'Cuts were wrong under Barber in 1973; they are wrong in 1976 under a Labour Government.' This is how Bob Hughes, former MP for Aberdeen, opened last Saturday's national conference called by *Labour against the Housing Cuts.
Delegates from 30 Constituency Labour Parties, 11 Labour Party Young Socialists branches, and several trade union branches and trades councils attended the conference.
Conference organisers Ken Livingstone and Ted Knight, both Labour councillors, put out a call for socialist policies. But it was left to successful resolutions from Birmingham (Selly Oak) CLP and Hackney North and Stoke Newington LPYS to spell out the concrete demands which constitute 'socialist policies":
- that social expenditure should be linked to price and wage indices to protect it from the effects of inflation;
- for a crash programme of useful public works;
- for the cancellation of local and national debt charges;
- for the abolition of the private sector through a programme of Most important, the resolutions spelt out how to fight for socialist policies'. Support was voted for the 26 May Day of Action and the lobby of the Labour Party conference called by the NCC against the cuts in the NHS. And the conference made a call for a lobby of the 16 June special meeting of the TUC.
It was agreed that these should constitute the first steps in a campaign which would involve removing any delegates, councillors and MPs who support cuts, replacing them with those prepared to defend and extend the social services.
The conference could act as a SOUTH-WEST region demonstration social expenditure_Sat 15 Mau 1 20mm Fields, centre of Taunton, Devon. Called by NUPE, supported by ASTMS, T&G, NALGO, AUEW.
stration and rally against cuts in welfare IMP Meter PaNT rades Council, NUPE, CPSA, NUS, WWC and others Further details: Bath 62274 ISING FREE bookshop is moving, next Monday.
ay, to: 155 Drummond si, London IVY WORKING WOMEN'S Charter and Labour's legis on -public meeting, Thur May, 7.30pm at Ro CHILE: labour movement conference organise ockport Chile ing true movement: 13) Musical Director-she ice 45 reason, for seterite iving de Ladder Theatre. 20 Westminster Bdgs., 3t twork of, Leeds Leeds Lecas Lecas40004 LIVERPOOL 1 Iberian Week, 17-21 May. 17 May And Portugal real launching pad for the mobilsations of militants in the Labour Party to initiate a national campaign against the cuts. This means a real drive to turn the resolutions passed into action. A big effort must be made to win delegates to participate on the Labour Against the Cuts Committee set up by the conference, and to win wide support for the Labour Against the Cuts bulletin.
Supporters of the bulletin should be organised up and down the country into caucuses to cam paign for its policies, to coordinate their actions with trade union branches, trades councils, shop stewards committees, etc. in local cuts committees. Resorations snould be moved to Labour Party conference along the lines of the Selly Oak resolution.
The demand must be raised that all left MPs and councillors who claim to be against the cuts should join the campaign for mass action against the Labour Government's anti-working class policies, associate themselves with all bodies fighting against the cuts nationally and locally, and throw their weight behind building Labour Against the Cuts as a national open caucus in Women's struggles in Spain and Portugal. 20 Stanley House, 198 Upper Parliament St.
28. 2.08 mad les 1 Mari bel 143, Whi 7.30pm: Artists for Democracy aal attain. Pamphies our speciany over 60 mi 50 Foster Road, Trumpington, Cambridge MICHAEL FARRELL on Northern Ireland: the Or Pery rat, Red Linesa, WiCi Daneshil Road, Leicester (tel. 231234. WOMENS RiGHTs day school: sat 2z May, 10.30- 5pm at Nottingham Teachers Centre, Cranmer St I services activity in union affairs — a crucial issue at a time of escalating cutbacks in the NHS. Members of the white collar union ASTMS held a token strike at the National Hospital in London last Friday to protest the sacking on 6 April of Lesley Nairn, a senior technician in the Chemical Pathology Laboratory. Ostensibly she was sacked because she refused to see a private psychiatrist employed by the hospital, after a brief illness and after a Guy's Hospital consultant psychiatrist had declared her fit to return to work. ASTMS members argue that Lesley was sacked because of her BEFORE
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health housing NO GUTS hygiene
Labour Party. -WHATS ON-