shortly be appealing against surcharge and qualification from office in the High Court. proceedings are due to start on the 13 January. Contrary to previous assurances, Metropolitan Authorities (AMA) has shown distinct reluctance to help with raising funds from other local authorities to pay for their defence. funds are raised from other sources the councillors face surcharge, organise appeal for national has the time urgently Unless £100,000 raised or counciliors, deralal their ment's the council. This they did of into Only the appeals fight pit closures feel file SnOW une with the fighting cillors:
The issue of support for the Liverpool councillors should not be idenlified with support for the Militant lendency. It is important 1o make this point both the bourgeois media teading parliamentarians have done their best confuse the issue.
Supporters of Militant influential Liverpool, but are not the majority on eliner the councillors will disThe the Association of Unless disqualification and possible imcouncil The and he follow the decision the 1984 carried thai States:
fighiback, be and services of local an equally unequivocal stand «cience working which COUlICIS result government's policies.
298-299) Bad laws Whatever reservatons we may have about the laclies adopted bv the Labour majority on the Liverpool council, the stand adopted them refusing 'balance the books' is enurely consistent Labour Party conference In any case, the question of whether socialists are prepared 1o break the law is not one of principle bad laws can be rendered ineffective pIuvided sufficient numbers of people decide lo ignore them. question therefore of lagtics, defiance of the law is feasible in a given situation.
In our judgement, even if the present situation did it would cept cuts welfare serThe conse almosi of the income the amongst inner cities years housing Liberal declining revenue made the mountable.
therefore defend the surouse would have Deen almosl the pledges al the time discrediting • government and the whole of the victonous ruling to pursl them for their sland. The rank and file should not allow the vally lu avalaon bicu They must rally 1o their defence.
• Please send donations immediately 10: alr Tony Room Municipal Buildings, Dale Streel, Liveroool L69 2DH. Cheques and POs 1o be made pavable lo: 'Liverpool Fighting Fund' Kinner vo. settle old Kinnock settle scores and dispose of lett wing opponents.
Pandora box Those, like the Labour Coordinating Committee the Tribune suspension of Liverpool District Labour Party are finding that they have opened a pandora's DOX I0 the advantage of some of the most corrupt forces in the labour movement.
The Labour Left Coordination the Campaign for Labour rarty in cooperathe Campaign group of MPs, have found less than 2o cases witch-hunts expulsions over the last 18 months. No doubt there are more.
What is most disturb ing is that many of these have been concealed from the party membership thus making them more ficult to fight.
The Labour Party con stitution obliges the NEC lo report to nanonal conference disciplinary acwhich it has • Salil tioned. This is being 1g nored. For example ine NEC repor! 1o 1985 conference omitled nine appeals against expulsion heard and rejected by the Threat As a result opponents of the witch-hunt WeIr unable 1o challenge the expulsions by challenging the relevant parts of the NEC report. Most delegates lent of disciplinary action.
The charges on which people are being expelled are also a lhreat lo activist in the party. In the Isle of Wighi, Stevenage, Cardiff South and PenarRhondda, Newcastleunder-Lyme, Wrexnam a main charge aupears lo have been selling the Militant newspaper in public. In all cases the local party vored 1o expel mose charged . In a series of cases, aclivists have been on the basis of the vague press to whip up lurid tales of gangster methods Liverpool without a shred ot proot.
Neither of these have been charged with 'bring ing into Yet. when two