Labour Mps Back Dirty Bushess

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ITAIN sues. 12 innues 21 insures. and Albert Roberts were preserved intact last week, not so much by the business lobby of the Tories as by the massed ranks of Labour MPs.

All but 11 MPs voted against expulsion, and only a total of MPs were even prepared to countenance six months suspension-a motion proposed by George Strauss-.the wealthiest MP the Labour Party has ever returned.

The majority of those reputedly 50 MPs who call themselves 'lefts' were quite happy that two men who had accepted money from a mass briber and spoken on behalf of interests close to his causes should continue in the House of Commons.

LEFT TALKER

Indeed it was appropriate that at the forefront of those urging MPs to "take note of" rather than to "agree with" the Select Committee report, and to avoid attempting to expel or suspend lei suilty men talker Michael Foot, now was one-time Callaghan's right-hand man.

He argued that Maudling and Roberts had already *suffered sufficient penalty"

In this Foot was backed up strongly by former Tory Prime Minister Heath who sang the Praises of Maudlinb an honournim-in Tory termsable man who should be supported."

The resignation of Tory MP Cordle-who had actually gone to he lengths of pointing out to Poulson the amount of Parliamentary speeches he had made on is behalf-was the ritual blood 60th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution To commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution the Workers Socialist League has produced in a limited edition of 500, a five colour silk screen print of a recruitment ooster for the Red Cavalry.

This poster is available from local branches of the Workers Socialist League, price £1 or from WSL, 31, Dartmouth Park Hill, London NW5 1HR price £i plus 25p p & p.

All proceeds to the Socialist Press Special Fund for the weekly zaDer.

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ADDRESS

EU ROPE 6 ia sues • issues issues a subacri issues, I to: letting that let Ma udling and Roberts off the hook.

Reginald Maudling: at a time when he was Tory front bench spokesman, spoke in favour of more British aid for Malta nine times during one year in 1967 when Poulson was hoping for contracts from Malta to build a hospital and a harbour.

COLLOSAL At the same time Maudling and his wife and son were entitled to receive from Poulson more than 125,000. Maudling himself described the cost of his family to Poulson as 'collosal' The Select Committee of MPs set up to inquire into the activities of MPs around the Poulson affair came up with the astonishing conclusion that this is not in itself corruption, merely "inconsistent with the standards which the House is entitled to expect from its members".

-FROM FRC TUC demonstration.

This time, however, Grantham was unsuccessful. His response was to call a mass meeting of strikers for Friday afternoon.

With the UPW meeting fixed for the morning of the same day, the aim of the bureaucracy was clearly to break the postal workers at their morning meeting and thus weaken the resistance to to Grantham later in the day.

Shortly before the UPW meeting began, it was announced that the Court of Appeal had overturned the High Court ruling which supported the ACAS report recommending union recognition, and had ruled in favour of Grunwick's management.

To break the Cricklewood workers' resistance, Stagg had no intention of relying on subtle arguments. On behalf of the UPW executive, he launched the most savage attack yet on their action.

Saying that he was not using threats, he nevertheless told them that unless they began normal working by Sunday night and individually signed a statement that the blacked mail would be handled, their lock out pay would be withdrawn, their pension rights and other benefits jeopardised and the Post Office management given a blank cheque for further action against them.

Even in the face of this the vote was 51-48 to call off the blacking.

Meanwhile Grantham had LEAGUE to se PHOTO: Chris Davies, (Report).

Labour MP Albert Roberts received £11,000 over four years from Poulson and £4,000 costs towards a new house. Naturally he did not find it necessary 1o mention this or his role as consultant to Poulson when he lobbied Ministers and officials on behalf of Poulson. This too-according to the committee-does not amount to corruption.

Maudling's case is the more spectacular but Roberts has demonstrated the way in which Labour MPs literally as well as figuratively support capitalism against tie working class.

postponed the strikers meeting for several hours to await the postmens' verdict and had taken the precaution of delaying payment of the strikers' money until their meeting had ended.

Although now faced with an even more difficult task in opposing the officials the vote for calling off the mass picket was only carried by 35-24.

And the ambiguous attitude of Jack Dromey, Brent Trades Council Secretary and an influen tial force in the dispute, who was congratulated by Grantham for saying that August 8 was not a principle and that unity was more important than dates, was certainly a factor in the vote being lost.

The sharp struggle for leadership over the last week means that the struggle has now been taken to a new level.

The official union leadership has proved itself incapable of successfully carrying through and defending even the most elementary struggle of ali the right to organise and take action in trade unions-even under the most favourable possible conditions.

Instead these bureaucrats have set themselves the task of derailing the dispute and inflicting a setback of national proportions on the working class as a whole Under these conditions it is crucial that all those union branches and organisations (reportedly over 70) that have declared support for the call for the August 8 mass picket press ahead with Poot MPs were unable to act because the whole • House of Commons is riddled with business connections and unspoken deals.

Labour Party members must demand that Roberts is expelled from the Labour Party and replaced and that all MPs rid themselves of business interests.

The Ryder £49,500 gift reported in Socialist Press No. 65 was even more sinister than reported. It was entered in the Reed International group's Canadian: subsidiary as a 'polit cal contribution"

their plans.

Already TGWU strikers at Grunwick have signed a statement to the union's Regional Committee which demands a TGWU call for a mass picket on August 8, condemns the action of the APEX officials, and calls on the TGWU to fight for full blacking of Grunwick.

Left talking miners' leader Arthur Scargill who mobilised thousands of miners for the July 11 mass picket, must now declare publicly his intention to procede on August 8 and denounce the intimidation of the Grunwick strikers.

The demands August must be:

*No documents to be signed UPW members.

*Reimpose full postal blacking.

PHOTO: Andrew Wiard (Report)

WAGES-FROM PAGE second stage of the Social Contract." Boyd is in fact doing precisely the opposite.

Also in breach of conference policy is the TGWU leadership, which has circularised officials calling on them to honour the TUC's 12-month rule-designed to artificially prolong Phase 2 beyond its August 1 expiry date.

The TUC General Council meeting last week clarified exactly the wage cutting policy the bureaucrats have in mind when by 23 votes against 4 it endorsed a call on all negotiators not to try to make up ground lost since 1974 in forthcoming pay claims.

INFLATION

And Prime Minister Callaghan, knowing full well that regardless of coming wage claims, the flood gates of a new spate of inflation are already creaking open, announced with brusque arrogance this weekend:

"It is no use us trying to recover what we [!] lost-and the Government deliberately arranged this loss-in the last 12 months.

But while their political and trade union leaders sharpen their knives and prepare to hold them back, the working class is showing clearly it rejects this reactionary line.

A torrent of wage claims aimed at making up for two wasted years is now building up: Chrysler workers are seeking around £18; dockers are claiming 20% minimum, f100 per week in some areas, Jaguar and Triumph workers in Coventry are demanding £20 increase; Lucas Aerospace workers have claims for 30%; while at Yarrows shipyards in Glasgow a mass meeting of 5,000 voted with only 3 against for a 50% rise across the board and a 35-hour week.

In many cases these demands are the bare minimum required to repair the damage done over the last two years. here is a real danger that "left" talking bureaucrats can attempt to defuse the feeling on wages by drawing up "responsible" claims far short of the figures required, and in the course of talks drop to fit inside Healey's 10% figure.

DEFEAT

To win any demand above the 10% union officials will have to be fought and defeated.

And in the course of these struggles workers must ensure that the riseS they win are protected against inflation by a clause ensuring automatic rises to keep pace with the cost of living as assessed by elected trade union committees including housewives.

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The "Parliamentary privil- eges" of Reginald Maudling

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