Labour Left Briefing November 1997
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Below you will find links to all the articles from the November 1997 issue of Labour Left Briefing.
Editorial
An opportunity for the Labour left
The spectacle of Michael Portillo re-creating himself as a cuddly, consensual politician for the “giving age” is sick-making; the Tory attempts to compete with Blair for the one-nation centre ground are laughable; but these events are of great significance for the left, and the Labour left in particular.
News and Views
Solidarity is the watchword
With even the Tory leader coming out for it, multi-culturalism seems to be an idea whose time has come. Mike Marqusee thinks the celebrations should be muted.
London Labour rejects mayor
Leonora Lloyd, member of the Greater London Labour Party Executive and Dorothy Macedo, member of the GLLP Executive, reports
Abortion: celebrate or agitate?
Meryl Cumber, National Abortion Campaign (NAC) reports
Crisis in the SLP
What’s going on in the Socialist Labour Party? Just over a year after it was set up, members are talking of an internal crisis and some are leaving in frustration. Don Rocinante investigates.
New Labour — New Protection?
Helen Weeks, League Against Cruel Sports’ Support Group Co-ordinator for Yeovil, argues that not to support the anti-hunt bill in Parliament will be political suicide
Privatisation = danger
A rail worker says that the crash at Southall last month raised many issues of safety following in the wake of privatisation
Defend free education
Simon Hewitt, Hayes and Harlington CLP, and former chair of Brunel Labour Students
Keep legal aid
Liz Davies, a barrister specialising in civil legal aid cases, argues that threats to legal aid are an attack on human rights
A new start on immigration and asylum policy
Kumar Murshid, chair of the National Assembly Against Racism, looks to the new Government to make much-needed changes
UPS now attack Italian workers
Labour party
Reclaim the Labour Party
In the wake of Labour Party conference LLB interviewed Ken Livingstone, MP for Brent East and newly elected to the NEC
Labour’s Hamilton affair
Where’s the man in the brown tie?
Paul Daintry, Chingford and Woodford Green CLP, reveals his first experience of being a Labour Party Conference delegate and exposes the manipulative abuses of the Party machine.
In remission — policy-making at Conference
Lucy Jaffe, Tottenham CLP delegate, reports on her first Conference
The future not the past
Ann Black, a member of the Labour Reform Steering Committee, moved the motion at Conference to delay implementation of Partnership in Power. Here she provides a personal view of the post-PiP period.
Making our voices heard
Can the Labour left learn to live with Partnership in Power (PiP)? Mike Marqusee, Islington North CLP, reads the runes.
For a broad left slate
Alistair Ward
The 21st century family
At the Campaign Group Rally at Labour Party Conference, Audrey Wise MP looked at what underlying philosophy on the family is likely to be around in the 21st century.
Dodgy delegate?
The trade union dilemma
The Alan Simpson Column. Alan Simpson is the Secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs
Trade Unions
Revival of the unions
John McIlroy, author of Trade Unions in Britain Today, Strike! and Industrial Tribunals looks at the present state of the trade unions and how they have responded to the early days of the Labour Government.
Pilger salutes the dockers
On Saturday 27th September 5,000 people marched through Liverpool in support of the sacked dockers, marking the second anniversary of the dispute. John Pilger spoke to the rally.
Liverpool dockers: US and Canadian support
Civil Service union merger
Unions bashed
Leading with the left
The Geoff Martin Column, UNISON’s London Region convenor takes a lefty look at life
International
Historic handshake
Brian Campbell, editor of Sinn Féin’s An Phoblacht/Republican News, reports on the Stormont talks.
The Women of Srebrenica
Roll on PR
The Michael Hindley Column, Labour's MEP for Lancashire South gives a global perspective
Fighting racism
Deportations to Turkey endanger Kurdish lives
John Stewart, treasurer of the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, highlights the cases of three families threatened with deportation to Turkey.
Unity and solidarity
Reviews
Between War and Peace
Dan Carter reviews three perspectives on Ireland.
The Colour of Money
David Pope reviews the film Face.
The road to parliamentary capitalism
Just how new are Labour’s modernisers? Mike Phipps reviews The End of Parliamentary Socialism by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys, published by Verso, price £15 paperback.
Correspondance
Periscope
A.O.B.
LLB is an independent voice and forum for socialist ideas in the Labour Party and trade unions. It is managed by an editorial board elected at its AGM. Both EBs and the AGM are open to all supporters. We are happy to offer a right of reply to all members of the labour movement and we welcome criticisms and contributions. All the articles in LLB reflect solely the opinions of the authors, writing in a personal capacity, unless otherwise stated.
To survive and thrive we need the support of our readers. Why not take copies of LLB to sell at your Labour Party, trade union or campaign meetings?
The copy deadline for the next issue is Monday 17th November. If you wish to contribute please send an email, PC disk or fax.
Editorial Board: Graham Bash, Pat Byrne, Tony Dale, Liz Davies, Steve Faulkner, Jenny Fisher, Jon Green, Simon Kennedy, Chris Knight, Francis Koch-Krause, Leonora Lloyd (Co-Chair), Sue Lukes, Dorothy Macedo (Co-Chair), Mike Marqusee (Political Correspondent), Fiona Monkman, Mike Phipps, David Pope, Jon Rogers, Steve Smith, Alistair Ward (Editor).
Production Team: Graham Bash, Dan Carter, Gary Drostle, Louise Kawakami, Dave Lewney, Leonora Lloyd, Dorothy Macedo, Mike Phipps, David Pope, Paula
Smith, John Stewart, Alistair Ward. Web site editor: Chris Croome (chris@atomism.demon.co.uk).
Contact LLB at: PO Box 2378, London, E5 9QU, UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 181 985 6597
Fax: +44 (0) 181 985 6785
Email: llb@gn.apc.org
home page
back issues
Below you will find links to all the articles from the November 1997 issue of Labour Left Briefing.
Editorial
An opportunity for the Labour left
The spectacle of Michael Portillo re-creating himself as a cuddly, consensual politician for the “giving age” is sick-making; the Tory attempts to compete with Blair for the one-nation centre ground are laughable; but these events are of great significance for the left, and the Labour left in particular.
News and Views
Solidarity is the watchword
With even the Tory leader coming out for it, multi-culturalism seems to be an idea whose time has come. Mike Marqusee thinks the celebrations should be muted.
London Labour rejects mayor
Leonora Lloyd, member of the Greater London Labour Party Executive and Dorothy Macedo, member of the GLLP Executive, reports
Abortion: celebrate or agitate?
Meryl Cumber, National Abortion Campaign (NAC) reports
Crisis in the SLP
What’s going on in the Socialist Labour Party? Just over a year after it was set up, members are talking of an internal crisis and some are leaving in frustration. Don Rocinante investigates.
New Labour — New Protection?
Helen Weeks, League Against Cruel Sports’ Support Group Co-ordinator for Yeovil, argues that not to support the anti-hunt bill in Parliament will be political suicide
Privatisation = danger
A rail worker says that the crash at Southall last month raised many issues of safety following in the wake of privatisation
Defend free education
Simon Hewitt, Hayes and Harlington CLP, and former chair of Brunel Labour Students
Keep legal aid
Liz Davies, a barrister specialising in civil legal aid cases, argues that threats to legal aid are an attack on human rights
A new start on immigration and asylum policy
Kumar Murshid, chair of the National Assembly Against Racism, looks to the new Government to make much-needed changes
UPS now attack Italian workers
Labour party
Reclaim the Labour Party
In the wake of Labour Party conference LLB interviewed Ken Livingstone, MP for Brent East and newly elected to the NEC
Labour’s Hamilton affair
Where’s the man in the brown tie?
Paul Daintry, Chingford and Woodford Green CLP, reveals his first experience of being a Labour Party Conference delegate and exposes the manipulative abuses of the Party machine.
In remission — policy-making at Conference
Lucy Jaffe, Tottenham CLP delegate, reports on her first Conference
The future not the past
Ann Black, a member of the Labour Reform Steering Committee, moved the motion at Conference to delay implementation of Partnership in Power. Here she provides a personal view of the post-PiP period.
Making our voices heard
Can the Labour left learn to live with Partnership in Power (PiP)? Mike Marqusee, Islington North CLP, reads the runes.
For a broad left slate
Alistair Ward
The 21st century family
At the Campaign Group Rally at Labour Party Conference, Audrey Wise MP looked at what underlying philosophy on the family is likely to be around in the 21st century.
Dodgy delegate?
The trade union dilemma
The Alan Simpson Column. Alan Simpson is the Secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs
Trade Unions
Revival of the unions
John McIlroy, author of Trade Unions in Britain Today, Strike! and Industrial Tribunals looks at the present state of the trade unions and how they have responded to the early days of the Labour Government.
Pilger salutes the dockers
On Saturday 27th September 5,000 people marched through Liverpool in support of the sacked dockers, marking the second anniversary of the dispute. John Pilger spoke to the rally.
Liverpool dockers: US and Canadian support
Civil Service union merger
Unions bashed
Leading with the left
The Geoff Martin Column, UNISON’s London Region convenor takes a lefty look at life
International
Historic handshake
Brian Campbell, editor of Sinn Féin’s An Phoblacht/Republican News, reports on the Stormont talks.
The Women of Srebrenica
Roll on PR
The Michael Hindley Column, Labour's MEP for Lancashire South gives a global perspective
Fighting racism
Deportations to Turkey endanger Kurdish lives
John Stewart, treasurer of the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, highlights the cases of three families threatened with deportation to Turkey.
Unity and solidarity
Reviews
Between War and Peace
Dan Carter reviews three perspectives on Ireland.
The Colour of Money
David Pope reviews the film Face.
The road to parliamentary capitalism
Just how new are Labour’s modernisers? Mike Phipps reviews The End of Parliamentary Socialism by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys, published by Verso, price £15 paperback.
Correspondance
Periscope
A.O.B.
LLB is an independent voice and forum for socialist ideas in the Labour Party and trade unions. It is managed by an editorial board elected at its AGM. Both EBs and the AGM are open to all supporters. We are happy to offer a right of reply to all members of the labour movement and we welcome criticisms and contributions. All the articles in LLB reflect solely the opinions of the authors, writing in a personal capacity, unless otherwise stated.
To survive and thrive we need the support of our readers. Why not take copies of LLB to sell at your Labour Party, trade union or campaign meetings?
The copy deadline for the next issue is Monday 17th November. If you wish to contribute please send an email, PC disk or fax.
Editorial Board: Graham Bash, Pat Byrne, Tony Dale, Liz Davies, Steve Faulkner, Jenny Fisher, Jon Green, Simon Kennedy, Chris Knight, Francis Koch-Krause, Leonora Lloyd (Co-Chair), Sue Lukes, Dorothy Macedo (Co-Chair), Mike Marqusee (Political Correspondent), Fiona Monkman, Mike Phipps, David Pope, Jon Rogers, Steve Smith, Alistair Ward (Editor).
Production Team: Graham Bash, Dan Carter, Gary Drostle, Louise Kawakami, Dave Lewney, Leonora Lloyd, Dorothy Macedo, Mike Phipps, David Pope, Paula Smith, John Stewart, Alistair Ward. Web site editor: Chris Croome (chris@atomism.demon.co.uk).
Contact LLB at: PO Box 2378, London, E5 9QU, UK
Telephone: +44 (0) 181 985 6597
Fax: +44 (0) 181 985 6785
Email: llb@gn.apc.org