Cwi

[Streathamite]

Don't be silly dennis I'm not a fan of any politicos. However it did happen and it was a huge tactical blunder that set a lot of potential allies in Liverpool and beyond against Militant, as well as giving Kinnock & co the ammunition they needed.

no it did NOT happen - it was a lie and a smear from kinnock and the meejah. I was in millies back then, nothing like that happened

 

[Fisher_Gate]

no it did NOT happen - it was a lie and a smear from kinnock and the meejah. I was in millies back then, nothing like that happened

I knew people who put their redundancy notice in a frame on the wall at work to remind them of how bad things got ...

 

[soulman]

no it did NOT happen - it was a lie and a smear from kinnock and the meejah. I was in millies back then, nothing like that happened

Yes it did.

 

[Macullam]

Yes it did.

Yes it was a tactical mistake however there was never any intention to make anyone redundant.It was a short term financial manouvre to ensure funds were released in a complex financial situation. Lets not forget Liverpool stood alone by then all the so called left boroughs having caved in.

http://www.merseysidesocialistparty.com/
September Liverpool's councillors issued 90-day redundancy notices to the 30,000 strong workforce to gain a breathing space to build the campaign to defend jobs. This tactic to gain money from the government was reported by unprincipled capitalist media as sackings

 

[Prince Rhyus]

CWI - Committee for a Workers' International

Yet another grouplet of leftie has been gobshites?

When and where does this committee meet?

 

[soulman]

When and where does this committee meet?

You pulling tongues at me?

Is he pulling tongues at me?

 

[Fisher_Gate]

...Lets not forget Liverpool stood alone by then all the so called left boroughs having caved in.
...

Not true. As is freely acknowledged in Taafe and Mulhearn's book, Lambeth under Ted Knight fought as well, and were similarly disqualified for setting an illegal budget. They also organised mass protests and sought labour movement support.

Both Militant in Liverpool and Knight in Lambeth failed to link up adequately or acknowlege each other's role because of their mutual disdain, largely on issues that were of secondary importance to the battle over council funding. Lambeth did not however use the mistaken redundancy notice tactics.

It's also worth mentioning that John McDonnell, then deputy leader of the GLC, also took a principled stand leading a minority within the GLC Labour Group, and fell out with Livingstone who equivocated and capitulated.

 

[Macullam]

[Both Militant in Liverpool and Knight in Lambeth failed to link up adequately or acknowlege each other's role because of their mutual disdain, largely on issues that were of secondary importance to the battle over council funding. Lambeth did not however use the mistaken redundancy notice tactics.

You forget to mention that there was a difference in strategy between Liverpool who favored a deficit budget and Lambeth and others who favoured a no rate policy. In the interests of unity despite misgivings liverpool initially adopted a no rate policy. or is that of secondary importance ?

 

[Fisher_Gate]

[Both Militant in Liverpool and Knight in Lambeth failed to link up adequately or acknowlege each other's role because of their mutual disdain, largely on issues that were of secondary importance to the battle over council funding. Lambeth did not however use the mistaken redundancy notice tactics.

You forget to mention that there was a difference in strategy between Liverpool who favored a deficit budget and Lambeth and others who favoured a no rate policy. In the interests of unity despite misgivings liverpool initially adopted a no rate policy. or is that of secondary importance ?

It was only a tactical issue. I happen to think Lambeth were initially right on tactics - deficit budgets meant that each council fought on its own and got into illegality at a time not of its choosing and subject to the discretion of the district auditor. The refusal to set rates was intended to be a collective action that the mass of labour councils could follow and challenge the government simultaneously. While some 50-80 councils toyed with the plan only two actually carried it out, as the so-called soft left caved in over the question of legality. The weakness of the tactic was that the so-called upper tier authorities had a different legal requirement to set a precept that meant they caved in more quickly. Given that the biggest one of these was the GLC led by Livingstone, also selected for abolition, the policy got tied into the attempt to defend the GLC, which was always difficult terrain for Militant as at the time they hated the emphasis given to supposed "non-class issues" like nuclear weapons, women's rights and gay rights.

Only Lambeth and Liverpool followed the policy through and were surcharged and disqualified for delaying setting the rate - the Blunketts and Livingstone's got off scott free.