[Import controls. p.7 Gruising. p.8 building With housing…]

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Import controls. p.7 Gruising. p.8 building With housing output at it its lowest level since the Wilson government came into office, and over 1 million people on council waiting lists, Tory Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Heseltine last week delivered another savage blow to working class families all over the countryIn a panic move to cut local authority spending, he issued a blanket ban on all new capital projects in housing except where there is a legal obligation to spend money.

What this means is that there will be no new contracts for housebuilding or improvements, council mortgages or improvement grants, or purchases of land for future projects.

Cancelled

Councils' capital allocations, on which they were supposed to base their four year programmes have simply been cancelled.

In addition to the widespread hardship caused by the delay in urgent housing work, the decision will inevitably mean massive redundancies in building firms and council housing departments.

It is ironic that the tenants who wish to buy their council houses from the councils will not be affected by this decision, because they have a legal right to claim a mortgage from the council to make their purchase.

In other words the Tories will put up cash to destroy council housing by returning houses to the private market but are determined to cut the provision of housing, along with other hard-won rights in education, health and social services.

The scale of the Tory cuts in local government is truly enormous: and the anger welling up within the working class is so great that it has broken to the surface in the form of an emergency resolution at the Blackpool Labour Party Conference, a new left wing manifesto for the GLC elections agreed by the London Labour Party, and growing support for the November 1 conference on the cuts sponsored by Lambeth council leader Ted Knight.

Until now, most Labour Councils have imposed cuts, while the main 'left' alternative to the Thatcher cuts has been to maintain a large proportion of the services by raising the rates.

"Hit list"

This course of action-which in any event cuts working class living standards-is becoming less and less possible as Environment Minister Heseltine has extended legal restrictions on the amount councils are allowed to raise.

The 'hit list' announced by Heseltine on 18 September of so-called "over-spending" councils from whom he is removing money shows that the Tories have taken a decision to go to war with local government services.

It is as a result of these measures that in the London Borough of Lambeth alone, a deficit of up to £6 million is now possible.

In this situation even Ted Knight-who last year raised rates by 49%-has been compelled to admit that further rate increases are becoming less and less possible, and that in any case even with rate increases they will not be able to avoid further cuts.

New situation In an interview with London Labour Briefing, Knight admitted that there was now a new sitution.

*I do not accept that there is no option but to make cuts, and we should be demanding that other councils and trade unions within the public sector should take a decision that the only path open to us is confrontation with the Tory government. This is the only other option open to This position of course closely parallels what was spelt "Campaigns must be launched to unite local communities benind actions of Labour Councils and trade unionists.

With this position winning widespread support within the labour movement it is of course inevitable that such initiatives as the Lambeth conference would attract broad layers of workers.

Already on Friday 24 October over 330 delegates had agreed to come, including delegations from numerous Labour councils-among them Leeds, Sheffield, Rochdale, Lothian Glasgow, Tyne and Wear, Greater London and Camden.

NUPE leader Alan Fisher has also decided to come and speak: and there will be numerous delegates from public sector unions.

But here is the contradicofficial call to action in defence of public services from NUPE ally COLICE DubLIC SCClOl union!

While it is relatively easy for these people to travel to Camden Town Hall and sound off against the Tories, the real development that is needed is in terms of tangible action to defeat the cuts.

Two-faced stance Even in Lambeth itself there is a similar two-faced stance. While Knight and the Labour council have tabled a resolution on November 1 calling for action to halt the sale of council houses, they have themselves voted that they have 'no choice' but to obey the Tories and sell off houses in their own borough!

TiONAL, ry cuTS They have been challenged by NALGO members Lambeth Town Hall, who have voted overwhelmingly to defy Heseltine's instruction to sell: a mass meeting of 1,700 NALGO workers last week endorsed this principled stand.

Councils of action

The cuts will only be stopped in the fight for such action by the workers' movement against the Tory offensive.

This means we must also broaden such battles through the struggle to build local councils of action drawing in delegates from the whole labour movement-including private sector unions and workers' political parties).

In this way the basis can be laid for the necessary mass action to defeat the Thatcher Socialist Press therefore urges delegates to this conference-now a key focus of the struggle against the Tories-to support the series of amendments put forward by supporters of Socialist Press, Socialist Organiser and the Campaign for Democracy in the Labour Movement (see page 5).

These amendments seek a clear commitment from those attending the conference that their anti-Tory rhetoric be transformed into tangible and principled action when they return to their council chambers and union branches.

In the fight for such policies, workers who have been time and again betrayed in the few struggles that have taken place against the cuts, will be able to assess the real nature of those leaders who put themselves forward on November as socialists.

And in the struggles of the next period new militants will emerge who must form the basis of a new, revolutionary leadership; a leadership prepared to fight tooth and nail for action to bring down the Thatcher government; prepared to drive out the Labour traitors who refuse to implement socialist policies, and establish a workers"

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dilemma for 1980

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SOUTH EAST DECONAL COUNCI