Saturday 21 June Regents College Inner Circle, Regents Park, London Comrade We invite you and/or your organisation to sponsor a national conference against the witch hunt which is developing within the Labour Party: The conference has been initiated by Hackney North & Stoke Newington CLP, Hackney South & Shoreditch CLP and Vauxhall CLP. It is proposed to hold the conference on the Zist June in London, with delegates and observers from CLPs and affiliated organisations The political basis is provided by the followne abbreviated resolution which was proposed to the Labour Party National Executive Committee by MPs Eric Heffer, Tony Benn, Dennis Skinner, Jo Richardson and Joan Maynard:This conference is against the.
expulsions of any members because they read and support the views of journals.
of the left or right, within the Party.
'Within the labour movement, and reflected in the Labour Party, there have long been groups of different kinds, standing for certain political positions ana views, wno are organiseu, somellnes with paid staff at varying levels.
'The Party, in our view, should not return to the days of proscribed lists and intolerance, but should accept the demand for diversification, groups, tendencies, strands of opinion, journals.
newspapers of one kind or another, with THE LABOUR Party Black Section has mounted a major campaign against Advisory Committee leadership following last Black Section is calling for a boycott by all party organisations and members of this committee.
campaign increasing support. Trudi de representatives from the East Midlands, has already withdrawn from the committee. Keith Vaz, the other representative the announced his resignation from it. A resolution is going to London relations with this committee.
nationa! chairperson of the Labour Party Section, to outline the Black Section's position on the 'Black and Asian Advisory Committee. THE Black Section taken a view on the 'Black and Asian Advisory Com mittee both through loca:
Black Sections through its National Committee There is no other decision been as thoroughly debated decided upon as this.
1985 party conTerence we were asked what our position would be on RESOLUTIONS FOR the conference have to reach Walworth Road by 7 July. I'm always surprised when the date dawns. I was at the last conference only a few months ago, now here we go for next year's bash. the 'Black Asian established by the party The has been gaining Hainey, one of the East Midlands, has Black the Black and Asian Acvisory Committee. We said . wouldn't be right for us to give a posi= tion without thoroughly consulting the membership on something which was a ciear concession — whether it be a good concession or a bad concesfrom the party brought about the Black Section struggle. For annual Labour Party The Back Sects has spent much of its time have decision hon we should relate to it would have been toial!!
We had to consult wrong the full membership and analyse precisely what it We discovered that it 1s a body set up much like which happened with 'governor generals' the committees Viceroy's advisory com. mittee. Appointees onto committee. They were not elected by black people. They are not accountabie to anyone else except the party's white bosses.
Once we saw tnis, we discussed all the way through the black section! movement. The view WC came to was that we should this committee because it's committed to a destruction ot paign and the gains that have been made.
It's a too down solu tion. It's not accountable, that rheioric was pu: into The Black Sections campaign has received backing from nearly all the groups on the left of the COOT it's not democratic. On that basis, not on the basis of sour grapes, but on the basis of its very fundamentally flawed structure, this be justified exolalll the sort of people on !! -Gwyneth Dunwoody, Roy Hattersley. How can you support people who have records which are far from anti-racist being on a committee talking about race - a weld usual ting this undemocratic structure?
We also see that the litie Black Asian' divisive, when black section nas clearly united Afro-Caribbean Here instead you have a committee mitted separating 'Black' and 'Asian Our Asian members: particularly were the most forceful in identifying this Paul Sharma from Lady. wood moved an amend meni, Maday Patil from Southhall spoke pasBlack Sections sionately about the committee being divisive at ou! annual conference.
So for these reasons we're implacably opposed to the Advisory Committee. It is no substitute for a thorough going network of Black Section rep.
all levels resenlaliul . al of the movement, having own structure the same as other sections o! the movement with an an nual conicienci bringing pressure to bea: on the NEC for places elected by our conference This will COHELICO whither away like all the advisory committees tha have existed in the past on precisely because they were cynical black vote gathering committee comprising stooge grace and favour appointments. They commitment to fighting for anti-racist policies and were not ac countable to black people - that's why they keeled over and died
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Conference Against the Witch hunt
Regional Executive to end all Socialist Action asked MARC WADSWORTH,