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Since houses. lomrades could consider lecond option for local hority finance provision. may be worth Labour i authorities attempting aise needed finance by ring extra rate/tax upon profitable local outlets hulti-national industrial, il, banking and financompanies. he struggle would then oncentrated around the t of local authorities to e revenue from local talist enterprises.

would stop the local ority levying a necesrate/tax on Marks and icer or Barclays Bank, d on the profit they from local people? rtainly without social* cut to save money. can't make a profit pairs and maintenThe purpose of direct was never to make a but to service counwints: and that's how uld be. mcil housing should nder workers' and s' control. Moves to tralise administraand manitenance I be supported - for tle, having offices on estates which B run.

Walsall, the council lirect works repair ins which tour the If the caravan is in estate, you can tell orkers what repairs sed, and they come them. pcil housing should ler workers' and tencontrol. We know the houses have to I, and what's wrong he ones we've got. ve to'live in them!

Jo Thwaites ist central government legislation and continual political support from the working class, the attempts to gain this local rate-tax from big business would be ruled out of court by the judges or the Tory government.

But the political battle would become part of the developing campaign to explain to the workers how local government finance operates and why it is weighted against them but towards big business and the capitalist class.

Rates are the only tax which most big companies pay. Callaghan and Healey admit companies mostly don't pay tax - they cheat the public purse, then refuse to pay more rates to provide public and social services.

A socialist Labour government must change the rules to favour local authorities. But it would be a fatal mistake to extricate the struggle for local authority finance provision from the struggle for workers' control of industry, nationalisation of the commanding heights of the economy and the taking of power away from the ruling class

London Labour Party activist Nigel Knowles

by legislation and mass popular support and The Tories and capitalists will always change the rules whether they are in or out of government, through investment strikes, moving capital overseas or by using the military and police against the organised working class to break strikes.

We were five minutes away from a State of Emergency in the winter of 19789. Thatcher would have no doubts about using force to maintain the Tories' position of ascendancy over the workers.

We must inflict political defeats on the Tory government. The working class needs victories before a general election or Labour will not win. Labour and trade union leaders must fight or be forced aside. We will not stand idly by and watch Thatcher chop up the organised working class.

The struggle around the rates and public transport is part of the whole struggle of workers against capitalism, not a separate issue to be decided by judges or a transport authority *There must be no illufor Trident... sions. Thatcher and the ruling class know exactly what is at stake in mass redundancy and unemployment, the military build up public expenditure cuts. They are taking us apart and winning the political battle.

The reaction will be anti-Thatcher, but have we done enough politically to be certain that the working class will kick out toryism, not just from Parliament but by defeating the dominant ideas of capitalism in industry and sucial life?

There can be only one platform on which to fight local elections. The socialist alternative is - no cuts, no sackings, no rent increases, no rate increases, no council house sales, no school closures, no hospital closures.

These demands should constitute part of a national campaign for socialism to CUT EVERS By Garth Fri

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ISING ICH!