TGWU: vote Benn, and decide now!
Socialist Organiser1980sTranscribed by hand from the printed page.
The TGWU biennial delegate conference opening in Brighton on July 22nd must mandate the union's delegation to this year's Labour Party Conference to vote for Tony Benn for Deputy Leader of the Party.
But this will not be the case if our union's General Executive Council has its way. At its meeting last week the executive decided to overturn the stance the union has taken since Tony Benn decided to stand: that his decision was wrong and divisive and should be reversed. This had been the line taken and argued on behalf of the union by Alex Kitson, Deputy General Secretary and Chairman of the Labour Party ever since Benn decided to stand. It had been endorsed by the union's Finance and General Purposes Committee.
But the Executive's new decision declared instead that Tony Benn had "every right" to stand in the contest for Deputy Leader. But whilst the overturning of Kitson's right-wing positions [and he has declared firmly that the decision has not changed his view] may seem very progressive, it has a very nasty sting in its tail.
The Executive went on unanimously to take no decision as to which candidate the union will support in October and to urge that no decision be taken at the BDC. The decision on which candidate would receive the union's 1.25 million votes would, they decided, be deferred until September 27th, the day before the vote at the Labour Party conference. And it would be taken by the union's 45-strong delegation. The Executive would meet beforehand and make a recommendation.
This move seems to have been borrowed from Clive Jenkins at the ASTMS conference: but Jenkins lost the vote. Maybe Benn should not have criticised Moss Evans for being elected for life!
The decision would be crucial. Everyone knows that the T&G vote is the biggest single vote at the Labour Party conference. They also know that if Benn gets the backing of the T&G it will have time to affect the decisions of other unions.
Constitutionally, the Executive does not have the power to stop the BDC taking a vote on Benn: the conference is the highest body of the union. But they can recommend and they can obstruct the procedure. If emergency resolutions are refused, the platform may well face a move to refer back the agenda. If this took place it would reverse their decision and probably lead to a pro-Benn vote.
The Cowley 5/293 branch of the union has tabled an amendment to the Executive's motion on the Labour Party, calling for a vote for Benn. This has been accepted as a legitimate amendment on the agenda and it could be difficult to avoid taking this even if emergency motions are blocked.
But the attitude of the Broad Left could be crucial. The Morning Star has supported the Executive's move to defer a decision. The Morning Star on June 5th commented: "The feeling among left-wingers [i.e. among the CP] is that there is little to be gained in pushing for an early decision on the Deputy Leadership and that the time could well be used to get more debate around the fundamental issues of policy raised by Mr. Benn's contest."
Of course, the Morning Star knows very well that the time will be used not to build support for Benn, but to witchunt him. Opinion is already being whipped up against him — not least inside the T&G. Well-trained witchunting techniques are being dragged out which have been in the past largely reserved for the revolutionary left.
Silkin's decision to stand is also very important in the T&G. Silkin is not only a T&G sponsored MP, but also Chairman of the T&G Parliamentary Group. Tony Benn is a T&G member, but not a sponsored MP.
Great play is being made of this. Already lots of [very doubtful] praise for Silkin's record in support of T&G policy in Parliament is being peddled by the right to give him credibility.
It is the first time I have ever heard praise for Silkin in the union. Now, because it is apparently so important for the T&G leadership to protect Denis Healey's position, Silkin is suddenly wheeled out as a "loyal servant" of the union. But Silkin is not even a genuine candidate. His chances of selection are zero. His campaign is just a cynical manoeuvre to split the Benn vote and give the Deputy Leadership to the right wing.
BDC delegates should not be taken in. Tony Benn cannot be given uncritical support, but, because of his stand on democracy in the Labour Party — a stand which our union supported — he should get the vote for Deputy Leader. For Healey to win would be a major setback for that campaign.
The Executive is also trying to short-circuit discussion on another important issue — Ireland. They have decided to "make a special statement" to the conference — a move which is usually accompanied by a recommendation that all motions on the subject are remitted to the Executive.
The statement, which delegates will not see in advance of the conference, will be presented as a "contribution to a new approach by Labour". In reality it will be a device to stifle any discussion on the real issues on Ireland which are having an increasing impact on the labour movement.
Despite having 130,000 members in Region 11 [which covers the Six Counties], the T&G leadership have a long record of suppressing such discussion. My mandate is to fight for my branch resolution — which supports the demands of the hunger strikers and calls for immediate withdrawal from the Six Counties.