At the April 1982 AUEW national committee Duffy already announced that the Thatcher government had 'embarked on a policy of sapping the financial and numerical strength of the trade union movement', and that 'Unfortunately, they are succeeding' By a year later, at the April 1983 ALEW conterence. already openly drawing the political consequences which he believed flowed from this analysis. He declared 1 don't believe the trade union movement will tolerate a Labour Party in permanent opposition', and that the AUEW's policy of outright opposinon to une common Marker must De changed because 'In the event of a hung parliament Labour able to work with the SDP/Liberal Alliance unless we agree to a referendum on the EEC?
Before the 1983 Chapple and Duffy's views still re mained a 'fringe' opinion. other trade union leaders to openly Labour and the Alliance ere Ben Labour and the irs, in the ISTC journal, and Ro irantham of APEX -a vote for Liberal candidates against Labour in a number of constituencies in the June election itself. Iy sy poli is arera ha need paper, nally Guardian newspaper, which called for an Alliance/Labour vote in June, and the New Statesman, which called for voting Liberal or Scottish Nationalist against Labour in a number of constituencies. The chief theoretical gloss for the Labour right policy was provided Hobsbawn and the pages of Marxism Today.
The real bombshells which openly cemented however were the analyses made be realism' in Frank Chapple and Len Murray of the 1983 election.
maJor article Chapple specifically wrote for The Times after the election he announced the need for a change in trade union policy and that "I am convinced that it wil not be long before some mank members start suggestig that instead ot giving our moner Labour Party, we shour the cause of proportiona: . epresentation.' The conclusion was that, 'If we had not been so completely tied to the (Labour) party's coat-tails we could have urged our members to vote SDP.