Trade unionists march against the Industrial Relations Act - Tory Government was needed to push such legislation through For the past twenty years the Labour Party has moved, almost without interruption, to the right. The Wilson Government was clearly to the right of even the 1945 Labour Government. The traditional socialist touchstone - nationalisation - disappeared in practice from Labour's programme, even though Gaitskell's attempt to get it removed from the Party constitution (the famous "clause 4" battle) was defeated. This shift in Labour's policies was in line with a general rightward movement of all European Social Democratic Parties. But now an opposite trend is developing - throughout Europe Social Democracy is moving to the left, and once again the Labour Party is following the general pattem.
The new Labour Programme drawn up by the National Executive once more places nationalisation in the centre. As a result a strugale is shaping up between the Party executive and the Parliamentary leadership.
The source of these changes lies in two things: firstly, the turn of the capitalist class towards a policy of confrontation, which requires the move towards a 'strong state' (the strengthen ing of the power of the govemment at the expense of tre presentative" bodies like Parlia ment, and the reinforcing of the repressive state of the army to take power. In Belgium the apparatus: the police, law and the courts): second, the new rise of mass working class struggle.
The first real dents in the post war period of capitalist prosperity and class peace came in the working class was to attempt to get the trade carly 1960s. In 1960-61 there was a general strike in Belgium. In Italy in the winter of "62"63 there were important electrical and engineer- From the early 1960s on wards the capitalist ing workers strikes. In Germany a metal wor kers strike took place in spring 1963. In France a miners strike broke out in late '63. Simultaneously, and in many cases causing the upsurge, some of the most important European state whereby the trade unions" leaders clamped economies (notably Britain, Belgium, France and Italy), experienced a decline in economic growth or recession, in every country the ruling class was faced with the problem of how to cope with these new economic and social problems. In every case the answer given by the ruling class war to move towards greater state involvement in the cconomy. This was Red Weekly 14 September 1973 Page 6 dictated by two fundamental considerations. First, only the state possessed the colossal coonomic resour oes needed to streamline and rationalise the economy in prepuration for a period of great economic problems. Second, individual capitalist firms were not strong enough to resist the workers struggles by the mselves. The representative of the capitalist class as a whole - the capitalist state - had to come to the assistance of the individual employers, In Britain these developments could be seen most clearly in the formation of the National Economic Development Council in 1962-63 by the Tory Government and in the Industrial Ro-organisation Corporation created by the 1964 Labour Government But greater state involvement did not by itself solve the basic problem of capitalist strategy. How was this state power to be used? Two basic options were open. The first was a turn to open repression of the type created in France following the coming to power of de Gaulle in 1958. This involved a massive build-up of the police force, physical intimidation of the working cluss, openly weakening capitalist democracy all the characteristics of the strong state." But such a step requires a decisive showdown with the working class. De Gaulle had come to office basically because of the threat passing of repressive emergency laws had led to a general strike, The turo to open repression by the ruling class was a very risky game. The alternative to open repression of the union bureaucracy to do the ruling class's job for it and clamp down on the working class.
_class began to move decisively towards creating some sort of agreement with the trade union bureaucracy as its main policy. The aim was to get the bureaucracy to accept a deal with the down on militancy. The years from 1963 to 1968 were the heyday of the negotiated incomes policy.' It was introduced in Britain by the attempts of the Tories to get such a policy in 1963, and then in the 1964 Labour Government's Declaration of Intent and "National Plan.
In order to carry out this policy the European not the most suitable parties for the job. On the contrary, their traditions of open hostility to the trade unions positively got in the way. The most suitable parties were those having the closest links with the trade union bureaucracies - that is to say the various social democratic parties of Western Europe. The political result of the new capitalist strategy was therefore growing support for coalition governments involving social democratic parties (Italy and Germany), or even for pure social democratic governments as in Britain, In 1964 the representatives of the key industrial sections of British capitalism, the Economist magazine, Lord Kearton of Courtaulds, Lord Stokes of British Leyland, called for the formation of a Labour Government. COLLAPSE OF INTEGRATION For reasons which will be gone into further in the second article in this series, the policy of integration failed completely. It colla pied in the 1968 General Strike in France, the mass strikes of autumn 1969 in Italy, the Belgian Limbourg miners" strike of 1970, and the mass British strike wave of 1968-72, Faced with the collapse of the policy of integration, but needing more than ever the intervention of the state in order to deal with mounting working class opposition the ruling class had no option but to turn to a policy of open repres sion. This meant a major change in political strategy.
At present the bourgeoisie is not strong enough in Europe to overthrow "parliamentary: democracy" — which in any case serves as an invaluable idcological camouflage for capitalist rule. This means that the bourgeoisie cannot rule directly through the repressive apparatus of the stale as for example in a military dictatorship. The state apparatus 1s guided on important questions by a government, and therefore securing the correct govern ment is a key aspect of bourgeois strategy.
With the collapse of 'integration' what had previously heen the social democratic parties greatest attraction - their links with the working class and the trade unson bureaucracy - now became, from the point of view of the ruling class, their greatest weakness, These links might at some crucial stage, particularly at election time, hold back a social democratic party from blatant attacks on the working class. The way in which the Labour Government was forced to drop its in Place of Strife proposals was a warning of this. The fact that in the last analysis social democratic parties will side with the ruling class was not sufficient in the new situation.
Despite valiant efforts at repression by, lor example, the Brandt Government in Germany the ruling class turned back to its traditional parties in a massive way. These had no organised links with the working cluss. The centre-right coalition in Italy, the first for ten years, the growing ruling class hostility to the SocialDemoctats in Germany, the taking up by the whole ruling class of the call fora Tory Government all indicated the way in which the wind was blowing. In ery European country the tasks set tor these new capitalist governments was the same. Repress the working class and its organisations, Prepare the way for a France a private police force shot dead a young militant, Pierre Overney, for distributing leaflets at the Renault factory, at Citroen fasdist thugs are allowed to physically attack union delegates with impunity, and the Ligue Communiste has been banned for demonstrating against the fascists, In Switzerland the courts have ruled that con to write about the capitalists exploiting' the workers is illegal. In Italy the centre-right government of Andreotti introduced a law permitting the arrest of any person who, by his comportment, may be ussumed to be engaged in illegal activities' 1,e. for the arbitrary right of arrest on mere suspicion, In Belgium a proposed law will allow employers to use armed guards freely. In Britain examples of such moses are also mounting rapidly. We have seen in recent months the free use by employers of criminal thugs in the Chrysler dispute, the openly racist judgment of the House of Lords on illegil ittinigrants; the mobrilisation of fascists to enforce the House of Lords' decision; the police raids on Irish and socialist militants; the illegal holding of the Belfast 1O without charges, trial or right to see lawyers: the prosecution of the Shrewsbury 24; the systematic training of the police to smash pickets Within this general situation the centre" leader. ships of the Buropean social democratic parties are foroed to reconsider their tactics. In the early "60% the 'centre" had supported the right wing - that section which hoped to come to power with the support of the capitalist class With the collapse of the integration' policy this respectable road to office is no longer open. On the other hand, the elemental upsurge of the masses threatens to undermine the working class base of the purty if an openly right wing line is followed. When they could rely on support this did not worry the social democratic bureaucrats over much, Now lack of a working class base would mean loss of the one force which could compel the ruling chas lo permit the social democrats to come into government, Regaining working class support hecomes a pressing need.
All There factors — fear of being swer aside by a new sprurge of the marses, an inchility 10 come to office any more with the support of the ruding cleas, necessity to reapture working class votes in order to propel themselver inzo all ine lahly push the sociai democracy to the left. A new period of demagogic "leftism" is beginning to open for the mass European reformist parties. It is only in this context that the new policies of the Labour Party can be understood. They are part of 1 pattern that started with the French Socialist Party signing the Common Programme" with the Erench Communist Party, and with the emergence of the German Social Democratic Youth (Jusos'), in Germany. It will almost certainly be reintorced when the jatest centre-left coalition collapses in Italy. Renewed talk of an alliance or government of the Italian social democratic left with the Communist Party is already in the air. Thus the new Labow Party programme is just the beginning of a definite period of development, which has its origins in the changing sitution throughout Europe.
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