Socialists and the Election

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ACCORDING to Channel 4 TV, the 'campaign document' from which Labour's manifesto will be drafted does not include unilateral nuclear disarmament.

Peter Shore's economic plan omits the Labour Programme '82 commitment for a 35 hour week without loss of pay, and — in plaint contradiction to Labour opposition to incomes policy — proposes to 'intervene in the operation of market forces' to *contain' wages.

'An extension of public ownership' is mentioned once in its 64 pages - in passing and with no details — and that's it.

And the way Labour's leadership is going, the story will be the same on other crucial Labour conference commitments. Policies to repeal the immigration laws, to ban plastic bullets, to improve welfare services, to introduce grants for IN 1978-9 the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory ran an alternative left-wing experience. school students over 16, to extend women's will all disappear in a mess of words.

This is no way to win an election. Those who want social democracy and capitalism with liberal gloss can and will vote for it directly. wabour cannot win votes by apologising for and scrapping its radical or anti-capitalist policies -particularly under conditions of "mass, chronic unemployment in which only wholesale sweeping changes can offer any real hope to the vast majority of working class voters.

Moreover, such preparations for the manifesto are a clear signal that a Labour government, if elected, would be a repetition of 1974-79's fiasco: and this at a time when capitalism leaves little scope for reformist tinkering.

The left has protested against these moves by the Labour leadership. How should we fight them?

We should fight to call the leaders to account. But in any probable time-scale now, they are almost certain to get a manifesto gutted of radical commitments.

Should the left then shrug our shoulders and shelve the issues for the sake of anti-Tory unity? To do so would be a shameful retreat, a declaration that we weren't serious about the whole struggle after 1979 designed to make sure that Labour governments would never again be like 1974-9, and flagrant irresponsiblity unless we mean not a word of all we have said about socialist policies being an urgent necessity now, not an optional extra for the future.

Whatever the new government, the working class will have no option but to fight against the ravages of decaying capitalism. Struggles will continue against employers and against government moves to buttress capitalism at the expense of the workers. The left has to continue fighting to create an adequate force to organise and lead those struggles. And that can't be done if we sink our differences with Dennis Healey at election time -which, like it or not, is a major focus of political attention.

So we must try to organise the left in the Labour Party and the trade untons - as much of it as we can convince and mobilise - to fight the election for Labour, but on its own platform. 'Vote Labour but prepare to fight' should be the slogan.

What the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory did in 1979 can serve as a rough model -though we should be able to do something much bigger and better this time.

The Briefings conference this Saturday, 5th, will be a good opportunity to start discussions and consultations about the campaign we need.

out Vote Boot alishan. Out

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