Not the way to fight the right!

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HE new left group of group) ruled out any move to stand for the Shadow cialist Organiser, and else- they came out openly as IP's seems to be making a that could split the (Tribthe PLP leadership for left MPs group, speaking out for Labour proposed that the group left MPs keep their heads THE new left group of MPs seems to be making a slow start.

Since it was launched rivał.' Since it was launched at Labour Party conference thought and agonising reappraisal' • as Martin Flannery put it - nothing has been heard except press speculations that the group may try to mend its bridges with the Tribune group.

The Morning Star last Friday, 22nd, reported: 'No new formal group of left Labour MPs is to be established at least for the time being ••. (the IN THE last week two separate issues have produced a veritable flurry of activity in the normally dormant Queens Park Constituency Labour Party in Glasgow.

Firstly the selection process for finding a Labour candidate in the forthcoming by election (caused by the death of the sitting MP Frank McElhone) has now been set in motion and has caused not a few surprises.

Less than 48 hours after his name had been put forward for nomination, Chick McCafferty withdrew from the race. McCafferty had been hoping to stand as the candidate of the left in the CLP, but the leading role he has played in expelling a Socialist Organiser supporter in the constituency destroyed any chance he had of receiving the left's backing.

Recognising this McCafferty backed out.

Much more surprising is the fact that Helen McElhone, the widow of the late MP, has gained the homination of the Gorbals Hutchesontown Branch in a straight fight c-ainst local Regional Councillor Jimmy Wray. Her success was due to the work of her late husband.

Created

To ensure that the new constituency created by the boundary reorganisation adopted him rather than McTaggart as the prospective parliamentary candidate, McElhone had been packing new members into the Gorbals branch in order to gain more delegates to the General Management Committee of the new constituency.

The other reason for the unusual level of activity in the CLP is the expulsion of Socialist Organiser supporter Stan Crooke, accused of writing an article in issue 99 of Socialist Organiser "with the intention of bringing the Labour Party into disrepute"

The article had been critical of the moribund nature of the : Gorbals Labour Party, and of local elected representatives.

The final decision was taken by the General Management Committee at a meeting on October 21. Given that the jury and the prosecution at this meeting were the same people, many of whom bear the blame for the moribund nature of the Labour Party in the Gorbals, group) ruled out any move that could split the (Tribune) group or establish a rivał.' = According to the well-informed Guardian (October 16), the left group also will not challenge rightwingers Michael Cocks and Jack Dormand for their posts of chief whip and PLP chairperson.

Nominations for chief whip and PLP chair close on November 4, and for the Shadow Cabinet on • November 11.

Bristol South East CLP has advised Tony Benn not it was hardly surprising that the vote to expel Stan Crooke was passed by 31 votes to 11, though four members of the Executive Committee resigned in order to be free to vote against the expulsion.

No eyidence was even offered to suggest that the Socialist Organiser supporter had the intention of bringing the Labour Party into disrepute by the article. The purpose of the meeting was to expel the su supporter rather than give him a fair hearing, so such niceties as the provision of evidence to justify the expulsion could safely be ignored.

The right wing did however explain, at least to their own satisfaction, how the CLP could expel the SO supporter from the Labour Party: the CLP, they argued, is part of the Labour Party because it is recognised as such by the NEC; the minor problem that it is £2,000 behind in its affiliation fees does not mean that it is not affiliated, it means only that the CLP cannot send a delegate or motions to the national conference, and is therefore irrelevant when it comes to expelling someone.

The real cause of the expulsion, as one member of the CLP pointed out, was the the the right against the left. that there is a witch-hunt by The right wing are at pains to deny this, claiming that the expulsion took place only on the basis of the article.

Full support must be given to the fight for Stan Crooke's reinstatement. to stand for the Shadow Cabinet. Last time he was in it, he got lambasted by the PLP leadership for speaking out for Labour conferece policy on renationalisation without compensation. 'Shadow cabinet responsibility' could mean being a prisoner of the dominant right wing. More seriously it could be a preparation for cabinet responsibility in a right wing dominated Labour government.

In Tribune and in Socialist Organiser, and elsewhere, Reg Race, MP, a leading figure in the new left MPs group; has proposed that the group should meet jointly with delegates from trade union Broad Lefts and from left CLPs. Such a structure would mean the whole Left had a say in decisions on matters like the PLP The left MPs could play a major role in blocking the witch-hunt - and all the more effectively if they came out openly as leaders of an organised Left leaders of an organised Left outside Parliament. But conversely, if Benn and the conversely, if Benn and the left MPs keep their heads down, then it will be easier for the new right wing NEC to purge and intimidate the CLPs.

A spirit of conciliation towards the right wing will only get kicks in return. . At the NEC this week the Right will be pressing to remove Tony Benn and Eric Heffer from key subcommittee chairs.

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sUppOrTel expelled

: Labour Party conference - 'after a year's intensive