from Colin Stoneman It must have been said many times already that the coming General Election is going to be critical for the left. But the reasons for this should be clearly understood by every socialist, and his/her actions in the campaign based on the conclusions drawn, Whether Wilson wins by a majority of 5 or 205, we must try to prevent him from doing so with a blank cheque for the future, If he can claim that his policies have been approved by the yoters, we are going to be in a weak position in the next Parliament, because our silence will have amounted to support.. What we must do, is fight for the maximum Labour majority obtainable, so as to increase the absolute number and proportion of Left-wingers in Parliament, but at the same time try to prevent all of the credit going to Wilson, ougre positively, try to circumscribe the freedom of every possible/ on such issues as support for the US in Vietnam,etc, It would seem at first as if the means used to achieve these various aims are bound to be contradictory, but I hope to show that this is not necessarily soe Firstly, will dissent and self-criticism harm the Labour Party's chance in the election? I think not, partly because of the available evidence to the contrary(in the Hull North by-election, opposition to government policy by the'Humberside Voice'group-supporting, working and voting for the Labour candidate -was probably more annoying to the right-wing thay, that of Richard Gott) but also because of the dull nature of concensus politics. Whenever there is little difference between the alternatives, it is the Labour Party which suffers, as working-class voters are harder to mobilise than middle-class gnes. But supposing there were in many areas groups of left-wingers determined to raise the important issues by every means at their disposal. Not only would political awareness and interest be increased by the airing of real alternatives to the fake concensus, but also the socialist case would be given a fair hearing. The actual result of this in the election would be to increase the turn-out, and hence the Labour vote, partly by loyalists rallying to the Labour Party to resist the "rocking of the boat",.but also by socialists and progressive-liberalS being given evidence that although Government policy, say on immigration, is illiberal and reactionary, the battle is not yet oyer in the Labour Party as a whole. Such a campaign, if it won a lot of publicity, would demonstrate clearly that the Labour Party is still a coalition, with room in it for disagreement, and that an election victory should not be interpreted as a victory for the right-wing. To get dow to precise details of how to conduct a campaign og this type: Try to get a local newspaper to print a Statement of your views, or a series of questions for the Labour candidate to answer, For general activities, 2 minimum of three activists is probably necessary, so as to prepare pamphlets, open letters, letters to newspapers,etc., to duplicate them, and to attend every local meeting at which the Labour candidate is present. It is very important that any pressmen present get copies of any open-letters, and these could also be sent to papers like the Guardian, Observer, New Statesman. There shouldbe a theme to any publication, eg- Incomes Policy, Vietnam, education, industrial organisation, The tone of all publications should be testrakned and rational, otherwise readers not yet sharing your basic assumptions may be prevented from ever doing so. Attack the Conservatives, wherever relevant, and criticise Labour for being too much like them. Show the relevance of socialist alternatives, and question why they are not being tried. Do not say "Vote Labour", or an estimated sum for your expenditure may be added to the
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