Women's Fightback We Want Jobs

Scan page 12

«Unofficial' candidate - were we riaht?

Women márch for Jobs Copies available (20p plus postage) from 41 Ellington St, London N.7 been expelled already' on the grounds tht he is a 'maverick'"

This statement came as somewhat of a shock to local Militant supporters, particularly as they had been particularly active in supporting Pat Keegan's campaign for re-admittance tỏ the . District. Council Labour Group. Subsequently the author of the article containing this lie was approached and informed that. the statement was untrue and asked to publish a retraction in the next edition of Socialist Organiser.

His response to this, not unreasonable, request was to publish a leaflet which accused local Militant supporters of making action, threats of further 'dark acuon , of launching "mini-witch-hunt' against Socialist Organiser and named the comrade accused of calling for Pat Keegan's expulsion from the Labour Party.

These three points cannot be left unanswered.

The so-called dark threats of further action' was in fact that if Stan Crooke would not write a retraction, the matter would then be taken up in letters to Socialist Organiser and other papers produced within the Labour Party explaining that Socialist Organiser could not be relied upon to print the truth when factional points could be scored and that Stan Crooke was the same. Further to that the issue would be raised in Govan CLP with Pat Keegan.

Ammunition

Because we have demanded a retraction of Crooke's lying article and pointed out that the article gives ammunition to those presently attempting to witch-hunt the Militant, Crooke accuses us of launching a 'mini-witchhunt' against him. This accusation, like the original article, is merely a product of Crooke's fevered imagination.

In • Crooke's leafiet, Frank White, chairman of the LPYS in Scotland, is named as the Militant supporter who called for Pat Keegan's expulsion. Up to now Crooke is the only person who heard Frank White say that, whilst myself and five other people who were at the meeting, where the comments are claimed to have been made, have no recollection of them.

The real reasons why Crooke attacks Frank White are that Frank spoke and voted against a resolution moved by Crooke congratulating Pat Keegan in standing against and defeating an official Labour candidate. This, plus Crooke's blind hatred of Militant, it seems, led to the work of fiction in Socialist Organiser 87.

In normal times lies aboul Militant and its supporters in Socialist Organiser are not really worth taking up. But in the situation of a witch-hunt against Militant they have to be answered. Indeed it seems very strange to have, on the one hand articles telling lies about Militant supporters and, on the other, articles calling for the defence of Militant in the face of the witchI would hire that Socialist Organiser will put this matter str. ight given these present circ. imstances.

Fraternally, ANDY CONNOLLY Crosshill-Prospecthill STAN CROOKE REPLIES:

When a Socialist Organiser supporter moved motion of support for Pat Keegan and for Fairfield Labour Party (Pat Keegan represents the Fairfield area and enjoys the support of the Labour Party branch there) at the May meeting of the Crosshill-Prospecthill Labour Party branch, the first of the two speeches against this motion came from Frank White, a leading supporter of the Militant in Glasgow and current chairperson of the Labour l Party Young Socialists in Scotland.

White began his speech by claiming that Keegan should be expelled from the Labour Party if he had not already been so, on the grounds that he was. a to send us their letters, up to a usual maximum length of 400 words. Send to Socialist Organiser, c/o 28. Middle Lane.

London N8. /

maverick trying to fight the cuts outwith the Labour Party. White went on to say that he hoped that no-one would confuse any possible witch-hunt of Fairfield Labour Party with 'real witch-hunting' of socialists in the Labour Party. He concluded by saying that he found the motion both confused and confusing.

This astonishing tirade went unchallenged by any of the other Militant supporters present at the meeting. The minutes of the meeting show that, when it came to a vote on the motion, all the Militant supporters voted against the motion.

The "official" candidate whom Pat Keegan defeated was one bureaucratically imposed by the Glasgow District Labour Party against the active opposition of the Fairfield branch and the CLP.

While Militant supporters might regard it as unacceptable to defy such bureaucracy their position was not shared either by local Party activists or by the Labour electorate, who gave Keegan an 819-299 victory over his "official" rival.

Militant supporters, subsequent to the appearance of the article, have informed us that they have defended Pat Keegan, particularly in the Fairfield branch and in Govan CLP, and it is on this basis that they ask for a retraction of the above-quoted statement. We must reject their request.

Whilst welcoming the support given by Militant to Pat Keegan in Govan, and anywhere else, we refuse to retract the statement of contention, based as it is on Frank White's speech at the May meeting of the Crosshill-Prospecthill branch.

----- pull-quotes -----

Saturday 24 July, 1982 * Creche *Facilities for disabled *Crash pads (if booked Chris Richardson, 0602 780124.