tion when the Tories polled their lowest percentage of the poll this century, This was a combination of finance capital, small capital, and a landThis, for Heath's strategy to succeed, he had to harness the old ruling as an imperial power - towards the Common Marker as the Europeun powerhouse of industrial capitalism. industrial capital.
In this the Tory Government fatally miscalculated. The British kly organised groups of workers, but it was no match for the miners. benefit small capital, which is hardest hit by inflation, and finance capital, worried by the huge trade delicit clash with the workang class.
of defeating her in the third round. they may have over-reached themselves.
the ruling class — industrial capita look to the Labour Government to solve the economic crisis which most right-wing elements within the cabinet and party hureaucracy hoth inside and outside the party, an explosive crikis will be poncrated inside the Labour Party as well.
the Laboar Government and, above all, the Social Contract. the political crisis racking the ruling class in Britain. Brought to a head by the humiliating defeat the Tory Government suffered ut the hands of the miners last year, it was zammed down their throats in the October clee The ousting of the Tory Government in February 1974 was the defeat of a whole strategy of the ruling class. The Heath Government had been concerned to re-orient Government economic policy in the interests of British-based industrial capital and away from finance capital, which had achieved a dominant position in the hey-day of the now fallen Empire, 1t intended, however, to carry throught this reorgansation while holding together the traditional power bloc on which the Tory Party was based. owning clique to which domestic-based industrial capital was subordinated class bloc behind the weight of industrial capital in a successful onsinught On the home front the Heath Government had some carly successes: the seven-week long postal workers strike was sinashed; unemploy ent hit the million mark as industry 'rationalised", and lamo-ducks went to the wall. For 18 months Heath relused to talk with the trade union lead ers over the smallest detail of incomes policy. By inflicting a savage econo mic defeat on the working class he hoped to create the conditions which would allow the re-alignment of forces inside the ruling class in favour of working class is socially and organisationally the stronsest in the world and there are no significant "middle class groups on which the capitalist chi can rely for mass support. Only on the basis of'e prior political defeat of the working class would it have been possible to soive the economic crisis af the workers' expense and carry through the transfer of power inside the ruling class to industrial capitaliam without dipring the traditional From the moment the working class began to fight back — the occupation of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders, the flying pickets of the 72 miners" strike, the mass strikes to free the Pentonville five - the writing was on the wall, and not only for the Tory Government. If staggered through another two years, succeeding in imposing an incomes policy on more wea The traditional power bloc of the ruling class went in all directions and the Tory Party split wide open, unable to solve its leadership crisis In the leadership stakes it isn t simply Heath's neck which is on the block. That in itself would have caused little weeping in capitalist circles But Thatcher would be an economic disaster for industrial capital if she ever got to the position where she could carry through the policy of her economic mentor, Keith Joseph: massive deflation of the cconomy to This is why leading capitalist circles, such as the Economit, the map azine of big induserial capital, pius large sections of the press, eventuaily rallied so furiously to Heath's side. Heath at least represented their intere sts; he was prepared to accept relatively high inflation and would continue to pursue all incomes policy' solation, oven though it implied a head-on The fall of Heath has lelt his wing of the Party scurring about like rats as they try to cobble together an anti-Thatcher allence in the hope But in their cagerness to dump Heath This politica: crisis of the ruling class has vital consequences for the working class. It means that at the present time the ruling class has no ready made political instruments at its disposal. The decisive section of will be forced in the short term to confronts British capitalism. This pressure will give added weight to the As it comes into conflict with opposite pressures from the rank and file, The first step to resolving this in the interests of the working class is the light lo smash the present policies of
----- pull-quotes -----
on the trade unions. This strategy was reflected in the turn away from the "special relationship" with the United States - In which Britain still posed