straightforward, strategy women. It aims to introduce measures to benefit the growing layer of protessional women and present a propaganda gloss this as being a policy Denentling women in general This is a coherent strategy based on the facts of women's changing social position. The last two decades have seen a major increase in the entry of women into further and higher education. For example in 1966 there were 140,000 Lunc undergraduates, total, and in 1984 there were 244,000, 41 per tent of the total. Today 47 per cent of medical graduates are female. The number of women members of the Chartered Insurance Institute has risen trom 4 per cent to 14 per years, and the number of solicitors from 6 to 17 per cent.
emma Nicholson traditional Able, leading dispute with regional execuuve. female of the adjust cent in ten WHICH ist.
The Tories hidebound approach is summed up by the fact that went through the pre-election rushed wedding, to ensure it coula not be claimed she was 'living in sin'. Although it must be said that Labour also explicitiv encouraged its candidates to present a traditional "family' image where possimuch-publicised the party's London The Alliance has clearly targetted a section of the female electorate as the Lal locus for its strategy. Ine lories are looking at the same facts but failing to block ott the Alliance. And what about Labour? It has a policy that has failed to take advantage of the huge openings which exevery decision the party has made on As with the minimum wage and the Ministry for Women, abortion rights and nursery provision, it has adopted progressive policies then failed to promote them adequately. There is evidently a reason for what is so painfully consistent a failure.
The policy of the present Labour leadership is incoherent. It seeks to meet the demands of various different sections of the working class without adopting any policies that fundamencontradict the basic interest of capital. Hence the adoption of the minimum wage was accompanied by a speech from Hattersley indicating that it would have to be paid for by wage restraint — a totally divisive strategy inside the working class. Even an obvious source of increased finances, by cutting the nuclear weapons programmes, THE TORY election campaign is being run to a precise plan. cher's calculation is that Labour cannot win. Therefore the first goal of the Tory campaign was to smash down the Alliance being seen as the only force, with Labour's current could eat into the Tory vote. This is why the entire first week of the Tory campaign was devoted to attacking the Alliance, why Thatcher took Alliance defence policy as her target in her first speech of the campaign, and why manifesto made the extraordinary charge that the 'fellow travellers'.
The Alliance also calculated that Labour could not win. This is why they devoted their first attack to the Tories. They hoped to push down the Tory vote to a level where there would be a hung parliament.
But the Alliance, unlike Thatcher, drastically miscalculated bourgeoisie wanted. The first demand of capital in this election is that Thatcher should win. As long as the Alliance was directing its main fire against Thatcner is was rubdisned In ble Consistent editorials were carried in the press demanding that should concentrate capital in ths election is that, if possible, Labour should come third.
Media By the end of the first week of the campaign, the ruling class had got what it wanted on both scores. ceeded in blasting down the Alliance vote to manageable proportions — 21 per cent. The could not win, and getting the message the ruling reorientate its fire against Labour.
This was all the more necessary as, for different reasons, both Tories and of the had relatively easy ride in the first week of inthe the campaign. It is true the gutter press had carried on an insistent campaign on the "bash the left' theme trating its fire on Ken Livingstone. But for the first week the Tories had been targetting Alliance concentrating on the Tories The result was that Labour had been given a relatively easy ride to move up the opinion polls. trast, made the drastic tactical mistake of trying to run on the 'positive' aspects or inelr mannesto -extremely unpopular and led into a shambles on about their policy on education became clear.
The second phase of the campaign was therefore launched on Sunday. Its theme was simple This was gleefully greeted in the Daily Telegraph on Monday as "The election That- Thatcher - the Alliance policies, that promptly did so.
gusto yesterday' were return to colours Denience Labour Party?' the campaign press.
the attacking because the second aim of the weekend of 24-5 May The Tories had suc knowing i given - concen the The Tories, in conwhich were both the truth combined fight. finally came to life yesterday with Mrs the leaders savaging Mr Kinnock'. The Times daily analyst, Geoffrey Smith, accurately announced on Tuesday: "The Alliance has relaunched its campaign in the time honoured fashion. It announced that it was not altering its tactics, and then Having earlier in dicated that he would not waste his time on Labour because ney could not will. Dr Owen was laying into them with The style of Owen's policy was his attack on Labour on Monday charging it with being infiltrated with Kussiar agents: 'He (Kinnock) wants a Dad's Army back and Captain Mainwaring's For does nis con fidence stem from his own extensive extitth columnists the There is nothing to chose betweer Owen's attack and The Sun which on Tuesday headlined page two Labou would let reds march in, says Maggie' Both Alliance and Tories will be joining in the last two and a half weeks of the with all out attacks on There will be no repeat of Labour's easy first week. From now on it is an uphill battle all the way.