Labour wings head for clash

Press, 24 October 1980, Page 6

Labour wings head for clash

(NZPA-Reuter London ■ The bitterness between the ■Left and Right wing's of Britain's Opposition Labour Party grew yesterday after) its policy-making national executive called for the elec-! tion of a new leader to be postponed. |< At a stormy four-hour meeting, the Left-wing domi- : Snated executive decided to ;ask the parliamentary i Labour Party to allow the ; deputy leader, Michael Foot, i to serve as acting leader until new election rules are < devised at a conference in i January. ' Under the present system i : Labour members of Parlia- | ment choose the party lead-1 !er. But the party's annual i : conference this month de■tided to widen the franchise i [to include trade unions and' activists in the local con-ii ! stituencies. Exactly how this i I will be done is to be decided i fat the January conference. i I The motion for a post- I

(ponem-ent was moveu by the leading Leftist. Tony Benn, who has declared he will be; a candidate for the lead-? (ership under a-new electoral; (college system but not under(present rules. “What is hap-; jpening now is not' the realjl (election,” he said. However, the parlia-! mentary Labour Party,! which is composed mostly! of Right-wingers and moder-' ates. was expected at ap meeting next week to reject) the executive’s call for a(: delay. (' The former Prime Minis-i ter, James Callaghan, whoseretirement as leader hasj prompted the election, did; not attend the executive p meeting but another mem-l: ber, Shirley Williams, who;; is a moderate, said after-i wards: “The executive are!: inow pushing for a con-i frontation with the parlia- ;i mentary Labour Party. This}! is very foolish and damaging;! to the party." L