As Liberals renew coalition WORKERS MUST BREAK IT NOW!

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Last year's Troops Out Movement march on What made 2,200 anti-socialist members of Britain's second capitalist party-the Liberals-vote 3-1 last Saturday to support:* the Callaghan ¡ernment?

as it tbat, aS Capitalist politician, Hansjetrich Genscher, head of ho Free Dethocratic Party, tent out of his way to arrange the elements of the pact between Callaghan and Liberal leader Steel in November 1976, four months before the deal was publicly signed?

The answer to both questions is that these conscious representatives of the capitalist class see the «Callaghan-Healey cabinet with its lackeys in the TUC as the best means of holding back the working class and imposing wage cuts, sackings and speed-up.

Military scabbing

They are absolutely confident that the Callaghan government will continue to implement not socialist but capitalist policies.

This confidence was clearly increased when they enthusiastically watched Callaghan's cabinet of strikebreakers mobilising a massive military scabbing operation in order to uphold the 10% pay limit in conflict with the firemen.

And the details of Healey's Budget plans, carefully discussed with top Liberal leaders, have convinced them that, in the words of Liberal MP Richard Wainwright:

"The first fruits of the agreement will be a Liberal budget, putting money back into the Pockets of the people...

Illusion

Another likely budget measure taken straight from the Liberals' programme is some form of "profit sharing" scheme designed to foster the illusion that workers and management share a common interest in profitability.

It is the Liberals' conviction that such class collaboration can be fostered more easily under the disguise of a Labour government than through the return of a Tory that has cemented the Lib-Lab cealitien deal fram the begin The pact was signed on the basis of agreement on the need for a third round of rigid wage controls.

Recognising that massive working class hostility to Phase 2-reflected in the Leyland toolroom strike-was on the point of breaking the grip of the TUC bureaucrats, Liberal and Labour leaders saw that Callaghan could only carry through such a policy by drawing on support outside of the labour movement.

Steel undertook to provide that support and in exchange Callaghan willingly agreed to drop even the vaguest pretense of socialist policies.

Mouthpiece

Since then this reactionary coalition has spearheaded attacks on wages, jobs and social services, with the Callaghan-Healey leadership functioning as no more than the mouthpiece of Liberal policies.

in all of these actions Callaghan has been slavishly supported in Parliament by the 'left' MPs of the Tribune group, and by TUC bureaucrats who have now become front-line defenders of Healey's arbitrary 10% pay limit.

: The 3-1 vote at Saturday's Liberal Assembly was a clear vote of appreciation of Callaghan's efforts.

Consulted

But while Liberals have ropcateoly eg their news on the coalition deal, no such right of discussion has been given to the working class.

Callaghan did the deal with the Liberals without even consulting the Parliamentary Labour Party, and with complete contempt for the whole organised labour movement.

The Liberal leaders are now clearly privy to the most secret decisions on budget proposals; they are consulted on every aspect of government policy; and they exercise an effective power of veto over policies adopted by the Labour Party Conference.

Wage control

The Workers Socialist League has pointed this out continuously since the coalition deal was formed. We have campaigned continuously for the breaking of the Lib-Lab deal and for workers to take action to break its central policy of wage control.

The open talk of a Phase 4 of wage controls coupled with the political revelations of the last few days show the urgency of this fight.

Trade unionists and Labour Party members must ing pay claims in excess of the 10% must press ahead with strike action to win them in full.

And sections yet to formulate pay claims must take up the fight to regain and defend their living standards throush catching protect against inflation.

Socialist policies

Unemployed workers thrown on the scrapheap by the policies of this government must fight for admission to the trade unions and for action to force an Bloody Sunday end to this coalition.

Only this can open the possibility of a fight for socialist policies of nationalisation of major industry and the programme of public works necessary to create new Jam Workets wir soon expos thi "left' talkers within the labour movement who by their inaction serve to protect this reactionary coalition.

And they will see the need for a revolutionary leadership to fight for the independent interests of the working class.

Free sporch Instand CHI allontai review • P arlington strike p.. ess Gang.... ••P eel jobs threat Back pa d, Report Callaghan rew Winks.

Heffer-he and other lefts must fight or stand aside

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MOVEMEN THRER