Branch News (1961)

Party News from the November 1961 issue of the Socialist Standard

The Delegate Meeting held at Head Office on Saturday and Sunday, October 7th and 8th. was well attended and proved to be one of the most interesting for some time. The keynote of the discussion was that comrades were anxious to get on with the work of the Party and used the time in discussing how best to serve the Party’s aims. Many interesting ideas were exchanged and there is no doubt that comrades left the meeting with renewed enthusiasm to make even greater efforts to spread the word of Socialism.

We are awaiting the full report of the sales of literature at the Blackpool Labour Party Conference. Our energetic and resourceful new Literature Sales Committee hired a caravan and sped up to Blackpool, where they bombarded the delegation there with literature of the Socialist case. The Committee made these arrangements quickly and efficiently and obtained the EC’s blessing while the work was actually in progress. This Committee is doing excellent work, attending rallies and meetings of other political organisations, apart from seeing that our own meetings are well supplied with literature with well organised sales. They were in force at the Caxton Hall Meeting on October 18th. Details of sales will be given in our next issue, together with the Blackpool report.

Glasgow Branch series of meetings have got off to a good start. These meetings will carry on throughout the winter, and Glaswegians should hasten to get in at the start and so benefit from the continuity of the series dealing with the Sixties.

General propaganda meetings! Many branches have a full programme for the winter. Head Office films are being well attended and debates have been arranged. The meetings list in every issue should be one of the first items for perusal, so that members can tell friends and sympathisers in plenty of time.

Ealing Branch's programme of winter activities really gets under way this month with two lectures, one general and the other theoretical, as well as a film showing. The new meeting room (but the same building) is much more comfortable than the old and is a first-rate place for these activities. Members are asked to make a special effort to be prompt and to note especially the time of the film show (7.45 pm) made necessary because the film lasts almost an hour-and-a-half. The Branch is doing very well. Two new members have been made in recent months as well as several other contacts. Branch members are looking forward to a really successful winter season.

Phyllis Howard