ANYONE hoping that this year's Labour Party conference would slip by without a real debate on disarmament is in for a rude shock. If nothing else, the demonstration and Against Missiles in Blackper organised Manchester on the eve of conference will. make sure that everyone knows it's an issue.
We stalked to WITHECOMBE, a member of Oldham West Constituency and a organiser of the Manchester campaign, about the lobby and what he hopes to see out of this year's conference.
How did the lobby come to be organised?
MANCHESTER Against Missiles was set up at an EP so we can start the war".
Thompson meeting, attended by 800, all of whom voted for the setting up of the campaign with only four votes against. Since then the campaign has grown with more than 10 subgroups in the surrounding area:
We decided to lobby Labour Party conference in support of the vast number of resolutions missiles and for disarmament because see winning Labour Party to a commitment to cancel Cruise as one of the crucial ways to defeat the Tory warmongers. The Party memo and trade members unionists involved in the camWe approached CND, which has usually had a march on the Sunday at the beginning of the conference, and found they had no plans for this year, so the idea of a lobby rapidly turned into the reality organising a march.
We produced a sponsorship leaflet and were immediately surprised by the floodtide of response. Almost over the march had been taken up by Labour Action for Peace, Thompson, the secretary of the North-west TUC and many Labour Party and trade union officials and many others.
Nhy do you think that the once more at the centre of discussion in the labour movemont We need to look at what's happening . internationally, moves by Carter to step up the US's ability lobby against disruption of the regimes that they support, such as the Shah of Iran, Somoza in Nicaragua and so on. There are moves to create a war hysteria akin to the DICK "cold war" of the '50s.
Part and parcel of this is the Tones agreement to site 42 American Cruise missiles in this country and to on Trident. Thatcher's foreign policy is clearly about tying Briup economically politically the gressive American policy.
There is a huge feeling of resentment in the working class "We're trying to get the computer to mal-function against these moves towards a World War This is especially because of the experience of Suez, CND, Vietnam and our own Ireland. People realise that we have to build the strongest fight the against Thatcher's mongering.
Cruise was trade . of night What would you like to see coming ference?
Winning the party to a commitment to cancel Cruise, along with mass protest and trade union action, is one of the main ways to stop the missiles. We're already demonstrating breadth of support for this party supporters of the paign.
Winding süpport June intervene popular spend billions and ag. foreign on nuclear bases, dockers have refused to land the missiles. see Labour Party support for groups like Engineers Against the Missiles and for labour movement conterences of activists give the campaign a massive boost.
What would you like to see on the missiles in the next Labour Party manifesto?
We should draw from this year's TUC. Despite huge missiles the final motion that was passed - to call on the •genera council trade union movement and the publish: off the need to abolish nuclear weapons and cut arms spending — did not give a clear lead for trade unionists to take Three situation. action.
wing leader of role in said:
'While creep in when motions were composited, there was no amwar- biguity about supporting world peace.' and some of resolutions -We'd also like to all of which would some lessons opposition to to alert the As John Boya, the rightthe AUEW ambiguity might clear focus lest the large range.
END and supporters of multilateralism, through those simply call- the issue. ing for 'peace', to those supporting unilateralism and Bri tain out of NATO - obscure "MISS POTTER!
APPOINTMENTS "FOR TOMORROW."
BCOBB American These