Glasgow led into a trap

THE SURRENDER to the Tory governSURRENDER ment over the 'fair rents' Act by Glasgow over the 'fair rents' Act by Labourites represents a betray Labourites represents a gross betrayal of the city's 150,000 tenants.

For weeks tenants have in effect been led into a trap by the Labour-controlled corporation.

But, for a whole group of councillors, the politics of class-collaboration eventually proved stronger than the principle of fighting on behalf of the working class.

What really scared the 33 Labourites was the prospect of being jailed or fined following the court order made against them on Monday.

As soon as that became the situation, council leader Richard Dynes became converted to the 'rule of law'. • Turning his back on the working class he said: 'We always knew we were fighting the law and could not defend ourselves. There was no point in trying to fight the court action.' Crossed over So on Thursday afternoon Dynes recommended to his council that the Act be implemented. Although 41 Labour councillors still voted for non-implementation, another 33 crossed over, voting with the Tories to swing the day for the government.

Cllr Dynes proved beyond all doubt the bankruptcy of reformism when he declared that if the law was not obeyed, the Labour Party would be destroyed in Glasgow.

Faced with a direct challenge from the Tories — which poses the question of the government's resignation — the leadership at Glasgow simply caved in to become respectable once more.

The city's "150,000 tenants now face rent increases after Christmas. Undoubtedly they will also draw some conclusions about the rottenness of their leadership at the town hall.

£8m threat MEANWHILE, the Tories are using : their powers under the Housing Finance Act to threaten Camden council in north London with the loss of f8m housing subsidies.

Environment Minister Geoffrey Rippon seems determined not to provoke the issue directly in Camden by sending in a Housing Commissioner or ordering an extraordinary audit of the accounts.

Instead he has written to Camden and said if they do not implement the Housing Finance Act within three weeks, the council is liable to lose the £4m subsidy due to be paid after In addition, Camden could lose the subsidy for the 1973-1974 financial year.

Rate rise

At a council meeting on Thursday night, Peter Best, deputy council leader, said if the subsidy was lost, rates would have to rise 25p in the f.

Camden will make a decision in January on whether to continue resisting the Tory government. Builders' picket may face prosecution EVEN BEFORE the Tories' new special police anti-picket squad gets off the ground, the ruits of stepped-up police narassment of strikers are beginning to emerge.

The building trades employers have already cooperated to the hilt police inquiries into inci lents Labour council at Hoyland, near Barnsley, has accumulated a rent deficit of £7,000 because tenants have been refusing to pay increases for nine weeks.

President of Hoyland and District Tenants' Association, lorry driver Les Levitt, told Workers Press that the Labour councillors now claim they would not have implemented the Tory Act 'if they had known they had the people behind them.

The council decided implement by five votes three. alleged to have taken place during the builders' strike.

Now Shropshire police say that inquiries which have ranged into North Wales and the north-west are complete.

Assistant Chief Constable of West Mercia, Alexander Rennie, said: 'A file has been passed to the Director of Public Prosecutions concerning incidents in Shrewsbury and Telford on September 6 during the building strike?

It is being claimed that thousands of pounds worth of damage was done when builders' pickets arrived at various sites in a fleet of cars.