Guardian letter explains the success of the Labour Party Young Socialists

The following letter was published in the Guardian on 15.8.16 by former editor of the Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) paper and Socialist Party member Bob Labi explaining the success of the Militant-led LPYS and the role of Tom Watson in shutting it down.

While it is true that in the mid-1960s Labour's youth movement massively declined (Letters, 12 August), the Labour Party Young Socialists grew dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s when it was led by supporters of Militant who had become its leadership in 1970. This revival came from a combination of increasing class struggle, radicalisation in society and serious campaigning. Soon nearly 2,000 young people were attending the LPYS's annual conferences. This growth continued and the LPYS reached a high point of 581 branches in 1985, the time of the miners' strike, youth protests against Thatcher etc.

However, the growing offensive against the left by the pro-capitalist wing of the Labour party inevitably had a damaging impact on the LPYS. As it became clear that expulsions of individuals would not tame the LPYS the Labour party right wing resorted to rule changes. In 1987 the LPYS's age limit was cut from 26 to 23 and most of its democratic structures were removed, with the result that by 1990 it only had 52 branches left, a reduction of 90% in five years. Tom Watson, then the Labour party's youth officer, presided over the LPYS's final liquidation and its replacement by Young Labour, an organisation without fully democratic structures and controlled by the party leadership. Watson's support now for limiting the franchise for Labour's leadership election shows his preference for top-down methods when he and his supporters cannot build grassroots support.

Bob Labi, Editor of Left, the LPYS paper, between 1971 and 1977

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