Nus Throws School Students into Debtors' Prison

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Since the founding conference of the National Union of School Students in May 1972, it has received the support-financially, organisationally and politically-of the National Union of Students, presently under the leadership of the Stalinist-dominated Broad Left.

The NUSS has, throughout this period, been dominated by the Young Communist League, which had a majority of seats on the National Committee.

Discontent

But the inability of the YCL to lead any national campaigns even for the most limited reforms for example, against school uniforms) and a refusal to struggle for a broad based labour movement campaign against the cuts had two results.

On the one hand membership declined from a highpoint of 20,000 to a current membership of about 5,000.

On the other hand growing militant discontent with the leadership began to express itself in the last year.

At the NUSS Conference in July the rank and file anger found its expression in the passing of radical motions demanding militant strikes in schools and strike action and occupation with other trade unionists against the cuts.

Smokescreen

The YCL were routed and a new leadership, dominated by the SWP-backed Rebel and IMGbacked Revolution youth groups was elected.

On the day the new leadership took over, 9 July, the NUS President, Trevor Phillips, confirmed that NUS would continue to support NUSS regardless of the politics of the leadership of NUSS.

This proved to be nothing more than a smokescreen for a Executive Committee member. vicious policy of cutting essential financial aid and material assistance to NUSS.

On Tuesday 17 July NUSS full-timers met Pauline Roe and Helen Connor from NUS who have responsibility for the school students' union.

New offices At this meeting both the move of NUS to new offices in Endsleigh Street and the financial position of NUSS (which owes NUS £7,000) were discussed.

The only point raised by NUS at that meeting was that there were accomodation problems but that NUSS would be given room in the new offices.

Subsidy ended

But at a subsequent meeting on August 8 the NUSS National Organiser and Secretary were told what "support" the NUSS new leadership would receive from NUS.

Firstly the NUSS were not to be given a rent-free office at the new NUS offices in Endsleigh Street.

At the NUS Executive Committee it was agreed that no decision be taken until full consultation with NUSS full-timers. The NUS full-timers, however, had already decided not to give NUSS an office in Endsleigh St. without consultation.

Secondly NUSS was told it would have to repay the £7,000 debt in the future.

Despite the fact that NUSS is already chronicaily broke we were told that it would have to pay rent at any temporary accomodation NUS could find.

Finally NUSS was told that the 70% subsidy it receives from NUS for phone bills was to be ended.

If any of the measures proposed by the Broad Left full-timers in NUS were implemented the NUSS would become bankrupt.

D1 for NUSS This would mean no national union newspaper until the finance was raised; no materials for campaigning to build a mass fighting school students union.

So if NUSS didn't get smashed by the Broad Left then it would be incapable of providing any materials to coordinate a struggle.

The NUSS Executive Committee immediately called a meeting to respond this this political attack on the independence of NUSS.

By providing only two weeks notice of the proposals the Broad Left has done its best to guarantee the collapse of NUSS.

A circular has been sent to all NUS constituency organisations detailing the history of the attack and raising some disturbing facts.

The mailing ends by demanding "disapproval" of the NUS full timers; a full discussion at the next NUS EC on 30 September; temporary housing near enough to NUS offices so as to permit the continued use of photocopying, postage and duplicating facilities; continued payment of rent and phone bills by NUS and full consultation before decisions affecting NUSS are made.

It is clear, however, that the NUSS leadership do not understand the nature of the attack they face or the correct way to respond to it.

The demands they put forward fail to mobilise the rank and file of the NUS let alone the NUSS.

The conscious political attack on NUSS and the new leadership by the Broad Left must be met by the full-scale mobilisation of NUS to defend NUSS.

The Socialist Worker Student Organisation and the Socialist Students Alliance must be called on to lead a campaign against the Stalinists and rightwingers that make up Broad Left.

Confrontation

The enormous weakness of the bureaucrats is intensifying within NUS as the greatest ever Tory education expenditure cuts begin to take effect.

The possibility of a major confrontation on NUSS would further damage the 'left' reputation of NUS President Trevor Phillips, who at last December's NUS conference strongly argued in favour, against the Conference decision, of letting the then NUSS President Munford speak. Last July's NUSS conference Aware of the need to avoid a major confrontation over NUSS the Broad Left have now attempted to manoeuvre around any battle by providing NUSS with an office in North London Poly.

Mass lobby

This will make it extremely hard for NUSS to use NUS facilities because of the distance from NUS offices.

And the temporary accomodation will be taken away by the end of September.

WSL and SYL members will be campaigning in NUS and NUSS for:

*local student unions to censure the NUS full timers! For full discussion on the NUS EC! For a mass lobby by NUS and NUSS members of the NUS EC on 30 September.

*Drop the debts! No cutsfree rent and phone.

*For an NUSS office in Endsleigh Street.

*Full consultation with NUSS full-timers before any decisions.

*No censorship of NUSS material before posting.

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The EGA- not even an occupation without strike action can ICIALIST F Wed day The action of the Lewisham, Lambeth and Southwark Area Health Authority in refusing to implement the Tory cuts has been firmly supported by trade unionists in the area, and could be used as a starting point for an effective campaign to stop the cuts.

This was made clear at a public meeting called by the Lewisham-based suspended AMA members last ATT A 1-ad week, which about 300 people attended.

But the meeting wasn't used as a platform to put forward policies to r nobilise workers against th cuts.

Catalogue

Instead it heard a catalogue of the effects of the proposed cuts: the Sydenham Children's Hospital Is TT due to close; kidney units will be axed; and every hospital will experience cutbacks, including Lewisham Hospital which is already in desperate need of decoration.

Dr. Robin Stock announced: "We will oppose hospital and ward closures" but failed to say how. It was proposed that an action" committee be set up, but the "action" it would be involved in was left undefined.

The high attendance and militant feeling at the public meeting shows that local trade unionists are ready to August is the cruellest month for Fleet Street.

Their readers go on holiday; their advertisers wait for more opportune days and the news rooms swing their efforts into finding the most trivial stories of the year.

it was youth who caught it in the neck last week.

Runaway couple Susan and Nick were hounded round Britain as a High Court judge called in the newspapers to capture them.

On their return Judge Arnold told the press to lay off. He reckoned without the social concern that is instilled into true news hounds at birth.

As Susan Pengelly left court she covered her head with a bag. Fearlessly the photographers ripped it irom her face and blazed Re porters were hard at =ark composing conversa2005 Romeo and Juliet supposed to have had ineir parents and each Knight fight the cuts.

Other labour movement conferences on the cuts are being, held, including 'Local government conference' called on July 29 by Lambeth Labour Party's Local Government Committee, and a delegate conference which has been called for 10 November by an ad-hoc committee set up by the three local Trades Councils around Lewisham.

These must be used to plan action against the cuts.

The Lambeth local government conference was specifically concerned with cuts made by the council, in particular the proposal by Meanwhile 'Dino' Barbouris had also come home-not to mother-but to the cells. Since he'd been away the press had built him into a combination of Al Capone and Billy the Kid.

On his return he was charged with possessing an imitation firearm.

All this and much more. It is nothing out of the ordinary.

But Lord Shawcross chose last week to make his farewell croak from the Press Council.

His summary of this employers' poodle and the press were equally sanguine.

The only threat to the press came from unionisation and the only fault the press had was a tendency towards sexual prurience.

The Observer must have been slightly struck by the inadequacy of this defence. They had reporter Robert Chesshyre offer something more sophisticated.

He attacked the StalinistLabour left' proposal for a more 'neutral' watchdog than the Press Council and the Lambeth Labour Group to cut 42% off expenditure.

These cuts were justified by Ted Knight, Labour Group leader, on the gřounds that they were a "tactical' move to show local people what Tory cuts would really mean!

These arguments did not impress the conference, which was attended by 100 Labour Party activists, who called for no cuts, and for the councillors to refuse to implement the cuts and to organise a campaign in the labour movement to support their action.

Ted Knight is also a member of the South-east Thames Regional Health Authonty, which nas been made responsible for implementing cuts in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham following the suspension of the AHA.

According to Derek Prentice, a Labour councillor and suspended member of the AHA, who recently gave an interview for Socialist Press, Ted Knight has:

"consistently. fought against the cuts at all levels, when Labour were in office as well. Anyone who accuses him of having ducked that fight at any stage would be politically naive." offered this interpretation of press ownerships.

"In a country enjoying free speech, papers have the right to be partisan; they are not, like broadcasting, governed by a charter requiring fair play.

"Most newspaper proprietors are likely to be conservative minded. Most news papers, therefore, are likely to be conservative-minded too, even right wing."

The Half Moon Photography Workshop-authors of Camerawork, a polemic on Ireland, are not unfortunately naturally right wing.

They adopt a position of saying that news from Ireland is censored and that the main use of photography there is to put people in prison.

The Daily Telegraph devoted an article to the booklet which was directed against the fact that the workshop is grant-aided by the Arts Council. Under a truly free press they would no doubt be suppressed. In August it might not even get in the papers.

The question has not been however whether Knight means well or not.

The sharp question for all those holding office on Labour councils is what do they do when their intentions and those of capital conflict.

Knight's position is quite clear. Either he will support some cuts or he will argue sate for the fact that the government will not meet the council's spending plans.

Challenge

Neither of these show any alternative to managing the capitalist system for the Tories. The choice is not a greater or lesser evil in the balancing of Lambeth's books, but whether or not 'lefts' in the Labour Party will fight the cuts and challenge the government head on, using not their own persuasiveness but the strength of the working Class. • Knight not only voted for the 42% cuts but declared:

"What we were doing and what we would have done, would have been to use the cuts we had made in order to show in real terms what cuts mean.

"No problem"

«The, cuts we suggested were those that did not involve any redundancies or loss of jobs in Lambeth, and didn't damage the services in particular.

"So that what we were showing in practice was what Tory cuts mean in real terms for people living in Lambeth. So there's no problem. There was never any decision not to campaign.

"It is a question of tactics. What comrades seem to be doing is to raise the question of cuts into a principle. If they pursue that policy then there's really no future."

(Socialist Organiser interview).

What Knight clearly means is that if the fight against all cuts is taken seriously then there is no future for reformist policies.

In his interview Derek Prentice discusses the sort of campaign that the suspended AHA will be trying to implement. It is clear from his concentration on the argument that the area is a special case, that it was the particular problems that the area faced that provoked the AHA into this unique position of refusing to implement cuts.

When asked whether the 'special case' argument didn't limit the scope of the campaign, Prentice replied:

"We can only argue as far as our own AHA is concerned and on a basis that we're going to get them to stand.

"The alternative, and I accept entirely the political argument that you're posing but the alternative would have been not to carry the rest of the AHA members with us.

"If we didn't carry them with us, the effect now would be that these cuts would have started to be implemented."

Acceptance

Prentice lays a great deal of stress on the importance of carrying the AHA and the support of the British Medical Association. For instance, he states:

"I am delighted to say that the British Medical Association-perhaps the strongest trade union in the country-has come out with wholehearted support for uS.

«The doctors have saidas they said at the meetingthat they don't care who tells us; they are not going to reduce patient care, and the trade unions are solidly behind us."

Leaving aside the rather bizarre characterisation of an organisation which is not even affiliated to the TUC as "perhaps the stronges: trade union in the countri. it is clear that Prentice's perspective is limited by his acceptance of the legitimacy of the AHA. He states:

"We intend now to continue being members of the AHA. We have sought legal advice on the Photo: Mark Rusher, It'L save the NHS from the Tories Minister's action and are seeking ways to find out whether or not we can still meet as an authority."

An effective campaign against the cuts must challenge the authority of the AHA, not accept and bolster it.

The AHA a totally undemocratic, appointed body, and a fight for workers' and users' control of the health service must be counterposed to it.

Prentice continually points out that the Labour 'representatives' on the AHA (and they are specifically not accountable) are in a built-in minority of one-third, but instead of arguing for a different structure, he simply argues the need to carry the other two-thirds in the fight by compromise.

by AHA He also accepts that the campaign against the cuts will be led by the AHA, rather than the labour movement:

'The campaign is going to be extremely simplistic.no cuts to patient services, no redundancies .. Now, that is our stand and we think-we know-we've got the people of three boroughs backing us, and we've got the doctors backing us as well.

And we will continue to expose what these cuts mean ... I agree that we should call meetings-that the AHA should call meetings if we're still legally allowed to, and I shall be trying to convince my colleagues of that."

Alternative Such meetings are important as a 82 HAR cam2e=0e isses coS000g083:c:b ace c the AHA, and the fight for occupation and strike action, which Derek Prentice says he supports, are taken into such meetings the campaign will fail to defeat the RHA and the commissioners appointed by the government.

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