as lost its three MPs orough council. In a fanfare of media publiciy, twenty five councillors and two MPs have lefected to the JAVY JONES. a member of the general nanagement committee of Islington South abour Party, looks at the background to these xtraordinary events and draws some concluions for socialists in the Labour Party.
Islington Labour Party as been notorious for its arious mixture of conserative, corrupt and areerist Labour politiAll these different 663L3. rands have COTIC ogether in the recent rise f the SDP Throughout the sixties le Labour Council in, according to the New *a secretive, MALWINE OAREFCAY WHEET if cOntrol of Cocontier Bayliss ative was this group that le Labour government of ending in a housing comrissioner art building property in te area.
Loacmg local Labour arty activist, Keith eness, told the Islington utter Press in 1975 that, at if you start building uncil houses, you're gog to encourage other cople to come into the ca.
In the late sixties a new benomenon struck the lington Labour Party lichael O'Halloran. His se to fame is legend. hen the sitting Labour IP died -In the ascure councillor for StaWard, Michael 'Halloran, was a surprise amination for his placement.
Even more surprising as that through blatant ilol-rigging he was nariwly elected. Among voted was ast one bogus transport 1i0n delegate, Michael reston, subsequently exelled from the party for ersonation • and other with false degates esses.
It is noteworthy that te delegate gave their adthat of Eileen rosnan, one of the coun Ilors to defect to the SDP March this year at the credentials for the Ibious selection meeting ere issued by Harry Reid mother SDP defector.
A subsequent inquiry itiated from the nationa CCULYC. "Halloran had "packed"
arters but the matter was VEDI WHOLE the ecause of the imminent ection.
O'Hailoran retained s grip over North Islgton Labour Party rough consistently brging bogus delegates to ay voung meetings, and her forms of corruption 'bully-boy" Jonation O'Halloran had workan office manager ir a local building firm, lurphys, becom,000 to the Labour Pave MP. Murphys after O'Halloran's elecon. Murphys 15 a150 nic ame of the controversial CISDUEL branch GWU 1/723.
O'Halloran's other ower base in the borough as the Gresham WHOSE Licence Pat Sherran, was a anone Labour coun llor who defected to the scialist Challenge 10 December 1981 and control of the Democratic Party.
SDP in March. According Gresham made a £2,000 political donation in 1978. It is unclear to whom this O'Halloran could stomach no opposition. pelled por not sanding pelled standing during national anand Keith Veness o Halein for cite sing O'Halloran the ington Gutter Press. Attract The day before Veness was due to appear before the party's national executive to appeal his expulsion his wife, councillor Valerie WAS mysteriously attacked by two men with Irish accents who stabbed a broken boltle in her face. O'Halloran denied any involvement in the affair.
O Hailoran finally got his COIRCUMOOUCE March this ycar when the left won control of IsIington North Labour Party at the annual meeting of its management committee.
The first AGM had ended in uproar, with new DOLLS delegates including constiSECTCLARY. Morgan Lear, a NALGO member!
When the AGM was reconvened Morgan Lear sent his resignation from the and the SDP gained their first councillors week later.
The third strand of the ington Labour Party also emerged in the late sixties. The Tories took control of the council in 1968, for the first time in 40 years. Their three year rule coincided with the influx of a largely middle-class icte uno une party particulrly the South and Central CUHISUEELCER cies.
the of Gerr soutngate as the new left leader of the council, and an alleged 'new era of parIn September this year southeate lcd a murinct 10 Labour counciliors into the SDP, at the same time defection. Last week they Michael O'Halloran's were joined by a further three councillors giving the Democrats their majority. Gerry Southgate is now leader of the first SDP council in Britain.
different components of the old Labour Party had peeled off to the new Tories, the SDP.
Chop The last straw councillors and MPs who defected was the threat of reselection. Ine advance of a new democratic left within the Labour Party committed to fighting for the interests working these so-called representatives of the labour movement were likely to face the chop.
It was the same with the Labour councillors. They joined the SDP to avoid the reselection proParty and to preserve their within the Labour careers. It is notable that the council defectors joined the SDP week in order be eligible for the local SDP's 8 December deadline for counch nominatons.
But would be misleading to present the Islington Labour Parties 1UY uniformly left wing. There were those over the past months in the ur Centre, 4. Camden Road, NW1 & Published by Dave Davies. MeeTING local party. whose response to the rise of the SDP was the same as that of Michael Foot: to adopt the SDP's policies and to make conceSsions keep. the SDP fifth col umn" in the party.
Storm Two incidents in the South constituency in recent months illustrate the point.
Government Committee of the Labour Party an objection was raised to the re-nomination of Keith Veness cillor Chris Pryce to next year's panel Labour candidates, because of his voting against party policy nousing and other issues.
This move caused storm among some of the councillors and the Labour right wing in Istingron South. There were mittee discussions on the motions of censure on delegates who had not HOOTSU Pryce and witch hunt against the left had initiated the WILD move, amid accusations of into the emberton Gardens, N 1: arms of the SDP'. Pryce rewarded his supporters last Wednesday when he joined the SDP Votes Similarly with George Cunningham, MP for Isiington South Finsbury. Constituency chair, Ann Page, and husband Bruce, through the Statesman, conducted al oper have Cunninghan re-elected despite his opposition to local party policy on most and party Even when Cunningham publicly refused to confirm that he would the next the the troops to dumully vote right wing marshalled for George at the resclection meeting.
Cunningham was promptly offered a front bench position on Home Affairs in the shadow cabinet by Michael Foot George said thank you' to his supporters in the local and national party the next week when he left the Party and announced his intention to fight against Labour at the next general election.
Charles Chapman, the defeated left candidate at Cunningham's reselection meeting and the constivice-chair, told Socialist Challenge: While we may suffer in the short term through these defections, long run the party will gain from such a shake-out. These people were never really socialists in my estimation.
Policies You can't beat the SDP by their policies only defeat them by letting the people of Islington know still here and fighting for their interests with socialist policies.
Socialists in the Isiington Labour Party are now trying build Labour left to provide a Torum for developing socialist strategy and to turn me babour lars as a whole towards socialist first test for the Labour Party will be how to respond to the new SDP council. In their first few days the new council has shown its true Tory colOurs: *It voted to sell off some p0o sher lie theme lead OCTECS WILL HENC eviction of 350 families. • t restarted operation with the scab Islington Gazette, who are in dispute with the journalists" union, NUJ. *It agreed the 'reorganisation" of social services field work despite opposition the NALGO branch, SDP Dave Burn, secretar to the local NALGO branch, told us that if the SDP council is to fulfil its promise to keep rates down to 10/15 per cent and stay within the sol have to cut some nave £14m, or one fifth of its revenue budget ms come lead to a many as 1,000 redundanthe closure of homes and day centres mentally handicapped homes for old people, and reductions in the field services of up to 25 percent. The SDP are also committed to stopping the funding for voluntary organisations in the borough and to vetoing any money being spent on campaign against the proposals on local government funding.
It will be worth keeping an eye on the SDP's first council: it may be a foretaste of things to come nationally.
Any attempt, no mat-
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This culminated in 1971 well