The industrial war has hotted up. Battles with the police, threats of mass sacking for "industrial misbehaviour", solidarity action by workers in defence of their brothers have become a daily occurence. Hach issue is complicated and thepress, aided and abetted by the Labour Government and to the accompaniment of squeaks from the Lord Carron, trics to whip up hysteria against militants. But we know where we stand: these are our class brothers under attack and our place is by their side. We have, of course, the duty to explain in the clearest andmost convincing way the issues at stake and to mobilise all shades of opinion in support of the militants. But, as to where we stand, there can be no doubt. We must resolutely oppose all those who seek to confuse the issues and who are on the wrong side of the fence in these struggles. This goes for all those sections of the trade union leadership - no matter how left they might be on other issues - who vacillate. This paper has warmly supported the initiatives of the Transport & General Workers' Union in opposing the Government. It is delighted by the votes that union has cast against the Government on Vietnam and the Incomes Policy.
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But that support is not unconditional. If the TGWU supports its members, we will be delighted and add our mite. If it does not, our criticism will be reasoned but trenchant. We will apply this standard to all other struggles. A special task devolves on members of the Labour Party. They must first of all identify the left of the party with the industrial militants. Then they must work out practical solidarity actions that they take to support them. These actions must take the form of political, educational and material assistance, They must do this, first for moral-cum-socialist reasons; and secondly, in order to survive. As we have pointed out before, the only hope of the left in the Labour Party is to link itself with living struggles. Let every reader of this paper decide what action he or she can take along these lines.