No one can deny that British industry is backward, under-developed and old fashioned compared with that of other countries. This is the fault of the employers who have preferred to make profits from specu tion, exploiting third world countries, etc., to modernising. Their record is such that one can say that they are not fit to run industry. But this does not mean that workers have to come to their rescue and help them to modernise. In essence, whilever you have employers in control, modernisation means helping to cut labour costs, i.e.,sacking or more intensively exploiting workers. Such aims are totally alien to the trade union movement. A workers' plan is only conceivable if it is part of a process of replacing private ownership of the means of production with social ownershi pe The coming to power of a Government dedicated to achieving workers’ power in Britain would not do away with the balance of payments problem. In fact, this problem would probably become more acute because international big business would make difficulties for the new Government (especially when it set about nationalising foreign investments). But there is no need for this fact to deter us. Small countries like Cuba have shown that it is possible
to stand up to international reaction, headed by the United States. There now exists in one third of the-world countries where capitalism has been destroyed, the new Britain would have to form trade links with these countries. There also exists a "third world", made up largely of countries whose ecoMomies are backward because of imperialist and neo-colonialist exploitation. These countries are in desperate need of factories, plant, etc., to modernise themselves. Because the prices of their exports have been held down by the neocolonialist countries, they have not been able to afford to buy the m@ans of industrialising themselves. A workers' Britain would grant these countries long-term credits to help them build their economies. By these means, British industry could be kept going no matter what international big business did to try to sabotage the new Government. By linking the British economy with other planned economies, the new Government would do much to over come the vagaries and ups and downs of the capitalist world market.