[Left wing councillors in Camden have pressed further…]

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Left wing councillors in Camden have pressed further in their fight against the package of cuts proposed by the right wing Labour council leaders.

In an open letter signed by ten councillors-reprinted on this page- they seek to rally the labour movement in a fight to save jobs and services.

At the Labour Group meeting on Monday February 16 the ten counciliors went furtherand mounted a direct challenge to the leadership.

Though they were narrowly defeated in elections for the three leading positions in the group, they showed that their stand is not mere rhetoric.

And at the full council meeting on February 18 the ten councillors voted against the majority of the Labour Group on all major proposed cuts.

Since the Labour Group has only a six-voté majority on the council, this defiance posed a real threat to the cuts strategy.

When it came to a vote on the axing of 600 building department jobs, the Tories were forced to abstain on their own motion, which called for even greater cuts, to allow the Labour leadership's proposals to go through.

And the right wing's proposed repairs budget was actually referred back after left wing councillors voted against it with the Tories.

Panicked

It must now go back to the Housing Committee and the Labour Group-where the left wing intend to argue for an extra £8 million to sustain the DLO workforce.

Within the confines of the council chamber the stand by dhaa ine ten councilors now threatens the rates package needed by the right wing to finance their cuts.

Council leader Shaw has

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GEOFFREY WESTON reviews the book Poplarism 1919-1925'