FOLLOWING the debate has opened up in movement around causes of Labour's defeat, how the Tories can be defeated and how Labour can be rebuilt.
Here John Ross argues against the view that the majority skilled working forever to the Labour Party and proposes the minimum steps to THE MOST catastrophic of all falls in support for the Labour Party in the last 10 years has been among skilldemonstrated by the opinion poll studies we show on decade ago, in the election of October 1974, Labour.
massively among skilled workers — by around 49 per cent to 26 per cent. By 1983 the situation had been totally reversed with the Tories leading among skilled workers by 40 per cent to 32 What is shown by opinion polis confirmed geographical analyses of distribution of voting. Thatcher won her electoral victory of 1979 with huge swings of 7.1 per cent and 6.2 per cent to the Tories in Birmingham and Outer London - just the areas of the country with the highest concentrations of skilled manual workers.
Those on the left who try to claim that the results of the 1979 and 1983 elections reflect just movements of the 'middle classes' are merely deluding themselves.
An enormous desertion of the baDour rarty by an important section of the working class has taken place. Indeed all studies show that both in the 1979 and 1983 elections support for Labour among clerical workers and 'professional' groups scarcely fell Votes loss of votes among the manual working class that the Labour vote went workers that probably the most vital political battles in any trade unions in fought. Norman Tebbit and David Owen have as their chief political goal the aim of smashing the Labour Party links of such unions as the electricians ing the highest proportion of skilled manual workers. Tebbit and Owen are greatly aided in their goals by Dufthe the lost by the Photo: JOHN HARRIS Union bosses Duffy and Chapple the Labour Party?
But more important than simply the origins of the go further to the right' line are the Labour support and of the real interests which sections of the working class have.
four years, ever since Tony Benn was removed from the Department of Industry, not a peep had been heard from the Labour left. The idea that the loss of support among skilled workers is due to 'extremist left wing policies' simply does not fit the facts. The point can be made even more clearly by going back further in time. opinion poll studies for the skilled working class votes in the elections of 1970 and 1974 but the trend can be geographical shifts in the vote.
If we take Birmingham, precisely facts both COTI cent. a whole swung by 1.1 per cent from the Tories to Labour. But the West Midlands swung by 3.9 per cent to Cabentry built up area-by s.8 per Birminghamamong skilled workers.
In 1974 the Tory Party's support among the population as a whole, and the working class in particular, fell to the lowest level ever recorded.
There is however one issue which both fits the overall decline of th Labour vote in the last fifteen years explains the facts, and in particula explains Labour's loss of suppor among skilled workers. This is th issue of incomes policy.
If we take vot historically then the highest level o support ever recorded for the Labou Party in the opinion polls was 53.5 pe cent in May 1966. Labour had won general election two months earlie with a vote which at 48.0 per cent wa scarcely any lower than the • ICLO Labour vote of 48.8 per cent in 1951 In June 1966 Roy Jenkins, then Labour Minister, announced that th Labour government was going to in troduce wage controls.
The result was the beginning ( the catastrophic fall in support fro which Labour has never recovere By a year later Labour was 6.5 p cent behind the Tories in the opinio polls and by December 1968 Labour support had fallen to under thirty p cent. Incomes policy, not 'left wil extremism' is what smashed Labour Party's popularity in 1966 It is also this which of course e plains the outcome of the 1970, 197 ticular the collapse of the Labour Pa 1979 and 1983 elections and in ty vote, and the rise of the Torie among skilled workers.
Lost The Tories lost in 1964 after th introduced incomes policy in 1961 Why was there the huge swil away Labour in the Midlands in 1970, to Labour in 197 and then away from Labour in 197 The Labour Party applied an comes policy from 1966 onwards the skilled workers ot the Wie Midlands ole. massively away from Labour in 197 In 1972 Heath introduced an i comes policy and the skilled worki class swung massively away from ti Tories in 1974. Labour introduced : incomes policy in 1975 and in 1979 t skilled working class deserted it 'Between 1979 and 1983 Thatch rejected introducing a formal incom policy and by 1983 the Tories won the election and were the larg party among skilled workers.
Incomes poliey hits the better o skilled workers, most severely of a Skilled workers have every objecti and they have done. Wh there is no evidence from the workers are put off by 'left wing tremism' there is absolutely mass evidence that they are put off by wa quite logically have the most to lose from them.
The number one requirement 1 the Labour Party to regain its bi among the skilled working class complete and total rejection of a 1979 1983 Change 1979-83 -- 12 +16 - 1 - 9 +11