for the organisation of local groups, including the election of independent steering committees and organising This should also provide for some democratic control over the policy and content of the paper. in line with our stated aims. Regional meetings. of ITO! SUDDOTLCIS such as those now taking place in the North West, can also JOHN STRAUTHER (Liverpool) OTHER readers will no doubt want to comment on Chris Roseblade's reply (19 October) to my original article (7 September) opposing a campaign to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics. So just two brief points.
there is a rather dishonest implication in Chris's article that opposition to a boycott campaign equals opposition to any campaign against the Soviet bureaucracy. This is nonsense. We're talking about the best tacties for such a campaign (as we were over the World Cup). It's not a matter of principle and it doesn't help to pose it as such.
Secondly, does Chris also propose -Inal we organise a campaign boycott the 1984 Olympics in Lo Angeles? If he does, we can at least argue about tactics within a frameWork OF Dasic poltical agreement (though I still think he'd be : wrong).
But if he doesn't well. that's something else. Because then the only implication is that the imperialist USA is somehow preferable to the USSR. It would suggest that socialists can approach such questions simply by applying a 'democratic' litmus test rather than from an overall class viewpoint. In which case a question of principle definitely is involved! MARTIN METEYARD (London) Society, and the officers of the TUC did exchange views bureaucrats. But the majority of their hosts never met them, and only found out they were here through the local press!
Should we boycott these representWitn these know.
to could improve its politics and its practice. Geoff Sheridan doesn't seem to want to GUY REDMOND (East London