London LP move left
Socialist Press1980 1980-10-22Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 13 →
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Further signs of the move to the left in the Labour Party were shown at the Special Conference held by London Labour Party at the weekend.
The decision was made to put forward a manifesto for the next GLC elections defying the Tories' spending cuts and expanding services.
The statement was which passed declares that:
"Mass opposition to policies led by a Labour GLC could become the focal poi nt of a national campaign, inve ilving other Labour councils against the cuts, for an immediate General Election and the election of a Labour government"
Although it is insufficient to omit any specific demand for' strike action, and to limit the fight to an electora strategy, this statement provides a good starting point for a struggle by local government workers and others aimed at defeating the Tories.
It also allows scope to avoid the incorrect strategy of fighting the cuts by increasing the rates.
The declaration does this by including the perspective of calling on a future Labour government to nationalise the banks, and to annul local authority debts without compensation.
"This" ", says the agreed GLC manifesto "would free local authorities from the burden of debt charges and allow a state bank to grant interest-free loans to fund local services and developments"
The adoption of policies such as these by a delegate conference shows the feeling of the rank and file and the possibilities opened up when the vice-like grip of the Callaghan leadership is prised loose.
Such policies must be extended and fought for in practice.
They must be linked to demands for strike action and for local authorities themselves to repudiate debts as the focal point of the mobilisation of millions of workers for the defeat of the Tory government.