British Labor's Uncertain Future

...There have been several notable defections from Labor to the Tories in recent years—including the prominent historian Hugh Thomas, former New Statesman editor Paul Johnson and Reg Prentice, a Labor minister ousted from his left-dominated constituency by a "bed-sit brigade...

...According to the left, this was an unforgivable betrayal of the working class that must not be allowed to recur...

...Unperturbed by these concerns of the rightists and centrists, the left is convinced that its vision of the Labor Party is the correct one...

...Thatcher had replaced six months earlier, was on his feet delivering what was turning into a comprehensive condemnation of the Tory government's economic policies...

...During last winter's rash of strikes, leftists note, Prime Minister Callaghan's government was consistently at odds with the workers, charging that their drastic actions and demands for enormous pay increases were doing serious damage to Britain's feeble economy...

...This, it is argued, would enable the party's rightists and centrists to join the battle with the left, while anything less might well consign them to the political wilderness...

...A Labor Party study of the secret activities of the "bed-sit brigades" has been drawn up...

...It has little reason to be worried, in short, about the outcome of such an investigation...

...burly, blunt and abrasive, he is better suited for the job of roughhousing the Opposition than calling the shots...

...Despite a carefully calculated and, so far, well-implemented plan of attack, the left certainly remains vulnerable...

...2. The same conference passed a proposal exposing Labor parliamentarians to automatic reconsideration by their local constituencies before they are allowed to run again...

...This, in turn, is expected to bring even right-wing unions under the left's banner—and it is the unions who financially carry the Labor Party...

...A canny compromiser from way back, he seems anxious to resolve the party split amicably before bowing out...

...And it is buoyed by the conviction that several factors augur well for its eventual takeover of the government...

...These consist of professional revolutionaries (many belonging to either of two energetic Trotskyite factions) who find jobs and take up residence in boarding houses (hence the term "bed-sitters") in areas represented by right-wing Labor MPs...

...Thus Laborites who do not subscribe to the left-wing's ideology will face a major dilemma if the situation is not changed...

...Further, the left sees Tory economic measures leading to an explosive confrontation between the unions and government...

...Perhaps because he is a constant butt of criticism and ridicule in the media, he recently called for Britain's press to be financed by the taxpayer, like the BBC...

...But there is little chance of that happening, and in the meantime he is depriving the non-left elements of the vitality and confidence they need to face up to the current crisis...

...On the other hand, should the right and center of Labor ultimately lose the battle for control to the party's left, that could signal a serious realignment in British politics...

...The left feels this will give it time to regroup the Labor Party so that it is united and fighting trim before the next election...

...To a visitor unfamiliar with the intricacies of British politics, it surely would have seemed that "Uncle Jim" was still very much in control of the Labor Party...

...Frustrated by the situation, some moderate Socialists are tempted to back Roy Jenkins—former deputy party leader and now President of the European Community Commission in Brussels —in his call for strengthening the British "radical center" with the formation of a new grouping...

...For with party membership sharply down across the country, a large number of organizations currently consist of a mere handful of members and they are being infiltrated by so-called "bed-sit brigades...

...But these are merely token gestures to show that Healey is prepared to lead those hoping to save the party from leftist disaster when the trumpet sounds—in other words, when Callaghan decides to depart...

...Its economic policies—stringent import controls, increased nationalization of industry with hefty subsidies where those industries prove unprofitable, a surgical withdrawal from the Common Market—often sound more like slogans than viable programs...

...But at the conference, the NEC was given exclusive responsibility for composing the party's election manifesto—the platform on which candidates will have to campaign...

...For instance, with the party now divided, an early election would prove a catastrophe for the left...

...Linked with Benn in the leadership is parliamentarian Eric Heffer, an old warhorse in battles of the left...

...To buttress their case, proponents of Callaghan's immediate departure cite the following developments: 1. At the recent annual Labor Party conference, the left succeeded in beefing up the power of the National Executive Committee (NEC...

...Thatcher won last May suggests that the Tories will be in power for a full five-year term...

...Benn, a minister in that Cabinet, too, feels no such loyalty...

...Whom it would consist of, and exactly what its stand would be, remains unclear...

...Still, most Laborites are too committed politically and ideologically to go elsewhere...

...He will almost surely achieve prominence in the near future, but at present he lacks sufficient experience to be a leadership contender...

...3. Although the left has agreed to a year-long review of the measures that give it virtually complete control of the party's policies and organization, it has also managed to place itself in a position to stack the review committee in its favor...

...As he spoke, his backbenchers cheered him on...

...Silver-tongued Michael Foot, the longtime left spokesman, has been compromised by his loyalty to Callaghan, in whose Cabinet he served...

...Since this body previously had little direct impact on national affairs, its past domination by the left never aroused much concern...

...At the moment some influential union leaders, appalled by the left's seizure of the party's strategic heights, are threatening to withhold their regular contributions...

...In traditional fashion the leader of the Opposition, the Right Honorable James Cal-laghan, whom Mrs...

...Yet the appearance would have been deceiving, for Callaghan, 67, is a very lame lame duck: Not only has he said he will step down before next election day, but more important, the leadership has already slipped from his grasp and power has been shifting to the once inconsequential left-wing of the party...

...Finally, the left is confident that Tory monetary policies (the mortgage interest rate now hovers at 15 per cent, and the minimum lending rate at 17 per cent) will alienate middle-class home owners and businessmen...

...As the left tries to consolidate its hold, the right and center are champing at the bit, eager to launch their counterattack...

...Candidates who do not toe the new line would therefore probably be sent packing...

...Several outspoken anti-left Labor MPs, including Neville Sandelson and former Ulster Secretary Roy Mason, Norman Gelb, a previous contributor to the NL, is London correspondent for the Mutual Broadcasting System...

...The militants become active and soon assume influential positions in local Labor organizations...

...Above all, the left today has only one real leader, Anthony (Tony) Wedgwood Benn, an eloquent but humorless MP whose popularity is short of overwhelming...

...Next time around, it is said, these groups will flock to Labor regardless of who is in charge there, or at the least will abstain in droves...

...Labor's official leader is chosen by its members of Parliament—the one major party segment not controlled by the left...

...The most attractive and dynamic advocate of the leftist cause is 37-year-old Welsh parliamentarian Neil Kinnock, an articulate man brimming with wit as well as righteous fire...

...have already come under attack in their constitutencies and are in danger of not being reselected...

...But the NEC has declined to publish or circulate the report, ostensibly because it is reluctant to engage in what it considers a reds-under-the-beds smear campaign...

...Callaghan, however, is proving reluctant to step down just yet...

...Some other established Labor figures, like former ministers Peter Shore and Jon Silkin, may yet surface in the left's pantheon but seem to be waiting to see how things develop...

...Denis Healey has made tentative forays, warning that the left, influenced by "extremist cliques," could reduce Labor to "a dwindling band of squabbling sects," thereby assuring a long Tory rule...

...Its reputation for being "extreme" is also an extreme handicap in an essentially conservative (with a small "c") country...

...Yet the sizable parliamentary majority Mrs...

...As a result, many of Calla-ghan's confidants have been urging him to step down now and hand over the reins to Labor's second-in-command, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Denis Healey...