Pay and Jobs

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The massive drop in the value of the pound - to more than 25% below its October 1971 rate - against the ten major currencies, marks a turning point in the economic crisis. It shows a lack of confidence by world capitalism, including now predominantly the Arab oil sheikhs, as to the ability of the British capitalist class to deal with the forward movement of the working class.

The drop in value has been almost 2% in five working days, which, since the end of Sterling guarantees, now means that the huge fortunes held in pounds have just had 2% lopped off them. Speculators and bankers throughout the world must now be questioning the advisability of keeping holdings of such a rapidly declining currency. If they were to pull out now it would mean. the bankruptcy of British capitalism.

Alongside these implications of the slide of the pound goes the immediate impact on industr and the standard of living of the working class, by forcing up the price of imports and raw mater1als which further increases the cost of living.

This comes on top of the mounting problems flowing from the annual inflation rate of 25%, which is continuing to increase, while industrial production goes steadily downwards. The huge government spending posed by the establishmen of the National Enterprise Board (some £2,000m) and the implementation of the Ryder Report, both of which are vital to Labour plans to re-equip and re-invest as a means of propping up antiquated sectors of British capitalism, means the raising of further huge loans by the government issuing still further paper currency holding no relation to the extraction of profit.

This plus the mounting bills involved in other forms of public spending, is worrying sectors of the capitalist class, who feel that particularly the investment programme in BLMC must be tied down much more to concrete results in the form of speed up and redundancies, together with plant closures, in order directly to increase exploitation and profitability.

Leading Tories are further stating that much of the capital should come not from increased borrowing by the State, but by cuts in public spending - which can only mean education, the National Health Service and the other social services will of course combine with the recession in industry in producing further large rises in unemployment.

The meeting of international bankers in Basle, on 12th May, is believed to have agreed to support sterling for a "limited period". The question is, under these conditions, what guarantee did the Labour leaders give them in return? What are the terms?

The Labour leaders are rapidly moving to show their determination to defend the fortunes of the speculators and the profits of the bankers. In response to the forward movement of the working class they move rapidly to the right, threate ning Chrysler and Dunlop worker with the stick of unemployment if they press ahead with their legitimate wage demands. The Wilson cabinet have already given an idea of their determination to attack wages struggles by the recent use of troops to break the council workers' strike in Glasgow statutory incomes policy. A "leaked" story in the Evening Standard has stated that an International Monetary Fund team is in Britain discussing Special Drawing Rights of £500m without many conditions except a cut in public spending and "a policy for inflation in their wages and prices policy" as a condition of such finance. This links with the statement by Sir Fred Catherwood, Chairman of the British Institute of Management, who told a conference in London: "Overseas holders of sterling are now beginning to put on the pressure as the sliding rate of sterling shows - and that pressure is almost certain to result in a deal within the month. As part of that deal they will insist that wage negotiations will no longer be allowed to treat the pound as if it were so much waste paper."

These statements in any even harmonise with the efforts of the Labourites to defend capitalism. Environment Secretary Crosland (having consumed a share of a £1,400 dinner paid for out of public funds) has stated that all council spending must be frozen the boom is finished, or in his own words: "the party's over" and the working class must bear the brunt. Chancellor Healey, following his unemploymentboosting, wage-cutting budget with proposals for further cuts in government spending, for import controls and deflationary measurt said: "Our economic survival (ie. of British Capitalism) depends on wage settlements staying within the TUC guidelines. We are producing far too many things that other people do not want and at prices they cannot afford. And we are getting far less efficient use out of our new investment than are the Germans.

The carefully orchestrated press attacks on Benn and Ryder (after the Tories and the press had spent 2½ weeks making up their minds) are designed to ensure that the Labour government does not stray from this path of confrontation and attack on the working class.

Wilson lines up with this, explicitly defending Healy's speech: " He is absolutely right, and I agree something has to be done," making it clear also, as we showed in the first edition of Socialist Press (6.2.75), that he personally, controls the N.E.B.and not Benn. He exposed clearly the bogus natu of the attacks on Benn when he said: of Benn's 'left' policies: " But the policy is decided quite clearly by the Cabinet, and on all these questions about the National Enterprise Board, about public ownership and these other things, the Cabinet has decided and we should stick quite clearly to the Cabinet's decisions." Wilson went on to describe the NEB as the "biggest new instrument for modernisation, in which I profoundly believe," which is " providing the capital to make us [ie British capitalism] competitive in world markets."

The reality of the "modernisation' is revealed by Monty Finniston, head of the nationalised British in the next few months, and more after that, and by Heseltine, Opposition spokesman on Industry, wh continued on back col 4 Bitter fighting too last Monday in Oxford National Front membe attempted to attend a meeting in the Town I hired to them by the I controlled council.

1500 counter demons itrators confronted a large force o f police as the fascists and their su pporters attempted to enter the Ha ill to hear the racialist and anticlass diatribe of Webster a nd Tyndall.

Fighting started with t the arrival of the fascist "hono ur guard a coach load of armed thu gs traine in street violence and takr en to National Front demonstra tions in various parts of the cou ntry.

Faced with a wall of d emonstrators across the approac ch road they formed up and rushe d the cordon, putting the boot i nto the front line and beating dem 1onstrators - caught with their al rms still tinked - with sticks.

The fascists were eventual ly driven off as the demonstration r earoune:

At the meeting later i n St Gile the WSL speaker, Alan Tr mornett, was alone in stressing the 1 link between the development of the economic crisis, the refusa 1 of the trade union leaders to defe end the living standards and jobs a gainst the attacks of the Labour government and the emergence o if the National Front on the stre ets.

He said that the type c of action carried out was cor rect and important but not enough L. The only force which could de feat fascism was the organised class and the trade union 1 eaders bore a heavy responsibility i for refusing to call for mobilis ation. He went on to say that, fa ced with this absence of leader ship the frustration of the mide ile class becomes a point of d evelopment for the National Fro nt. BLMC share holders, at th eir meeting last week, screami ing for workers to be sacked and 1 the middle class mounting the barrier at Newmarket to beat up s stable lads are symptoms of this.

The IMG speaker not ( only ignored the role of the tra‹ de union leaders but blamed 1 the working class for their "ba ickwardness" and "chauvinist and directed towards the 1 [roc back

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Page 2 SOCIALIST PRESS, Thursday May 15th, 1975