ACTiON Socialist new type of left in the Labour Party precisely a type of left which has not been seen since The left in the Labour Party which emerged in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s was one not too caricaturally summed up in the famous phrase 'resolutionary politics'. This did not mean that it engaged in no activity at all as forces outside the Labour Party sometimes claimed. On the contrary campaigns such as the first wave of CND in the early 1960s had a big impact in the Labour Party. forums which the Labour left made its own were the resolutions to party conference and so on. The huge wave of strikes in the 1968-74 by-passed the CLP early 1970s equally developed relatively seperately from the left in tuencies. The spearhead of that development was the Communist apbaratus mune urade umons — not the Labour left.
A real turning point of development of the Labour left came in the NUM where else?
When Arthur Scargill took the left's nomination for president of the NUM awake VICK McGahey for the first time the CP was defeated bv the left in its tradiLullal stronghold TULthermore Scargill stood on positions, and a tradition, far to the left of that of McGahey. Scargill was the real struggle: leader to take the leadership of a national union, since AJ Cook and his sup-; porters the Mine-: workers' Federation in thei 1920s.
Another key. development was the rise of thet left in local government in: the late 1970s.
The rapid development of the Bennite left in the Labour Partv atter 1979 was much more mystified than the development in the NUM.
Scargill had established his base out of the strikes of He was the symbol salley tale The Bennite however gathered its initial coherence out of the fight constitutional reform in the Labour Party - the long fight for mandatory reselection and for breaking the PLP's monopoly a piece But that's an absurdidea! It's ludicrous to claim that Mr Kinnock is not totally in favour of a victory for the miners!!
Labour Parties, the on electing the leader of its main camCampaign Nuclear Disarmament. The question for that left was where it would go after the first reforms were over.
The answer, evitably, was that it divid ed. large ot block which had passer the constitutional reform: after 1979 has gone to the with Kinnock Another part was faced with the realities of the miners' and Thatcher's attack on the Labour movement.
That is at h despite the fact that occured merely within parliament, weeks protest Tony Benn, Dennis Skinner the campaign group of MPs did signify sortetune strike is going through a hard, bitter decisive phase. It is no easy way to popularity possibility of defeat exists.
There only choices. One is to try to put distance betweel oneself and the miners. The second is to be with the NUM right the way through. To fight for a Given his position, however, he has to use diplomatic langvage, Instead of the phrase miners' victory", he say. successful outcome of the strike. To be with the fight whatever the outcome That what Tony Benn, Dennis Skinner, Eric Heffer and the others did. • activists of the NUM and the Labour Party are not going to back off rom their support of the strike no matter what the outcome or what the conThe protest in sequences. parliament, in its own way, signalled that this is going to be the choice for at least one section of the Labour left.
Given the mystifications of parliament it rather hard to define what a class struggle left there would actually mean! But those who are prepared to would he use?
LUI bad first the miners process is laking is it local There Lalk That, another left.
And if he hoped to see the miners defeated what phrase Ah! In that case he would still have to use coded and diplomatic (language...
men InSI The reality is very simple What is involved in the Labour Party today i not a 'hard' and "soft' lef ey Benin said ra hard Tony said 'a hard situation needs hard left What is involved is a division into those force strug stand those ca who stand the don't.
Tha bs the ne being drawn miners strike and the fights in Weil as those over Ireland. local government black sections, women's organisation the party, It is that class struggle left which is the top priority to begin to in the Labour Party in the next years.
ormac ....and he would probably be callino for a "negotiated settlement"....
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"negotiated settlement"
Scargill on the 11 August Women Against Pit Closures March LE