Boycott the Eec

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Over weeks, have b with li motley crats, talkers wishing the last few trade union and Party branches een bombarded terature from a army of bureaucareerists, left and geriatrics to be nominated for the European Parliament.

Until recently many constituencies had a policy of boycotting these elections, but most of this resistance has now collapsed.

Central to this has been the absence of any lead from the left MPs and other "lefts" within the Party.

For instance, Terry Hunt, Vice Chairman of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy has recently circulated a letter requesting nomination.

In this letter his only argument against a boycott. is that "there is insufficient" agreement on it among the Anti-Market movement for it to be anything but counter-productive.

No agreement We could have told Mr Hunt long ago that the "anti-Market movement" will never agree about anything of importance.

This is because it is an unholly alliance of national chauvinists and left fakers with different class roles (if not class interests).

. Hunt says that we must have candidates who "are absolutely genuine in their motives and politics"

He goes on to describe himself as "Party activist and not an opportunist"

It is unfortunate for Mr Hunt that being genuine is no protection against being an opportunist.

'Socialist Press' has always argued that the Common Market is an attempt to solve European capitalism's problems at workers' expense and that it should be broken up as a precondition for the building of a United Socialist States of Europe.

In Britain we Parliament has only limited control over capitalism. The institutions of the Common Market have been specially devised to minimise any interference by national parliaments or the "European Parliament' Over executive decisions by the Commission and Council of Ministers.

Advisory only

It is openly declared that the European Parliament will have only an advisory role.. • In other words the whole thing is an elaborate and expensive farce.

The only principled position must be a 'cott.

Mr Hunt's lette ggest that he personal agree with this analysis.

Boycott

But where has he fought for a position of boycott to be accepted on wider scale?

Even if this fight had been fought and lost, surely there is only one word to describe those who actively campaign to take part in what they know is a farce designed only to fool the European working class. Hunt is an opportunisteven if a 'genuine' one!