Fight for policies

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Paper of the Socialist Oreaniser Alliance No. 133 May 26 1983 25p Claimants and strikers 10p Claimants and strikers 10p EACH Labour vote missing on June British capitalism, are now being chopped to pieces. If re-elecfor five million unemployed. The Cambridge Economic Policy Group has forecast 3.7 to ted, the Tories will privatise BL, probably dividing it into several companies, junking parts of it, and cutting many more jobs. causes the chaos in the world economy, if not the same blind 4.2 million registered unemployed by 1988, and over 5 million They will continue McGregor's work in British Steel, probably rule of profit that the Tories so vocally champion in Britain? by 1993, according to the Observer last Sunday, if present feeling confident to close Ravenscraig. They will speed up pit The shifts in the capitalist world division of labour have left government policies continue. closures. And they will implement in one form or another the Britain's basic industries crumbling. The Tories' plan is to push The EEC predicts 3.7 million jobless in Britain in 1988. The Serpell proposals for a drastic cut in the rail network. through this process of demolition as brutally as possible, taking semi-official National Institute of Economic and Social Britain's top 50 private manufacturing companies now have advantage of it to beat down the working class and transform Research foresees continuing growth of the dole queues. Cam- 44% of their production and 38% of their employment overseas Britain into an economy with low wages, vicious speed-up in the bridge Econometrics (which is quite separate from the CEPG, - and this drive of capital overseas is continuing fast. factories, mutilated and crushed trade unions, and minimal and uses radically different forecasting methods) reckons that 'New industries will emerge to take their place' ' the Tories overheads in the way of public services. Then, they reckon, registered unemployment will be over four million by 1988. say. But investment is, and continues, low - especially state Britain could see a revival - as a sort-of South Korea of Western The government's own economic plans assume an increase of Europe! investment, which over the last eight years has fallen from 9.5% 250,000 in unemployment over 1983. And on March 2 the to 5% of national income. A Labour vote on June 9 is a first step in fighting back. If we official National Economic Development Council voted to post- 'It's all due to the world economy', , they declare. But what can get the vote out for a Labour victory, it will be a demonstrapone publication of a report on the British economy because (in tion that the labour movement is not resigned and demoralised the words of CBI president Campbell Fraser) it was "so gloomy People's March but on its feet, fighting, and demanding reconstruction in place that people reading it would want to get the first boat out of of demolition. the country". CBI director-general Terence Beckett agreed that Labour is pledged to increase public spending and public "publication would not be productive, because there was not a investment, restoring services and restoring jobs. The Labour single item of cheer in it" though "he did not dispute its factual leaders must be held to that pledge. contents". However, that's only the first step. Increased state spending All these economic forecasts are essentially nothing more Diary, pictures alone will do no more than dent unemployment; and, faced than sophisticated versions of the method of looking at a graph with problems of inflation and balance of payments, a new and guessing that it will go on in the future much as it has gone Labour government led by Foot and Healey is likely to do what in the past. But there is every reason to believe the general and comment Mitterrand and Mauroy have done in France, and declare a Upicture they paint. turn.

If the unemployed who don't bother to register (mainly A 35 hour week without loss of pay is also Labour policy, married women) and people on government schemes are side fighting for a Labour vote, socialists need to be fighting for though it is not being featured in the official campaign. Alongincluded, then unemployment is already about five million. And behind the rise in unemployment is a dramatic decline of basic pp 4-5 this 35 hour week policy, for work-sharing without loss of pay, industries - a decline which can only accelerate with a new for nationalisations to make possible reconstruction of industry under workers' control, and for direct action to defend jobs and Tory term of office.

Cars, steel, coal, rail - these industries, once central to win such measures.

What Tortes want to do to us next Centre piages

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Organiser no.133

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