While Conference delegates seemed content to allow the release of the Shrewsbury lads to depend on the slogtience of the NEC in persuading Roy Jenkins to 'recommend exercise of the Royal Prerogative' et some time in the distant future, rank-and-file militants gathered outside had other ideas. "Free the pickets now" and 'Scrap the conspiracy laws' were their no-nonsense slogans. Morgan Phillips, one-time general secretary of the Labour Party, used to boast that the British Labour Party owed more to Methodism than Marxism. Last week Labour went home -to London's Central Hall, the home of British Methodism.
As the Conference plodded along in its ethereal surroundings, the Government was giving a more earthly demonstration of how to keep capitalism functioningacross the road in the House of Commons. The "brave reforms of democratic soctalism had already been buried by Healey's Budget. Now the 'democ racy so cherished by the Fabians and left' alike was being wiped out by Jenkins' Bill.
No movement swept the Conterence against Jenkins" draconian measures. Wilson and company could afford their smug expressions. The Teft of the Labour Party National Executive dutifully pulled the delegates into line.
The Tribune Group hawked their beeling beatts around the Conferince to pet Merlya Rees off the book -war in Ireland.
On the contentious issue of party democracy it was also the left' who scurried to the platform to rescue the right. An attempt to make MPs suhmit themselves for re-selection to their constituency parties was defeated with the help of the old Bevanite lan Mikardo, His comment was: "Divorce should never be easy' The threatened walk out by the left against Helmut Schmidt's pro-Market speech did not materialise. Instead the MPs responded to Schm it's pag writers and their opposition turned into well-mannered chuckles.
Shrewsbury was a carefully stage-managed affair. George Smith, UCATT General Secretary, moved a pious resolution calling for the release of Warren and Tomlinson. The spokesperson for the executive then explained the formula agreed with the 'left': that only the Home Secrelary had the power to recom mend the exercise of the Royal Prerogative or remit part of the sentence, but the executive intended to try to persuade the Home Secretany to recommend the ine of the If the "civilised" and 'liberal' Mr Jenkins remains unconvinced by the persuasive eloquence of the next.
REMITTED of at least £1,000million, Mikardo remitted to the NEC.
Labour leaders managed to get a motion exempting the Clay Cross ex-councillors from any financial penalty soundly defeated, ica, Joan Lestor encouraged the delegites that a break was on the way. No sooner had the delegates got our Cabinet had no intention of making such a break.
has made that crystal clear. All Lab CONTEMPT NEC, nobody suggested what to do On defence, Mikardo did his res cue act again. In reply to the Orpington resolution calling for defence cuts promised that the NEC would cast a close, careful and critical eye' over Govemment' the coming defence review, The Orp ington resolution was then dutifully It was Lena Jeger, another NEC member with "left" pretensions, who should simply be discussed with the interest."
NEC and noted right-winger Antony Crossland. Under this "left' cover the During the debate on South Afr home than it was clear that the LabRoy Mason, Secretary for Defence, SUPPORT delegates at hay during the Conference.
Even on Chile the left did its best to make excuses for the Government's itulation just makes it casier for appalling record. Judith Hart, replying the right wing to get on with the to criticisms about the decision to allow the Chilean Government until 1983 to repay C24 million of its E124 million debt, claimed that the initial negotiations were taking place when the Labour Government came to power last February.' True, but the actual decision was not made until anti capitalist policies. But as long a March, more than three weeks after Labour took office.
As the right wing watched with illconcealed contempt the anties of the lert to unite the party, they openly boasted that they intended to go their own way. Callaghan was quite blunt and brutal about the BEC. He explained that whatever a special conference decides would hot be binding on the Healey said: The Government will have to reach its own conclusions on the Common Market terms. Just to make sure that everyone got the mess age loud and clear, he added: There cannot be any party Conference that can bind the Government of the day on what it regards as the national Many of the pro-Marketeers are now dropping their originat nostlity to the referendum on the Conmon Market. Short's conference speech, the tough line of Healey and Callachan, and Wilson's positions give them confidence that providing a deal can he worked out with the BEC partners, then the Labour leaders will throw their weight behind Britain staying in Europe.
Even during the Conference the ngot wing leit able to go on the offensive. At a meeting outside the grateful to his colleagues on the NEC. He recognises that their cap essential task of saving British cap italism, DISCONTENT Underneath the surface discont ent and resentment against Labour's right-wing policies was growing. Many rank and file members wanted opposition is just channelled into res olutions inside the Labour Party and demands that the Cabinet and the NEC fight for socialist policies, it will be bureaucratically throttled.
All the big struggles of the working class in the recent period have been against the policies of the Labour Government.
The wages battles have been ag ainst Labour's social contract. The fight of the Clay Cross councillors, the struggle to free the Shrewshury porkers, the movement to get the troops out of Ireland and now the resistance to Jenkins" Bill all violently clash with the Labour Government's policy.
Local Labour Party activists have to associate themselves with those struggles. But that is not just a matter of individually supporting them -us many in fact do- it means that they must make every effort to win over their local parties ar organisations to give full and unstinting material support.
Labour Party members must ensure that they and their organisation openly identity themselves with the fights. The right wing can only bo tought succesfully by turning the local parties towards involvement in the real struggles of the working clas Bob Pennington DALL OMES Photos: CHRIS DAVIES (Report
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replied for the NEC on Clay Cross, Her attitude was that the matter
TUC 1974
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