkshire and Barnoldswick, Lancashire, has come from all sections of the labour movement, notably from severa] mining communities.

With the official backing of their union FTAT the Silentnight workers were fighting redurf€ancies and a wage freeze only to be sacked by their employers when they took strike action. Sales

of the beds have slumped byt management continue to use scab labour to keep the factories going. Picketting of local furniture stores which

stock Silentnight products is being organised and details will be publicised shortly be

CAMDEN BRIEFING. Meanwhile it is vital to arrange speakers and collections in your trade union and labour party branches to help the strikers to hold out.For speakers ring Terry Bennet on (0282) 603055. Send donations to

Mrs Ann King, 10 Rainhal] Crescent, Barnoldswick Colne, Lancs.

JUSTICE FOR > THE MINERS ANNIVERSARY DEMO

& RALLY, SUNDAY 2 MARCH

1.30 pm JUBILEE GARDENS, COUNTY HALL Sponsored by the NUM &

National Justice for Mineworkers Campaign.

PUBLIC FORUM 8.00 PM | TUES 4 FEB _ CAMDEN TOWN HAL, JUDD ST, Wol.

SPBAKERS: NADINE FINCH Labour Left Co-ordination & Greater London Labour

The drive by Neil Kinnock and his leadership to attack and isolate the Labour Party's left has now moved into a higher gear. Its longer-term aim is to make the party respectable’ ment and to clear the way for coalition if Labour fails to gain an outright majority at the next

General Election.

PLUS

PUBLIC FORUM TUES 18 MARCH 8.00 PM CAMDEN TOWN HALL, "WHAT KIND OF SOCTALIST

for govern-

CHARL IB TAYILOR wing Former St Pancras Cllr, expelled from the LP in 1960 for supporting St Pancras tenants' Rent Strike.

ECONOMIC POLICY FOR LABOUR?

with

ANDREW CGCLI.YN Author of the Campaign Group pamphlet..

printed & Published by Camden Briefing c/o 4 Nassington Road, NW3. Tel. 435 6848.