School Student Cunference

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ze more information about the Workers If a struggle is not maintained against the domination of the Young Communist League, the National Union of School Students will wind up locked in endless sure group endless with the DES and Shirley Williams.

This is the inescapable conclusion from this year's NUSS Conference held last week at Middlesex Polytechnic.

The new President. tacitly supported by the YCL. received two-thirds of the votes at conference. ihough the returning citicer himself admitted confusing instructions on the ballot - resulting in 10 spoiled papers out of 74.

YCL members had also prepared new pole! statement. which failed to tackle teacher anemploy7.2r1 and = camber of other C4ES0OTS.

#SL comrades called tor amenddemand for social service spending to rise in place with inflation.

But discussion on these amendments was not allowed. Instead delegates were offered a Hobson's choice-either adopt the new Stalinist draft, or retain the old document unamended. Under these conditions the new draft was endorsed.

A motion opposing the Social Contract and calling for a sliding scale of wages was defeated, though the mover stressed the need for the NUSS to have a clear position on these issues to assist their approaches to the NUT and other unions, and as part of the fight against the cuts.

The NUSS * si plagued by huge financial and recruitment problems. But many delegates recognised that the way to solve these problems is to fight hardernot to cut back.

The election of a WSL comrade to the National Committee at least upens up the possibility of a continding fight lurn the ILSS •>a:2s the read tests ahead in zach the 'slush fund' allegations has led to court actions which will inevitably delay the truth about the funds themselves being revealed for years if at all.

Ryder is protesting innocence about the £49,500 payment, the executives of Reed International are saying nothing and the one man who presumably can clear the matter up, is holed up on his Toronto ranch.

If ever there was a clear cut case for a workers inquiry into the truth around all these allegations it is now. Workers would not put up with the kind of long winded explanations now being offered. They will want to know quite simply who was being paid what by whom and why.

EMBARRASSING

The capitalists are all too aware of how embarrassing this kind of revelation can be. As the Observer Business News complained, "The chief danger is that the general public, which isn't in the habit of receiving £49,500 gratuities will assume that such purboires (tips) are showered about like confetti in the higher echelons of industry.

Paying back the gift is neither here nor there. "T'll take it back" , is the plaintive cry of every shop lifter stopped outside the supermarket. However innocent he may be Lord Ryder has come under suspicion. A workers inquiry into every aspect of the NED. Reed Internationsi. Layland 2n3

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