LAST THURSDAY'S local government election results put the seal on a real turn in the political situation in Britain.
At the level of mass struggle the fight. began quite soon after the June 1983 election. The NGA, GCHQ, the miners, the fight over the cities and Liverpool, marked its stages.
On the more narrow Labour's recovery in the polls, and Tony Benn's victory at Chesterfield, marked the same process. From the beginning of the spring onmassive working class.
But until last Thursday it could be, and was, that Thatcher was just faced with particular problems.
But Thursday was something more. It was the beginning of an openly expressed general re jection of the policies of the ment -participating. On one field, reform' line of the government.
Three features stand out in the national picture shown in last Thursday's election -tion to the struggles that surrounded the polls and the key importance of Liverpool.
Firstly the votes were overwhelmingly an attack on the Conservative Party.
Labour tothe iberas. tothe SD?. but the com mon feature was a massive desertion of the Tory Secondly the SDP/Liberal Alliance did not disa his point is absolutely fundamental for the lent to grasp. Because there continues to be a widespread sentiment that somehow the SDP, and the SDP/Liberal Alliance is a force that is going to go into a major decline.
The reality is the reverse. The SDP/Liberal Alliance is a long term and structural feature of British policies. Everytime the Alliance is put to the test electorally it confounds any low stanFurthermore the Alliance's current political Oriams on en asked by Robin Day what the be orientation well summed would do in the event which statistically last Thursday's result would have produced if there had been the same vote in a general Shirley succinctly 'I think we would Party and say "be sensible"
Thirdly the elections were a triumph for the Labour left. There were large advances in Liverpool, Manchester and polls now show Labour's support in London 10 per cent above its national level. The new social Iliances the Labour left has been building in the big cities are both standing firm and becoming a real factor and one of the best vehicles to show what socialist politics means in national terms.
For Labour it now has three key priorities.
Firstly to support every struggle which is taking place end of the Thatcher government. 1g8gr could force another election long betore Secondly to reject any pact or coalition with the SDP/Liberal Alliance Thirdly to adopt the type of socialist policies which provide the alternative both to Thatcher and the Alliance and which show a way out of Britain's economic and political crisis.
The labour movement must force a general No pact and no coalition with the SDP/Liberal For a Labour government pledged to socialist policies!
Editor. ALAN FREEMAN Published weekly except two weeks in August and the last week or December.
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parliamentary political Thatcher governone with more than five million voters local government — it was an annihilating rejection of the in addiVotes went to of a hung Parliament Williams replied ,go to the Labour Facing dictatorship just what Liverpool is facing. hit-man, Secretary, Patrick Jenkin, is praying