VICTORY TO THE MINERS carry out both these policies means they have to shift public opinion behind their attempt to defeat the NUM If the government succeed the blow to the trade union movement the Labour will be devastating. If Thatcher is seen as capable of bringing the strongest in dustrial union to heel, and the Tories appear all-conquering, then Labour's four percent lead over the Tories in the polls will melt away just as quickly as its' lead did last time when the *Falkland factor' entered British politics.
Unfortunately, but all too predictably, the TUC and right wing Labou Party leaders, either through political cowardice or stupidity, rufuse to say what is at stake They have failed to rally behind the miners — and Sirs, Murray, Kinnock and Hammond have stabbed the NUM in the back.
But what an alternative has been shown by the women in this strike! Right from the beginning the women of the mining communities have shaken Thatcher's plans to their Ine women are int secret weapon of this strike.
If the leadership of the Labour Party and the unions had shown even half the courage and determination the mining women have, this strike would already have been won.
But instead of following the example of Women Against Pit Closures, Neil Kinnock and Len Murray have stuck their heads in the sand. They refuse to recognise even what the ordinary person in the street does.
Three out of four people questioned in a recent opinion poll recognised the miners' strike was political. But it is Thatcher who is acting on that, and drawing the lessons while the top of the Labour Party is treating the dispute as an embarrassing side show.
If the unions and the Labour Party are to resist the Tory onslaught they can only do so by giving open and unstinting support for the miners. That is the way to build on Labour's four percent lead and for the unions to shake off the past defeats inflicted The 11 August demonstration is the time to turn things round. On that Saturday the trade union leaders and the full national executive of the Labour Party should be marching behind the banners of the mining women and the NUM. Every trade union branch and every local Labour Party must be there Women Against Pit Closures are showing the way. Now is the time for Neil Kinnock, the TUC, and the entire labour movement to follow their example.
ASSEMBLE
12 noon, Temple Tube, London WC2 GALA 3pm, Burgess Park, Camberwell Rd, London SES with stalls, refreshments, children's entertainment
Socialist Action 27 July 1984 Action