TENANTS MINERS SAY NO TO TORY RENT LAW

Just 48 hours ago the Tory government began plans for an all-out assault on 11 Labour councillors in a small Derbyshire town who have refused to have any. thing whatsoever to do with the Housing Finance As the district auditor arrived in Clay Cross on Thursday, tenants jeered in defiance. He had come with instructions under his belt from the Tories to make a special examination of the council's housing account.

The council-100 per cent Labour-has not implemented the Housing Finance Act. Over £11,500 in rent revenue is missing to date as a result.

The entire Labour council in Clay Cross could soon be bankrupted by paying all the rent outstanding since October It would mean their automatic removal from the council for at least five years. If any court orders to obey the law are ignored it could mean jail for contempt.

Either way it means that the Tories intend to disenfranchise the workers of Clay Cross, to deny them their democratically-elected representatives.

And there is yet another blow being aimed at Clay Cross workers. The Tories have warned the council that failure to implement the Act could mean repayment of subsidies of about £25,000 given earlier this year. 'Who would have to pay that is anyone's guess, said William Casterton, the coun cil's chief financial officer.

Clay Cross is now right in the firing line against all the Tory attacks on the working class, on rents, on jobs, on prices and on basic democratic rights to elect who you want.

Every single council tenant is behind the ten men and one woman who sit in the chamber at the municipal buildings. Many of the 1,387 have stickers in their windows to prove it.

Miners have said they will support the councillors if they are touched by the Tories. Any such move by the government could touch off an explosion in the area.

Not that such struggles are anything new to Clay Cross. A few years ago the district auditor had to examine why the council was only charging 50p rent for new houses and subsidizing them out of the general rate account.

The council successfully denied Tory instructions to end free school milk.

On house building Clay Cross has a fine record, building at the rate of 25 times the national average in the 1960s, sweeping away many of the slums that scarred this ex-mining town.

For years the council has had a policy of municipalizing all private property coming on to the market.

When pits surrounded the town things were more prosperous. Now they have nearly all gone. The dole queue iS staggering, with an 18-percent unemployment rate.

Mass unemployment, the defence of basic rights gained over years of struggle, make Clay Cross Labour councillors unanimously opposed to the Tory government's attempts to destroy municipal housing once and for all.

Arthur Wellon, an engineer in the county council's bridges' department, is leader of the Clay Cross council. told me that when the White Paper on 'fair rents' was first published 18 months ago, Clay Cross said they would oppose it. Ever since, they have refused to implement the legislation. •ing class want a solution to The majority of the workall their problems and we've got to take up this challenge and give a lead. Look, five days after the first round of tripartite talks, 4 million tenants were paying £1 a week extra in rents. Can we trust such a government?

Of course one of the sad things is that the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party sent out such a miserable document on 'fair rents' telling councils they could do what they liked. So the Party rank and file have not had any lead from the top.

The basic policy of this government is to put the working class back in its rightful place, to trample them underfoot.

You want to make people grovel by this Family Income Supplement scheme.

Now we have to put our principles first. There time when it's taken too far -when the working class have to dig in their heels. This is one of those times.

Someone, somewhere says that's enough. It stops here.

That task has fallen to Clay Cross council even if we are alone. We must • give this lead.

The only woman on the council is Mrs Eileen Wholey, who works as a cook in the local school. Her husband works down Arkwright Colliery.

We can't afford it and won't put up these rents.

The Tories can never frighten us——we'll still go forward. For 18 months we've stuck it out frightened while many councellors ot out of office. And it's brewing quences.

We are all socialists here up for that, for another Irewith very deep principles. if land here. they take us, more will come just the same. We thrive happen when Labour is reon this sort of thing in Clay turned is a clear out of the Cross. But we haven't had the right wing in the movement, leadership from the top of the like what happened Labour Party. with Taverne.

Now the trade union movement must rally behind us. on the five-year-old Danemoor The Tories have been putting housing estate. the working class down. But • I don't want to pay any if the working class gets together we could put the Tories would mean scrimping and DINT DINT 1. DON'T TAKE A CHA CHANCEKEEP VOX SAF • BE scraping to find another £1 for housekeeping money.

Anyway, we've already had One thing that will have to to cut down on food because of the prices going up. Biscuits are out, even though some people might consider them a luxury. We also have a smaller joint at weekends Mrs Susan Williams lives now.

The council must be supported. They've done such : a lot for Clay Cross. All the more rent. If I did, it slums have been cleared and these new estates built with cheap rents.

This Tory government does not cater for us. It has told lies since it got in. Prices have absolutely shot up.

We put these councillors there and we are going to CROSS l IMPLEMENT THE ACEU from Chesterfield and about working class and the labour ten miles from Clay Cross.

As yet nothing has been decided by the Derbyshire think that's long coming. area council of the NUM on Clay Cross's call for support.

If the Tories intend to concerned, • I would be in 1S1 bring down the Tory governmovement will react sharply ment is through the power inand quickly. And I don't dustry. We nearly did it ourselves this year. Now that the As far as strike action in electricity supply question is support of the councillors is settled, it's up to us.

Now the question is whement. As Arthur Wellon says: 'Nothing can be solved while this Tory government remains in office. Unless the whole of the trade union and working class movement takes up the lead from us then all we've done is prove a point. There's going to be a clash with this government in which someone wins and someone loses.' In Derbyshire itself, miners' leadership has enormous responsibility to see that Clay Cross does not remain on its own, to be picked off by the Tories at will.

The working class must be rallied to the defence of the councillors who are leading the battle against this reactionary and justly despised Tory government.

A defeat for Clay Cross would be a most serious blow against the entire labour and trade union movement. Hard-won basic and democratic rights would be trodden under foot by the Tory government the defeat of Clay Cross as part of this strategy of rule by decree.

Only one thing can ensure victory at Clay Cross or anywhere else where the struggle is on against the government: The mass mobilization of the working class to force them to resign from office immediately.

In their place a Labour government must be put back compelled by the movement to carry out socialist policies of expropriation of the basic industries without compensation and under workers' control, and the repeal of all Tory legislation on rents, the unions and the health service.

And in that hotbed of rapidly - developing political consciousness among millions of workers, the revolutionary party will be built in Britain to sweep capitalism away finally and take the power to establish a workers' state.

NO