Britain's new Labor government

Hits rich—not too hard

By JOHN WILLIAMSON

LONDON — The welcoming
of the defeat of the hated Tory
government continues among
Britain’s working people, but
the ecstasy in the ranks of the
trade unions is sobering off as
the full impact of the budget
propssals and general aims of
the new minority Labor Govern-
ment are better understood. ©

The budget message of Labor
Chancellor Healy has been

greeted by loud wails of protest.

from the Confederation of Brit-
ish Industry, despite 1973 prof-
its of nearly $23 billion. How-
ever, the really wealthy heaved
a sigh of relief, since they knew
how lucky they were. This fol-
lowed the setting forth of the
Government’s intentions (in the
speech from the Throne.)

The budget proposals to be
welcomed include the increas-
ing pensions for the elderly to
$24 a week for single persons
and $38 for married couples and
increasing other social security
benefits; the reduction by one
penny in the price of a pint of
milk, a freeze on the price of
bread and food subsidies which
should reduce the retail price
index by 114%; the increase in
corporation taxes from 40% to
524%; and a freeze on all house
rents.

' But far too much of the cost
of these reforms falls on the
shculders of othér workers ra-
ther than on the rich. The con-
siderable increase in indirect
taxes on a whole number of
things used by working ‘people,
and the proposed steep in-
creases in electricity charges,
transport, beer and tobacco are
bound to increase the cost of
living for ordinary people. Nor
can it be said the changes in di-
rect taxation were redistribu-
tive in any real sense.

Particularly disgraceful was
(1) letting off the property
speculators scot free until some
future time when development
land may be taken into public
ownership, (2) the postpone-
ment cof a wealth tax, (3). the
miserable cut of orfly $120 mil-
lion in an arms programme of
‘$8,788 million.

Also disturbing was, that far
from taking measures to stimu-

late growth and reverse the:

downward trend in the economy

PARIS — The Communist
Party of France in a special: ple-
nary meeting of its central com-
mittee April 3, went on record
in favor of nominating a single
candidate of the Left forces in
_ the coming Presidential election
in France. =

The election was made neces-
sary by the death of French
President Georges Pompidou.

The political bureau of the
FCP was instructed to strength-
en contacts with the Socialist
Party and the Movement of Left
- Radicals with the objective of

nominating a single candidate.

The first round of Presidential
eléctions will be held on May 5.
_If none of the first-round candi-
dates wins a majority, a run-off
will be held May 19 between the
top two vote-getters.

. TASS, the Soviet news agency,
_ reports that thousands of work-

ers at the Renault works in

Paris supported the demand for —

a Left unity candidate.
A statement by the Renault

_unprecedentedly high

“PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1974—PAGE 6

We must show that the pow-
er of the mass movement and the
Left, if exercised, can. resist the
pressure that big business will
bring to bear on the govern-
ment,” said John Gollan, general
secretary of the Communist Party
of Great Britain.

which started last autumn, the
total effect of the budget is in
the opposite direction and by re-
ducing demand, its effect can
only be a rise in unemployment
later in the year, which the

Tories will use to attack Labor ~

demcgogically. Equally disturb-
ing was the failure to take mea-
sures to deal with the balance of
payments deficit which will not

lead: to either dependence
abroad or reduced economic ac-
tivity. =

Instead of strictly controlling
imports and exports and dispos-
ing of some of Britain’s invest-
ments abroad to clear off the
foreign
deficit, the Chancellor announ-
ced a foreign loan from America
of $2,400 million. He kept dark
the terms and conditions that
will be attached to such a loan.

The Trades Union Congress
General Council majority have
fallen over themselves, promis-
ing to keep their promised ‘so-
cial contract’ with the Labor
Government, which “in effect
means agreeing to some form of
vcluntary wage controls, if their

Section of the French CP says
that such a candidate would
pledge himself to create condi-
tions-in the country for imple-
mentation of a joint government
program of the Left forces.
The statement stresses that
among the thousands of workers
who signed the resolution in
their shops were members of the
French CP, the Socialist Party,
active members of the trade un-
ion organizations, the General
Confederation of Labor (CGT)
and Force Ouvriere. :
Rene Andrie, editor-in-chief of
l’Humanité, French Communist
Party organ, stressed that the
top priority task now is to win
agreement on the nomination of
a single Presidential candidate
for the first round of elections
rather than wait for the second
round.
Metal Workers’ Resolution
His editorial points out that
Communists, Socialists and Left
Radicals are already linked by
the joint government program.

demands are met. Even Trans-
port Workers General Secretary
Jack Jones advises that we
should accept “the realities” of
the Parliamentary situation —

“accepting statutory control of

wages until a voluntary agree-
ment is worked out. He adds
“While we dislike the Pay Code

* we have to put up with it...

as long as the Government
moves quickly ... ”.

In contrast Left Winger, En-
gineers’ President Hugh Scanlon
says Labor “would be in error
to mount a retreat from the
Election Manifésto simply to re-
tain office’, and emphasizes
“The Labor Party is not simply
an electicn machine. It is a
Party with both a purpose and

~ a policy, and ‘both are aimed at

the creation of a socialist so-
ciety.”

Scanlon’s union has been try-
ing to negotiate a new contract
since last August for its over
one million members without
success. They are demanding a
wage increase of $24 weekly.
This- week their Executive de-
cided to put into force an over-
time ban starting April 15th if
their demand is not settled.

The Scottish area of the
miners union, which set the
aims of the miners nationally in
their recently won _ struggle,
have ‘submitted to their coming
national conference a resolution
calling for “total opposition to
all forms of incomes policy,
whether statutory or voluntary,
so long as the profit-making
character of British society re-
mains unaltered’. :

The Communist Party posi-
tion can be gleaned from two
excerpts from long documents.
General Secretary John Gollan
says “To try to solve (the crisis)
on traditional capitalist lines
with the power of the monopo-
lists and the wealthy untouched
will only make it worse, lead to
austerity and sacrifice, and dis-
credit the new Labour Gov’t to
the advantage of the Tories. . .
The only immediate program
which can succeed in solving
the crisis is a Left programme.
We must show that the power
of the mass movement and the
Left, if exercised, can resist the
pressures that big business will

bring to bear on the Govern-

ment”.

The Metallurgical Workers
Union of the Paris district affi-
liated to the (CGT) passed a
resolution at a meeting Thurs-
day night in support of a unity
candidate. 2

“The nominee should make. a _

statement that he will imple-
ment the joint program of the
Left forces so as to successfully
challenge the candidates of. re-
action and capitalist monopo-
lies,” the resolution said. |

- Robert Fabre, leader of the
Left -Radicals, has suggested
Francois Mitterand, head of the
Sccialist Party, as the joint can-
cidate of the Left forces.

In 1965 Mitterand broke the
myth of the invincibility of the
Gaullist ruling party by forcing’
Gen. Charles de Gaulle into a
runoff in the Presidential elec-

- tion.

Pending the elections, Presi-

dential duties will be carried out ~

_ by Alain Poher, president of the
Senate.

— Daily World ~

‘CONTRARY 10

By TOM MORRIS

The night U.S. secretary of
state Kissinger left for Moscow,
March 23, the Toronto Star pub-
lished the first in a series of
three \articles by their “Asian
expert”, Mark Gayn.

The series covered three full-
pages and the Star billed it as
“an exclusive’ containing ma-
terials “never before published’.
Toronto Star readers who follow
Gayn’s travels and stories might
find this series simply an_ ex-
tension of Gayn’s theories. His
capacity to weave in question-
able ‘facts and statistics” with
his own notions is boundless,
but he has the effect of appear-
ing authoritative.

This latest series offers
Gayn’s views about detente and
a dangerous, historically false
and slanderous view emerges.
Gayn’s ‘thesis is:

© In 1968-69 the Soviet Union,
faced with a stagnant economy
decided “to take a fresh, close,
critical look at Soviet policies
and Soviet posture in world
affairs.” :

e The USSR found the “tech-
nological gap widening” with
the West, and needed Western
assistance in advanced know-
how, managerial expertise and
long-term credits,

e The West wouldn’t agree to

help the USSR until the Cold

War was moderated.
% * *

The long and sometimes
James Bondish section of Gayn’s
first article on how the Soviet
leadership arrived at the “honey-
moon of detente” bears little

ccmment except that Gayn’s

sources must have imaginations
equal only to his own. He
weaves a tale of intrigue, divid-
ing the leadership into “hawks”
and “doves” who finally in 1967-
68 are forced to begin a policy
of detente to save the collaps-
ing Soviet economy.

Gayn asks the reader to swal-

low some pretty important pre-

sumptions: ‘that the USSR’s
policy toward the capitalist
world has always been one of
confrontation and brinkmanship;
that the cold war is a socialist
Strategy; that the capitalist
world has always been for de-
tente; that the Soviet economy

is stagnant; that the capitalist

world wants the cold war stop-
ped in order to help the USSR.

. world was

direct capitalist | the

Masked behind the detente

series is the old
ology. It’s an alta
ism and on _
discarding ;
cold war language,
history around, #
history, he por a
of detente and 1
a Soviet plot t0
nomically and, a
build its strength

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tance of his
USSR is fig
would lead some
rocess... -= a
peBut history a

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