The long and ill thought-out campaign launched with the help of the media, to expel the editors, employees and supporters Newspaper has now led the Party into a grave and unnecessary crisis from which the NEC must seek to extricate itself as soon as possible, if we are to improve our chances of defeting Mrs Thatcher and electing a Labour government with an overall majority to implement our policies for peace jobs and freedom.
Nitch-Hunt bulletin paign against Militant should be abandoned and conclude with a notice of motion to be moved at the NEC on December 15th.
The Case for Dropping the Campaign Against Militant The evidence against Militant upon which the Hayward-Hughes report was based was not made available to the NEC at the meeting on June zora au Against which it was ruled that Militant was in breach of the constitution.
decisions of the 1982 Conference on the reister explicitiv retected which the duct by adopting a process ot interrogation.
mesed do si othe Party members the Party about their present and Reproduced past beliefs in clear breach or men civil noernes, and to be accompanied by special loyalty oath in the form of assurances not reonca or omer memocr:
of the Militant I have set out below ten reasons why the camof the Party 3. The NEC has not been issued with the legal advice sought by Party officials which apparently warned them that the proposals put to Conference would, it carred out. involve ine Party in taking action contrary to natural justice, the upholding of which is central in parlamentary democracy.
The motion to reintroduce a prescribed ist of is itself a GedE breach of the Part constitution since the 1973 Conterence approved ending of proscribed lists and this decision nas never been rescinded by Conference.
The threat of expulsion of employees of newspaper, unless they sive tutesi emreah ot constitutes breach human rights, an attack on the freedom of the press Tony Benn and would in this case be arbitrary in that it would apply the employees, readers. CULtributors or supporters of newspapers which oppose 6. The risk of legal action arising from the proposed decisions of the NEC would expose the Party to a prolonged scrutiny of all its internal affairs, in open court, the protection of privilege during which the activities of all tre Party, Including many operating within groups which organise privately oppose secure a change of party policy, could legitimately be raised. length in the media which already cover the Militant question at the expense of Party policy. 8. If the court case is delayed beyond the General Election an injunction may be sought, and granted, NEC to restrain it from ex- aLalise tR pulsions until the case has een heard the legal costs of such preliminary hearings mention tre case liseir coula run in to tens of thousands of p. Ths.
Those constituency parties which respect and value the hard work done for the Party by aLuve ale dedicated socialists who support Militant, or which have adopted candidates who do so, and which retuse to expel their colleagues at the diktat of the NEC could temselves be at a time when we should be uniting for the campaign.
The attack upon MiliLalL. and other socialists is widelv believed bu inmembers of the Party from left, right, and COLLIC LU be a mere cove for the abandonment of Conference policies including our commitment to unilateral nuclear disarmament, withdrawal from the EEC CecHon o ware rest aam abolition of the HOUSC of Lords: all of which the Party expects to see in the Manifesto; and to open the way for the of SDP defectors ICLU!H either directly, or as part of a coalition government or a Lib-Lab-SDP pact in the event of a hung parlia ment.
Conclusion I therefore intend to move the following motion, of which 1 gave notice of al the last meeting the NEC, at the next meeting on December 15th "That, in the light of th situation has developed since Conference, the NEC resolves; (a) To take no further action against any groups. (b) To unite around the policies in Labour's programme in 1982 and as agreed at Conference.
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Labour NEC no-w pro ose to con-