Those Palace talks were

DRAW THE BENEATH the words and argument at 10 Downing Street, the Tories, the unions and the top employers are trapped in an economic and political crisis that cannot be resolved by talk.

Each day as the marathon stretches into the early hours one thing is clear— the sword will have to be drawn. The Tories must do battle with the working class and the day of reckoning cannot be far away.

The actors in the drama meet in separate rooms, then they meet in the same room on separate tables. They break and eat game pie, then they talk once more. But the obstacles remain.

The difficulties appear irreconcilable. Not even the most servile TUC bureaucrats has the power or independence to deliver the ready goods. If concessions were made, the Tories would understand them as paper promises. The fight with the working class over wages and rights would still lie ahead.

But the stalemate only mirrors the exact balance of class forces within capitalist Britain today, and the delay indicates only that the Tories still hesitate to resolve that balance by confrontation.

What are the real issues that dominate these talks? • On one side stand the working class, ready to fight the important wages struggle in the mines, the power industry and local government and still bitterly hostile to the National Industrial Relations Court. • On the other stand the monopolies that make up the capitalist fraternity of the country.

Two things are happening on this front. First we have the mad merger scramble. Yesterday it was P&O bidding for Bovis. Now the massive investment and property conglomerate Trafalgar Investments wants to swallow Bowaters. So the big boys too are preparing for battle, ganging up to weather the storm of crisis and struggle with the working class.

The other move is to Europe. Vast capital sums are flowing across the Channel to the Cantinent. Capital exports from Britain for the hirst six months ot this year have already exceeder capital exports for all of 1971— itself a record year.

This 1S not haphazard development, it is quite deliberate. The Finance Ministers of capitalist Europe are now working out a plan for joint control SWORD!

A majestic wave and a smile from Victor Feather as he goes into 10 Downing Stree of capital movement and investAll these developments mean one thing. The balance of forces tips dramatically either towards the working class or the monopolies.

As the economic crisis gets worse the political equilibrium cannot be maintained. That is why the Socialist Labour League fights to develop revolutionary leadership in preparation for the momentous struggles ahead.

Printworkers' leader Richard Briginshaw says the Tories are playing for a 'dirty' election.

In fact the situation is even more serious. Time is running out for this government. The issues must be resolved and major class struggle may only be weeks away.

There is no longer the money to pay for the reforms on which the old so called 'democratic' system rested.

Even if the Tory government won a snap election the major issue would still be in front.

The real frustration and anger of the government surfaced in parliament when the Minister for Employment Robin Chichester Clark made his veiled attack on the engineers' union, now facing censure from the National Industrial Relations Court. FURTHER information surfaced yesterday about Tuesday night's secret talks at Buckingham Palace between the Duke of Edinburgh, TUC leaders and the CBI-revealed exclusively in yesterday's Workers Press.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman told Workers Press that the talks had not been included on Tuesday's Court Circular because they 'weren't public'.

A TUC spokesman was surprised when he learned of the talk. He had not been informed that his boss, Victor Feather, had been to the palace for an hourThe soft-talk at Downin Street is one thing. But deep i the bowels of Whitehall the res plans are being laid. These in volve rule by decree on wages, renewed legal offensive agains the unions and the destructio of entire areas of industri: Britain after entry into Europe.

The Tories postponed thi battle in the summer when th five dockers were released fror jail. They cannot dodge the issu again.

This means the workinø rlas must be mobilized now. Talks with the Tories only help the class enemy prepare for battle. They must be broken off imso secret long discussion chaired by the Duke. Other trade union leaders at the palace were Hugh Scanlon, Jack Jones, George Smith, Alf Allen, Alan Fisher and Frank Chapple.

None of their union headquarters issued a statement mentioning that they were sitting at the royal table with CBI director, W. O. Campbell Adamson, and big business leaders, lord Stokes of British-Leyland, Lord Sieff of Marks and Spencer and Lord Melchett, the chairman of the British Steel Corporation.

The conference was held under the sponsorship of the Industrial Society, a body which offers advice on industrial relations.

A trade union spokesman yesterday said it was a Baden Powell kind of outfit'. He said trade union leaders knew little about its aims or function, 'except that it preaches better relations on the shop floor-whatever that means'.

Ostensibly Tuesday night's meeting was called to prepare for a study conference on industrial relations to be held in Oxford in July 1974.

ing the Society's activities with great attention, particularly since it began to hold seminars to discuss industrial relations.

It regularly stages luncheons at which Tory Ministers and trade unionists give their views. These elaborate functions are staged at plush hotels like the Connaught and cost anything up to £10 to attend.

The director is John Garnett whom the Tories invited to sit earlier this year. The saciety is on the miners' arbitration currently raising £200,000 to pay for the conversion of its sumptuous headquarters in Carlton House Terrace.

The appeals committee consists of Eric O. Faulkner (Lloyds Bank), Sir Norman Kipping (Pilkington Brothers), Sir Maurice Laing (John Laing Construction), Sir lan Lyle (Tate and Lyle), Lord Mancroft (Cunard Line and exTory junior minister), Lord Robens (Vickers) and Victor Feather of the TUC.

Among the donors to the fund are Sun Life Assurance, Shell, GEC, Abbey National Building Society, Ford, IBM, British Oxygen, Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, Valor Group, Decca, Bank of England, Lloyds Bank, Midland Bank, National Westminster, Barclays, Marks and Spencer, Pilkington Whitbread, Imperial Tobaccoo, Watney and Whitbread.