Countdown for British Labor

...and that at least a seemingly united party will emerge to tackle Mrs...

...And since there is no doubt that a divided Labor Party cannot win an election, prominent union figures do not conceal their displeasure at the infighting that has been going on...

...It will determine whether the party will be in fighting trim for the next national elections, or whether it will lose all national influence for the foreseeable future...

...Visiting London from Brussels, the former Labor deputy leader said he might seek to bring this about himself when he retires from the presidency of the European Commission next January...

...The cheers, meanwhile, all went to Leftist spokesmen for their ringing declarations of neutralism and full-blooded socialism...

...When former Labor Foreign Secretary David Owen, condemning a drift toward neutralism in foreign relations, warned the conference that it would be impossible to negotiate disarmament with the Soviet Union if the West had already disarmed, he was roundly booed...

...But even more it is a reflection of the Left's fear that once the dust has cleared, its current domination of the party apparatus will seem to have been only so much noise...

...There are some of us," they said in a recent joint statement, "who will not accept a choice between socialism and Europe...

...There is growing belief in London that the unions will cut the Left down as a political force at the annual party conference...

...Callaghan himself was given a frigid reception for suggesting that controls on wages as well as on prices might be necessary to beat inflation...

...he notes that Callaghan continues to do a "splendid job" and could be the party leader for some time to come...

...We will choose both...

...Norman Gelb, a frequent New Leader contributor, reports from London for the Mutual Broadcasting System...

...The battle lines have been drawn...

...The divide within the Labor Party," Jenkins declared, "is too deep to be bridged...

...This was never more evident than at the special party conference held last May 31-over the objections of party leader and former Prime Minister James Callaghan...

...They worry that if the party runs under Leftist banners it might alienate still more union voters next election day, instead of winning the earlier defectors back to the Labor cause...

...Foremost among these was Anthony (Tony) Wedgwood Benn, who in lashing out at "welfare capitalism" appeared to be launching a campaign against the mixed economy in Britain that Labor originally sponsored and has carefully nurtured since World War II...

...Putting aside the allegiances and philosophies of union leaders as individuals and their memberships, the trade union movement sees the Labor Party as fulfilling one primary purpose????to implement legislation promoting union policies...

...The next few months will be decisive...

...The conference's real purpose, however, was to sustain the momentum of Leftist control over the policy-making instruments of the party, particularly the National Executive Committee (NEC...

...And NEC member Joan Lester insisted that, to the contrary, Britain would then be able to participate in disarmament negotiations from a position of "moral strength...

...Thatcher and the Tories...

...They included stringent import controls, vastly expanded public ownership of industry, price (but not wage) controls, abolition of the House of Lords, and opposition to basing cruise missiles in Britain...

...Nevertheless, the fact is that despite its flourishes and flauntings, the Left today finds itself in an extremely exposed and vulnerable position...

...Much of its sounding-off is a symptom of profound frustration at the failure of past Labor governments to give far-Left policies a chance...

...His chiding of those in the hall who were committed to "ideological ego trips and the clapped-out dogmas of Toytown Trotskyists" only raised another round of boos...

...Murmurings can even be heard from some of his admirers about how competently Winston Churchill and Kon-rad Adenauer performed in office at an advanced age, and Callaghan is a year younger than Ronald Reagan (who has not won over the British press, but is receiving less than hostile treatment in its pages...

...The prime movers have marshaled their forces...

...This may explain why Callaghan has not yet stepped down from his post as party leader, despite the urgings of friends and the political emasculation he has suffered at the hands of the Leftists...

...This wholesale rejection of policies espoused for decades by Labor's leaders signaled the intensification of the Left's bid to triumph decisively over its internal rivals...

...The proposals approved by the conference would all have been flatly rejected by the last Labor government, and clearly were aimed at rallying confirmed Leftists rather than rousing more general support for Labor among voters across the country...

...Former Labor ministers Shirley Williams, William Rodgers and David Owen have threatened to quit the party and perhaps join a new center coalition if Leftists force through a commitment to pull Britain out of the European Economic Community (EEC...

...Indeed, a satisfactory conclusion to the present unpleasantness might tempt Callaghan to stay put...

...Absent from the parley was any discussion of how Britain could raise its feeble production levels and thus create the long-term wealth needed for the heavy industrial subsidies and extensive social welfare programs being urged...

...Moreover, many of the most influential union officials are keenly aware that an estimated one-third of their members voted for Tory rather than Labor candidates in the last general election...

...A "Rank and File Mobilizing Committee" has been formed to organize the party's Leftist forces (as well as more extremist elements outside who might want to help), in an effort to prevent the non-Left from staging a comeback at Labor's annual conference next autumn...

...THE NON-LEFT Countdown for British Labor By Norman Gelb London The struggle now in progress within the British Labor Party between the Left (which is content to be so described) and the non-Left (which prefers not to be called "moderate" or "Right-wing") is a crucial one...

...Meanwhile, the prospect that the Left will be routed has encouraged younger non-Left Labor personalities to remain in the fold...

...For the outcome of the current struggle is likely to be decided by the British trade unions, whose financial contributions keep the party just this side of bankruptcy, and who have enough block votes within Labor to dictate the direction they want the party to take...

...Non-Leftists stayed away in droves...

...Apparently trusting that this is not the case, Williams, Rodgers and Owen have so far declined to join him...

...Ostensibly, the conference was called to protest Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's economic policies, charged by one speaker with doing more damage to British industry than Nazi bombers ever did...

...Since the Conservative election victory last year, Leftist Laborites have defied their Parliamentary leadership and come to dominate the party apparatus...

...Such a fundamental realignment in British politics has often been mooted, and was again suggested early last month by Roy Jenkins...

...In any case, he is being careful not to press too hard...

...They are perfectly capable of calling their own strikes, days of protest and special conferences without the help of a covey of futile politicians who are long on slogans but short on votes...

...Apparently he wants to make certain not too much blood is shed in the final skirmishes of the Left-non-Left battle...

...If the party is unable to gain a Parliamentary majority, from the unions' standpoint it serves no significant purpose at all...

...Their words are an indication of what is at stake for Labor as its power crunch approaches...

...The delegates also greeted former Labor Chancellor of the Exchequer Denis Healey with catcalls and shouts of "Out...

...Union leaders have been watching the Left-non-Left contest with apprehension and distress...

...Denis Healey continues to be the man most likely to succeed Callaghan when he finally does step down, although Healey is hated with a passion by the Left and so might have to be sacrificed to the cause of party unity...