the Labour Party that even the unifying panic of an election campaign cannot paper over, In the course of the campaign yet anther crack appeared in the tortuous attempt of the Labour Party establishment in the North East to pose as the party of the working class, while at the same time acting as the well-paid agents of property speculators and big business.
The victory of Eddie Milne, standing us an Independent Labour candidate in Blyth, Northumberland, inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Prentice-ite put up by the party machine, and will assist in the exposure of the edifice of corruption which has lined the pockets of the North East Labour bureaucrats.
LABOUR SPECULATORS Two particularly notorious exampoles of their integration into the higher echelons of British capitalism the Labour-controlled Scaton Valley Urban Council aided London and Tyneside Properties in making 1000 per cent profits on bouses from which miners lisd heen evicted by the simple expedient of paying Improvement grants worth more than three times what the houses had cost to the company.
The scoond example is, of course, lo be seen in the fact That Poulson found the Labour councils ot the North East particularly amenable to boosting fis fiow of contracts. Red Week y & March 1974 Page 2 centre and some of the gifts which this single contract elicited will no doubt emergo in the present trials of Andrew Cunningham and Dan Smith.
But, in spite of the political domit is the general growth of working class militancy, especially among the miners, which has provided the conditions for a real threat to this corrupt. and reactionary leadership.
About the same time as two leading Labour figures, Cunningham and Salih were arrested on corruption and conspuracy charges, the Blyth Labour party tried to smother all attrmots to force Fransnort House Lo set up an inquicy into the activities of the NF party by refusing to readopt their MP Eddie Milne, who had represented the constituency for 13 years and was demanding such an enquiry.
'SAFE' CANDIDATE Instead, the Blyth Labour Party stand out, There was the occasion when adopted a London-based Prentice-ile, Ivor Richard QC. He was just the kind of MP that the local establishment wanted. He had neither the political motivation nor physical proximity to disturb the well-lined nest that they had built up for themselves.
Politically, Richand is of the samue lk as the ocher North East MPs, such as Hughes, who signed the motion against MeGahey, and Bapier and Garret (who use their parlamentary status to do PR work for the Greek colonels).
The result of this was a complete split in the Blyth Labour party ce. The main working class forces pit and the local LICATT branchhe decided to stand as an Indepeninance of the Labour Party in the are, dent Labour candidate, to the Tribune group of Mi's. His ism probabiy explains his tallure lo an exemplary anti-Tory campaign.
to actively link his campaien to the meelines of all council sessions and committees, or by putting forward the idea of a worker's enquiry to investipate party corruption, ced-22,918 votes for Milne and 16,778 for Richard.
dominance of working class polities in the North Bast that has appeared in Blyth could he widened into a under the Labour Government.
have already proved themsclves incapahle ol producte Che strategy which has more than local significanin the area-the NUM loge at Bates gave their fult support to Milne when MILNE MISSES OUT Milne himself is a recent recruit commitment to their paritamentariangrasp the opportunity he had to wage For example, he made no attempt building of solidarity with the miners. He did not even deal with the question of corruption in a political way by pointing out its dangers for the labour movement, by campaigning for open Nevertheleas, 2,000 miners joined Milne's victory parade through Blyth when the election result was announ- CULTUUL SPOORLIS CRACK TO ABYSS The crack in the Labour Party's kaping ahyss as mass struggles develop But certain sections of the letl A victoriaus Eddie Milne that this would require. The Militant