19.02.1998

Black members group

Simon Harvey of the SLP

Former members of the now de­funct SLP black section have begun a somewhat quixotic campaign to reinstate their power base. Roshan Dadoo and Trevor Wongsam - party members connected with the Fourth International Support­ers Caucus - have been visiting Con­stituency SLPs promoting their case.

Under the aegis of the ‘black mem­bers group’, these comrades have been arguing for the absolute neces­sity of the black section in order for the party to be relevant to the black community in Britain. The black-sec­tion was abolished in controversial circumstances after the 3,000 block vote of the North West, Cheshire and Cumbria Miners’ Association was used to support Harpal Brar’s consti­tutional amendment at the December 13-14 SLP congress. Ironically, the comrades are arguing that it is impor­tant not to confuse the move to rein­state the black section with any campaign against the block vote.

Of course, comrades Dadoo and Wongsam are in a bit of a bind. Previ­ous attempts at campaigning to change the constitution have been deemed unconstitutional by the gen­eral secretary. Using a non-constitu­tional cover such as the ‘black members group’ could add to their dif­ficulty.

Another difficulty they are facing is clause VI, section (13) of the SLP’s constitution. It states: “Any proposi­tion previously voted upon at a party congress shall not appear on the agenda of the next party congress unless the national executive commit­tee agrees that circumstances justify its inclusion or party congress de­cides by a two-thirds majority to al­low the proposition to appear on the agenda.” Leaving aside the obvious fact that this clause gives the NEC more power over congress’s agenda than congress itself, it effectively means that any motion to reinstate the black section will not be allowed in 1998.

Terry Dunn faces similar problems. Having resigned immediately after congress in protest at the manner in which the block vote of the NWCCMA was used, comrade Dunn has been busy studying the constitu­tion. I have heard that he has been questioning the constitutionality of the miners’ association block vote it­self. Clause VI, section (18) seems to support his claims. It reads:

“Voting at party congress shall be as follows: (a) the membership of affiliated trade unions for the purposes of a card vote shall be taken as being the number for which contributions have been paid to the party for the 12 months ending on the preceding 31st December.”

Comrade Dunn was an NEC mem­ber last year. He says he knew noth­ing of this trade union affiliate until the last moment. It certainly was not affiliated before December 31 1996. According to the letter of the rules, it should not have had a vote at Decem­ber’s congress.

I have sympathy for these com­rades; they have got themselves into a hole. Comrades Dunn, Wongsam and Dadoo seem to be true believers in the SLP constitution. They were certainly among its keenest advo­cates, often wielding it enthusiasti­cally during the witch hunt. It now seems as though it is dawning on them that those who drew up the constitu­tion may not be using it solely for anti­-communist purposes. Moreover, if it comes to a vote next year on whether or not the NWCCMA is a valid affili­ate, the thing will be decided by that (by then) fully constituted 3,000 block vote.