Devon Labour Briefing no. 2

The government have not hidden, indeed have been proud to claim, the fact that they regard Arthur Scargill as this year's General Galtieri, the enemy within, to be defeated at any cost. The cost, however, could well include the wholesale destruction of the coal industry and has already led

to the impoverishment and the financial humiliation of the miners and their families.

There is no doubt that the stakes are high. The government know that the defeat of the miners could prove more than a body blow to the trade union movement and might well provide a rapid fall from grace fer union leaders such as Scargill, Jimmy Knapp, Moss Evans, and even David Basnett, to be replaced by the 'new realism' of the likes of Alistair Graham, Frank Chapple and Terry Duffy. Given the electoral unpopularity of trade unions, such an effective emasculation of the trade union movement might well bring an electoral benefit to the Conservative government and a singularly unpopular Prime Minister. Mrs Thatcher looks forward to the day when political commentators will be talking of the Orgreave Effect in place of the Falklands Factor.

On the other hand, the miners can foresee the destruction of their jobs and communities, and the decimation of their industry. They can see the re-organisation of their industry to provide ‘commercial' (ie short term) profitability and can see only one reason for this:the creation of a commercial company. They can also see the

damage that will be done to Britain's long term energy needs, but this, for them, is a secondary issue. Finally, they can see the possibility of the defeat of the National Union of Mineworkers and the repercussions this could have for the trade union movement as a whole, and they are flabbergasted by the patchy response from trade unionists.

Although not a political organisation this Group, initially formed to co-ordinated the collection

of f00d and financial assistance in the South Devon area, contains a number of local Labour Party members. The membership of the organisation

committee itself is likely to fluctuate, but the present committee have all agreed to act as collection points for food and other donations; their addresses and telephone numbers can be found below. A bank account, the funds from which will go directly to the miners and their families at Deep Navigation, has been set up, and details of this will be found below.

LABOUR— TAKE

Solidarity is spreading

Gerald R Tayl Chair site

Teignbridge CLP

In Teignbridge our connectuon with the mine

pesan in the first days of the dispute whent andful ofinen arrived from Deep Navigation

Ebert to observe the situation at Teignmouth

oe and were putup by local Labour Party members ater when picketing of Teinmouth docks began ;

in earnest the miners moved int ; C o Labour Part premises in Newton Abbot, in which they are z

still based. In such close con i t tact with the aoe have been made very much aware of the ardship that is suffered by them during the present dispute. It is for these reasons that

the South Devon Mi ' ili het been Soom. iners’ Families Support Group

-continued over

MOVE ALON CG THIS 16 A GREAD LINE , NOT A PICKET LINE

THE POWER!

Editorial

The summer is now over and the 'season of politics' has begun. Despite attack from every element

of the state and ruling class, the struggle

by the NUM has not cracked, but strengthened. Winter will bring victory. In this issue we

include an article 'practical help for miners' families’ in order to hasten victory.

On a sader note we have to report the treacherous decision, taken in August by the Exeter GMC,

not to contest the St. Leonards by-election. Briefing has campaigned constantly against

the sell-out Lib/Lab administration of Exeter City council. In an article 'The Logic of

St. Leonards' the sad logic of right wing betrayalsis explained.

Devon Labour Briefing welcomes more articles

from socialists in the Labour Party, particularly in the more far flung parts of Devon. We would like to thank all those comrades who have written for, sold and otherwise helped DLB.

Finally, we report that the new address of Devon Labour Briefing is 79 Pinhoe Rd, Exeter.

Continued from cover...

The miners from Deep Navigation Colliery have

been picketing Teignmouth and Exmouth docks

for the past twenty weeks. The hardship they

are presently suffering will not end when the strike does, indeed the first few months of the pay

that they receive will go towards paying the

debts accumulated during the dispute. In Teignbridge we have worked hard for the miners and undoubtedly there have been others who have done much if

not more, but it is still not enough. The miners desparately need our help to win.

FOOD

The miners of Deep Navigation Colliery receive

one food parcel every fortnight. This is what

it contains: 5 lbs potatoes, 1 tin corned beef, 1 tin peas, l tin carrots, 1 tin beans, 1 tin tomatoes, 1 doz. tea bags.

The miners of Deep Navigation benefit directly

from money paid into the following account: Miners Solidarity Fund, Plymouth Co-op Bank, Account No. 50393262.

If you can supply any of these basic foods or contribute financially, please contact: Bernard Shore (Group Chairman) ,9, Priory Gdns. Peter Rosenfeld(Secretary) ,Clifford Cttge,42a, Clifford St.,Chudleigh. Tel:853868 Peter Stevens(Newton Abbot LP),30,Beaumont Rd, Newton Abbot.Tel:65250 Gerald Taylor(Chair Teignbridge CLP) ,4,Palk cl, Shaldon, Teignmouth. Tel:Shal. 2471 Nadia Roberts,2,Milton Rd. Newton Abbot. Tel :68603 John Chambers(NALP)&Sara Chambers(YS)47,Knowles Hill Rd, Newton Abbot. Tel:61884.

THE LOGIC OF ST LEONARDS

On August 3rd a lightly attended General Management Committee of Exeter CLP passed an NUR resolution which instructed the Party not to contest the St. Leonards by-election, due to be held on September 3rd. The resolution was proposed by Chester Long who leads the Labour/ Liberal administration of Exeter City Council. Mr Long clearly hoped that the effect of the withdrwal of Mike Hesford, the Labourcandidate, would be the victory of the Liberal, Roger Cockrall, over the right wing Tory, Dr. Adrian Rogers.

Though the decision aquired national Significance it was only to be expected. In the May 1984

City council elections Labour concentrated its efforts on the five so-called winable wards ignoring working class communities elsewhere in the City. A manifesto was designed which was acceptable to the~Liberals. And after Tory overall majority was lost, the Liberals in return supported the Labour chairmanship of the council committees So why should Labour not backout in a seat like St. Leonards where it is in third place and

leave the field clear for the Liberals ?

St. Leonards marked a further betrayal by the Labour right wing. Prior to St. Leonards the coalitionists could be seen mrely as opportunists (or as they might see it, people fed up with constantly being in opposition) St. Leonards changed the situation; the coalition already

had a majority in the council chamber, so why try to give the Liberals another seat when the only effect could be to weaken the Labour influence in the Lib/Lab coalition from 14-5 to

14-6. Inother words some sections of the Party feel it in their interest to strengthen the Liberal influence in the coalition.

The pretext given by the right of the Party is that Dr. Rogers is so right wing that it is essential that he be defeated. This argument is absurd because it would mean that in any constituency or branch the Tories would only have

to field a right winger and Labour would withdraw. Equally such an argument implies that Labour is incapable of campaigning against a Tory right winger; this is a task which can only be done

by a Liberal.

We, in DLB, leafleted St. Leonardsurging support for theEcology Party candidate as we were 2727.4. for several practical reasons, unable to stand

an independent Labour candidate. Our leaflet pointed out that "In a whole range of issues

from nuclear disarmament to socialising production the views of the Ecology Party are closer

to Labour than the Liberals". We supported

the Ecology Party, in these peculiar circumstances, in order to keep the campaign for certain issues alive (eg, a declared nuclear free zone for Exeter), not because we have any sympathy for their utopianism devoid of class analysis. Furthermore, votes for the Ecology Party (even more obviously than abstentions) werevotes against the Labour right wing's actions. Our support for the Ecology Party was wholly tactical.

According to the Express and Echo of September 12, the eve of the poll, "Mr Shepherd (said) that... DLB ...was made up of a few people who claimed Labour alleigance, the rest were Ecologists".

DLB is made up of people who not only claim Labour alleigance, but who want, unlike Dr Shepherd, the opportunity to vote Labour in

all elections. As for implying that the majority of DLB supporters are Ecologists, Dr Shepherd knows

this to be untrue. Not a single known DLB suppor-

ter is in any way connected with the Ecology Party.

-continued over

The Tories won the seat with a majority of 101. The turnout fell from 53% to 45% as most Labour supporters stayed at home, refusing to comply with the plans of the Labour Party's right wing.

4A campaign must be waged in Exeter CLP not only to stand Labour candidates in every ward, but also to have Labour candidates who campaign for socialism, and who do not end up as councillors locked into a suffocating alliance with the Liberals.

Peter Bowing Exeter CLP

THE NEED FOR AN IDEOLOGY

The worker on the shop floor, the worker whose life is dictated by the demands of the intensive industrial processes, confronts capitalism as

an individual phonomonon. He accepts his role; for the capitalist - liberal state is constructed to favour and sustain class domination. The

State proclaims an individual freedon, the worker is inculcated with the idea that he can freely dispose of his own resources, his own skills,

and his own 'wealth' in the same way that the capitalist does. They start, however, from entirely different positions. One need only examine the structure of the educationsystem

to see the truth of this claim,eg, the public schools.

In capitalist societies the state does not

inter fere directly in the market, but does indirectly by regulating the money market or by constructing the machinery for the enforcement

of contracts. The political and legal structures are almost entirely reponsive to the requirements of the capitalist mode of production, while at the same time concealing economic class power.

Capitalism, as a power system, entails the selfperpetuating dominance of the bourgeoisie over other classes and strata.

Capitalism requires an ideology to maintain itself, which is disseminated by the ideological state apparatuses such as the schools (particularly

the public schools), the media, churches, etc,

In politics this is reproduced by most (bourgeois) politicians.

What is needed is a forceful presentation of

4 completely alternative Socialist society.

We should not try and contend that we will merely make capitalism work more efficiently or with

a more human face as Wilson and Callaghan tried to do. At the same time socialists should be submitting every aspect of the failure of capitalism to the most severe scrutiny. We must develop an ideology. Marx pointed out the active character of 'theory formation’ in human knowledge. Data has to be interpreted in light of theory. As he points out in 'Das Kapital', a

capitalist society gociety cannot be understood

in its own terms. It is up to us tp present

a coherent, philosophically penetrating critique

of the whole motivation and structure of capitalism

The so-called ‘Alternative Economic Strategy'

was merely a piece of opportunistic pragmatism lacking coherence as a theory. For the first

time since Burke, the Tories have presented their policies as a coherent and astute mixture of thinkers like Hayeck, Friedman and Nozick.

The left must be equally forceful intellectually. We must draw on thinkers such Qs Poulantzas

and Miliband.

Jim Salter Chair Exmouth and E Devon Trades Council

COAL AND NUCLEAR POWER

Coal is a vital national asset. It has been Britain's most valuable resource for hundred's of years; Without it there would have been no industrial revolution. Once the short term North Sea oil

bonus has been completely frittered away, we

will once again be almost dependent on coal as an energy resource.

The government of course is not al all concerned

at the conflict, and possible resultant run down

of the coal industry. In so far as it can be said

to have any energy policy at all it does seek to promote a nuclear power industry and ensure a good suply of plutonium for its nuclear weapon's programme. Apart from their wish not to be dependent on

the coalminers and to lessen the risk of suffering from their ‘industrial muscle', I believe that

the plutonium supply is of paramout importance.

A depleted and less efficient coal industry

makes the nuclear power industry look more attractive by comparison. This government has

to be condemned, and I am afraid previous Labour administrations are guilty too, for its failure to provide adaquate investment in the coal industry. Nuclear power as always is awash with funds. Only this week we have seen 1.2 million spent

to show by crashing a train that nuclear waste flasks are safe ! The government propaganda machine is currently seeking to prove that acid rain (a known problem some of us have campaigned on for ten years or more- to defening silence from Westminster) is an argument for nuclear power.

Energy conservation. is as vital a part of what should be our total energy policy, as is coal.

‘Look what the government spent on research and development in 1981/2: Atomic Energy Authority £172 million: Energy conservation £1/2 million: all other energy sources combined £43 million.

We must seek to expose the real reasons for the government's desire to run down the coal industry:

jwe must show how they have starved it of investment jto enable them to claim pits are ‘uneconomic’

And we must seek to widen the debate away from

the sectional confrontation between the group

of workers concerned with their jobs and the government: we must make it clear that this is

not a narrow issue, it is one that concerns us all.

Exeter CND has shown the way forward by passing a resolution in favour of the miner's case and

recognising the plutonium connection. Let the more timid now join the argument.

Roger Giles Exeter CND

FIGHT BACK~ JOIN THE LABOUR GROUP

The publication of the October issue of DLB coincides with the start of the university autumn term. In the past there has always been a socialist unity of purpose between Exeter University Labour Group and DLB. We hope the unity will continue.

There are a number of ways in which a socialist Labour Group at the university can assist in the class struggle.

First, because students have an intellectual training, they are well placed to develop Marxist analysis which can usefully be imported into the Labour Partyand thus challenge the theoretical : vacuum which serves only the Party's anti-socialist right wing. The Labour Group can also use Marxist analysis to impede the dissemination of bourgeois ideologyin the university, especially in the

social science department.

Second, students are young, fit, concentrated

in a small space and do not usually have many family reponsibilities. They are consequently ; able to assist in direct action such as picketing.

Third, many students will, later in life, occupy senior positions in the British state and in

the business community. It is obviously important that as many of these people as possible are sympathetic to the Labour Movement.

Fourth, Exeter University has a reputation for being a Tory university. It is vital that Labour students attempt to take control-~of the Guild and the wider student movement.

Fifth, most students live in the Pennsylvanis/ St. Davids branch of Exeter Labour Party. Historically, this largely middle class part of ; the city has produced a Labour right wing which dominated the branch. Yet last year socialist students played a key role in terminating this domination.

Constitutionally, all those serving on the

Labour Group executive must be individual members of the Labour Party. The Labour Group has two

GMC delegates.

All socialists and progressive students are welcome in the Labour Party. Students and the young have a vital role in the struggle for a the construction of socialism.

BRIEFING

SUPPORT DEVON LABOUR BRIEFING.

* Contribute a letter or article * Sell the Briefing * Contribute financially

CONTACT : DLB, 79 Pinhoe Rd., Exeter.

MEETING

On Thursday October 11 at 7.30p.m. at 26 Clifton Hill, Pensylvania St.Davids branch Labour Party will be holding a its monthly meeting, which will discuss "THE LABOUR PARTY and THE ENVIRONMENT"

It will possible to join the Labour Party at this meeting. Even if you do not wish to become a member of the Labour Party at this stage but just wish to take part in the debate or to observe, you are still cordially invited.

WOMENS COMMITTEE

Despite opposition from right wing councillors the GMC of Exeter Labour Party marginally agreed to include in the manifesto for the May 1984

City Council elections a committment to establish a Women's Committee.

The case for establishing women's committees

is a clear one. It is true that women, like men, from the working class experience class Oppression and are thus objectively unified with working class menagainst the capitalist system. Indeed

in the requirement to overthrow capitalism

the analysis and commitment of Rosa Luxemburg

was equal to that of Karl Marx. Yet a prerequisite for the functioning of capitalism is

a system of patriachy which leads to a secondry Oppression of female workers. Furthermore,

because patriachy existed prior to the capitalist mode of production it is more deeply engrained into the fabric of society. Yes, female workers are participants in the class struggle, but

they are also participants of the women's struggle.

It is amusing to state some of the right wing prtexts for opposing a Wemar'ss Committee. One argued that there was a women on the throne

and one at number 10; the country was in a mess, so why give any more power to women. Another argued that council business could only be impeded by

a committee of babling women. The most convincing was that as there were only two women Labour councillors it would be silly to set up a coucil committee that would be dominated by Tory women. (Does this not prove sexism inside the Party) In fact this argument is mistaken since it is possible to coopt women onto such a committte. Obviously the thought of socialist women having some influence on the council was horrifying.

It is because women are fighting a secondary struggle against patriachy which not only eminates from capitalist structures, but which also comes from men (and very often from women too) in the Labour Movement that separate women's committees are required.

Exeter City Council requires a women's committee.

It should be constituted by thetwo Labour women councillors (There are no women Liberal councillors) and representatives from Exeter women's organisations which are sympathetic to the aims of

the Labour Party. The chair of the women's committee shall sit on all other council committees. If : the Liberals do not agree to these proposals

the leader, deputy leader and all the committee chairpeople (all Labour) should resign.

What would the WC do ? Here I shall compose a list: declare Exeter an'equal opportunity employer' reword job application forms, eg, to exclude questions on marital status; provide creche facilities; introduce job sharing; intorduce procedures for dealing with complaints about sexual harassment; encourage the recritment of women to 'male' jobs; ensure that all planning takes account of the interest of women; ensure that housing caters for single parents and gays; the possibility of banning sexist adverts; street lighting; baby feeding and changing facilities; and so on. The WC should hold open meetings and maximum consultation with women's groups in

the city should be encouraged. It is vital that there is a mass campaign of publicity to bring the issues of the women's struggle and Exeter's WC to public attention.

on July 26th 1984 the GLC held a meeting on the WCs of various councils. On November 2nd the GMC of Exeter Labour Party will discuss the establishment of Exeter's women's committee.

On October 17, at 8p.m. the Exeter Young Socialists will meet at 26,Clifton Hill. Subsequent meetings will be held on the third Wednesday of each month. Anyone under 25 is welcome.