' monolith cracks
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Page 1 Editorial notes. Page 2 Steel and workers' control.
ie 3 Hugo Blanco. meeting. " 4 NALSO & DATA,
" 5 Coal & Common Market. " 6 Brighton's scrooge firm.
" 7 Brighton's scrooge firm. " 8 Common Market debate, 7 9 Oxford pamphlet, a reply, " 10 Coal conditions. "11 May Day message. "12 May Day message. "13 #£4Meaker's strike, "14 Advertiser's announcement, LABOUR: THE MONOLITH CRACKS
Labour has had its biggest parliamentary revolt in its history: 34 Labour M.P.s voted against the Government and nearly 50 S8bstained in the Common Market debate. The left has to make a sober analysis of the situation created by this affair and consider very carefully what it means for the fight to build up a consistent and strong left which is capable of challenging Wilson. . It is possible to make two important mistakes: one, to miss the significance of this development; and two, to overestimate the political agreement of the Government's opponents. The significance of the vote against the Government is that it marks the formal end of Wilson"s domination over the Labour Party which has completely confused the left for some three years or more. It means, moreover, that a precerient has been set for M.P.s to vote against the Government on other issues. Can anyone/ the left defend the mere abstaining on such issues as Vietnam and the incomes policy now? The importance of votingagainst the Government by Labour MPs is that it creates in the minds of millions of Labour supporters an image of a real opposition to Wilson and the Cabinet. This is a real opportunity for the left if it can seize it. We must now demand, quoting this prece dent, that all trade union sponsored MPs vote against the Government on the incomes policy. How can it be possible for TGWU sponsored MPs to support the Government on a policy which is diametrically opposed to their sponsoring union's policy? If there are a continuous series of votes against the Government the idea of an alternative focus to Wilson will gain ground. On the other hand we must recognise the extremely confused state of the movement on the Common Market. ‘The opposition to the application for membership came from a motley bunch: arguments ranging from defence of the Commonwealth to some approaching a real internationalist point of view were heard in Parliament. The left mst, learn the lesson of the mistake of forming unprincipled blocs: this method, which might result in a few voting victories, always confuses the rank and file and makes it more difficult to mobilise mass support for a socialist policy. With these qualifications we must weicome the vote in Parliament as a step forward and a confirmation of the necessity +fighting to build a left within the Labour Party. Those who want to opt/now are proposing to leave at exactly the wrong time. :