The latest speeches of Rippon Keith Joseph and Powell show clearly the severe crisis which is wracking the Tory Party and the ruling class. As thes crisis can only intensify it is worth looking at the forces operating on the present situation The basis for the success of the old Tory Party was that it had both an economic and a political formulu for capitalist rule in Britain. The economic formula was orientating towards foreign investment, export to the captive markets of the Empire and Commonwealth, and the financial power of the City of London. This economic orientation more than in any other major capitalist country gave a higher place to exploitation of foreign working classes rather Than the working class of the bourgeoisie's own country.
The political formula which Nowed from this economic strategy was to make concessions to the British working class which were economically disastrous from the point of view of British based industrial capital but which maintained political stability in Britain. This in turn was more necessary than a high rate of explotation for those firms oriented towards the exploitation of foreign working classes.
The result of this orientation was that the style of Tory rule lowards the working class was one of "paternalism in the image of a Jong series of Prime Ministers from Baldwin to Macmillan. Certainly the Torles were always prepared to usc the iron fist if necessary hut they maintained a fur higher degree of the veivet glove than the ruling class parties of other major European COUTITICS CAUSE The underlying cause of the crisis of the Tory Party is the collapse the economic formula, Foreign investment and the operations of the City can no longer compensate for the great weakness of honse hased British industrial capital. As a re: flection of this in the mid-1900s a decisive change took place in the relation of forces within the Tory Party Heath a representative of industrial capital and in particular of the industrial trusts formed in this century, came to the leadership of the Tory Party, He reflected a new cconomic policy for British capitalistn in entry into the EEC, The abandonment of the old exchange rate protection policies and the ending of the old foreign policy orientation of the United States rather than Europe. arises froal the face that it has not been ahle to find a new domestic economic one. The new economic attack on the British working class.
However given the enormous: organisationa. strengut or the British working class such an atrack can only be success/ul if a way can be found of continuing and strengtlening the direct ruling class dominacion over the working class which the old econontic Ine made POSsIHE The trouble with the Heath government for the ruling class was that it had no answer to this appeared as a soulless managerial hack was precisely because all be to exploit you more and there is not much l can do to hide this.
able to divide the working class movement and was consequently some lesson from this and has chereBut the crisis for the Tory Party political formula to accompany the orientation means a much more direct USELESS political problem. The reason Heath could say in effect was "we are going Naturaily sach a policy was not doomed to failure. Heath Iiss drawn Another cracking time for the police last Saturday, as they rough up anti-fascist + One girl had an arm fractured in throe placas as a result of this treatment. fore taken up the political fig leaf of incomes policy. But as no onc ether within the ruling class, or outside, thenks that this policy will work Le just appears as ineffectual with neither a rigorous econcimic formula not a credibie political one.
Iqually uscless are the antis of Rippon and Keith Joseph. The Jatter in particular is completely commitled to the new econontic policy but even leis than Heatht is he able to tind a political cover for it. Therefore he has to openly admit that his policies mean mass unemployment and poverty, This admission will merely antagonise the working class again and politically the Tory Party still further.
Exactly the opposite approach is that being adopled by Powell. He does have a new political formula ,racismr and chauvinism as a weapon to divide the working class und its organisations, But the trouble is that to create this political formula Powell has to adopt economic policies, in particular withdrawat form a solid block and the police from the EEC, which run directly counter to the economic needs of the ruling class.
The ruling class, and the Tory Party, continue to be trapped betwcen the devil and the deep blue sea. Given that they believe the Labour Party can't control the situation the bourpooisic at present have only the choice between people with, from their point of view, a good cconomic policy but who have no chance whatever of politically getring the working class to accept it, or on the other hand politicians who have a political formula bul whose soluhon invoives cconomic policies directly contrary to the needs of the dominant sections of the ruling class.
Under these conditions the crisis within the Tory parly and within the ruling class can only intensity. The fragmentation revealed by the Heath-Powell-Joseph Rippon tows IS merely the farst step in the decomposition of the traditional form of the political ruling tiloc of British capitalism
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rstrators heckling the National Front march. *"We had only offered passive restance