Replacing the Tories

[p038] REPLACING THE TORIES and 1966. the next Labour govern- The Tories are forced to try ment IF THE Tory government is forced to resign by the hope to use betrayals and deceptions by the reformists united mass action of the trade union movement, what will happen then? What will we put in its place? WHAT HAPPENS after the Tories are forced out will not be decided primarily in parliament. The essential question is now that a mass movement of _ the working class can be mobi- lized to drive the Tories out, and this will be the predominant factor in what replaces them. But it is already obvious that the Labour leaders fear this mass movement just as much as the Tories do; so when a Labour government réplaces the Tories, will they not carry on the Tories’ work ? The struggle against the treacherous reformist leaders will have to be carried through to the very end. However, the Labour leaders will not come back in the same circumstances in which they were elected in 1964 and take away every basic When Wilson promotes right, every hard-won gain, from the working class: full employment, health and welfare services, council housing at reasonable rents, trade union and democratic rights. The first and only question before the government which replaces the Tories will be: how to restore these rights and these gains! As the Charter of Basic Rights points out, they can be defeated and restored only by decisive inroads into the property and power of the capitalist class. Workers will have to occupy and run factories to ensure full employment and no closures. Banks will have to be nationalized to control the economy. Building and insurance soci- eties, and the building and building supplies industries, will have to be nationalized under workers’ control, if housing is to be guaranteed to the working class. The forces of the ruling class who are out to destroy democratic rights will have to be fought and defeated. It is these tasks which thé mass movement will pose to Consequently, the Michael Foot and_ Eric Heffer in the Parliamentary Labour Party, it is not be- cause he is contemplating socialist measures, but be- cause he hopes this ‘left’ face will give the working class the illusion that their demands can be satisfied in parliament. But every one of the questions before the working class is a question of the power of the organized working class, not of simply a few parlia- mentary measures. That is why it is so important to demand now that the Labour and trade union leaders mobilize the whole movement. That is why we must fight for all the policy demands in the Charter of Basic Rights, to unite all sections of the working class, low-paid and . well-paid, housewives and trade unionists, youth and adult, for a programme of expropriating the capitalist class. bringing down of the Tories would be the beginning of a new and much more advanced stage of the struggle. The ruling class would then to prepare a rapid change to an ultra-right Tory re- gime, and there would be a decisive struggle on basic questions of a socialist pro- gramme, and of defence against right-wing reaction, inside the trade union and labour movement. In this struggle, the Socialist Labour League and the All Trades Unions Alliance will be fighting for leadership, around the programme of the Charter of Basic Rights. The next Labour government will mark the beginning therefore of the most de- cisive stage in British work- ing-class history: the de- fence of its ic rights demands the struggle for a réal workers’ government, for workers’ power. This is the real meaning of the campaign for the Char- ter of Basic Rights. It is the essential preparation for this decisive political struggle. That is why every trade union- ist should attend the December 19 Conference of the All Trades Unions Alli- ance which will discuss the Charter of Basic Rights and the next steps against the Tories. Fourth International. Winter 1970/71

[p039] REPLACING THE TORIES IF THE Tory government is forced to resign by the united mass action of the trade union . movement, what will happen then? What will we put in its place? WHAT HAPPENS after the Tories are forced out will not be decided primarily in parliament. The _ essential question is now that a mass movement of the working class can be mobi- lized to drive the Tories out, and this will be the predominant factor in what replaces them. But it is already obvious that the Labour leaders fear this mass ‘movement just as much as the Tories do; so when a Labour government réplaces the Tories, will they not carry on_ the Tories’ work ? The struggle against the treacherous reformist leaders will have to be carried through to the very end. However, the Labour leaders will not come back in the same circumstances in which they were elected in 1964 20 and 1966. The Tories are forced to try and take away every basic right, every hard-won gain, from the working class: full employment, health and welfare services, council housing at reasonable rents, trade union and democratic rights. The first and only question before the government which replaces the Tories will be: how to restore these rights and these gains! As the Charter of Basic Rights points out, they can be defeated and restored only by decisive inroads into the property and power of the capitalist class. Workers will have to occupy and run factories to ensure full employment and no closures. Banks will have to be nationalized to control the economy. Building and insurance soci- eties, and the building and building supplies industries, will have to be nationalized under workers’ control, if housing is to be guaranteed to the working class. The forces of the ruling class who are out to destroy democratic rights will have to be fought and defeated. It is these tasks which thé mass movement will pose to the next Labour govern- ment When Wilson promotes Michael Foot and_ Eric Heffer in the Parliamentary Labour Party, it is not be- cause he is contemplating socialist measures, but be- cause he hopes this ‘left’ face will give the working class the illusion that their demands can be satisfied in parliament. But every one of the questions before the working class is a question of the power of the organized working class, not of simply a few parlia- mentary measures. That is why it is so important to demand now that the Labour and trade union leaders mobilize the whole movement. That is why we must fight for all the policy demands in the Charter of Basic Rights, to unite all sections of the working class, low-paid and . well-paid, housewives and trade unionists, youth and adult, for a programme of expropriating the capitalist class. Consequently, the bringing down of the Tories would be the beginning of a new and much more advanced stage of the struggle. The ruling class would then hope to use betrayals and deceptions by the reformists to prepare a rapid change to an ultra-right Tory re- gime, and there would be a decisive struggle on _ basic questions of a socialist pro- gramme, and of defence against right-wing reaction, insidé the trade union and labour movement. In this struggle, the Socialist Labour League and the All Trades Unions Alliance will be fighting for leadership, around the programme of the Charter of Basic Rights. The next Labour government will mark the beginning therefore of the most de- cisive stage in British work- ing-class history: the de- fence of its basic rights demands the struggle for a real workers’ government, for workers’ power. This is the real meaning of the campaign for the Char- ter of Basic Rights. It is the essential preparation for this decisive political struggle. That is why every trade union- ist should’ attend’ the December 19 Conference of the All Trades Unions Alli- ance which will discuss the Charter of Basic Rights and the next steps against the Tories. Fourth International. Winter 1970/71