THE POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF CPSA
FIGHTING ON IN OUR 45th YEAR BUT A BIT RETIRED NOW
FREEDOM! UNITY! SOCIALISM!
ONE CIVIL SERVICE UNION,
ONE GLORIOUS DESTINY!
REVOLUTION UNTIL VICTORY!
ROUND AND ABOUT
By Judas Iscariot - February 2004
Down in the DWP trenches the troops are preparing for the Spring offensive next week, bitter at the way their GEC Lunity leaders were so easily tricked into calling off their planned attack while their comrades faced the storm alone. Bitter also at the way Lunity first of all tried to pin the blame for their own incompetence on the Socialist Caucus and then attempted palm it off as some sort of master-stroke when they saw how easily they’d been double-crossed by Management.
Some of them are hoping that this blunder will soon be forgotten but the Carcass are going to milk this for all that its worth. Wisely not seeking to censure the GEC at a time when maximum unity is needed they are nevertheless urging branches to write to every GEC member present at that fateful meeting demanding an explanation of how and why they voted on the decision to suspend the campaign of industrial action.
The Moderati are keeping mum while quietly gloating at the disarray amongst the left. But they’ve got nothing to boast about themselves. The Moderati maidens on the NEC do little apart from agreeing with PRIESTLEY while STUART CURRIE flaps around trying to carve a new role for himself in the DWP Edinburgh branch while he decides whether or not to stand for AGS. Though they know they'll be lucky to hold what they’ve got in this year’s elections the Moddies are considerably concerned at the prospect of loathsome LANNING getting the DGS post particularly when it looks like their front runner, MARTIN BOYLE, isn’t up for it himself, and especially so as it looks like LU are running BOFF for AGS. There’s little or no enthusiasm for the Inland Revenue hopeful, some-one called STEEL, who no-one has ever heard of. And some are less than secretly praying that the CARCASS field a maverick a la SERWOTKA to scotch LANNING and the Underlings once again.
The one full-timer who did want the Moddie ticket for the DGS, BERNIE WILLIAMSON, soon fucked off when he saw he hadn’t a hope in hell of getting it. BERNIE took his golden handshake in December.
SERWOTKA has come in for some criticism from the right for backing Galloway’s RESPECT coalition, which intends to run a list of candidates including Gorgeous George in the European and London Assembly elections. But in strictly PCS terms in may do MAREK a bit of good. It will guarantee SWP support and boost his standing with some of the CARCASS and curiously enough may even win him the blessing of some UNITY high-castes.
UNITY, a front for the moribund Commissar Party, is but a shadow of the machine it once was in the Society. But it still carries some clout amongst the older full-timers appointed under the old SECRET LEFT regime and a few fellow travellers lurking around Herr Flick’s UNDERWORLD.
A move to back RESPECT led by the Commissar leader ROB GRIFFITHS together with the BORING STAR editor and backed by former SECRET LEFT supremo NICK SHITE was defeated at a special congress in January. But this hasn’t stopped the Star from supporting GALLOWAY or prevented some Commissars from joining RESPECT local branches.
Now whatever you think about GALLOWAY he did at least vote against BLAIR’S top-up fees bill which was passed by just FIVE votes in the Commons last week. Many Labour MPs took the principled stand and voted with the opposition parties to try and stop this odious bill. One who didn’t was our old friend KALI MOUNTFORD MP. When KALI was in CPSA she was a REDDER than RED BL’84 harpy but she soon took her 30 pieces of silver to get on the A List and get returned as one of Blair’s Babes in 1997.
And while we’re on the subject we’ve all been pleased to learn that CHRIS FRAUD will not have to live on his measly £50,000-plus pay-off for the rest of his life. The Friend of the Ukraine is now working as a lecturer for the WORKERS EDUCATION AUTHORITY. Despite its grand name the WEA is a venerable old body that organises courses on health and safety, negotiations skills and all the other union issues that FRAUD knows nothing about. As rich old CHRIS has clearly retired from the revolution – unless he hopes to foment unrest in the WEA – he could help out his erstwhile striking comrades by making a substantial donation to the hardship fund. He’s not short of a few bob is he?
And,after all, what is a lie? ‘Tis but
The truth in masquerade.
Lord Byron
REDS
By Barrabas
At the LUNITY January 31 Conference, a motion proposed by Socialist Party delegates which congratulated the DWP leadership for its running of the pay campaign, was carried by 23 votes to 22. Only the Ex-MILLIES and their close supporters voted in favour. A motion proposed by SOCIALIST CAUCUS, (the self-described "left opposition within Left Unity"), was defeated by 26 votes to 18. It read: “This conference condemns the decision of the GEC to suspend industrial action for two weeks to allow further talks on PDS and pay. We believe this has left four smaller departments to fight on their own. We demand that management are immediately notified of our intention to call a two-day strike and a work-to-rule.”
The SWP delegates put forward a rather bland motion, which attempted to steer a middle course between the two diametrically opposed positions. This motion would merely have noted the position of the GEC, but it was withdrawn in favour of the Caucus motion.
As a result of its militant approach, Socialist Caucus has increased its representation on the Left Unity slate for the elections to the executive, due in May, from three to five .
That's a 66% increase, for those of you still trying to work out the pay deal. But you still get BAUGH running for AGS.