Blackpool 1965 - two views. Is Ken Coates

I. The sharp sense of frustration, of loss, of having been outwitted, cheated and blackmailed, has settled upon many delegates. Where, before, our leaders had been revered, now they appear as men for whom, while respect is not totally forfeit, it has been transmuted into baser sentiments, Now they are admired for their skill, for their cunning, for their appearance of being powerful, Before, they had been thought of as honest, as forward-looking, and principled, A dead weight of nerveless withdrawal, a mood which expects the worst, a coolness, has fallen on much of the party. Enthusiasm has given way to resignation, hope to submission, high expectation to fidgety compromise. Mr. Wilson thinks he has achieved the impossibles He thinks he has turned the Labour Party around on its heels, so that it is the party of racial discrimination, of trade union emasculation, of neo-capitalist corporate "planning" against the interests of the working people and for the monopolists. But to assume that this unlikely transformation has been made at this conference is to mistake the omens. Before the Conference, the Left was fragmented, disoriented, scattered. Numb, it sat through infamous debates on immigration, foreign policy(Vietnam) the incomes policy. But you cannot make such inroads as these into the consciences of men without creating a reaction, This reaction is now sharply under waye Mr. Wilson is uniting the Left, as it has never been united before. The imperative neccessity of defeating the Government's chosen course on all these crucial matters requires a new movement of the Labour Left. From the grass roots in the constituencies end the union branches, up to Parliament itself, the Left moves over to defiance. No socialist can support the Government on these questions. All must fight for a reversal of its direction, We must call upon every honest MP to cast his vote against legislation on the monstrous White Paper on immicration, against Mr. Brown's attempt to draw the unions! teeth, and against the Vietnam massacre. We of the Left have in the past years helped to secure the adoption of over sixty new leftwing MPs. We must associate ourselves again, on a clear basis of policy, to ensure that no MP who violates these basic moral criteria is ever selected to fight again for Labour. At the same time, we must encourage our leftwing friends in Parliament to step uv their fight for serious positive socialist measures, such as steel nationalisation with workers! control, the take-over of growth points in the economy, like the North Sea Oil and prefabticated building, and the honouring of our pledges to the miners and railwaymen for planned fuel and transport policies. We must open up a nation-wide discussion through the Voice papers and The Week, help to elaborate sharp alternative policies to the Con-Lab Alliance which is now shaping up. With Mr. Warbey in Italy, the Government has no Labour majority. But it has a huge Tory majority for its most reactionary policies. Our aim is to stop the Con-Lab coalition, to turn Labour once again towards honest radical policies, and to save our movement from the shameful effects of this week's decisions.