Tribune (magazine) - Bevanism and CND

Bevanism and CND

Foot remained in the editorial chair until 1952, when Bob Edwards took over, but returned after losing his parliamentary seat in Plymouth in 1955. During the early 1950s, Tribune became the organ of the Bevanite left opposition to the Labour Party leadership, turning against America over its handling of the Korean War then arguing strongly against West German rearmament and nuclear arms. Tribune remained critical of the Soviet Union, however: it denounced Stalin on his death in 1953, and, in 1956, opposed the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian Revolution and the British government's Suez adventure. The paper and Bevan parted company after his "naked into the conference chamber" speech at the 1957 Labour Party conference: for the next five years Tribune was at the forefront of the campaign to commit Labour to a non-nuclear defence policy, "the official weekly of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament" (CND) as the direct actionists in the peace movement put it. CND's general secretary, Peggy Duff, had been Tribune general manager. Among journalists on Tribune in the 1950s were Richard Clements, Ian Aitken and Mervyn Jones, who related his experience on the paper in his autobiography Chances.