disreputable episodes even in nock's leadership of the Labour Party. Kinnock read the riot act to the left to prevent any debate being taken in parliament on the miners strike. Nothing new? You would be wrong to think that.
A parliamentary debate would force Neil Kinnock through at least the motions of support for free hand to do something quite different: that is, to line up the leadership of the Labour Party behind the rapid drive to the right of its trade Picket Kinnock scarcely even bothers to try to conceal now that he is working for the defeat of the Scargill wing of the NUM even if that means the defeat of the strike. His number one goal is for the isolation of Benn and his supporters in the parkinnock knows that means the trade union leadership continuing to turn its back on the policies adopted at the last TUC besides.
Kinnock bosses that they 'realities' under the Tories and, unlike Chapple et al, keep their links with (read control over) the Labour Party. Kinnock's efforts amount to a major attempt to shift the Labour Party to the right on the miners' strike to line up the party faithful*us policies. behind the drive of Basnett to change the Last week various elements of this shift came more openly into the light of day. Basnett went public on his campaign to call a special congress of the TUC to reverse its attitude to the government's trade union laws. adoption of ballots before action means that union leaders protect themselves from applying the agreements to support the NUM, taken at the TUC More generally, militant action by part of a union will not now be able to lead the union as a whole. Basnett has learnt lesson well from the miners' strike.
Strikes Don Concannon even floated the idea that the Notts breakaway scab union should affiliate to the Labour Party. Although official party reaction denied this proposal, at least a section of the party leadership is prepared to consider even Meanwhile it is obvious that the struggle is still on to determine the terms of reference of the NEC's 'statement for democratic socialism'. It has no value for Kinnock except as a weapon to isolate and break those in the party who have stood behind the NUM and to prepare for a more generalised witch hunt in the party.
The pressure of the miners' strike has forced most of the trade union leadership to 'clarify their position to the right. Kinnock is giving the clear signal that he (and the party) will not be left Labour Party is not the only route to the right. Kinnock has declared open stand with the NUM inside the Labour Party.
Editor: ALAN FREEMAN Published weekly except two weeks in August and the last week of December Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily represent Socialist Action's views. These are expressed in editorials.
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as well as the ritual condemnation of But at the moment Kinnock wants a - and a lot more the proposes to show the trade union can accommodate to the new first Most immediately, his bureaucrat's that 'new realism' and a break with the sales
Socialist Action 25 January 1985 sions directly to the ranks, rather than