01-359 8180/9. 91-359 8371. election could thus be fought well before October.
election than the present.
The Tories are on policies of Labour have will not be able to recuperate before the next election.
was better than a Tory minority government.
teks ago...
rpeat priority.
Unity candidates Will sha and outside the Labour Party.
appeal for revolutionary unity Challenge on 4 January. invited.
auspices of ine Registration 12.30pm — £1 (50p wageless).
Distribution/ Advertising After the devolution vote THE DEVOLUTION VOTE in Wales and Scotland was a severe setback for the Labour government. The result in Scotland poses Callaghan with a real dilemma. All the indications are that he will prefer to antagonise the Scottish labour movement and the SP rather than the Ulster Unionist bigots and their Tory friends. An As far as the Tories are concerned, there is no better time for an They believe that the outright and humiliating defeat in the Welsh referendum augurs well for them, as does the small majority in Scotland. But they should not be too confident on that score, as the Labour left, particularly in Wales, will claim some of the 'credit' for defeating the government!
much better ground, however, questions. There can be little doubt that the social and economic demoralised large sections of its traditional electoral base. All the indications are that Callaghan At the same time the government is rapidly losing the support of the ruling class. In 1976 the City of London thought that a Labour government was a 'lesser evil'. The International Monetary Fund had it in an economic straitjacket and it would be able to control the unions. Many bosses felt that a Labour minority government Now the feeling is different. Callaghan is regarded as embarrassing lame-duck politician. The referendum results sent hares soaring at the Stock Exchange: a symbolic anticipation of in election which the Tories would win. As the astute author of the Lex column put it in the Financial Times last Saturday:
"In the first place, a Conservative government could expect a healthy majority on the basis of recent opinion polls and Thursday ght's by-election results. In addition, the stock market is already ginning to sense that the worst of the pay round is over, and that the results are not turning out as badly as had been feared a few *For these reasons, the prospect of an imminent general election rould now probably send share prices surging higher, at least over he short term. Everyone would latch on to the expectation of dend freedom and the burial of the Price Commission. The Caption would be that the government deficit would be cut and the economic health of the private sector would become an What this means is clear. The ruling class wants a tough Tor ministration and believes Thatcher can deliver the goods. It is prepared for further cutbacks in the public sector and is politically confident that Labour's period in office has prepared the way for a the wellare state The realisation that something is afoot has seen Tony Benn tarshalling his forces. Some sort of an alternative manifesto has been produced (we shall comment on it in detail next week) and an's closest supporters are talking about a campaign against overnment policies. But they have left it too late, and it will be en by many for what it is: an opportunist ploy to rebuild a The fight for a socialist alternative remains vital. The Socialist opposing the entire record ocial-democracy in a number of constituencies. At the same tim we will be backing the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory. We do not believe that our two-pronged thrust is contradictory. On the contrary, it offers the only coherent strategy at the moment: to fight Labour's policies all along the line, both inside REVOLUTIONARY STRATEGY REVOLUTIONARY PARTY One-day school organised by the International Socialist Alliance and the International Marxist Group and open to all who have signed or generally agree with the joint published in Socialist Big Flame have also been Saturday 10 March, in the Hampstead Room, YWCA, Great Russell Street, London WC1 (organised under the London Affairs Group). From Pat Kane in Glasgow FEW WOULD have predicted a year ago that the majority for on other the small. What the results show is Assembly that only the Scottish working class voted yes. It was in the industrial strongholds unions and Party have their support that the unambiguous.
The ruling their weight behind the campaign. For an prospect of Scottish workers expressing their opposition to Westminster Assembly, however limited its powers, was DEUSUCCL They could Labour-dominated in Scotland Thatcher government at West minster. The experience of Clay Cross repeated in Scotland di not fill them with joy. Thus the Tories and the CBI placed their resources The biggest set-back for the Yes campaign, however, came from the Tribunite left in the Parliamentary Labour Party. The 40 per cent rule confused and diverted the devolution debate. sections of the ruling class are attacking democratic the response of the left leaders to impose restriction on the referendum. of The Labour left said the Assembly Wasd money. They argued that the resources would be better spent on housing These same MPs have voted for every anti-working class policy of the Callaghan government and will no GOUDI Healey's forthcoming budget.
All the Labour achieved in the last four years is to deny the Scotland an Assembly. happens to devolution now that tenges the government's abal- referendum ority to remain in office?
people cannot rely on forcing through the Assembly legislation. The will try to make a deal with the SNP and the Labour left. If this would be so the Labour strongest was VULC behind the No all them, through a frightening envisage Assembly confronting the No At a time when all rights, their own waste and education.
vote for General Election.
left have workers in and trade union result Scotland Callaghan left oppose this LOVCHICH fails there will be an early The task of securing an elected Assembly in Scotland now depends on the Labour movement.
The referendum clearly shows stewards that the workers of Scotland want an Assembly. The labour conferences movement should campaig campaign for immediate elections to such Westminster.
If the Tories or the Labour During worker who voted Yes should then be organised to demand these elections. The Scottish conTories placed their resources behind the No campaign — they were not enthralled by the prospect of a Labour-dominated Assembly in Scotland confronting a Thatcher government at Westminster.
ference of the Labour Party and the STUC should unite in a joint campaign for immediate We should argue that trade union and shop committees supported a Yes vote call local to plan the establish an Assembly, without waiting fo the referendum campaign the STUC organised workplace and delegate meetings for a Yes vote. These could be immediately convened.
Our socialism will be infinitels more democratic than what esists in "socialism in the USSR and Eastern Europe hase discredited socialism For socialists in Scotland, support for the Assembly was never equated with supporting the reactionary nationalism of the SNP. We looked on the demand for an Assembly part of exploiting the political crisis of the British state The narrow result will confuse and demoralise sections of the Scottish workers. This could be overcome by doing everything possible to campaign for the immediate holding of elections to the Assembly.