[Wigan Builders Action Committee Meei campaign began aftei…]

Scan page 4

Wigan Builders Action Committee Meei campaign began aftei Comrade Thornett's opposition within the WRP, virtually none of the demands now bandied around its pages were to be seen at all.

The sliding scale of wages had been mentioned only twice, and the sliding scale of hours (now oul slogan of work sharing on full pay) not at all. Indeed these slogans are still not understood or used correctly to this day by Gale since he confuses the two together, calling for an undefined "sliding scale of hours and wages"

The demand for the opening of the books of the employer and an end to business secrets had never appeared in Workers Press prior to October 19/4, and the demana for nationalisation was always followed by the wrong slogan of «under workers' control" - while workers' management was never called for.

To complete the picture, the demand for a programme of public works to ensure the defence of jobs in nationalised industries was never advanced.

For those WRP members who doubt this, the October 1974 Election Manifesto epitomises the empty rhetoric of the WRP prog ramme at the point where Alan Thornett raised his differences. It was directly out of his intervention that subsequent verbal changes have taken place In addition of course the WRP only undertook any kind of campaign on the Shrewsbury Two after the opposition arose within the party, in an attempt to create the appearance of a serious trade union base.

But while cloaking themselves in ting addressed by WRP's Mike Banda: r opposition in WRP capitalist government in power and are therefore "clearly moving to the right"

This is another dishonest arg ument. Of course, every Labour government has come to the defence of capitalism. In that sense all Labour governments are capitalist governments. But at the same time the Labour Party has historical ties with the working class through the trade unions which differentiates it from thoroughly capitalist parties such as the American Demo. cratic Party.

It is because the Labour Party was built by and through the trade union movement in order to defend in parliament the trades unions from the attacks of the bosses and their political agents, the Tories, that the task confronting revolutionaries is to devise the means to break the working class from the Labour claim to oppose the attacks of the right wing in the Labour government on the working class.

It was just such a fight that established the SLL and the WRP. For instance, in 196ł, in a letter to the American SWP, the National Committee of the Socialist Labour League detailed some of the strug gles it had undertaken against revisionist tendencies within its own ranks, each resulting in splits. It states: "Finally there was Brian Behan, who proposed the ultra-left theor!

Scan page 5

SOCIALIST PRESS, Wednes ember 17th, 1975 government is somehow different Paze

----- pull-quotes -----

Party and in particular the 'lefts' who in the present economic crisis