[at Party's recently-held Local Government Policy Conference ended…]

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at Party's recently-held Local Government Policy Conference ended in complete farce-thanks to cynical manoeuvring by the rightwing.

The two-day conference which debated reports from working parties on topics including finance, education, housing and social services was not empowered to adopt policy which was binding on the District Party.

It had therefore that at 4.20 pm. on Sunday a specially convened District Party meeting would meet to vote on one motion only-that the policy adopted throughout the weekend would be endorsed.

The conference itself was poorly attended with only a handful of right wingers turning up.

At around 4.00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, however, District Party delegates started to appear in substantial numbers and then proceed to vote down the motion-leaving the Party with no policy coming out of week-end.

A certain amount of confusion now exists as to the position of the District Party. The previously existing policy ot no cuts, no rent increases and no rate increases presumably comes into effect once again.

However, the vast bulk of those who had only a few weeks previously voted to adopt this stand argued forcefully for a sufficient rate increase to prevent any cuts and it was this policy which the District Conference adopted.

Only a handful at the conference, mainly from Coventry South-East CLP voted to stick to the no rate increase position.

And as far as Socialist Press is aware only one of Coventry's 'Rebel' councillors stood with them.

Perhaps the most important initiative to come out of the conference discussions was the proposal by the District Party Anti-Cuts Committee to convene a conference open to the labour movement as a whole which would have the job of agreeing a united response to the cuts.

The decision of the right wing to vote down the conference proposals means that this conference will not take place unless another labour movement body calls it.

Coventry Trades Council has contented itself wíth organising a lobby of the Labour Group meeting and has laid no plans for fighting the cuts directly.

Whoberley Ward Labour Party last week passed a resolution calling on the South West CLP to call a conference open to all Labour Parties, trade unions, tenants associations and community groups to develop the campaign against the cuts locally.

tion if they so wish-that is what local democracy is all about. But we are not prepared to be dictated to by a non-elected accountant, or by a Minister and Government elected on an express mandate to increase, not to diminish, local democracy:

Accordingly, we will oppose by all the means open to us that proposal to : withdraw the Camden supplement, which would mean no wage increase at all for two years for our lowest paid employees in the face of an ever-tising cost of living; we will oppose the proposal to increase rents as dictated by the District Auditor; and we will oppose the decimation of the direct labour organisation since this would mean, besides even longer delays in housing maintenance work, and with 2,000 building workers already unemployed in Camden, desperation for the redundant and their families.

We call upon our colleagues in the Labour Group and in the Labour Party, the trade unions, tenants associations and all those who care about local democracy and the welfare of Camden people, to join with us in this struggle.

Somewhere the dismantling of local government has to stop; somewner. the Tory economic crisis unemployment and further impoverishment of the poor has to be confronted; somewhere local democracy has to be fought for. Let the battle start in Camden.

Yours faithfully, Councillors: Anna Bowman, Tom Devine, Pat Driscoll, Neil Fletcher, Joan Hymans, Ken Livingstone, Sally: Peletier, Phyl Turner, John Tysoe, Jenny Willmot.

By By Graham Shurety Shurety through by UCATT stewards as part of the struggle to put the whole of the Camden workers' movement on a war footing against the right wing council leaders and the Tory government attack.

SOCIALIST PRES!

SUPPORTERS.

Public meeting

"Labour Councils and Cuts" (Speakers include-Lambeth Councillor)

Friday 27 February 8.00pm Cowley Community Centre Barnes Rd., Oxford