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Left launches campaign against Blairite policies

Ben Russell,Political Correspondent
Friday 02 July 2004 00:00 BST
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Hundreds of Labour activists and MPs will begin a campaign tomorrow to replace a decade of Blairite policies with a left-wing manifesto.

Policies to be debated at the launch of the Labour Representation Committee include legalising secondary strike action, increasing top rate and corporate tax rates and abolishing all selective and private schools. A "manifesto for the left", drawn up in advance of tomorrow's conference, also proposes abolishing all university tuition fees and bringing rail franchises back under public control.

Up to 400 activists are expected at the launch. Speakers at the conference include Michael Meacher, the former environment minister, and senior members of the socialist Campaign Group of MPs, including Alan Simpson, John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn and Alice Mahon. Tony Benn, the veteran left winger, will also address delegates.

The organisation is led by Mick Rix, the former general secretary of the train drivers' union Aslef, and backed by senior trades unionists including Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers' Union.

A policy document drawn up for the meeting says: "Blair and the New Labour gurus have mounted an unashamed and sustained attack upon the party, its principles, its policies and its supporters. The unions, the bedrock of the party, have been ignored and often attacked and the hard-won achievements of our movement - like the welfare state and the public service infrastructure, which previous Labour governments and party activists worked so hard to create - have been critically undermined."

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