Party News (1965)

Party News from the July 1965 issue of the Socialist Standard

Our Annual Conference this year was especially memorable. We had four members of the companion party in the U.S.A. over here—Sam and Ida Omer, Lenny and Anne Fenton. Theirs was no holiday visit; they were worked off their feet, speaking at many meetings.

Conference discussed a lot of future activity, and the first fruits of this were not long in coming. Up and down the country, we ran very successful May Day meetings. In Trafalgar Square, a large audience contributed a generous collection and bought about £12 worth of literature. Big literature sales were also a feature of our meetings in Glasgow. Other meetings were held in Nottingham, Birmingham, Bristol and Swansea, with similarly encouraging results. A small band of members also went to Hyde Park and ran a worthwhile meeting.

A good start, this, to our Summer propaganda season, which looks like being one of the busiest on record.

Readers will be interested in the excellent activities of Glasgow Branch. During the 1964/6$ propaganda season the branch held 112 outdoor meetings (25 in Edinburgh), 35 indoor meetings and one debate. Literature sales totalled £45 and collections amounted to £116. This is a most impressive record for any organisation and our members in Glasgow are to be congratulated on their efforts. Anyone wishing to take part in Glasgow activity, or any organisation, (political party, trade union branches, etc) requiring a member to address them, should please write to S. Donaldson, 37 Beltane Street, Glasgow, C.3. Visitors are welcome to the Branch meetings held regularly at 163a Berkeley Street. Monday at 7.30 p.m.

The Brighton Group hopes to run regular fortnightly outdoor meetings with the aid of London Branches during the summer months. They have also received an acceptance to debate from a local Labour Councillor.

A new group has been formed at Kidderminster—see the Party Directory—its first meeting was held on the 12th May and it is hoped the group will shortly have a meeting place for regular monthly meetings.

Sunderland Group is meeting regularly and anticipates extending its activities during the coming months.

Swansea Branch report a successful May Day meeting, the best for some years. The branch is becoming much more active and will be giving details of future branch and propaganda programmes in the near future.

Branch News (1964)

Party News from the April 1964 issue of the Socialist Standard

Much activity is talcing place in the Party and this behoves well for the better weather and the outdoor propaganda meetings. Particularly in Bromley (Lewisham Branch) and in Woodside (Glasgow), comrades are enthusiastically working in preparation for the General Election. Members not able to join in the regular work can help considerably by making great efforts to attend the meetings and take along as many friends as they can. The Glasgow meeting on April 26th is an election meeting and the Branch is challenging all the opponents who arc contesting the Municipal Election in the North Kelvin Ward to state their case.

Readers will note the May Day meetings advertised in this issue. In London, Trafalgar Square has been booked for Sunday, May 3rd, and with the experience gained at the September meeting, providing everyone works as hard and enthusiastically, this May Day should prove even more successful. Such an occasion provides great propaganda possibilities and we must make the very most of it.

Nottingham is following up the recent meetings at the Cosmo Debating Society when Comrade D'Arcy spoke, and the members there are planning a May Day Rally in Market Square on Sunday. May 3rd. in the afternoon and evening. The Cosmo Debating Society meeting was very successful. It is some time now since the Party sent a speaker there and our comrade D'Arcy was made very welcome. There was a debate with the Anarchists later in the evening. This, too. was well attended.

Sunderland Group (details under Groups) has started well and the Group hopes to hold regular meetings. It is hoped to have a full report of the activities in Sunderland in the May Socialist Standard. West London Branch recently had a lecture by our comrade Waters on the General Strike. This was well attended and particularly appreciated by younger members who learned much from the lecture.

Phyllis Howard

Branch News (1964)

Party News from the June 1964 issue of the Socialist Standard

More news from Belfast and Glasgow.

Danny McCarthy reports that the Belfast members had good literature sales at both the Easter CND parade and the Conference of the Northern Ireland Labour Party.

A recent demonstration over redundancy was used as an opportunity to put over our case. Danny went along with Comrade Montague, who stated our attitude to the television and radio reporters who were present. Alas, this was not included in the television programme that same evening.

The Irish comrades put their usual hard work into the recent local elections, in which we had a candidate in the Duncairn ward. Danny reports that the response of the Duncairn workers to our appeal for election funds was “truly staggering”.

Glasgow report that they had an audience of about eighty at their debate with the Young Liberals, when R. Donnelly put our case. The theme of our May Day meeting in Glasgow was “Abolish the Wages System”. The audience numbered over a hundred, seven pound collection was taken and over £2 worth of literature sold.

The Branch contested two wards—North Kelvin and Knightswood—in the municipal elections. Publicity at North Kelvin was limited to intensive canvassing of the Socialist Standard—over 450 copies were sold during the previous three months—and the distribution of eight thousand manifestoes. The party polled 134 votes which, Glasgow Branch think, must have contained comparatively few “mistaken” votes.

In Knightswood again our publicity was restricted, although we did get a mention on TV. The Glasgow members slogged away here under tremendous difficulties—they sold the Socialist Standard around the doors and they distributed twelve thousand manifestoes. The party polled 297 votes but, as the Branch puts it, “How many of these were Socialist votes is difficult to say in view of this being the first time we have contested the ward.”

Glasgow Branch are a living witness to the fact that hard work for Socialism is the most invigorating thing. Far from being tired after their exertions, they arc already planning “a greater effort next year.”

We hear from Sunderland that our comrade Clifford Allen addressed the Hylton Estate Workingmen’s Club (or rather their Debating Society) last month on the subject “Karl Marx—was he a dreamer or a realist?” His lecture was very well received by an audience of 50, of which 5 were members of the Sunderland Group. The address was followed by extensive discussion and many questions. 11/6d. worth of Socialist Standard were sold.

Comrade Allen and the members of the Sunderland group were much encouraged by the results of the lecture and intend to concentrate their efforts on similar activities in the future. There is a move to establish a number of debating societies and discussion groups on the numerous new housing estates in the Sunderland area, and the group hope to give further addresses to these. It is heartening to see such a good start being made to the activities of the Party in the North-east.

The debate at Bromley with INDEC attracted an audience of about 45, of whom half were non-members. Literature sales were only nominal, but there was a collection of £3 4s. 6d.