Bitter Fruit of Lib-lab Politics

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The munici pal elections at the beginning of May confirm the eyidence of the earlier parliamentary by-elections that workers all over Britain are rejecting the coalition The constituency election machines found that they were unable to mobilise their traditional mass support from urban workers aiter the history of class betrayals Is the Wilson/Callaghan/Healey The most frequent reaction of the workers was to vote with their feet, to stay away trom the polling stations. Ine result was that Tories took control of most of Britain's large cities, where they will stay for the next four years.

This is an important result for workers, because the large urban municipal authorities control programmes for housing, education, transport and the welfare services.

LITTLE RESISTANCE

There was little enough resisrance to the cuts from the Labour controlled authorities. The Tories will hack and slash at the programmes of public expenditure with an enthusiasm built on many years of political frustration.

They have plans to go further than cuts. A full-scale asset stripping operation on the public sector is underway.

Workers need to defend themselves against attacks on living standards and job security from this new direction. A wave of town hall redundancies will accompany the Tories' programme of cuts.

Information is coming out more quickly in London than in most of the other cities about the Tories intentions, and gives some guidelines for the shape of the struggles that will develop over the coming months.

The Tories won overwhelming control of the Greater London Council, holding 64 seats out of 97, almost a complete reversal of the position before the election.

REWRITTEN

One of their first acts was to rewrite the Council's standing orders, preventing the minority party from using its right to bring committee proceedings in front of the open council meeting.

The Tories had used this power repeatedly in the months before the election, obstructing the council agenda and preventing work on a large number of housebuiiding schemes.

The planning committee intends to give away the GLC's main planning powers. Along with this will go the GLC's right under the Community Land Act to acquire sites for public development without giving massive profits to the land speculators.

But it is in housing that the most important struggles will develop.

GLC housing has been a poli ical battleground since the GLC wa: set up in 1966.

INTERVENE

The reason for this is that the GLC's housing powers have given it ine power to intervene in the traditionally Tory controlled outer suhurban boroughs.

Labour controlled GLC's have wanted to rehouse families from the waiting lists of the overcrowded inner boroughs in the outer toroughs where land is more plentiFuH.

The Tory outer boroughs have apposed what they regard as the Cansplanting of large numbers of Lahotf voting council tenants into 33ei areas.

I: is no surprise then to find that the Tories' leader of housing, Gecree Tremlett, is a councillor for Ristmord. one of the boroughs ...: has most hitterly resisted GLO Bedegments ir its area.

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