By Tessa van Gelderen ment from the base that there should more Callaghan-Healey governments. tory strengthened this movement which by now had extended deep into the unions.
for deputy leader against Healey - and coming within a whisker of winning.
Since that time, the left has been in retreat. It goes this y cal wiln no focus for fighting the Foot leadership. Indeed, it has so far refused to pose such a task clearly.
Yet everyone now knows the ex.perience of the MalvinasHalklands crisis that root is simply a spokesperson for the right wing.
Benn has be known that he is unwilling to challenge Foot at this conference. His concern that a decrease in his vote over last year would show a weakening or lne lelt Is unfounded. Standing for endersaD Platill against Foot's role in the wilch-outl and LIC Lobbying the TUC the leaderThe decision of the Parliamentary Labour Party to go for Foot was a pre-emptive move designed to conciliate the overwhelming sentibe no His vicIt reached its peak with Tony Benn's challenge Malvinas debacle would strengthen the base of the left.
Labour Liaison '82, set up to be the main vehicle to fight inside the party, has had its potential eroded by refusing to organise and act as a campaigning leadership espe cia v OVe right is now in a stronger position take the itiative against the left as a whole. The refusal of the left to organise branch across the party and in the unions furthe strengthens the right which Is Marshallg Is loices It is openly demanding Militant's head, sacrificial victim on whom the responsibility of the electoral collapse of stion to all token days or Labour has officially devolved. The right has made offer can't lead the make way for someone who will.
But the right wing's argument that Benn responsible for electoral caster looks more and more fatuous as Labour's nose dives „ove the wal The polls now give Michael Foot onty nine per cent of popular support.
On policy, the strength of working class opinion in support of I the left gains of recent vcar unilateralism, opposition to the Common Market and opposition to incomes policy will not alon success for the right on this terrain at Blackpool.
The right is applying the salami tactic. Lop of : activists layer by layer and cow the rest ILO SUDASSION inquiry is one example, are the attacks on Pat Wall, Peter Tatchell and Tariq Ali.
The right wing union leaders like Terry Duffy of the engineers and Sid Weighel of the railworkers are using the bread winner, we can't live on Militant scare to force a left capitulation at the new 'Bishop's Stortford' meeting at the beginning of next month.
But there is no reason for such retreat. There has been upsurge monkers struggles in healt nicalln DUltalll sections dustrial workers, have taken on the fight against the government's pay limits: Many militants are deterined the Tories' employlaws through solidarity action.
A new mood has been engendered by the train drivers' victory which has in its turn laid the basis for the rest of the railworkers to go on the offensive. The are threatening to Illicis take action against closure. Occupations and breaking The tide Youth For the left to succeed it has to reach out to these struggles The potential for building mass opposithe war in the .... but not in the Labour Party, Tony Benn. Now is the time to fight South Atlantic was shown by the 250,000, mainly young people, who turned out nuclear azallls weapons on June despite the intense jingoism. The left has to build that movement and itself - in the youth.
Today even of Young sience Socialists is under threat. li calliot left to Militant to build the LPYS the campaigns and struggles against the Tories.
Maintaining a truce in the Labour Party cannot Fighting Thatcher's wars at hand nanC WILl home and abroad. truce, in any case, never existed as far as the right were concerned Weighell's attack . on Benn indicates that. But the messers of the 25 strong disassociation NUR executive Weighell the heat is on these right wills leauels The right wing leading the Labour Party to catastrophe , An offenthe left, far from being 'disruptive' the best way to turn the tide of electoral defeat.
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WHEN Michael Foot won ship of the Labour Party in 1980, he car- ried the illusions of the left with him.