16791L t fatalistic like the mineworkers.
from right wing ones.
FOR 1 to support WAC's tive of our campaign. I have never been pessimistic about the possibilities of support from comrades terms of alliances of definite organised political forces of women, but very vaguely rejecting the idea that women be politically organised.
Tony Benn has said that the reason why he supports WAC's demands exactly This view of the need for alliances. How do you see this?
In Bea's article she made the correct allalysis when she said that meenaane women, for example together with CND, had put the issue of peace onto the political agenda was then only for the Labour Party to translate that into political and elec. toral success. And the Labour Party couldn't do that because it didn't have the mechanism for translating an extraparliamentary campaign that would into parliamentary campaign benefit Labour.
What we are saying is not that what is missing is the campaign for peace, because women are already doing that work. What is missing is the mechanism whereby the Greenham demands are translated into political action by the Labour Party. And the same applies to blacks, and the same to environmentalists or whatever.
The Party's mechanisms are turned only to a very narrow section of the class. And I want to stress the The Party's political structures and mechanisms are in tune with the ever narrowing manual working class in employment not even those no longer in employment. And as a result it is not possible for them to translate the political campaign goes on at an extra-parliamentary level successes lor une Labour itself as a political force.
I think that is why Tony Benn sup ports us and that rationale is absolutely But what worries me about Campbell and the CP's analysis is that by leaving this talk of alliances ABORTION has always proved a rather difficult problem for the leadership.
the 'conversations' so loose they are actually giving the leadership of the party a blank slate to do nothing about those demands coming groups, extra-parliamentary campaign ing groups that In this context, I think black sections are a very important development. They parallel the demand that women making organisation. I think for blacks, it is very, very important - although I am concerned about Bea women within black sections.
But what creating a hierarchy They •pressions blacks, YER the members of their demands.
branch is Photo: GM COOKSON win?
win such that we win or lose for selfunionists the role of black creating translating I am most against is of oppression we have to do, in my view, within the movement is to level out onto the same plane of political importance the op that people experience as women, as unemployed manual workers, as employed manual workers. As opposed to saying that the most important oppression is the oppression of those engaged in industrial production, and thereby ignoring the oppression of blacks, and others.
As Joan Twelves said in her letter to Guardian, her excellent letter, black sections are also members of the party so that within their black sections they can argue their case, advance their interests, formulate But they can also be members of the branch where other issues are addressed as well.
What we're not to say is that the more important than the black section because by saying that we are saying that one form of oppression is more important than another form of oppression. And I cannot as a white woman say that my oppression woman is more serious than any black man's oppression as a black.
So finally do you think we are going to Oh, I've no doubt that we are going to The political necessity political logic behind our demands i:
there is no question of noi winning. The question is of timing anc how long it will take this great move. ment of ours to recognise the urgency of adopting women's demands. That's what a stake — the timing, not whether It seems to me that one of our first tasks is to impress upon leading trade the leading parliamentarians the absolute urgency mechanism 10. into action the demands of the wider women's move-
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