Where has Socialist Organisel

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hour lare Cönterenee m Blackpool call for a General Strike to (by no means all) of the stop the Tories. And it con- comrades who had supporsistently supported Ireland's from Sorialist Organiser.

Socialist Örganiser started in October 1978. It came out of the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory, an alliance set up to provide a distinctive voice for the left during the General Election.

One of our major tasks in the first few months was campaigning on the theme «Vote Labour-but prepare to fight for socialist policies against the next government -Tory or Labour"

We produced special election broadsheets and leaflets, got some Constituency Labour Parties to support us, and tried to organise the left.

But from the start we aimed to make Socialist Organiser more than just a Labour Party paper.

And we tried to combine openness towards broad sections of the left with political sharpness on the key issues.

Thus, for example, the first issue of Socialist Organiser carried a front page call for the labour movement to help defend Brick Lane against a planned fascist march-while most of the Left's press found it more important to get people to Anti-Nazi League concert on the same day in South London.

From • January 1980 Socialist Organiser raised the We asked a number of campaigners in the labour movement why.

in their personal capacities. they will be supporting the new Socialist Organiser. aru lore ariuse • r struggle for freedom.

During 1979 there was much debate in Socialist Organiser about rate rises as a way to counter the cuts. In November 1979 an SCLV conference decisively (16567) confirmed the position of the original SCLV platformi of June 1978 against rate rises.

After that decision, some ted rate rises moved away LUI VULM But Socialist. Organiser soon broadened its scope 1980 and the launching of the Rank and File Mobilising Committee for Labour Democracy in June 1980 We took the initiative 1o1 the RFMC and managed to win support from nearly all the Labour lett.

Even before then, we think it was a strength of Socialist Organiser that it analysed the importance of the Labour democratic struggle-and mapped out the tasks both for the wider left and specifically for Marxists-earlier than most.

monthly to a fortnightly: and started to become more of an all-round socialist Industrial reports now cover 3-4 pages regularly. We have more review articles and historical articles.

Both sales and the number of active supporters have nearly doubled.

Criticising a paper produced by his co-thinkers in the USA in the 1930s, Leon Trotsky wrote:

'The paper is very well done from a journalistic point of view. But it is a existence Socialist Organiser has been the main socialist paper to carry the news and views of the campaign.

This fight and the need to link it with industrial struggles of the working class will be greatly strengthened paper for workers, notworkers' paper.

In spite of its literary brilliance, to a certain degree the paper becomes a victim of journalistic routine. You do not hear at all how the workers live, fight, clash with the police or drink whisky.

The task is not to make a paper through the joint forces of a skilled editorial board, but to encourage the workers to speak for thempapers that the rank and file in the Labour Party has a far greater say than before.

With regard to the cuts campaign, Socialist Organiser and its supporters have assisted in formulating a fight back at grass roots level. Even though we are pleased lines from a [work) shop or meeting can often give more than a well-written article by the staff.

The paper is too wise, too scholarly, too aristocratic for the American workers."

We have tried to make Socialist Organiser a workers paper-a paper that is inside commenting and proclaiming the labour movement from outside.

We have tried to combine breadth of debate and contributions with a clear but patiently argued line on the key issues.

What are the faults of the paper? At our national gatherings supporters have told us (the Editorial staff) that the paper is too crammed, that it is not popular enough yet, that the trade union coverage is patchy, and that the coverage of women's issues and international news is poor.

And these faults we are trying to correct. The relaunch, with the added help of the Socialist Press comrades who will now be supporting Socialist Organiser, should enable us to make big steps forward.

But-more important-we are sure that the Socialist Press supporters will bring new resources of political experience and political strength developed in struggle, to the • common pool. flooI.

When I and five other militants were sacked last Christmas, the "SO", bulletins were of vital importance in organising the strike in our support, and Socialist Organiser printed a special supplement on the sackings

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again, with our initiation of Women's Fightback in March

Last August, Socialist Organiser moved from a