THE LABOUR PARTY Young Socialists must be turned into the radical campaigning wing of the party that it has the potential to be, argues KINGSLEY ABRAMS, the LPYS seat on Labour's national executive. But for that to happen the LPYS has to learn to build links ANNE KANE. The LPYS will never be able to do this until it comes to grips with the demands of black people and women for self-organisation.
THE Labour Party Young Socialists has the potential to be an active, progressive wing of the party. But that means challenging the current YS leadership which is Militant dominated. Ihal is the first reason why I am standing as the black section candidate for the YS place on the party's national executive committee. We must turn the section une Labour Party into a progressive, socialist movement.
reason is because black secstarted our main opponents on the lefi nave been black sections nave lo ve active within the movement un oracrlo lake up the issue of black selfthe youth section.
The official position laken by the LPSY leadership on the rebellions of youln SHOW LUCI backwardness in addressing themse ves 1o struggles going on. Instead of looking al the wider aspects of the rebellions, seeing them as a consequence oi "na nas been gong years in terms e! police racism, victimisation instead ot cong al inose aspects of the struggle of DIOCK DIOCK vouill. thev demned looting etc. Ballot The Salle goes for other struggles. ror examYs leadership supported leadership supported the call for a ballot instead of looking at events within une communy The failure of the leadership address themselves 1o the struggles within our movement bears comparison with the leadership, who also refuse to support such The black section has long recognised that if we are going to get black self-organisation within the then WC must the self-organisation of black people within the community. Le pave re ed the need for our links within the black community, with the •erence CanDaleus also with Suedies Black have SCULIS been involved in those defence committees because we see our role as helping LO mobilise black struggle. And we recognise thal these defence camDaigns are a very imporlant aspect of that.
The basic problem with attracting black vouth the ys leadership reduces leadership reducesblack section candidate for the race oppression 10 ppressior hence address itself to racism. Because of that, it does not see the need for black self-organisation.
Unless the YS understands that need for black self-organisation there will be no way it can come 10 grips with the problems black woer il chi ce paind no way can campaign black into the • as active as they ought to be for And lhe same goes young women.
Another aspect of the right to self-organisation is the situation Treland The position of the black section is first of all for British withdrawal reland and tor a united We support the right of Irish people to decide their own destiny. That is what the leadership of Sinn Fein talks aboul, linking that to the historical aspects of Irish oppression.
That CaSU applies black deople We ecognise the parallels between us and the position of Irish people Sinn Fein. We must both know vul history know where we going. must both be able to decide our own destinies These issues would be priorities for me to take up as the youth member the NEC Government Youth in general and especially black youth face high unemployment.
full Black section support to the Campaign group of MPs' position as Andrew Glynn which talks about the need to create a million jobs a vcal. 1o create jabs for everyone. Economic policy is another important Issue lor NEC youth member lo take up. The YS representative must oppose the position of the leadership who saying that government not be in any position to make jobs available for everyone. black section candidate, But standing the am particularly concerned with the politics of forming alliances. We have to recognise that-we need to build a broader movement for socialism, that the tion which should have a broad appeal: lo gay mer and lesbians, 1o women, 1o black ple. quesnon which the Young Socialists leaders have not addressed themselves 1o, because they al c reductionist in their approach to politics. I mean especially the way they argue class politics. I am standing to challenge that position. Model Husl heroes, NUM leader Scargill one of them He has ferences. him how to should sollic position of recognising peoples ins That means going to them 1o find out what they about and then supporting what they are doing.
The miners recognised une ooon maev receveu from the black community during that historical period women as well. In recognising that, they have seen the need to link struggles make alllances We in black sections 100 have seen that need for long lime now. wOld contrast that with the approach of the YS leadership not cass politics of important the The miner:
alliances the YS them.
away the the the rebellions sallic the innerthe way would have the state.
enough for ClIC These links are crucial to support for socialism within the party and especially in the youth movement. Instead • Milinave allowed themselves to be part of an alliance with the right wing in the parly, black sections and others on the left. But the right wing have used Militant, for example black sections, then turned Militant and attacked The enquiry into Liverpool District Labour Party is basically front more expulsions black section is totally opposed lo witch-hunts.
think that everyone should their opinion within the Labour Party. In fact, we were the first people to write to Militant to propose working with them in opposing witch-hunts Those witch-hunts against Militant and others continue"re sont continue But don't helieve that Militant har yet grasped the need to work with the rest of the left opposing witch-hunts. We have seen black section supporters being witch-hunted as well supporters. Yet Militant has failed so far to against the witch-hunt of the right wing.
The lefi of the parly doesn't witch-hunt. It has Looked at historically, ilys never the always the right who have divided the The SDPs on v one example The shone am tor ne.
sallie 1vl unions. It is the right who splitting the unions. The Eric Hammonds and the like are splitting the NUM by giving support to the UDM.
So I would call on Militant to recognise the need to organise with others on the left to oppose the right wing offensive. Black sec tions will defend anyone who is witch-hunted. The best defence against the witch-hunt is to join forces with others who are under attack: that means organising WIld and black sections, CLPs ana trade ulnols The LPYS 1s also under attack through the withdrawal of its tunds Combatting that means a change in direction change in policy ideology for the YS. We must build a bigger youth movement by building the sorts of links with youth in struggle that I have referred The bigger LU. stronger movement is, the better it can combat witch-hunts and other attack •UoviousIy., we're not going to change the YS leadership overnight. My campaign is only the of changins the direction of the LPYS As the black section candidate I am ap. pealing to YS members on the need for a united camchallenge the policies now being carried out in the LPYS So tar. I have been nominated as NEC candidate by Manchester Gorton, supported huddersfield Dumbarton, and others. My campaign is also supported by Youth Action, the Chartists, and NOLS. And also the Coordinating Committee are supporting It's high time that Young Socialist activists began to confront the problems of building a mass. radical movement youth - and that means a Ys sas and the prohicies it sort of leadership the has pursued till now. Stan ding a black section candidate for the youth place of the party's national executive is simply one way of beginning to do just Inal
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with young people in struggle. That means cham- pioning the cause of black youth, he explained to