very much an open question whether revolutionary Marxists will mount any decisive intervention formulas of the British bourgeoisie.
The Labour Party has become such a familiar landmark -blocking the entire horizon of the British left- that the possibility of launching a credible challenge to its monopoly hold on political representation of the working class is ulmost literally unthinkable. However much they differ on everything else, the Tribunites, the 'entrists", the Communist Party and the major groups of the far left all seek to devise ingenious scenarios whereby the working class can move decisively towards socialism without a preliminary settling of accounts with the Labour Party. Hence such slogans as "Move Labour Left, Labour to Power on a Socialist Programme, Vote Labour Without -not to mention the cocentric contributions of the IMG leadership in the recent period.
Indeed, many of the problems of the Group stem from a failure to identify the special vulnerability of the Labour Government and the Labour Party in the period we are Lacking a coherent and concrete central line, Tendency B in the past substituted phrase mongering about General Strikes —in the future in seems likely that slogans about dual power will play a similar role. This has led to frenzied and erratic work on a succession of campaigns and issues, a confused private language incomprehensible to advanced workers and sectarian Lapses in our approach to other sections of the left.
The dangers facing the Labour Party in government can most Revolutionaries face unprecedented opportunities in the coming period and unprecedented dangers if these opportunities are not seized. The maelstrom of capitalist crisis and imperialist decline, of proletarian militancy and war in Ireland, is destroying all the traditional political The ignominious defeat of the Conservative Government in a series of massive class confrontations dealt a body blow to the whole bourgeois political order. The Conservative Party was plunged into utter disarray, and it will not be long before Britain's other great bourgeois party -the Labour Party - is ground between the interests of capital and workers' resistance to an assault on their living standards. British politics is being fundamentally remade — but it is still in this process, and become a real factor in national politics.
simply be indicated by referring to its predecessor, In under four years Conservative Party lost a major portion of its electoral base to the Liberals, it lost Enoch Powell, it lost the (ster Unionists, and it lost virtually the whole of Scotland. The eventual removal of this Government was the work not of the parliamentary opposition, but of un unprecedented extra-paritamentary challenge which aroused only fear and hostil itv from Labour parliamentarians -for the most part front bench scabs, failed financial tycoons, tiheral proponents of special police powers, 'reformists" in the pay of Poulson, opportunists who have run out of opportunitics, 'socialists worned about how to address the Queen, "internationalists' cager to lusions. "Make the Left MPs Fight" share a platform with Enoch Powell.
workers leaders surrounded by an entourage of seedy businessmen and land reclaimers.
Yet the political annibilation of the Labour Government and Labour Party after a few years in office would be a disaster for thie organised working class if it merely strengihened the already considerable forces of reactionary demapogy: the Liberals, the Nationalists, a re-vamped Tory Party, the Powellites or some new manifestation of political reg ression. Such developments would go band in hand with the consolidation of a specially repressive state.
That is way it is now imperative for revolutionaries to prepare against a Labour debacle and ensure that there will be a credible alternative to Labourism Essentially this alternative must be the beginnings of a juncture between the social forces locked up in the Labour and trade union movenient and the progr anne of revolutionary socialism.
Labour in government during a period of uncontrolled "slumpflation will be forced to attack the very concessions to the working class which in the past have sustained reformism: full caploymeut. rising Living standards, the welfare state.
No dount the Lubour leadership. is counting on Washington and Bonn to bail it out when the deluge comes: but why should they suhsidise fill employment in Britain when they impose six or nine per cent unemployntent ou their own workIng class! The US bourgeoisie may be prepared to save British capitalism from drowning: but why should it save the NHS? Wnatever happens, Labour will seck to safeguard its social base in the organised working class, but its capacity for social demagogy will he greatly restricted by the immediate capitalist pressures to which it is subjected in government, by its own powerful tradit: ions of blinkered praginalism, and by the fact that it faces strong political competition from the right. not from the left.
For all these reasons neither Wilson nor any probable successor will imitate the left rhetoric of French social demolracy. As a Labour Government is forced to tighten up the social contract and unavailingly seeks to "regenerate' British capitalism it will begin to set up intolerable strains between itself and the extra-parliamentary workers' moveinent. There will be a revulsion against its craven subchament cils. growing storm of opposition to Labour both inside and outside its own tanks there is no ready made goal which can unite these forces and enable them to lead a mobilisation of the masses. The removal of the Labour Government cannot focus mass struggle in the way that the removal of the Conservative Lovernment did in the past. Indeed, a Labour Government overwhelmed by capitalist crisis wil set the sone for an ugly backas well as a potentially anti-capitalist resistanoe to falling living standards.
Combatting the reactionary
apects of popular response to the crisis will be a vital task for revolusjonaries. Social densocrats - even those verbally opposed to the Gor will not ensure that popular anger finds the right tarpet The propagation of an anti-capitalist and anti-reformist transitional prop ramume will be essential for clatitying, polarising and onenting oppos ition to Government policies from its own former supporters. Such a programme should aim to develop the beginnings of an alternative to Labour by uniting resistance to the capitalist crisis in all fields of social and political life: it should furnish the necessary watchwords for struggle within and around the trade unions and workplaces, the constituency parties and local coun treaties.
TO MEET
emergence of consistent class strugele currents at their base. Labour reject ion of such a Programme would thus lay the basis for a recomposition of the labour movement over the next four of five years We propose the following as an initial and provisional basis for an Action Programme of immediate measures to meet the crisis of Brit ish capitalism.
No incomes policy under capit alism: smash the social contract and replace it by a sliding scale of hours wages and social benefits, an index linked emergeucy plan for the educwage of C35 for a 35 hour week full pay for the unemplored, half a million houses to be built a year and a programme of other useful public works; an end to commercial secrecy: nationalisation under work ers control of the major industrial companies and of all firms declaring redundancies; implementation of the Working Women's Charter and an end to all forms of discrimination against women, racin minorities and.
guys; immediate withdrawal of troops from Ireland and release of all Irish detainees; disbandment of the SAS and SPG; fail democratic rights for soldiers; repeal of the Conspiracy Laws, the Immigration Act and the Dangerous Drugs Act:
withdrawal from the EEC and ass ociation with Comecon; withdrawal from NATO and all otber muitary
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BEFORE FLOOD