Brief History
Since its re-establishment in 1975, it has been a campaigning organisation rather than an electoral group (its constitution prevents full members from standing for elective office). Before entering parliament, former Labour Member of Parliament Harry Barnes was a member of the ILP. As an MP, he was obliged to resign and he joined a supporters group entitled 'Friends of the ILP'.
It has been involved with opposition to various workfare schemes imposed by the British Conservative government of the 1980s, for arguing for open democratic structures within the Labour Party, and for an emphasis on co-operative systems of organising economic activity.
In common with much contemporary left-wing thinking, the ILP's approach rejects both contemporary capitalism and the command economy. But unlike much of the left, it accepts the idea of a market economy as part of democratic socialist thinking. The ILP has been out of line with (or arguably ahead of) many traditional leftist positions, for instance in its rejection of a simple "troops out" approach to the conflict in Northern Ireland, and was critical of what it saw as knee-jerk anti-Americanism on the left following the USA's reaction to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
With a headquarters based in Leeds, the ILP meets in Scarborough annually to discuss political issues, and its internal administration is overseen by a National Administrative Council (NAC).
Read more about this topic: Independent Labour Publications
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“Tell me of the height of the mountains of the moon, or of the diameter of space, and I may believe you, but of the secret history of the Almighty, and I shall pronounce thee mad.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“[Men say:] “Don’t you know that we are your natural protectors?” But what is a woman afraid of on a lonely road after dark? The bears and wolves are all gone; there is nothing to be afraid of now but our natural protectors.”
—Frances A. Griffin, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 19, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)