WHATEVER the date of the general election, the Tory election machine is moving into top gear. Thatcher's message to her troops, however, faint-hearted.
are aware that among bosses that the upturn will encourage workers to turn the tables on employers who have used the dole speed-up and hold down wages. This is exactly what is going on in the car industry — accompnied by other struggles against privatisation in steel and telecommunications.
These developments show what also is needed to make sure that the cond crack of the whip. leadership have shown that they do not intend building on these struggles or those of the peace movement and the black communities. At the document is a new social contract. The Labour leadership is telling the bosses that only they can hold back a wages explosion next year. But the bosses don't believe them!
Nothing can disguise the fact that Labour are going to have an extremely difficult job winning the next election, despite recent opinion polls which show a halving of the Tory lead over But it is wrong to argue as Tony Benn does in our interview that we should not continue confront the right's offensive in the party in the name of unity for the election.
Policy The right are actively preparing the next stage of their offensive; coalition, witch hunts and the junking of conference policies. to even discuss these problems publicly in the name of combatting 'pessimism rank and file and plays into the hands of the right.
Nor, as the Morning Star has argued in realtion to the Peoples March, building up of an anti-Thatcher alliance embracing the Liberals and the SDP. Socialist Worker in its council of despair has argued that whoever wins the next general election is largely irrelevant to workers.
A small minority within the labour movement have reached a different conclusion. Organised around Socialists for Labour Victory they argue that Labour can win if it links its election campaign to promoting a massive wave or extraparliamentary action against the Tory governSLV argues that the Labour left should put its unions to organise such a campaign of mass ac tion through organising mass and industrial acagainst the missiles, pushing forward the Peoples March, and exposing the attacks of the Tories on democratic rights through the Police Bill by backing the struggles of the black comSocialists for a Labour Victory is a modest step in the direction of a fight to organise at least a section of the Labour Party to fight on the basis of clear unfudged policies, against coalitionism decided to campaign at trade union conference with broad lefts for a rejection of any kind of inwith a panel of speakers that will include the Greenham Common women to help local parties. It will be providing speakers and model leaflets as a service to parties who are determined that policies and support for mass action.
Editor: ALAN FREEMAN Published weekly except two weeks in August and the last week of December. otice ances sy conmoutors do not necessanuv reore sent Socialist Action's views. These are expressed in editorials.
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uncharacteristically unease exists queues to cut jobs, boost Tories don't get a se However the Labour The New Hope for Britain campaign LICi Refusing disarms the is the answer the ty be elections are about forming governments.
There is a clear choice between parties against unilateral disarmament Tories, SDP-Liberal and one party, Smaller groups, outside Labour, haven't the faintest chance of saving their deposits, let alone of AS A former member of the Labour Co-ordinating Committee who left because of its misleadersnip or lne lent, 1 must rep ly to LCC Secretary Nigel Stanley's Letter (SA 8 This piece of bland waffle completely ignored differences between the LCC and others on the lett. which are not lust over priorities.
Over the last two years LCC has opposed any form of left unity. First, it the Rank Mobilising Committee for Labour Party Democracy, one of the most important bodies in the entire history Then it refused to consider all agreed lett slate for the 1982 National ExCommittee elections. Surely this would be unity — it's not even particularly controversial as the NEC elections always contested This isn't building anti-Tory unity — it's abandoning any real struggle in the pious hope that the right will do the same.
•Yes, of course the left unity against the Tories, but all inose wao reject such unishould be opposed, otherwise the left will just chewed up the Tories will remain unopposed.
LAVIRGI McGREGOR to the election without a message on who we want to form a government. We will be marginalised.
Worse, we will let' the Labour leadership off the hook. We need to be right benina unem breathing down their necks! Labour vote are needed to Mass action stop the missiles this year.
attich Áce platform of Doesn't this rather campaign throughout sion OI - a wallling to • says credence to Argentina's dubious the opposition sovereignty! doesn't say.
diversion the Junta, of a successful, WCIC although military workers' has offensive, by
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LCC anti-unity
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