Atc E Thatcher Sounds Jnd Battle Cry

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ior mass action against Tory anti-union lav *Strikes and occupations against the cuts!

Saturday November 3, 10.30am-5pm DIGBETH HALL, BIRMINGHAM to all trade unionists and delegations Godfrey Webster, 99, Barclay Rd, Warley, After a week in which guarded statements from Tory ministers had attempted to stem the tide of reactionary demands from delegates at their Party conference, Thatcher's speech last Friday was the shrill battle-cry they had been eagerly waiting for. The party of the employing class eagerly applauded as Thatcher promised strong measures against the unions, called on workers to scab on disputes and asserted that:

"Today trade unions have more power over working people and their families than any boss has."

Even while she spoke, the farcical nature of her argument was exposed by the arbitrary closure decision by Singer bosses, slashing 3,000 jobs in Glasgow while union leaders limply stand by.

At a point where millions of workers go in fear of redundancy, of public sector and social service cuts, and thousands of youth face a lifetime on the dole, Thatcher was wildly cheered as she turned reality on its head to declare that:

"Millions of British workers in fear of union power"

And in a passage reminscent of her ill-fated predecessor Heath, she went on:

"Today the conflict of interest is not so much between unions and employers as between unions and the nation"

Abstraction

The term "the nation' is a bland abstraction beloved by Tories, fascists and right wing Labourite class collaborators alike.

It conceals the fact that within "the nation" are two, opposing classes-the employing capitalist class, which owns the means of production and lives by the extraction of surplus value from its workforce: and the working class which owns nothing beyond its ability to work, and which is paid only a fraction of the value it creates in the process of production.

Exploitation

Between these two opposing forces there is no common interest.

The employer seeks to maximise the exploitation of the working class in every way possible; the worker can only defend his or her job, conditions and living standards by struggling for the overthrow of the crisis-ridden system of capitalist exploitation.

In leading the all-sided Tory assault on the working classcomprising anti-union laws; public spending cuts; wholesale closures and rationalisation; the sale of assets; more handouts to the rich, and savage 'law and order' • crackdown on immigrants, youth and workersThatcher makes it unmistakeably plain which side of the divide the Tory Party stands on.

Rather it is the Labour Party with its leadership's firm commitment to upholding the capitalist "mixed economy" and defending the profitability of the employers which attempts to straddle the fence and, while posing as the party of the working class, serves consistently to defend the interests of the employers.

This is why, as Thatcher's gang sallies into the attack on basic rights in the next few months, workers need to face the need for a new, principled leadership to champion their class interests.

This means rejecting out of hand Callaghan's stance of opposing mass action to bring down the Tories, "and any attempt to hold back the struggles of the working class.

Independent It means instead advancing a programme of demands that offer an independent road forward from today's crisis to the struggle for socialism.

The Workers Socialist League is fighting to build just such a leadership.

We urge our readers to attend and fight for labour movement delegations to the November 3 conference of the Campaign for Democracy in the Labour Movement in which the question of programme and leadership in the fight against the Tories will be at the centre of discussion.

Democracy Movement NATIONAL CONFERENCE *Prepare to force out the Tories!

*Build Councils of Action!

labour movement bodies Credentials (£1) and details from;

West Midlands