stood against the witchhunt and in favour of implementing party policy.
DUCI SUDOOrL wasn't enough to counteract the Haliulia vices lined up against Labour.
There were weaknesses the party, and newspaper cil leader Ted Knight was Here he rent witch-hunt.
letter to Mortimer from Islington Central. Norwood will be one of the constituencies fected by the NEC's decision to expel the board members OT Militant. Has the party taken a position on this yet?
Our executive committee will recommend to the General Management Committee that the expulsions be noted will campaign for the reversal ol the expulsions, and the dectsion on the register, by the next annual conference.
You have experiences of witch-hunts in the past, don't you? What were they?
The campaign against Socialist Outlook, a leftwing rank and file paper in the Labour Party first started around 1954. The paper was proscribed by dorsed C, and this a sendorsed annual conference.
members of Norwood, including myself, were charged with being supporters of Socialist Outlook. And other charges were brought against me. 1 wa secretary of the local Labour League of Youth then, the forerunner of today's Young Socialists. DURING the 1950s the right wing launched a witch-hunt against the Bevanite left wing of particularly against the Socialist Outlook. Lambeth Couna victim of that talks to Socialist Challenge about that experience and the curSocialist Challenge does not agree with Knight on the recognition of expulsions by local parties. Our position is expressed in the article facing by Alan Freeman and the I'd written an article advocating the abolition of the monarchy and the House of Lords. was charged "political amorality, and with 'corrupting the local LLY branch' by spending £10 on an Xmas party! had to appear before a sub-committee to answer the charges. weren't allowed to have witnesses, nor were the acmembers of the CUSCIS -Norwood Labour Party -present. They were allowed to remain anonymous throughout for 'fear of any repercussions' duly found guilty, and the NEC voted to expel us from the party.
Norwood instructed to endorse the NEC's deciIt refused. kepresentatives the NEC reconvened the meeting, and again the GMC refus ed to expel us I know they finally did the Socialist Outlook supporters. did they How manage to get round the GMC's resistance?
All this took many months. It took about a year to finally expel us.
They then went through the whole process again Ted Knight, veteran of 1950s witch-hunt and again, until eventually they got the decision they wanted How did all this effect the party? Did you campaign outside the party to build support for Throughout all the whole of the party's was absorbed by the fight with the NEC We attempted to argue our case publicly, but the press took the side of the right wing Over the next couple of years, there were further suspensions trom the bar. ty. Some 180 people were expelled trom Norwood over this period including my mother. who they said 'obviously supported her son!
lessons do . YOU draw for today's situa tion?
The difference today is that during the 50s and 60s were in period boom and the militancy labour movement was a its lowest point.
The was able to go ahead because of the general climate which had been created by the cold war. Oppositior was limited Todav's witch-hunt 1 taking place during an economic crisis. The working class is certainly not acquiescent. leader ship at the and parliamentary leve retreating before a Tory Coveranci Therefore it's necessary for them to silence conscious socialists within the party.
The attack on Militant is a forerunner of other such attacks. I believe we can fight this but it requires widening our support by taking the fight into the trade unions, as well as the constituency parties as a whole. The important thing is to take up STORMER the political issues : which tion. Defeating the witchpolitically defeating the right wing of the party.
Do think parties ö should b prepared to disentater rather than carry out expul sions?
should be very wary of being trapped into adventures which would Tacate the right-wing Personally we should open the door to parties being disbanded and to socialists being excluded 11011 membership by technical breaches of the constitution. Getting out the party won't help.
The NeC want us to oppose the expulsions role of socialists is to conduct the fight inside the