London Labour Briefing no. 109

JUSTICE!

On March 18th it will be two years since the frame up convictions of Winston Silcott, Mark Braithwaite

and Engin Raghip.

To mark the anniversary, and show that the passing of time has neither cooled our anger at this outrage, nor eroded our determination to fight for justice, the Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign is calling for a mass demonstration.

We will be demanding the release of the Tottenham Three and all the framed Broadwater Farm youth, and justice for Britain’s black communities.

The March for Justice will converge with the Irish in Britain Representation Group’s St Patrick’s day demonstration, demanding the release of the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six and the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

We will then hold a joint rally.

There are many lessons to be learnt from the struggles of the Irish community in Britain against the frame-ups of the 70s.

On the one hand, the re-opening of the Guildford Four case shows that the government can be forced to look again at miscarrlages of justice.

On the other, the fate of the Birmingham Six, after their case was similarly “reopened”, serves as a warning against putting too much faith in the British legal system.

’ Following the refusal of the Appeal’ Court

to grant even a hearing to Mark, Engin and Winston last December, our next step is an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

To the Defence Campaign and the whole community here, the Appeal Court's decision was further proof (if any more were needed) that the legal system will, in the words of Lord Gifford, “not give you justice unless you force it to.”

Building a movement which will force the government and the courts to give us justice is now our priority. The first step is the forging of alliances with others facing similar problems and a common enemy.

SER SS SES

By Shaun Waterman BWF Defence Campaign

eS

At the heart of this movement must be those who daily bear the brunt of police authoritarianism, brutality, and racism: the communities used as the testing ground for the state’s new methods of repression and control, and whose liberties are being eroded — both in law and practice — as the cutting edge of an attack on democratic rights which ultimately threatens us all.

For this reason, the Defence Campaign is jointly organising the rally with the IBRG; we are mobilising support form anti-racist and black community groups all over London and beyond. The unity of the oppressed is the only weapon with which to confront the oppressor.

LABOUR— TAKE THE POWER!

Generalising resistance to state attacks on

our liberties is a problem which must be politically confronted by the labour movement if it ever hopes to offer leadership to the dispossessed, oppressed, and criminalised sections of the working class.

The apparent unwillingness of the national or indeed local leadership of the Labour Party and trade union actually to fight the Poll Tax has combined with the continuing crisis in local government finance seriously to erode what little credibility the labour movement might once have had in the eyes of inner city communities.

Those currents in the movement which genuinely do seek to defend the interests of these communities face a difficult task in attempting to articulate their demands and present a political programme which can win their support.

Mobilising behind the demand for justice for the framed youth will be a small step forward on that road, and the Defence Campaign hopes that as many trade union and Labour Party branches as possible will take it.

The March for Justice represents.a crucial turning point for the Defence Campaign.

A massive protest now will ensure not only that thousands of local people on the streets that Saturday will learn that there are those willing to stand and fight for their rights, it will also be a clear signal to the state, both locally and nationally, that they may have quashed the appeals, but they will never quash the movement.

The alternative doesn’t bear. thinking about.

in fegistration desk was.only nee and the man on it:couldn't

London Labour Briefing No. 109 February 22nd-March 7th Page 2

GLLP Reg

The Transitional Programme of Herbert Morrison House

The Tories abolished the Greater London Council. Is Labour now planning to abolish the Greater Lon-

don Labour Party? = Delegates to this year’s __ The contentious motions at

the Conference will i GLLP AGM will be going toa : : “transitional” Conference. b® those which the Executive

‘According to the GLLP has already decided to oppose: leadership, it is in transition Black Sectioms, criticism over towards a Conference which the abolition of the Lesbian and cee vil be pron ra ‘The Composite on nuclear workshops. hart bled ssattisming.

Rumours abound that Larry teralism, was Whitty is recommending to the &nimously by the Becsati: NEC that annual Regional Con- Dut ie soeeretineen arms ferences be abolished altogether WON't be twisted in union as an economy measure. ‘legations before the debate. Whatever happens in the future, The main aim of the current this year's Conferenceiscertain UCC/right wing leadership is to to be a mess. piesa tig aga =e)

An agenda which would have versial: in other words, been spread over two days in peep ee oom Posty previous years (and still been invisible. rushed) is now being crammed The London Labour Party into just nine hours, should have a key role to play,

ie dat Seapets oe Executive was a nightmare, but given the constraints it will be hard to improve on it.

‘Transport. pean a aN the sinc secartee

tg ciadngs 33 eine:

acer hour each.

"Other nasjos. getcteay Ties

nuclear weapons and Poll Tax, While Party membership ga 35 minutes, Local govern, falls, activists vanish, and byment gets just ten minutes! elections are lost across London, Nine. different topics are the right-dominated Executive squeezed between a speaker has concentrated on fiddling from the European Secialist With’ the Regional: structures, Parties and the vote of thankson a4 Regional Officers have Saturday afternoon.” - been busy

By JOAN TWELVES

1 hadn't been to a hese Political London Women’s mittee, three were Conterence fora chepaled kak ae ered U

couple of years, and welcomed the opportunity to go

again, this time as a eae delegate from the By Cllr Christine

Co-op. Shawcroft Bow &

| hadn't realised how Poplar CLP bad things had become.

The Regional Executive has prevented the Regional

papers, estou hake

Fortunately, | know Mary,

Women’s Committee Re tne he peste more than pis ier ly a of quarterly. This means that (it to meet continuity of eset Tortie those days). | activity and campaigning is Gidn't manage to find ior well nigh impossible. fas guar conierence hed But it also means that it is started (almost an hour impossible to supervise late), roperly the arrangements tr " forEonlerence Oo uta he made abigeffort and mandate from the Political arrived at Wesley House Committe dishew to vole: Women's Care, Holborn, in the Women's Committee in plenty of time. i was less elections, she hadn't been an impre with hav ‘g to queue up for ten maine eae reees by

in the rain because the just inside the front door;

sh anyone's: slatierort thas ist

Having aeenaced that, out of five delegates from

The much vaunted Plan To Win of 1987 has produced

Labour needs a much higher profile in London. It needs to give a platform and a voice to the struggles and campaigns being waged by Londoners against the Tories.

Itneedstoreflect the diversity of London's working class and to work to unfiy it around practical issues. It needs to build support for socialism across London and to campaign on the many issues facing Londoners,

‘There's the collapse of public transport, cuts in the NHS and local services, an escalating housing crisis and record numbers of homeless people benefit cuts... the list is endless.

None of this can be left to the ALA, or. a handful of MPs, or even to the people at the sharp end: the workers in hospitals, in buses and tubes, Council workers, or the tenants to keep their homes.

Collective

It needs a co-ordinated collective effort. It needs a public ‘commitment to a socialist alter- \native'to the Tories. It needs an active, open; democratic 'Lon- ‘don Labour Party commited to

: ‘spporing wo oping

ae

- do this at the Conference by

voting out those who are currently leading the London Labour Puy up the garden path

and replacing them with committed socialists who will rebuild Labour in London.

What an eye-opener!

make an announcement, and we met Jean at the back of the hall.

We discovered that no one had told her she was part of a delegation rather than an individual delegate from her Co-op Party, and she thought the voting papers were her own.

We then had to sort all this out, do the voting, and 0 through the Resolutions

let to make sure we all agreed on how to vote.

Political Committee

made no mandate on many resolutions.)

iist we were all this, we missed the Poll Tax debate, and the first two card votes.

The first vote defeated Resolution 24, from Norwood CLP, and the second vote carried Res. 25, from Tottenham tmendment rom Teington

Ey North Women's Section. Both of these were in to the Poll Tax,

areca eves sakes diiihiore z than 25;-but

couldn't see much difference between them.

al Con

Vote for Jeremy Corbyn for Chair, Joan Twelves for Vice Chair, and for the following comrades in the CLP

Section:

Bexley/Bromely: Gill Collins

Brent/Ealing: Madhav Patil Kensington/Hammersmith/W andsworth: Dave Holland

Lambeth/Southwark/Westminster: Joan Twelves on/Richmond:

Merton/Kingst« Redbridge/Barking/Havering: Alf Akhurst Sutton/Croydon: Paul Whittaker

Waltham Forest/Haringey/Newham: Roger Harris

Voting will take place during the Friday evening session of the AGM. Make sure your delegates attend.

London Labour Party Conference,

Hammersmith Town Hall,

Friday March 3rd, 7pm-9.30pm; Saturday March 4th, 9.30am-5.15pm.

Labour Briefing GLLP Fringe Meeting Hammersmith Town Hail. Saturday: March 4th,

~Lemehtinte : -kabour-lr-tondan

There was further nit when it came to

Housing Bill

was carried overwhelmingly.

Biographical Only Sheila Carroll,

Jeremy Corbyn MP Martha Osamor

Mandy Mudd

doesn't believe in Women's

—an sdrabie qualfeation or

being appointed Regional Women's Organiser.

About three of four years. ago, when | was involved.in the Regional Women’s Committee, Conference adapted a new set of

orders. These were debated and voted on after full consultation with the Women's Organisations.

At this Conference, every time the SOC made a ruling, McDonagh said that National Standing Orders over-tuled our SOs, and so it had to be done as she said. SOC didn't even have

a of these super Standing Orders! ag Thomton (Chait of the ve Executive); Maria (a Scottish MP); and Jo. MP, rng at ies

“Sens middl mothe in by-

The Labour Party’s run of spectacular by-election defeats in Brent continued on February 9th, when the Party’s share of the vote in Brondesbury ward dropped from 46% in the 1986 Council elections to a pitiful 19%.

There have now been three by-elections in Labour-held seats since the Council elections in 1986. Two have been won by the Tories and one by the Democrats.

In Brondesbury, Labour went from a majority of over 100 over the Tories to third place, 560 votes behind the Tory and 200 behind the Democrat.

Brondesbury had only previously been won in “good years” or when a very large ‘amount of work was done (as in the 1984 by-election victory over the Tories by a majority of

700). Winnable But some of the local right wing tried tokid themselves that the seat was winnable (they cer-

i tainly didn’t fool 1 anyone else).

sthe local branch Party

On Oct. 4, 1984, police dragged Kalahasti Rajah out of Greenwich’s Brook Hospital, where he was seeking medical attention following a racist assault.

He was taken to Woolwich Police station and beaten severely, resulting in a fractured collar bone.

To date police have yet served by Mr Fajah againet ir

them. =

On June 19, 1988, Ranvir hot hot tool darpdags was bundled into a car pose silos The police detained and questioned him — for throwing stones at the r’s car — then sent him a ae kidnapper, finally. dr him off:several: ane specie eer Ranvir's four-hour ordeal did police contact his

parents.

ble -aged r” hum lection

of the Labour Group) Ian MeLelland;

“sand the evidence from pre~ vious by-elections was that Brent Council’s savage cuts made the Party unelectable in any but the safest seats,

By Pete Firmin Brent East CLP

‘The right claimed Brondes-

bury was “winnable” because there was a “good” candidate, A strange nomination and selection process — whereby not all branch members were informed of meetings, only some members of the candidates’ panel were asked if they wished to be considered for selection, and only some branches were asked to put names forward for consideration ensured the selection of the right’s idea of a “good” candidate, i.e. a right wing one,

When candidate Peggy Quirke was asked at a Brent East GC what she was saying to the electorate that the Council should do about the predicted: shortfall of £72 million in next ‘years budget she replied:

har ch

Act.” 3

Never mind that a. ‘tenant’ 8 ‘desire to“ stay with the Council” might be-diminished by a £7 a week rent increase and an ap-

iated shock

service.

Herbig publicity stunt forthe election was to accompany Cllr. John Duffy, new Chair of the Labour Group, in opening dumped black rubbish sacks (Brent's rubbish collection is still haphazard after last summer's cuts).

The purpose of this was to look for addresses so that illegal

~ dumpers can be reported to the

London Waste Regulatory Body for fining.

Duffy recently wrote to the local press attacking the Tories because they had failed, during their period of controlling the Council with the Liberals, to realise that cuts in the refuse service could be made.

‘was the statement in a leaflet that “I'm a sensible middle-aged mother.”

Despite ‘this obvious asset, virtually no-one tamed out to work for her (where were the hordes of enthusiastic rightwingers?) and the voters gave her and the Labour Party a

After this latest massacre, the Labour right cannot claim they are doing any more than marking time until Labour goes down to-a massive defeat in the 1990

* Council elections. Things are

falling apart around their ears.

OOLWICH

nstrate st police

lity

By Ai Meun Lim Greenwich NALGO Black Workers Group:

Local black groups, inclduing Greenwich Action Committee Against Racist Attacks and nwich NALGO Black Workers

, as well as

Greenwich Antiand other Dae are marching to Woolwich oe station on February

ra < these and other incidents of racist woe rene inthe

Borough.

There are cui 33 known cases pets attack in the Woolwich area, about which police have done nothing.

Meanwhile, the ¥ use of

and search” continues rensesbares arein an omit s immigration officers.

The people of Greenwich

new see “community

as a cover for

ent and assault of certain sections of the Borough's residents, in

ticular members of the and Irish

communities, ie a bird and gay and

ed ee

u are a black person with ing to report a crime, you are more likely to face arrest, interrogation, and a check-up on your immigration status than to have the crime investigated.

"tie den ands of the February 25th march include an end to police involvement in internal immigration controls, of attempts to use these controls to criminalise black people on the streets, in their homes, at workplaces and in cu:

DEMONSTRATE:

Saturday, Februai 25th. Assemble 4 42°

hoon at St. Nicholas gardens, Plumstead, SE18. Rally at General Gordon Square, Woolwich.

A Labour Parties could turn ‘What more proof is needed around the damage done by the that when Labour does the LabourGroup, either to services Tories’ dirty work it only paves _or the Party’s election chances. the way for Tory victories? But what it could do is begin ‘The Tory majority is likely to

London Labour Briefing No. 109 February 22nd-March 7th Page 3

South London Anti-Poll Tax Federation

Community Resistance

Inaugural Meeting

Sunday April 16th, 10am-4pm Lewisham Labour Club Limes Grove, Lewisham, London SE13

Lewisham Community Resistance, in liaison with other groups, has called a meeting to set up a South London Federation of Anti-Poll Tax Groups, based on Scottish models. The emphasis would be on aiding action, not providing a platform for political posturing.

In order to beat the Poll Tax, our local campaigns must be co-ordinated across South London. We must know what other groups are doing. We must be able to share ideas and resources.

We believe that to win this fight our campaign must be based on:

-non-registration;

*non-payment; -non-implementation.

We feel strongly that the time has passed for the debate on legality; we want to win and our best chance Is by using the “can't pay, won't pay, shan't

collect” policy.

For further details contact Brian Harrisson, 62 Marsala Road, Lewisham,

G cenwich

them to cut and privatise at will therattacks this year, butalsobe —

what little remains after pr en NE Labour's devastation. offensive next year,

None of this, of course, is ‘Aserious drive by the Left to going to deter the current win’ selection in the safest Labour Group from pushing Labour seats and campaign in ahead with high rate rises and the election on rejection of the even more large-scale cuts, thus Council's record is an important

Adding further tothe misery of _partof much afightbeck, | HARINGEY FIGHTS BACK!

A local campaign to defend jobs and improve services

DEMONSTRATE! Monday, March 6 Civic Centre Wood Green 7pm

On Monday, March 6th, ‘Council will meet to ‘set its budget for the coming year. Last year they cut ‘spending on public services by one third. With a current deficit of over £13 million — rising fast —

what will they cut next? ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Come to the Civic Centre to show you’ if -CUTS IN EDUCATION — We face a shortage of some 200 primary schoo! teachers for next year; class sizes are growing; bulidings need urgent repair. -HUGE RENT RISES FOR COUNCIL TENANTS — a rent rise of over 40% Is being proposed for Council tenants, who already suffer an appalling service. -THE SACKING OF OVER 600 BUILDING WORKERS — The Direct Labour Organisation, which bulids and repairs homes, is under attack — in the midst of a drastic housing crisis!

*THE BREAK-UP OF SOCIAL SERVICES — Over 120 children, registered as at risk from child abuse, are left without a social worker.

MORE CUTS TO PLAYGROUPS, VOLUNTARY AND COMMUNITY GROUPS, LIBRARIES, SPORTS CENTRES, PARK-KEEPING, RUBBISH COLLECTION...

The majority of Labour councillors have given in to the demands of the Tory government for more and more cuts.

We say: Fight back for the jobs and services we need! Stick to your 1986 manifesto promises! Defy Thatcher's orders — and stand up for Haringey people!

ihe demonstration Is Jointly sponsored by Haring « Fights:Back!, Community ks ong the.Cuts, * Haringey Councillors Agal neni (Cire ‘ Blanchard; Brewin, Cooper, Crossan, Doble, . Gillespie; Hargreaves, Roger Harris, Steve. King, Makanji, McCulloch, Moore, and Osamor).

By Mike Phipps Woolwich CLP

Greenwich Against the Poll Tax took a decisive step in” February 10th.

oom Ir dis meeting, more time was Sat puma eg tet poe emia te ee Different strategy motions were presented by the left — spearheaded by Militant and SWP supporters — and the right — the CP and New Communist Party. ‘The left called for an orientation to Town Hall workers and the need to start campaigning now around the crucial issue of

‘The right argued that such tactics would threaten the “breadth” of the campaign and argued for more flyposting and leafletting. In a class pice of duplicitous logic-chopping, the NCP resolution stated:

“We recognise that campaigns that place a disproportionate burden on Town Hall workers and Councillors, like the campaign against rate-capping, are doomed (') to failure.”

Despite considerable cross-voting, the right won, and proceeded to pack the incoming executive with their chosen nominations, to the exclusion of a single left candidate.

‘These typical “overkill” tactics — from those who dishonestly claim to be working for unity — in fact endanger the unity of the campaign.

What future does GAPT have now?

It has no policy on solidarity with Scotland and is ducking the central question: how will the campaign relate to the thousands of people in Greenwich who will not pay the Tax simply because they cannot afford to? How can the Campaign organise them into ‘a coherent opposition?

If GAPT chooses merely to obstruct the Tax, accepting that its imposition and collection are inevitable, it will be abandoning large numbers of the Greenwich working class.

*Buyeug uopud7 167 | nok Guug 0 ‘ueie Buob gagT) eu je6 0}

¥ UsIyM s28oddns Buyelig Uopuc7 | ety 0} SjqUIUMODOW s} PUB ““-LONOWIO. ‘ubisep "Bu

spraogrjertoups |

London Labour Briefing No. 109 February 22nd-March 7th Page 4|

Haringey

Capitulation, Chaos, and Collapse

On Thursday, February 9th, an extreme right-wing Tory defeated a left Labour candidate by some 300 votes in a by-election in ‘the previously marginal Woodside Ward.

On the following Monday, the right-wing majority of the Labour Group on Haringey Council voted with the Tories to sack over 600 workers in the Council’s Public Works Service (PWS).

‘The two events are not, as they say, unconnected.

‘There were a number of disturbing factors in the Woodside result. We had a strong candidate and ran a well-organised campaign.

On polling day, we were well supported by Party members and succeeded in getting out nearly 55% of our promises (some 1100 votes), normally enough to win a by-election.

But the Tories, whose campaign (see last issue of LLB) consisted of crude racist and homophobic propaganda, and whose candidate, Jim Buckley, is an out-and-out fascist thug, were still able to draw 1400 votes.

It appears that all the Tories have to do to win seats like thi in present circumstances is press the right buttons — a hint of racism, a dash of homophobia, anda bucketful of anti-Council hysteria.

The votes in Woodside were also alarmingly divided along racial lines.

By Mike Marqusee

Haringey Labour Briefing

The bulk of the white working class bas now bolted to the Tories, leaving the black and ethnic minority communities to vote Labour, along with a handful of white leftists mostly employed in the public sector or the professions.

No one can take any comfort from this result and no one (least of all the left) can be scapegoated for it. The problem is political, not organisational.

Tory policies (notably “right to buy” for Council tenants) and Tory thetoric had already made major inroads on local Labour support. The huge cuts in jobs and services made by the Labour Council have nearly finished the job.

As we predicted, the attempt to maintain a cosmetic rhetoric of “equal opportunities” while slashing back on already inadequate services has opened the door to a dangerous right-wing backlash.

Hostility to the Council is now shared by all sections of the local populace. There are plenty of good reasons for this.”

The streets are filthy. The housing service has ground toa halt (and rents have gone up four times in less than two years).

‘A severe teacher shortage is playing havoc with education; class sizes have grown, funds for equipment and books have dried up, and buildings in urgent need of repair have been left to decay.

Social services is frighteningly under-staffed, with an alarming number of children on the “at risk” register left without a designated social worker. Voluntary and community groups are being squeezed out.

‘The fact that one year after total spending on services was cut by a third, the Council has found itself “suddenly” over budget by at least £7 million has done little to restore confidence in a Labour regime now widely perceived as both incompetent and uncaring.

Hostility

But there are also plenty of bad reasons for the wi hostility to the Council, not least racism, homophobia, hatred of travellers, and petty chauvinism of all kinds.

The tragedy is that in. the minds of many local i class people, the Sood apne and the bad reasons have become hopelessly intermixed.

‘The streets are dirty, the argument goes, because the Council spends so much on lesbians and gays (or blacks, or travellers, or — in the words of one former Labour voter — “Nicaraguan refugees”).

This disaster has been compounded by the collapse of the two CLPs in the Borough.

Membership is down; public profile is virtually non-existent; activity has been circumscribed to a narrow range of politically “safe” (and ineffectual) initia tives.

Neither the Labour Council nor the CLPs are offering any alternative to the Tories, no less a radical socialist one.

In these circumstances, with the best organisation and the best politics in the world, no three week by-election campaign can have any impact.

The problem for the left is that we are being dragged into the mire by the right-wingers controlling Party and Council.

We have to think hard and act decisively if we are to break free of the dead hand of the LCC guided careerists, most of whom quite obviously no

workforce; and only one way to decide which half should be sacked — weed out those who show no“commitmentto Public Works”. The Tories were

delighted to agree.

‘The message from Labour Jones, and Peter Kane was that lazy workers took advantage of Haringey’s excellent terms of employment and therefore “restructuring” to achieve “competitiveness” was neces-

sary.

“Efficiency”, they blathered, was not inconsistent with socialism. Who could argue? But not once during the long debate did they even ask in whose interests and at whose expense this “efficiency” wasto be achieved.

Not once did they note the human and social costs of

making so many people redun-

out the origins of much of the huge PWS deficit in the accounting methods foisted on the Council by the Tory Land and Planning Act.

Not once did they explain that one of the costs incurred by the Council in running the DLO is ensuring health and safety standards on the building sites.

‘The left Councillors made these and other points from the back benches.

Again and again they reminded their fellow Labour councillors about the inveterate

Lobbying Haringey Civie Centre with consistent left demands.

Tory: hostility to all Council DLOs—partand parcel of Tory loyalty to the big private building firms which fill the Party’s campaign coffers.

This was not news to the DLO workers in the public gallery, who know from experience the exploitative and all too often lethal employment practises of the building moguls. s

Steve King said that the logic of the local Labour leadership. was now indistinguishable from the rationalisations of’ Macgregor, Murdoch, P&O, etc. “It is simply unacceptable to fire someone just because management's sums don’t add

gst called the idea of selection for compulsory redundancies a “charter for grassing-up, alrecipe for setting neighbour against. neighbour, workmate against workmate, a deliberate use of fear to divide and cow the workforce”.

In response to the argument that there was no longer enough “work” to keep the DLO going, state of the Borough, especially its housing stock, was such as “to keep the DLO busy till kingdom come.”

PHOTO: Frankie Quinn

“the policy of collaboration with the Tories was presented as a tactical retreat,” he said. “But this tactical retreat has led to further and further retreats with no end to retreat in sight.”

He told DLO workers not to put their faith in the Council. “Power lies in your hands,” he said. “Defend yourselves in whatever way you think fit. Organise and fight back.”

Only ten Councillors backed an amendment ruling out compulsory redundancies: Ron Blanchard, Craig Brewin, Davina Cooper, Peter Doble, Vince Gillespie, Kevin Hargreaves, Roger Harris, Steve King, John Moore, and Martha Osamor.

‘They are now the only real opposition to the Tories on Haringey Council.

Workers in Public Works, isolated, divided, demoralised, and mystified by Council and management tactics, now face a difficult struggle. It is quite clear that the only way to stop half the workforce facing the

Haringey Fights Back!, is calling for a lobby of the Council's annual (and last ever) rate-making meeting on March 6th.

Hornsey and Wood Green CLP

Return of rotten right wing

Only a few years ago, Hornsey and Wood Green CLP was in the forefront of socialist struggle within the Labour Party.

It adopted left-wing policies, increased its membership, scored major by-election upsets, voted to admit local resident Tariq Ali to membership and for some time defied NEC edicts to exclude him.

All that is past. Today, the CLP is dominated by an unprincipled alliance of oldfashioned right-wingers, dispirited ex-lefts, and hardnosed LCC hacks, united only in a visceral hatred of the leftin general and Labour Briefing in particular.

The political (and moral) degeneration of the CLP was starkly illustrated at January's regular GC meet- » What. can only: be. called, dishonest practises succeeded in destroying the meeting and effectively disenfranchising Party members on a crucial issue:

next year’s Council budget.

The right-wing dominated LGC had laid down a timetable for Party consultation on the budget, and a number of branches had made special efforts to discuss the issue and submit resolutions.

This was to have been the main item of business at the GC, and the only chance for the CLP to debate the question.

By Mike Marqusee

Haringey Labour Briefing

The right generally enjoys a clear majority on the GC, though non-attendance by right-wing delegates has given the left surprise victories on some occasions (notably a recent commitment to oppose compulsory

,tedundancies of Council workers).

At the January meeting, the right were apparently not confident of getting their way through the normal democratic mechanisms,

and resorted instead to flagrant violations of Standing Orders, filibustering, and crooked manipulation of the agenda and the votes.

As delegates were still entering the room, collecting and reading papers, and settling in seats, Chair Andy Love rushed through the opening items on the agenda, including the “agreement” of the Executive Committee minutes.

It was soon discovered that these minutes included a “recommendation” that LCC Agent... sorry, CLP Agent, Jo Moore be one of our five delegates to Greater London Labour Party Conference, leaving the remaining four places to be elected as usual.

Several delegates objected to this sleight-of-hand and said that Ms. Moore should submit herself to the normal democratic process.

From the Chair, Andy Love

otefused to take any votes on

these proposals, though a procedural motion to move to next business was defeated.

Love refused to allow a vote on a challenge to his

ruling — because, he said, he hadn't made a ruling!

Apparently, itwas simply a fact of life that Jo Moore was one of our delegates to GLLP Conference, even though the GC had been given no clear opportunity to vote on the matter.

As for Jo Moore herself, the honourable course would have been to put an end to the time-consuming procedural dispute by agreeing to stand in the election for delegates along with other Party members.

Instead, she sat silent, while Andy Love singlehandedly appointed her a delegate, in breach of the letter and spirit of Party ‘democracy.

But the Moore manoeuvre was not the end of the evening's outrages.

Constant and lengthy interventions from the Chair wasted precious minutes,

and by the time we got to the, .

main business, resolutions. on the Council budget, it was 10.30pm - time to adjourn. Delegates moved that a special meeting of the GC to deal with these resolutions

be called on February 13th.

In the following vote, this was clearly supported by a majority of those present, but Andy Love nonetheless declared the resolution lost.

Shocked delegates demanded a recount (as is their right under Standing Orders) but Love refused to acknowledge them and declared the meeting closed.

We then secured the signatures of the 25 GC delegates necessary to requisition a special GC meeting. We were informed by letter that despite Standing Orders, the CLP officers were refusing to call the requisitioned meeting — on the grounds that the GC had alteady voted against having this meeting.

If the left had behaved as Love and Moore behaved, the Regional office and the NEC would be down on them like a ton of bricks.

, But as Moore is rumoured to be on her way to join “our, team at Walworth Road and Love is a top bureaucrat in the Co-op, no help whatsoever can be expected “from above”.