it muct It was this belief in the inevitability ot revolution that inspired area. No one wants to believe it, of course, but to deny it is to fly in the Bolsheviks. Lenin liked quoting Tolstoy, who once described a year run. The results have been devastating. The balance of payments man, squat in a door-way, making weird gestures like a madman. On inspection, it was discovered he was perfectly same, doing a necessary job, that of sharpening a knife.
Likewise today. left-wing polities enforced by an incomes policy which is undermining the independence may appear, 1o an outsider, as a of the trades unions. form ol insanity until it is realised that we too are doing an essental Britain is now well on the way to becoming a permanently depressed, Budget, be held down to a maximum of three. the face of the facts. The Labour Government has now had a four- and-a-half percent.
problem has not been solved, and devaluation will probably not solve As it turns out, the whole policy it. Average unemployment has been running at a high level and is now cannot even be made to work. In rising rapidly. Prices are shooting up, as any housewife will point out the first place, as Wilson used bitterly. A reduction in the standard of living of workers is being point out, deflation is self-defeat Wing. If demand and investment are wealthy industrial nations, for the gap Tens of thousands of men are being made redundant, although the Government have no effective policy for retraining
Pillegality, to make the execulet's axe for Tsarism. It demanThe present disarray, however, is only quences will in the long run be highes sacrifices, a comle personal dedication walch the beginning. The general economic Id only be sustained because situation is likely to get much worse y saw their goal clearly before For the Government are now against m. Yet, at the same time as they the wall. They have not solved the certainty, they also had doubts. while it was obvious that the balance of payments problem. The sian would rise up, country is still running an enormous wing their furious detestation deficit. Something must be done 1o Tsarism, there was no certainty close the payments gap if we are to Tsarism would be overthrown. avoid a major financial crisis in the rolution is inevitable; the suc- of the revolution is not. It was next few months. But what? The equation that gave Bolshevism arsenal of orthodox policies has just raison d'etre. about been exhausted. There are now capitalist state, centralised only two choices. The Government co-ordinating the means of re- can resort to further retrenchment and high sion, can only be smashed by deflation in the hope of improving the ice that clearly knows the key balance of payments. The only alternaits to attack. A spontaneous up tive is a complete reversal of policy: ag by the masses is an essential import quolas, exchange controls and edient for success; by itself, a real system of central planning. The rever, it is a guarantee of defeat odds, however, are strongly against a than victory. To succeed swing to the Left. The most t is required is a strong and response to a continuing deficit will ed revolutionary movement. be more cuts and restrictions to reduce nts of the past month prove this total spending. The Government will clusively. The tragedy of France their foreign be urged on, perhaps pressured, creditors. The - Coree The three tively ary.
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Carry your message to and from the shop floor 2s. each + 6d. postage 10 or more post free Get yours and help the NLF Cash with orders to Wild Enterprises, 20 Chalcot Rd., N.W. 1 unemployment, stagnant output, fallmg mesment, a squeeze public expenditure and the flight of capital We may even see a further devaluation of the pound and a continuing rise in prices. In short the likely prospect is for economic dislocation and permanent stagnation.
Britain is becoming the Argentina of Western Europe.
What, then, has happened Labour Party's design tain? It should be said, first of all, that New Britain had very little to do with socialism. It was merely a glossy version capitalist society, rate of economic growth and extension of the welfare state.
The Prime Minister had been saying practically every day that prosperity was just ground the Corner. The purpose of devaluation, Mr Wilson explained on television on 23 November. held back, costs rise. The expanwas to ensure full employment and sion of exports is inhibited. The economic expansion! Shortly after the of devaluation the evidence of failure is already at Prime Minister said that at the new hand. Manufacturing investment is rate of exchange it would be possible falling. Imports, which can now for the economy cent a year. ment has adopted an economic stategy Instead grow the by Govern- six per compete even more effectively with home goods, have shot up. If somewhich is more deflationary than any thing does not happen quickly, the in the post war years. That strategy, country could end up with a trade which the central bankers helped to map out, has two basic aims. The first deficit of £800m. for the year. is to reduce demand in order to free Capital is leaving the country at a recollrces for improvino the balance rapid rate. We are back at square payments. The second is to place the burden of adjusting to devaluation one! on the shoulders of the working-class.
Government's strategy for re- Is there any way to avert permanent covery after devaluation consists economic stagnation and the drift toparts of those measures an- wards reaction which it is likely to ennounced at the time of devaluation tail? The Labour movement is bethe cuts in public spending introduced wildered and demoralised because it ness gave its creditors, mostly central anuary, and the Budget itself. is trying to find its way without a map. Some of these measures were prob Very few people seem to understand ably delayed in order to reduce the chances of a public outcry. The strik- why four years of labour government have proved disastrous. When every ing thing about them is that collec one understands what the problems they were extremel deflation are, we may be able to begin solving Taken together, they will prob- them. ably reduce expenditure in the economy by about £1,800m-in accordance One of Britain's basic problems is OECD that the Government should tha recommendation of the that it is verv closely linked to other capitalist countries. The British econ aim for "overkill' of 150 per cent, that is, it should aim to release 50 per omy is part of an international capicent more resources than are needed to talist sustem based on of free trade and free enterprise. the principles The improve the balance of payments. This reaction with a vengeance. It is Anor of relatively unrestricted. The essence goods. capital ana of hardly surprising that unemployment is nearly 600,000 already, the highest this system is free competition." is where the problem begins. For the That ing to the Chancellor. June figures since 1940. And, accord- the Budget system forces weak countries to com pete against industrial giants. Relameasures are only beginning to bite. tively backward industries are exposed Government's strategy nice to the full force of competition from den of the new taxes in the Budget. exceedingly cruel and unjust. The bur- technologically progressive industries which totalled E923m fell almost ex- in other countries. tries inevitably lose in that competi- The wanker coun clusively on the average wage earner. Almost all the new taxes are indirect: tion British economy was not yet quite so the mid-fifties. when the and such taxes have a much heavier backward, it could probably have stood impact on the lower-income groups. up against its international competi The wealthy and the middle-class have between the rich and the poor to grow hardly been touched. The Government Britain has also had to contend with has made it quite clear that the two the rules of the present system of into be enforced by a pincer movement. per cent fall in total consumption is ternational which are actually the conventions by haumente These Filiaol Priees may rise by seven or eight per which the central bankers operate. cent, partly as a consequence of de- compel deficit countries to deflate valuation and partly as a result of the Deflation, as we have seen, is self-der people in the Government see the purely situation clearly. It probably doesn't matter. For most of them are not really committed to socialism in any meaningful sense at all. They are interested in power. And it getting it means working the controls of a rotten society. they are willing enough to perform the necessary errands. So the central bankers have not had a hard task. Most members of the Govern ment have probably co-opcrated with them quite willingly. They may have been surprised at the outcome of adopting the policies urged on them. but, for most of them, it is too late think about that. They know now that Britain has become a client state in an international capitalist system.
But they are neither willing or able feating. British began with a deficit and to do much about it. followed the rules prescribed by larger deficit full employment has He might... than it ever had The rules game thus tend to reinforce the natural All this is a necessary background to tendency of a free trade system widen the For beery between the rich and the present political turmoil. No one like Britain, is surprised that there is so much they exclude possibility of even a disaffection in the Labour Party, Nor progressive capitalist capi tro policy full employment is it surprising that some Conservatives should be trving desperately to precipiThe third problem has been that cen- tate a general election. (But has no tral bankers and others have deliber. one told them that they would have a ately used the rules to drive a wedge much harder time managing capitalism between the Labour Government and the movement which brought it than the Labour Party?) What is surpower. The sterling crisis ot 1964 prising, at frst, is that comforced Britain 1o borrow an enormous rades Gunter. Robens. Albu and sum in order to avoid a devaluation of the pound. The country's indebted. others, should be going for the Prime Minister's jugular. They seem in a bankers and the IMF, some control terrible hurry to get Roy Tenkins in over its economic policy. Those credi the number one seat. That is rather tors posed conditions with their loans It was some months however, before paradoxical, since they are the tough. this power was really used. The fam est exponents of the policies which 'incomes policy with teeth have created the crisis. But it is only 1965 was the result of foreign pressure, as even Aubrey Jones has ack. paradox. For the first time it is in nowledged. But that Wilson's own interest to move to the affair. It was not until 1966 that the minor Left. He might, by breaking dramati- cally with past policies, rescue himself class. In fact with all the forces felt. weight of tortion In July of that vear the Prime influence was and others and assume the leadership Minister and the Cabinet finally deci mean a real battle with the press, the the movement. ded to abandon the policy of full em ployment to which the Labour Party could certainly redeployment exercise of 1966 did not had always been committed Runt the others behind him. the move which the Right wing of the This is probably Work lem was The balance of payments prob not solved. Government Party are trying to make impossible.
policy led fairly quickly and predictably to devaluation, further debt and Only alternatives the loss of economic sovereignty.
Whatever happens, one thing is cermin. me are movino into a new stage the last two vears the central of political struggle. The only alternabankers have used the hold to force tives for this country now are radical the Government to abandon any sem ones. Britain will either move to the for solidarity action by British workblance of a 'progressive' policy. This Right as the Conservatives confront is one reason why the Government are reaction to an increasingly desnow pursuing the most reactionary set perate economic situation. Or it will ably have held a meeting. There would of policies anyone has seen in thirty move the Left sharply -by some years. At the same time the central miracle. It will have to be a miracle. bankers have got the Government to TRON the Left at the moment lacks agree that they will not use the only energy, brains, imagination, determinexit which could get us out of a deep ation and aroontention Only a new ening crisis. The Government havr alliance can overcome those weak. foresworn, as the famous Letter ot nesses. CEAN ACOTICE COROUS demands, the Ilready important result was an authentic blow in be contact between factories in against De Gaulle which found echoes the area. If workers have learnt on every side.
over the years that a certain facIronically, the tact the the French tory gives them a good lead in parunions represent so few workers accelerated the movement. Because a ticular struggles, such as in oppotraditional loyalty to their own union sition to redundancies, then at the was lacking. when the moment for critical moment they will follow its factory action came the workers accoon a basis without going to the lead to develop district workers' union first for guidance At ENV, more nuncils. often than not, we acted directly Without organisation it is possible committee, and not through the AEU through our own factory stewards for workers to seize power in localities but it would have happened within a who were no help at all. The way the matter of days it it was really sponthat much more sudden. There secm had tions do not just link up overnight. LanCOUS In general, factory organisaDeOn Algerian war, but otherwise not much SOmE demonstrations OVer the verone would series on dea of Without Glent militant action over the past decade Unlike France, in Britain today the WHAt over the pubs for a start! It is a dream was imborant-they would take climate is still one in which much of world to think of things being run at the working class sees salvation through once by people with no experience or the Labour Party and trade unions, central co-ordination. A modern ccohere are cases-as for examole the nomy does have mysteries which must busmen-where workers have found be understood. It is only in time that •the unions noshe to their demande. every cook will be running the State, but these are still tew and far between If in the coming period the union though they certainly will in time.
leadership commits itself more COm But though the movement will depend intellectuals for this. the workers pletely to the Government and its in- will still prefer to follow someone who comes policy, then Inere deals in 2d. an hour rather than in perperiod when British workers also sink centages, There has to be some sort of they back into will be their shells. thinking and K11Ti learning even organisational all together. But so long as the organ- structure to link them *There is a kind of dialectical proisation really is mart of the working cess in the union and the factory class, that is working on the shop floor in the development of conscious- —more like a federation of stewards"
committees than a union-there is little ness. Political experiences are not danger of it becoming so cut off from immediately reflected on the sur the rank and file that it will set out. face, in what people say about why It contact with the rank and file is the first priority then bureaucratisation they are doing things. For ex can be minimised. ample, in recent British elections. In practice the lead comes trom ihose the abstentions were unconsciously factories already best organised and conscious, if you see what I mean. with the most militant tradition ENV was admired by other factories People did not say they thought in the area for its level of areanicasion the Labour Party no longer repre- and militancy, but sometimes this adsented their interests. They said miration was tinged with a degree of envy among less successful militants. they could not be bothered to As a result, when the final battle was vote: joined by the management at ENV They were acting individually, some local militants said that it served the ENV stewards risht. but they were also acting as But ENV's case is peculiar in that the political differences between the stewards there are those in most of the like the press and other mass other militant factories in the area, media that there are against them which were cP organised, tended to it is amazing that the British work- foster this feeling of envy. When there really exists a revolutionary mood, as ing class is as solid as it is. Bad there was in Franch, petty backbitings as the Worker and the Herald were tend to disappear in most cases. All the they at least put things in class same, the existence of this mood will terms, and seeing such things in not solve everything like some magic amulet unless there is some organisaprint meant something. We have tion to crystallize and clarify the been without this for twenty years. demands. And this must be increas. The French events will probably not ingly and international organisation. affect the British scene immediately Because of the need for the British The French did not call specifically economy to tie itself to Europe, ers-say on cross-channel ships. and the growth of the international if I was still at ENV we would prob- monopoly companies, there is corresponding need for workers to have been a few cheers. have announced a march to the French We might have links across national boundembassy, but only a few of the most aries so that reciprocal action can militant hove anne But be taken at any time, When we places like the motor industry they have that, we are well on the way are probably talking, thinking that in the next strike they will have a sit-in, to socialism.
HIC TO BB IN AT THB BIRTH Of a new religion can be exciting, and even allowins or the as yet uncertain influence your newspaper Ken Coates' apothec of Che Guevara sure Chrin attempt establish here the figure of the cult. The appealing naiv ete and unquestioning commitment writer suggests that he clearly BLACK DWARF 35.9 Asle tion If all those working the arca pollution of their what-not. However, production hours and agreed to work harder and could actually nOISC. any 4 menton • of emotionallv duce twice as much as Their employers would make they aTe doing ideological mistake (Freedom term did not print an eems employers would make restle more for on this subiect. for a time goods few weeks later thai number of French and the vould have ane Watc had quietly dropped the could not sell the This will sound apolitical.
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