Labour Party conference:
No easy time
THE DECISION of Tony Benn and Eric leadership elections against Neil Kinnock and Roy Hattersley was never seen as a contest primarily about votes. Rather, it was a political stand to attempt to stem the tide of new realism that seeks to change the whole nature of the British
THERESA CONWAY & PETE FIRMIN
October 31, 1988 • #150 International Viewpoint for Kinnock
Heffer to run in the Labour Party labour movement.
W ITH Margaret Thatcher part-
way through her third term of government and pressing on with her attacks on the working class and its organizations, the leadership of the labour movement (trade unions and Labour Party) continues to refuse to lead any counter-attack, and is indeed adapting to her policies under the guise of "new realism".
The aim of Labour leader Neil Kinnock is to make the Labour Party acceptable to the ruling class as an alternative party of capitalist government to the Tories. He is prepared to drop all pretence at socialist policies and disassociate himself from all struggles against the employers and government. Since his election to the leadership in 1983, he has set himself the task of pushing back the gains made by the left on both policy and internal democracy in the period after 1979. The latest phase of this is a two-year Policy Review, designed to totally rewrite present policy in advance of the next general election. In his keynote speech at Labour Party conference Kinnock declared, "We have got to make market forces work better than the Tories".
Generally speaking, Kinnock has the support of all the major union leaders for this project. By selling out most of the major struggles since Thatcher came into government, they have not only assisted her in her aim of restructuring capitalism, but also spread the view that there is (at best) no alternative to waiting for a future Labour government. In order to achieve this the movement has to "moderate" its policies. Yet some unions still retain (at least verbally) a commitment to certain of the policies that Kinnock would like to drop Thus, although the recent Trade Union Congress showed a continued move to the right, it did decide to oppose the government's Employment Training (ET) schemes and expel the electricians' union, the EETPU, now quite clearly a business union (see /V 149).
A homage to market forces
Labour Party conference began with the leadership declaring that the EETPU's membership of the Party could not be challenged, a statement no union leader was prepared to question. Most unions supported Kinnock's document "Democratic Socialism: Aims and Values", with its homage to market forces and the bland Policy Review papers that committed the Labour Party to little but "individual rights". Virtually every union voted for Kinnock and his deputy leader, Roy Hattersley, against the left in the leadership election. However, at the end of the day certain union leaders — in particular the general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) Ron Todd, upset what was meant to be Kinnock's showpiece conference. Todd, by no means particularly left wing, attacked the "modernizers" in a prepared speech at a fringe meeting, and became the key opponent of dropping unilateral disarmament
BRITAIN from Labour's policy, one of Kinnock's priorities in making Labour "respectable".
While the leadership won easily on most policy issues, it was defeated on several important questions: one woman on every short-list for parliamentary selection; for a national minimum wage and 35-hour week; opposition to ET schemes; and reaffirmation of unilateralism.
The decision on one woman on every short-list was opposed by the National Executive Committee explicitly on the basis that it would undermine short-lists of just one candidate, thus making it clear that this was a victory not only for women, but also on the question of Party democracy. The decisions on the minimum wage, 35hour week and ET schemes were a warning shot fired at Kinnock by the unions — the TGWU in particular - about how far they were prepared to go. A motion calling for repeal of all the Tories' anti-trade union laws was passed with the leadership's support even though it contradicted the relevant section of the Policy Review and Kinnock's declared intentions. The message from some unions was: "we will supand most of your policies, but there are limits"
### Result of leadership battle worse than expected
The results in the Labour leadership election were clearly worse than the left had hoped. Benn got 11.5% of the vote for leader and Heffer 9.5% in the deputy leader contest. Yet these raw figures do not give the whole picture. Estimates show that Benn and Heffer obtained the support 13 of 25%-30% of those voting. In the newly
International Viewpoint #150 • October 31, 1988
BRITAIN formed technicians' union, the MSF, Benn got 40% of the vote.
The leadership challenge acted as a focus for resistance to new realism, including for many militants outside the Labour Party. It meant that the policy debate was sharper in advance of conference than it had been for several years. It also meant that Kinnock had to beat a hasty retreat after publicly dropping the Party's commitment to unilateral disarmament in a television interview, when he felt in danger of losing trade-union support.
Left begins to organize seriously
The left in the Party began to organize in a way it had not done seriously for several years in terms of policy debates, taking the issues from these debates out to convince others of the need to support Benn and Heffer and linking up with struggles, such as the seafarers' strike. Where the left organized and fought seriously around the issues good results were achieved in the election. Certainly, it is the case that had there been no such challenge, the left would have been in an even weaker position after the Labour Party conference.
There were important weaknesses to the campaign. In particular, the ambivalence about whether to stand candidates against Kinnock and Hattersley meant that when the decisions was finally taken there was insufficient opportunity to take the debate into the trade unions. There was a reluctance on the part of the Benn/Heffer campaign to look beyond the union leaderships for support, taking the issues to the membership even if this meant a direct challenge to the bureaucracy. There were difficulties about the democracy of the campaign, with regional organizers being imposed on local campaigns with no discussion with them. These weaknesses are not particular to the Benn/Heffer campaign, but of the weaknesses of the Labour left. But coming out of Labour Party conference steps are clearly planned that will improve the situation.
The Campaign Group of Labour Members of Parliament (MPs) - of which Benn and Heffer are members — has launched "Campaign 89" on the basis of a twin approach: first, of campaigning within the party for socialist policies and elected representatives to carry them out; and, second, campaigning outside the Party together with other movements, "through the Socialist Conference network", around such issues as the implementation of the poll tax? and Employment Training, and towards the development of alternative policies. It is pledged to take the debate on policy into the unions in a way that was not done this time - particularly around defence of unilateralism, economic policy and repeal of all anti-trade union laws. It is 14 meetings of representatives of the regional also committed to organizing national
LL campaigns for socialism, trade-union
While there is some discussion about the exact nature of these meetings, it is undoubtedly a sign that the Campaign Group intend to broaden their base over the next year and that they understand the need to turn to the unions. Although there has not been a clear decision to mount another leadership challenge in the Labour Party next year, this is being discussed openly. The conditions for this debate are much better than last year, because it is being earlier, because it follows on from the positive challenge this year and, finally, because there are developments within the "soft left" that were not taking place a year ago.
This year's campaign could not be expected to turn around developments in the labour movement of the last five years, during which the left has failed to mount consistent resistance to Kinnock's projectt. But it has laid the basis for such a fightback. Now that the left has begun to organize and put forward alternative policies, it would be a retreat to duck the fight for
Series of initiatives planned for 1989
The Socialist Conference itself, which unites activists inside and outside the Labour Party, plans a major programme of activity in 1989 including an Alternative Policy Review, an analysis of economic strategy, national and regional conferences of the left and separate conferences on the
1 poll tax, trade-union solidarity, Women for Socialism, Gorbachevism and other issues. These are intended not simply to be discussions of policy, but to promote action around the various issues. These initiatives, together with the Campaign Group's intention of fighting for elected representatives who will carry out socialist policies, provide a clear focus for the left in the coming year.
Undermining the sovereignty of conference
In terms of what happened at Labour's conference itself, through introducing a series of rule [constitutional] changes that had not been discussed in advance, the leadership have taken a gigantic step in undermining the sovereignty of conference and moving towards an individual membership party on the same lines as most European social-democratic parties. The most important of the rule changes are the 1. The Socialist Conference network has been organized through a series of national, regional and local meetings, sponsored among others by the Campaign Group of MPs and the Socialist Society, which has brought together the left both inside and outside the Labour Party to campaign for socialist policies. It is also sometimes referred to as the "Chesterfield Campaign", because it was in Tony Benn's Chesterfield constituency that the first national meeting was held 2. A new local tax to be paid per head of the population, replacing the current system of local taxation on property. So, for example, three adults living in the same house will have to pay three poll taxes rather than, as at present, a single tax assessed on the value of their home. This is obviously going to hit poorest people the hardest, while giving yet another tax cut to the rich.
----- photo credits and running heads -----
Illustration: Simon Rees
H ones centralizing all membership applications and records, the decision that 20% of MPs have to nominate someone before they can mount a leadership challenge, the imposition of by-election candidates on local parties and suspending members under investigation. These are designed to produce a much more passive membership and will lead to an intensification of the witch hunt against the left. Further, it was made clear both during and after conference by Kinnock that decisions taken by the conference were fairly meaningless given the Policy Review.
### Central battle over unilateral disarmament
A central battle over the next year will be maintaining the commitment to unilateral disarmament. Kinnock was always aware that this would be the most difficult battle to win, which is precisely why it has not been dealt with in the Policy Review so far. Although it was a serious defeat for Kinnock that conference voted to uphold this policy, his aim is to win at "stage two" of the Policy Review that will go to next year's conference. He and his supporters intend to use the preceding year to change the policy of key unions like the TGWU. In the meantime, Kinnock has made it clear that he will ignore conference decisions on this and everything else. This means that we have to look at the possibility of developing concrete campaigns for the implementation of these policies and to make sure the line is held at next year's conference.
Just as sections of the trade-union bureaucracy are reluctant to go all the way with Kinnock, a similar line is being developed by elements within the "soft left" who are beginning to recognize the way in which their support has been used by Kinnock to marginalize the left and push
The battle in the trade unions
While having no illusions in any of these forces, it is vital for the left to work with them around common objectives such as the defence of unilateralism, while trying to open up the fissures that these divisions between them and the leadership represent. They have to be challenged on their support for Kinnock in the leadership election and for the witch hunting of sections of the left, particularly supporters of the newspaper Militant. Kinnock himself has made clear that support for him as leader is inseparable from the policy issues.
The victories that were won at conference were won because of the support of the trade unions, especially the TGWU. One of the issues that will be up for voting at next year's conference and will dominate discussion over the next year is the relationship between the trade unions and the local Labour Party branches and the question of the block vote.
With the block voting system, the unions not only cast 92% of the votes at the conference, but also cast them en bloc. Thus, the TGWU's 1.25 million votes all go the same way, regardless of how big the divi-
BRITAIN sions are inside the union. Nor is decision-making in the unions always a model of democracy.
The Labour leadership and the media have begun a hue and cry against the block vote even though they had no quarrel with it when it was being used to re-elect Kinnock and push through the policy review. Kinnock may use the opportunity to change the Labour Party into one of individual membership, thus breaking the organic link with the unions that has existed since the Party's inception.
Offensive on tradeunon democracy
The left must defend the link with the unions, but the way the block vote is used is undemocratic. It must be democratized by ensuring that members of unions decide on policy - through union conferences — before votes are cast and in such a way that minority and majority positions can be
This must be a consistent position regardless of whether or not votes are going in favour of the left. The local Party branches should have more say in decision making than at present, but there needs to be maximum discussion about the appropriate formula so that the left can unite around specific proposals.
It is essential to go onto the offensive over the question of trade-union democracy at the same time as taking the fight to defend and extend socialist policies into
This means linking up with, and giving a lead to the struggles of workers and showing the connection between the betrayals of these struggles by the bureaucracy and their support for Kinnock. What demands are raised and what organizational structure is best equipped to take up this battle have yet to be debated out, but the left must recognize now that this is one of the vital tasks confronting it.
The contradiction in Kinnock's strategy is that so long as he refuses to lead any kind of extra-parliamentary fight against Thatcher's policies he will not win the level of support among voters necessary to win a general election, and is left relying on either a new economic crisis or Tory own-goals to make the present government sufficiently unpopular. Without either of these the ruling class has no need of
The working class and oppressed have shown their willingness to resist Thatcherism despite receiving no support from the leadership of the labour movement. The strikes by workers at the Ford car company, postal workers and the seafarers, the campaigns against the attack on abortion and lesbian and gay rights (the Clause 28 campaign) bear witness to this.
The left's fightback against new realism has to be centred on giving a lead to such 15
Solidarity important for the victims of
International Viewpoint #150 • October 31, 1988
TURKEY figures of March 6, 1988, between September 1978 and April 1988, 61,220 people were sentenced by military courts. • What do you know about the conditions in Turkish prisons?
They are almost worse than you could imagine. Despite all the official statements, political trials people are still being tortured in prison. Former prisoners have told us that up until the last they were tortured, beaten, and in some cases held in solitary confinement for up to six years. Practically all the time they were given just enough medical attention to