Devon Labour Briefing
Encyclopedia
Devon Labour Briefing was a magazine established in Exeter
, England
, in 1984 by left-wing Labour Party members modelled on London Labour Briefing
.
at that time.) A handful of supporters developed in other Exeter Labour Party branches Rougemont/St. Leonards branch (the City Centre) and Polsloe/Stoke Hill.
MP, a member of the National Executive Committee.
In 1985, the leadership resumed disciplinary action against the editors of the magazine on the grounds that the magazine was ‘prejudicial to interests of the Party.’ The leadership interrogated five writers and three were recommended for expulsion from the Labour Party. Before the Management Committee of Exeter Labour Party could decide the issue, the three obtained a High Court injunction stopping the expulsion process as the whole expulsion process seriously breached the rules of natural justice
. After initially stating that they would contest the action, the Labour Party withdrew from the case making them liable for court costs.
In 1987, Exeter Labour Party again began disciplinary action against one person involved with the magazine through the newly formed Labour Party National Constitutional Committee. After a day-long hearing in Exeter the contributor concerned received a formal warning but was not expelled.
of 1688 on the grounds that Exeter was the first English city in which William III of England
set foot. The National Front
, the Orange Order and other right wing groups announced that they too would participate in the celebrations. Devon Labour Briefing opposed the celebrations inside the Labour Party on the grounds that William of Orange was a symbol of Protestant supremacy in Northern Ireland, that the Glorious Revolution did not involve working people and that the celebrations were acting as a magnet for the extreme right. Although Devon Labour Briefing and other left-wingers won the vote in Exeter Labour Party, the City Council persisted. Key invited figures such as the historian Christopher Hill, however, backed out of the celebrations. The events of 1988 saw the launching of Exeter Anti-Fascist Action, affiliated to Anti-Fascist Action
nationally and included supporters of Devon Labour Briefing and the Workers Revolutionary Party, as well as other independent socialists and anarchists.
, Neil Kinnock, leader of the Labour Party, began a policy review, which sought to change Labour Party policies (e.g., abandonment unilateral nuclear disarmament). Labour Briefing was facing defeat and marginalisation. In the summer of 1989, Devon Labour Briefing supporters ceased to play a role in Exeter Labour Party; either through defeat in internal party elections or through resignation. The majority abandoned active party politics; a minority joined the Workers Revolutionary Party and later the Socialist Alliance
.
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1984 by left-wing Labour Party members modelled on London Labour Briefing
London Labour Briefing
Labour Left Briefing is a monthly political magazine produced by members of the British Labour Party.It originated in the 1980s as London Labour Briefing, counting several Labour MPs among its supporters...
.
The origins of Devon Labour Briefing
Exeter Labour Briefing, the forerunner of Devon Labour Briefing (established 1984), was founded in the autumn of 1983. One source of support was the left-wing of the Exeter Pennsylvania/St. Davids branch of the Exeter Labour Party. Following the banning of articles critical of the Party in the branch newsletter, left-wingers decided to set up a publication independent of the Party. A key source of support was Exeter University Labour Club, several of whose members became active participants. Briefing supporters were also in a majority in the Exeter Labour Party Young Socialists, (one of the few branches not controlled by the Militant TendencyMilitant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
at that time.) A handful of supporters developed in other Exeter Labour Party branches Rougemont/St. Leonards branch (the City Centre) and Polsloe/Stoke Hill.
The politics of Devon Labour Briefing
Though Devon Labour Briefing was associated with a London-based national organisation, the focus of its politics was very much the Exeter Labour Party. Briefing accused the city party of being authoritarian, non-socialist, racist and sexist. The local Labour leadership and councillors were deemed ‘municipal careerists’ who sought status and respectability rather than advancing socialist causes. These intra-Labour Party themes featured prominently in the magazine.- In 1984, Labour won control of Exeter City CouncilExeter City CouncilExeter City Council is the council and local government of the city of Exeter, Devon.The City Council provides a range of services within the city including housing, refuse collections and recycling, planning, economic development, tourism, leisure and arts facilities and activities...
in coalition with the Liberal/SDP Alliance and later the Liberal DemocratsLiberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
. Devon Labour Briefing was critical of this coalition. When the Labour candidate in the St. Leonards by-election stood down in favour of the Liberal Democrats (contrary to national Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
policy), Devon Labour Briefing campaigned for the Green PartyGreen Party of England and WalesThe Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...
. - In the UK miners' strike (1984-1985), Devon Labour Briefing twinned itself with the MaerdyMaerdyMaerdy is a village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.- History :...
Colliery in South Wales, and collected money and food. - Supporters of Devon Labour Briefing were elected to leading positions in the Exeter Anti-Apartheid MovementAnti-Apartheid MovementAnti-Apartheid Movement , originally known as the Boycott Movement, was a British organization that was at the center of the international movement opposing South Africa's system of apartheid and supporting South Africa's Blacks....
after bitter disputes with some Labour Party and Communist PartyCommunist Party of Great BritainThe Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
members. - Devon Labour Briefing supporters participated in the Exeter Campaign for Nuclear DisarmamentCampaign for Nuclear DisarmamentThe Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
, which peaked at over 1000 members in the 1980s Briefing had little influence but aligned its votes with those of members of the Green Party - In 1987, Devon Labour Briefing joined with the leadership of the East Devon Labour Party to set up the East Devon Socialist Campaign GroupSocialist Campaign GroupThe Socialist Campaign Group is a left-wing democratic socialist grouping of Labour Party Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It was formed in December 1982 as an alternative Parliamentary left-wing group to the Tribune Group...
. The main focus of the group was to back the 1988 national leadership bid of Tony Benn MP and Eric HefferEric HefferEric Samuel Heffer was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. His working-class background and consciousness fed in to his left-wing politics, but to an extent disguised the depth of his knowledge: with 12,000 books in...
MP. Though the group made limited headway across the region, the exclusive Labour Party orientation of East Devon Labour Party members was often at odds with the more radical approach of Devon Labour Briefing. - Devon Labour Briefing supporters were in involved in the Exeter Marxist Reading Group, run by the Workers Revolutionary PartyWorkers' Revolutionary Party (UK)The Workers Revolutionary Party is a minute Trotskyist group in Britain. In the mid-1980s, it split several ways.-The Club:The WRP grew out of the faction Gerry Healy and John Lawrence led in the Revolutionary Communist Party which urged that the RCP enter the Labour Party. This policy was also...
. The group sought to relate the texts of classical MarxismClassical MarxismClassical Marxism refers to the social theory expounded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, as contrasted with later developments in Marxism.-Karl Marx:...
to contemporary politics. - In the autumn, Devon Labour Briefing organised a socialist Day School in Exeter. Speakers and workshop moderators were invited from London Labour Briefing and elsewhere.
Legal action against the Labour Party
Exeter Labour Briefing, the forerunner of Devon Labour Briefing, began publication in the autumn of 1983. The leadership of Exeter Labour Party almost immediately took disciplinary against the publication on the grounds that the magazine might be confused with an Exeter Labour Party publication. The dispute was temporarily resolved with the magazine being renamed Devon Labour Briefing, following the intervention of Tony BennTony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
MP, a member of the National Executive Committee.
In 1985, the leadership resumed disciplinary action against the editors of the magazine on the grounds that the magazine was ‘prejudicial to interests of the Party.’ The leadership interrogated five writers and three were recommended for expulsion from the Labour Party. Before the Management Committee of Exeter Labour Party could decide the issue, the three obtained a High Court injunction stopping the expulsion process as the whole expulsion process seriously breached the rules of natural justice
Natural justice
Natural justice is a term of art that denotes specific procedural rights in the English legal system and the systems of other nations based on it. Whilst the term natural justice is often retained as a general concept, it has largely been replaced and extended by the more general "duty to act fairly"...
. After initially stating that they would contest the action, the Labour Party withdrew from the case making them liable for court costs.
In 1987, Exeter Labour Party again began disciplinary action against one person involved with the magazine through the newly formed Labour Party National Constitutional Committee. After a day-long hearing in Exeter the contributor concerned received a formal warning but was not expelled.
The William of Orange celebrations 1988
In 1988, the Labour controlled Exeter City Council in collaboration with the William and Mary Tercentenary Trust planned to celebrate the so-called Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688 on the grounds that Exeter was the first English city in which William III of England
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
set foot. The National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
, the Orange Order and other right wing groups announced that they too would participate in the celebrations. Devon Labour Briefing opposed the celebrations inside the Labour Party on the grounds that William of Orange was a symbol of Protestant supremacy in Northern Ireland, that the Glorious Revolution did not involve working people and that the celebrations were acting as a magnet for the extreme right. Although Devon Labour Briefing and other left-wingers won the vote in Exeter Labour Party, the City Council persisted. Key invited figures such as the historian Christopher Hill, however, backed out of the celebrations. The events of 1988 saw the launching of Exeter Anti-Fascist Action, affiliated to Anti-Fascist Action
Anti-Fascist Action
Anti-Fascist Action was a militant anti-fascist organization founded by members of Red Action and other left-wing groups in the United Kingdom in 1985....
nationally and included supporters of Devon Labour Briefing and the Workers Revolutionary Party, as well as other independent socialists and anarchists.
The demise of Devon Labour Briefing
After Labour’s defeat in the 1987 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
, Neil Kinnock, leader of the Labour Party, began a policy review, which sought to change Labour Party policies (e.g., abandonment unilateral nuclear disarmament). Labour Briefing was facing defeat and marginalisation. In the summer of 1989, Devon Labour Briefing supporters ceased to play a role in Exeter Labour Party; either through defeat in internal party elections or through resignation. The majority abandoned active party politics; a minority joined the Workers Revolutionary Party and later the Socialist Alliance
Socialist Alliance (England)
The Socialist Alliance was a left-wing electoral alliance in England between 1992 and 2005.In late 2005, a small group reformed with the name "Socialist Alliance", with a mutual affiliation with the larger Alliance for Green Socialism.-Origins:...
.