Branch News (1963)

Party News from the April 1963 issue of the Socialist Standard

The Annual Conference of the Party takes place in London, at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 12th. 13th and 14th. Fuller details are shown elsewhere in this issue Following Conference, in London on April 18th (Thursday), Paddington Branch are holding a meeting at Hampstead Town Hall. Haverstock Hill, N.W.3 at 7.30 p.m. The title “After Aldermaston. What?" It is many years since the Party has held a meeting in Hampstead and much work is being done to ensure the success of this meeting.

Lewisham Branch is holding a public meeting at Bromley High Street Public Library, East Street, Bromley on Friday. April 26th at 8 p.m. Title, "The Socialist Party of Great Britain and the H-Bomb”. Speaker: P Lawrence. This meeting is being organised by the Branch and the Bromley Group members.

On no account miss getting a copy of the May Socialist Standard. A larger Standard for the occasion, featuring the Housing Problem. The price will not be increased, therefore, it behoves all members to sell as many copies as possible, not only to meet the additional cost, but most important, to give a good boost to propaganda at the commencement of the outdoor propaganda season. If every regular reader at least doubled their order, it will be a help. If branches, at their meetings prominently show and advertise the May issue and urge more members to rally round with sales, it could be that a record number of copies are sold. Let’s go to it and break all records!

The three-branch (Bloomsbury, Ealing and Paddington) joint propaganda venture has proved most successful, and as previously mentioned other branches might well try out this idea. The January meeting held at Paddington was a lecture on the Common Market, at Ealing, on March 1st a “Brains Trust" meeting was held at the Branch meeting room. Questions were written before the meeting and a panel of three members answered the questions. There was good discussion the one regret was that time was so short. The occasion was very successful. Bloomsbury are holding their meeting in May. Owing to Conference it was considered better to leave the meeting for a month. On May 13th (Monday) the small Conway Hall has been reserved and a meeting similar to the one held at Ealing is proposed. As the hall holds many more people than the two previous halls, it is hoped that Comrades will bring along as many friends as possible. Light refreshments will be available.

Soon we hope to give full details of the adventures of our comrade Joe McGuinness who has been working on a boat, travelling around the world, and Joe, being the man he is, has "cashed in” at many ports of call where Party members were. Canada. U S.A.. Australia and New Zealand. He has done a recording for a non commercial broadcasting station in Canada. This being only one of his many activities in spreading the case for Socialism.

Ealing Branch’s season of lectures, films, and discussions continued during March with an inter-branch "Brains Trust” and a film “World Without End ”. The brains trust was particularly successful. Three members, one from each branch (Bloomsbury, Paddington and Ealing) answered questions put to them at random, and after each question the meeting was thrown open to further questions to the speakers and to contributions from the audience itself. Altogether, it was agreed that the experiment had resulted in a most useful and enjoyable evening, and is the kind of thing that could be profitably extended to other areas where Party branches are grouped reasonably closely together. We understand, in fact, that other branches have it already in mind to arrange similar events in their own areas.

Phyllis Howard