the general secretary of the TGWU Arthur Deakin, who was determined to rid the Labour Party of Bevan and the Bevanites.
Mark Jenkins, in his 'Bevanism, High argues that "The mass movement and more precisely the dockers were asserting the course and tempo of the Bevanites' struggle. The dispute of 1954 is the very essence of the Bevanites' struggle against party and union bureaucracy the right of assert control over their unions, their party, their leaders.' (emphasis in original). Dockers, busworkers and railworkers were all in dispute in 1954.
In this growing mood of militancy the right intensified its attack. TUC expelled the blue collar dockers union and within hours the national executive of the Labour Party passed Not censure which had supported NASD. It sent a threatening letter to editorial board members, including Michael Foot, asking 'how do you reconcile your attacks on the leadership of the TGWU with your membership of the Party?' Tribune made a spirited defence and the NEC climbed down.
But these struggles marked the tailend of postwar militancy. Bevan was more and more limited to inner-party manoeuvres whose limits were set by his acceptance of the original NEC disbandment of his group The right continued its hunt. In March 1955 there was even an attempt to expel Bevan from the party. The pretext was his abstention on an opposition amendment to the book Defence White Paper.
pretext is shown by the fact that the other 62 Labour MPs who abstained had the realer withdrawi ore docks significantly the Labour Party, at the time of the explusion campaign, adopted a position only slightly different from Bevan's holding summit talks betweer great powers. In the end this was the real problem of Bevan - whatever the Bevanites Bevan himself was unable to break out of cold war unable to find a 'third way' between The Russia and the United States finally came down on the side of imperialism. The right wing clearly saw Bevan as a bigger enemy than Tories.
leaders wanted to expel Bevan in the full knowledge that a split might ensue. Just before the NEC meeting that backed down from expelling Bevan, Deakin confided in Gaitskell that in the event of any wavering on the question of explusion, the unions 'might have to consider their relations with the party.' parallel of Bennism. The left wing of the Labour Party sing Bevan's praises witch- and do not ask themselves why he -That it was a ing successes withdrawn. More 1960s, Parliamentary within The issue was on the necessity of policy the might have wanted, politics. was jact, and the Deakin and the other right wing out of print Bevanism is often extolled as a
THE LABOUR WOMEN'S conference this year was a major victory for the left in the Labour Party. As we reported last week it was attended by over 600 delegates — more than double last year — and passed resolutions against Britain's role in the Falklands and NATO, and for positive action in favour of women, often voting against the platform. It thus took policy positions in advance of any other official national Labour Party body - including the National Executive Committee and even the LPYS we assess detail. Three closely-linked issues dominated it: the policy debates, democracy and the role of women in the labour movement, and relation of the trade unions to the Party. The connection is clear: without the means to implement policy decision, resolutions are meaningless. ANN WOODWARD discuss the issues, and we reprint the views of some of the delegates.
the conference in more HENDERSON and JUDE SOCIALIST CHALLENGE 90action committee I was distressed by the false divisions and was lack of sympatty mor sympathy though I don't necessarily think they went about It l the 'time honoured way of LP conterence Divi sions arose in conference because some wanted to discuss vital issues like Tebbit and employment, couldn't Estella Clarke, SOGAT and because they had to worry about their children.
This is how many of the divisions arose. The fact that many of the resolutions were carried, some by 280 votes, shows the support and unanimity there was at conference. But the platform tried to reinforce the idea that extremists were using ag gressive all lumped in together. Everyone was interested in the debate; only the mothers weren't allowed to be think lot of members Labour Party are in the sort of
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Ann Pettifor, CLPD women's