THE RIGHT WING of the labour movement have sabotaged the fight against the Tories. Trade union leaders have sold out healthworkers and the railworkers. Now Healey and Callaghan have stabbed the Labour Party in the front with their support for retaining Polaris.
electoral chances than have it form a government committed to left policies on any But their actions have to be seen as aiding a concerted and systematic Labour Party as a mass force in British politics.
This goal today unites Thatcher, Jenkins, Owen, Sieel and every capitalist politician. In a speech last week Chancellor Geoffrey Howe explained that we cannot expect to stay in power forever'.
By the time the Tories do fall they hope to have made the necessary preparation by eliminating any serious opposition which challenges basic interests British capitalism particularly relating mucical strategy, British membership of the EEC and opposition to incomes policy.
If the Labour Party is unable to put itself in line with these requirements then the whole party must be qualitatively weakened * aliminated as a governmental Callaghan and Healey are determined to roll back the gains that left has made. The resulting division weakening of the Labour Party has played into the hands of the Tories and the Alliance.
Additional help has come from those journals which have posed in this Labour's friends campaign.
Mirror declared from the beginnvital strikes like the The right wing would rather destroy Labour's central issue.
campaign to remove the ing of the campaign that it was opposed to Labour's policy on nuclear disarmament and on the EEC and called on the leaders to declare themselves openly for an incomes policy.
The Statesman has advised tactical voting which could only detract from the campaign for a Labour victory. It too has consistently been in favour of proving its capitalist credentials by declaring for an incomes policy.
Incomes policy has been the touchstone for all those who want Labour to Table 1. Average Real Wages 1973-83 Tory government 1973 Labour government 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 Tory government 1979 1981 resume its role as a reliable support for capitalist rule.
yet incomes policy has always meant electoral suicide for the indeed ally government which has introduced it.
The SDP/Liberal Alliance still refers to the period of the Lib-Lab pact under Jim Callaghan Under the WOlUCI successive phases OI inpolicy pursued by Comes the government of the UBUCI the name social contract the Labour Party went from electoral victory in October 1974 to being 25 per cent behind in the opinion polls November 1976.
Lowest It wasn't strikes which caused the unpopularity of ine last ment strikes in 1976 were at their lowest level since the '50s - but it was wage controls. The reason is no mystery. Table 1 the Average Real Wages 106 (last 3 months) 110 (Ist 2 months) ment of real wages during the last ten years.
As these figures show, SLabow goverl ment under the direction of the right wing succeeded in cutting real I wages in consecutive vcal from 1974 to 1978. Real wages last year that Labour was in office than when it was elected. Given this record there is no millions workers, especially in the South East and West Midlands voted for Thatcher in 1979 'and may do so again. Fallen Of course, the effects of the rise in real wages has to be offset by the effect of unemployment tax changes which means that disposablę income available to families has fallen under the Tories. But while Thatcher has Peter Shore, pushing for a social contract suicide pact with the unions created incredible pools of misery among the unemployed, une pard, women and young people, marv oradose in work art better off under Thatcher lan (nes were under the wage control policies of le last governell. Disaster Not was this for the Labour Party but it is a fact that no party pledged to introduce wage controls has ever won general elecuon in Drall. Cver) single government apply ing wage controls has been defeated in a subsequent The conclusion is obvious. Not oniv has the right wing sabotaged Labour's chances in this campaign, they have also imposed policies on the labour movement which have led to electoral catastrophe in the past. 1. Governments introducing incomes policies Government Date Incomes Policy Introd. 1947, 1949 1961 1966, 1967 1972 1975 Oct 1974-79 2. Governments not introducing incomes policies No incomes policy No incomes No incomes DolIc!
Labour Feb No incomes 1974-Oct 1974 No incomes Dolle British Governments Since World War II Result Labour lost 78 seats in 1950. Govern ment fell in 1951 Tories lost electior of 1964 Labour lost election of 1970 Tories lost election of 1974 Labour lost election of 1979 won electiot of 1955 Won election of 1959 Won election of 1966 Won election of Oct 1974 Well ahead in opinion polls
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