MISLEADING Weekly has claimed to support the ple of a Right to Work march, yet it to it. The article on the Right to march Weekly. memori was contusine and misiedu 2 - for inose wno did not lake par owing to the fact that many more marchers turned so in Loncon inan nad orginally regis the organisers of the march did ask - but, they emphaso only from nose wno could altora Despite the large numbers involved, major hassles arose throughout the David Widgery's [Red Weekly, well with the practice of the introducing or allowing polcar debate.
with clear political objectives, against u cise and bring together these ditterent struggies servile collaboration with day or so. If they had stayed to complete the march, they would have shared the sense of achievement ane solidarity tel by all those who marched, blisters and all, into Brighton.
h was inis brincing orine unempioved together in one body, of the Right to Work, which was one of the aims. i oniv one worker nao taken d leaflet, read it and brought up the issue of unemployment in his/her ine march woule nave achieved some thing.
The article notes that mass meetings were held mainly on organisational issues. Inis is obvious, as sucn matters I am unemployed, a member of the Labour Party, and walked from London to Brighton on the Right to Work March. As one of marchers UnSOOnIStICaTBC YoUng 23 September], I find it very illuminating comrade Widgery uses the pages of Red Weekly rather than Socialist Worker to air his differences with the IMG and even with his own comrades. Unfortunately this seems to fit in all too IS leadership, which frowns on To help try to rectify this, I am sending this letter to both Red Weekly and Socialist Worker in the hope of an extension of rank and file discussion.
The lack of political debate was one of the main defects of the march, the leadership of which should have organised political meetings for the large number of young unemployed to discuss how to chapel that berth, and to show how the tick and to snow should be linked to other struggles against capitalism. The job of revolutionaries is surely to politiBut the mass meetings were almost solely for organisational matters; and there was no general political discussion and debate on how to intervene at the pickets of the TUC Conference. What do we need political discussion meetings for? We all know what we are on the march for', was what one IS comrade said to me. But some of the marchers thought we were going just to yell at all the delegates and break up the Tribune meeting, and generally show it all up: some of us, on the other distinctly different idea that we should be discussing with the delegates, not just screaming at them all Indiscriminately, so as to drive a wedge between those who would be prepared to organise a fight back against the Labour Government's dolicies ana mose bureaucrats wno are Dent ou Callaghan. Many or the mareners meeting.
Your concept of democracy stated snould be • mass meetings under one banner should be taken, but that decision. In which case, why all democracy?
expressed hostility to pooftas' and 'queers' as they called them, and had strongly sexist attitudes Given these varying attitudes, and given that the fight against succeed, must capitalism as a whole, there is an extreme urgency for political debate if the divisions which the ruling class uses to weaken the working class movement are to be overcome.
Comrade Widgery's letter in practice accuses Red Weekly of stimulating debate liberation; and yet if the question cannot be debated within a revolutionary organisation, where can it be discussed? The IS leadership have counterposed political debate to activity. This is a reflection of the fact that they reproduce within their own ranks the classic division itself, between intellectual and manual labour/theory and practice: i.e. the leadership do the thinking, the membership do ne marcnine According to Marx, unity in action — but constant politica debate - is the lifeblood of the revolutionary movement, th only insurance policy against bureaucratisation and sell-outs: and further. that mass demonstrations of the working class against capitalism will be characterised by vigorous debates and polemics on the way forward to socialism by different sections of the oppressed masses. This is not a bad thing, but is intrinsic to the democratiç experience of the working class movement, which is essential for the victory of socialism. One only has to look at the volumes of polemic levelled by Marx and Lenin against other socialists. were tney sectarians: vr cours not! They understood that programmatic indispensable to find the correct path to socialist revolution And what is Soviet Democracy. after all, if not the righ debate out what sort of socialism workers want! -WRIGHT (Member EC and GMC, Hull Central Labour Party)
in the urgent atmosphere of a mass article self-contradictory. It argues that there that votes whatever ne TaCTS outcome, each should stand by his/he argument for mass meetings? Don't they then become a token gesture of workers The Richt to Work march. as the alternative to sitting back and doing nothing or holding a mobile educational school. snowed unar me unempioycu dre become a fight against within the on ine question practical within i capitalism clarification was to - -UMUNU prepared to take action. The fact that it took place at all arrected many trad unionists and unemployed workers. No 'left-wing' paper can seriously dwell on what should or could nave nappened while not even giving the full and correct As a final comment. certain news papers both 'left' and right-wing have complained about the apparent domination of IS members and sympathisers on the march. Could this have arisen owing to the reluctance of certain other groups to take part in something initiated by IS?
Work marchers, Southampton)
st the Valsall WALSALL ham, population around small-scale industry, engineering, Indian population, no tradition of trade union militancy,