James Callaghan- Awould-Be Ramsay' Macdonald
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I I [ I WfJ/tltE/tS ,,1N(J(J,1,, 25¢ No. 152 8 April 1977 II James Callaghan -AWould-Be Ramsay' MacDonald Break the Liberal/Labour Coalition in Britain! LONDON, April I---Britain came close conducting parallel negotiatIOns with to its third general election in as many the ten MP's of the United Ulster years last week when Labour Prime Unionists, the reactionary parliamen Minister James Callaghan was forced to tary representatives of the Protestant conclude a last-minute pact with the ascendancy in Northern Ireland. small bourgeois Liberal Party to avert Among their number are the fanatical defeat in a Conservative no-confidence Rev. Ian Paisley, and the notorious motion. The significance of this formal racist Enoch Powell. The bargaining parliamentary bloc was summed up by with the Ulster Unionists was over more Liberal leader David Steel, who com MP's from the province and also mented that "Socialism is the one thing doubtless on demands for more British this country will not get so long as this army units to suppress the Irish Catholic agreement lasts..." (Guardian [Lon minority. But apparently Callaghan don], 25 March 1977). wasn't able to negotiate a satisfactory Steel has a point. Not that anyone in deal with the Unionist MP's and seven Britain believes that the Labourgovern of them voted with Margaret Thatcher's ment was headed toward socialism Tories. I but the long-standing allegiance of the f f British working class to the Labour r Party is primarily due tti its--clairn to ,-, -'-I somehow stand for the class interests of The terms of the parliamentary the proletariat, and its vague rhetorical coalition with the Liberals were careful ly outlined in a joint statement issued ...A{~ commitment to some sort of "social Socialist Worker ism." The Labour cabinet's precarious just before the debate on the no Workers at British Ley!and protest Labour government's wage restraints. parliamentary position meant that it confidence motion. Essentially the was forced to conclude an agreement agreement establishes a "joint consul with the Liberals in order to cling to tative committee" (presided over by reason why most Tribunites 'actually Labour government in power a very power. The price was to give up the Michael Foot, prominent Labour"left") favoured the arrangement with the agreeable thought." claim to represent key working-class to review bills proposed by both Liberals-it postpones the next general The Liberals, of course, have their interests or "socialism," at least for the Liberals and Labour before they are election. Many Tribunites hold margi own reasons for entering a coalition duration of the bloc. presented in Parliament, and pledges nal seats and given the present pro with Labour at this time. In the event of Ofcourse, Labour would much prefer the cabinet ministers to regular consul nounced swing away from Labour an early general election and the to retain the fig leaf of socialist rhetoric tations with their Liberal counterparts. (recent opinion polls show the Tories probable Tory landslide, knowledge as a cover for its nakedly anti-working The agreement also pledges the govern leading Labour by 20 percent), an able bourgeois political commentators class Social Contract (wage restraint). ment to support Liberal proposals for election in the near future would are predicting that the Liberals would Callaghan's parliamentary predicament direct elections to the European Eco certainly mean a Tory landslide and a stand to lose up to ten of their present results from the loss of a string of nomic Community (Common Market) scramble among Tribunite ex-MP's for total of 13 seats, thereby obliterating supposedly "safe" Labour seats to the parliament, and to support a Liberal places in the dole queues [unemploy them as an appreciable factor in British Tories [Conservatives] in recent by Housing (Homeless Persons) Bill, both ment lines]. As the London Times (20 politics. Thus the Liberals are happy to elections. This in itself provides an index relatively unimportant measures. The March) noted in analysing the lack of assume the role of co-partners in the to the deep dissatisfaction of masses of joint statement specifies that "this opposition to the coalition from Labour government and postpone an election, Labour Party supporters with the arrangement between us should last "lefts": "The prospect ofa Thatcher Era, seeking in the longer run a path to Callaghan government and its plans to until the end of the present parliamen not to mention the loss of his own seat, permanent, direct involvement in the "save" the economy by further attacking tary session when both parties would concentrates the mind of a Tribunite cabinet. the workers' pathetic living standards. consider whether the experiment has wonderfully." Labour's pact with the Liberals has The by-elections losses combined been of sufficient benefit to the country Callaghan's deal with Steel has also been well-received by the bourgeois with the defection of two Scottish to be continued" (Guardian, 24 March). been met on the whole with the approval establishment. When the Lib-Lab deal was announced the Financial Times Labour MP's [Members of Parliament] The most revealing aspect of the of the trade-union bureaucracy. The stock index jumped 19 points! A few has changed Labour's slim majority whole squalid affair is the lack of serious general secretary of the Trades Union days before the agreement, the influen with which it was elected in 1974 into a opposition to the deal from within the Congress, Len Murray, was quoted in tial Sunday Times (20 March) advised minority, and has meant that for the ranks of the parliamentary Labour Socialist Press (25 March) as saying that continued on page 11 past several mon'ths the government has Party. The most that the kept "lefts" of he found the "prospect of keeping a been depending on the votes of at least the Tribunite group have done is to some of the 41 MP's who belong to the make a few objections to the deal for the minor parties in order to stave offa vote record. As part of their token "protest" some of the Tribunites issued a state A review of Ii of no-confidence. Until recently the government had been able to count on ment on the agreement with the Liberals the 16 votes of the Scots and Welsh which cravenly pledged to "support the Wanted!-The search for Nazis in nationalists. However, Labour's failure Government because of the possible to secure passage in parliament last danger of the most reactionary Tory America, by Howard Blum February of its Devolution Bill (provid government ofthis century." They made ing for federal institutions in Scotland only a perfunctory effort to cover their "I and Wales under the rubric of "home left flank by stating that, "we categori r rule") due to the refusal of hard-core cally reserve our right to vote against Labour "unionists"-opponents of such a deal in whole or in part" How U.S. Opened devolution-to support the govern (Tribune, 25 March). ment's proposal has meant that the Having reserved the "right" to oppose Doors to Nazi War nationalists are now bending all their the policy of formal cooperation with efforts to bring down the cabinet and the Liberals, the "leftists" ofthe Tribune thus precipitate an early election. group are now happy to go ahead and In its search for support in the House support it. As the bourgeois press has Criminals... 6 of Commons, the Labour Party was repeatedly pointed out, there is a good .. I I ____Letters __ arc in harmony. Six months after HT replies: Comrade HerresholTs the Lewis forces and the Green forces in 27 february 1977 identifying Lewis and Hillman as "more previous letter on this matter (referred questions of basic class ideology." So To the Editor: dangerous" than Green and Woll. to above) was written to solidarize with much for the view that Muste's article In defending your trade union line Muste abandoned secular sectarianism another correspondent who sought to was an individual aberration. (WV [No. 145]. j8 February 1977) you and returned to Christian pacifism. the justify the Socialist Workers Party We also take exception to come up with a quotation from A.J. ultimate form of abstention from all (SWP) support to United Steelworkers Herreshoffs rather selective view of the Muste. You are entitled to him if you struggle with a violent component. You out-bureaucrat candidate Ed Sadlowski Trotskyist press. The New Militant insist. but the quotation discloses that should ask yom-selves why you found in recent elections in that union. Thus utilized signed articles in a different way Muste's line towards the nascent CIO is this particular quotation from Muste what is really at issue is the attitude to than does Wurkers Vanguard But the closer to Third Period Stalinism than to impressive. take in squabbles between putatively fact that an article was signed did not, in Leninism. Muste characterizes the fight You should also become less funda progressive and reactionary wings ofthe general. mean that the party refused to of the industrial union bureaucrats in mentalist in vour use of the bound pro-capitalist labor bureaucracy. take political responsibility for its line, the AfL against the craft union bureau volumes of the Trotskyist press. Not In our original polemic (see "Should and if the New Militant had consisted crats as fake ("a mock battle"). He then everything printed in the 1935 Nell' Revolutionists 'Walk with Sadlowski'?" instead of a potpourri of articles with tells us that "the conservative forces in Militant is pure gospel. You have to WV No.