Murray opposes
Socialist Press1979 1979-11-14Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 11 →
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Some 2,000 workers marched through Newcastle last weekend in a demonstration against the cuts organised by the regional TUC.
Though there were shouts of 'Tories Out' on the march there was little evidence of any willingness to fight for such a policy among platform speakers at the concluding rally-among whom the star performer was TUC General Secretary Len Speaking to a rigorously stewarded gathering, Murray's main emphasis was on avoiding a "hysterical" reaction to the As a bureaucrat O'FISHALL WE REGRET the temporary absence of O'Fishall from this issue of Socialist Press.
He was last seen by one of our readers waiting expectantly at the head of a queue outside the CBI headquarters at Tothill St., London.
The entire queue-wearing "Last Chance Saloon" badgescould be heard quietly mutter. ing "£40,000, eh?"
We anticipate, however, that he will be back with us next week.
Meantime, don't miss your copy of the O'Fishall 1980 calendar-12 cartoons for only £1 plus 20p p&p.
in eager defence of the spending cuts and wage controls carried out by the Labour government, Murray long ago perfected the technique of calmly watching workers jobs and living standards being stripped away.
"Emotional spasms are no substitute for clear thinking"
he went on, rapidly losing support from a meeting that had at first given him an enthusiastic welcome, in the illusory hope that he would offer a perspective for a fight.
In the nearest thing to an actual defence of the Tory cuts, Murray went on to announce that:
"We must find a way of reaching agreement on how we get the right balance in the use of resources between our [!] productive industries and the public services and how we get agreement on priorities in public spending."
The demonstration had of course been a forthright statement that workers in Newcastle as elsewhere in the country, are in no doubt that the public services are a top priority-far above preserving the profitability of the private sector.
Murray went on to talk of "Teal problems of industrial relations and trade union structure" , pleading with the Tories that the TUC would prefer to police trade union members itself rather than face "new legal entanglements"!
Were "leaders" like Murray really in firm control of the doult that the Tries would not need to bother with their anti-union laws.
The task in fighting the cuts, closures and other Tory attacks is to drive out Murray and his ilk and construct an alternative, socialist, leadership.