Brighton

the mawkish votes of thanks to all concerned, the singing of 'The Red Flag' and 'Auld Lang Syne' — has subsided, many delegates will no doubt be getting down to some sober questioning.

In his summing-up, Wilson described the Party's present position as that of 'a family free to argue but fundamentally united'. But this is clearly nonsense.

The conference finished up split down the middle over the government's pay laws, with 2,272,000 out of some 6,000,000 votes cast against the executive's 'Agenda for a Generation' (a policy statement intended to form the basis of the Party's manifesto for the next general election).

The bulk of these opposition votes came from Britain's two major unions, the Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundryworkers and the Transport and General From the outset, however, it must be made clear that the centrist leaderships of neither of these unions wanted to vote this way.

Deplorable

AEF president Mr Hugh Scanlon said on Tuesday night the possibility they might have to do this was 'most deplorable'. By Thursday, he was looking towards what was to happen the next morning 'with some concern'.

Last Friday itself was a 'heads together' morning, as Transport and General Workers' Union general secretary Mr Jack Jones conferred with Scanlon, then with Party secretary Mr Harry Nicholas, and with other trade union chiefs, in a last-ditch attempt to avert Just before the vote, he Barbara Castle, Minister for Employment and Productivity.

went to the rostrum to ask for an executive statement that the document 'in its present form will not be issued until the national executive committee have revised it' The executive, however, was not playing politics.

Big forces, rarely even so much as mentioned at Brighton, determined this split.

Reluctant

Government spokesmen, on the one hand, were answering the demands of international capital expressed by the International Monetary • Fund, on the other, the union leaders were pressed reluctantly forward by the mounting opposition in the working class to the attacks of the Labour leaders.

Whatever the conference's decisions, of course, these attacks will continue.

Beneath the electioneering surface of all the major government policy statements at lor of the Exchequer Mr Roy Jenkins told delegates last Wednesday that while progress had been made during the year this did not mean there was going to be any relaxation — particularly in the squeeze on home consumption.

What was needed, he said, was 'positive determination to continue with the policies which have got us this far'.

His claim that there was nothing he said to the IMF that he would not be glad for the Labour conference to hear should, of course, be treated with considerably more scepticism than his assertion that, 'there is nothing I am going to say to this conference which I would not be glad for the IMF to hear'.

Although many delegates cheered both statements indiscriminately, it was, as one disgusted union official commented as he left the conference hall that morning, 'like a banker addressing his shareholders' Unchallenged With the help of a solid block of right-wing unions and constituency parties, Wilson comes away from Brighton with his major policies-wage restraint, the squeeze, and entry into the Common Market-unchallenged.

Both left and right of the party jumped unhesitatingly during last Monday's debate into Home Secretary Mr James Callaghan's pocket over Ulster -adding yet more power to his elbow in the use of troops.

For their part, Wilson's Ministers themselves are committed to little if anything at In Thursday's Common Market debate, the draughtsmen's union dropped their amendment calling on the government to withdraw from negotiations for entry and allowed the T&GWU's motion - which called merely for 'adequate safeguards' — to go through unopposed.

Mrs Castle's pledge HOW FLEET STREET SEES THE "LEFTS' 'Superficially, Messrs. Jones and Scanlon seemed to be shaping up to be the sort of leftist union demagogues that the public love to hate.... It's clear enough that they are shaping up not only to become the Terrible Twins of the left but, more importantly, outstanding trade union leaders' 'On the two major controversies, the Common Market and incomes policy, Mr Wilson's authority survived intact ... to his delight, he has received the assurance from the most militant trade union leader, Hugh Scanlon, that the unions will fight for his reelection as their leader just the same' late for equal pay came, of course, in the same speech as her commitment to re-activate Part Two of the Prices and Incomes Act and must be taken in line with Wilson's Portsmouth declaration that progress towards equal pay will be firmly linked to the requirements of the incomes policy.

Role is in this context that t look at the role of Labour and trade union 'lefts'.

Their 'unity' with the right wing at Brighton was built up almost entirely around the already-tottering edifice of the Trades Union Congress's 100day-old agreement to do the government's dirty work in the unions and the hope that some equally rotten compromise might be reached over the incomes policy.

At the Labour Party's 'demonstration'-really just a rally --on the Sunday before conference began, 'star' speaker Mr Victor Feather pledged that the undertaking would be 'carried out 100 per cent.

The TUC's work towards improving productivity, moreover, was expanding.

Feather seemed proud of his claim that many • managers were now getting their under(David Haworth, "The Observer', October 5.) (Nora Beloff, "The Observer', October 5.)

standing of these questions from the TUC!

Then on Thursday afternoon the 'lefts' lined up, without exception, behind the AEF's ledge of support for the abour government.

Programme

Amended on a close vote by the Post Office Engineering Union, its resolution pledged all possible assistance in its 'efforts to overcome the balance of payments deficit and our Industria Corresponden Seen With Ernie Roberts (left), assistant secretgamated Uni and kers James Callaghan, create a strong economy.

Instead of fighting to mobilize their members against the whole range of the government's anti-working-class policies, so as to finish with the Wilson leadership and fight the Tories on a socialist programme, the 'lefts' took every opportunity to make play of Party unity-emphasizing how good most of the Party's policies were and what good economic 'progress' had been made.

As 'left' MP Eric Heffer (Walton, Liverpool) said last Thursday night, when he and Sid Bidwell MP (Southall) got together at a public meeting with 'state capitalists' Paul Foot and John Palmer in yet another diversion to prevent delegates drawing the real lessons of the conference Wilson 'when I hear the slogan out!" its means "Heath in, Powell in"' No, Mr Heffer! The real groundwork for Powell, as you well know, has been done by the Wilson leadership itselfand the refusal of the 'left' re6.00, 6.45, 7.10, 7.25, 8.50, 9.10, 10.00, 9.15 a.m. 12.25 p.m., For Schools and Colleges. 12.25-12.50, Apna Ili Ghar Samajhiye. 12.55-1.25, Ble Carechi Chi Fynd? 1.30, Watch with Mother. 1.45-1.53, News and Weather. 2.5-2.50, For Schools and Colleges. 3.45, Representing the Union. 4.20, Play School. 4.40, Jackanory. 4.55, Zokko! 5.15, Wild World. 5.44, Babar. 5.50, National News and Weather.

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