Our Promise "In the name of islam" screamed the front page of Today just atler the Oklahoma bombing.
Every ofher big monay nowspaper sang the same tune. And they all got it wrong.
The reason? The modern capitalist press system promotes people with little sense of social reallty or respect for facts. And cash, gadgetry and privileged access to sources are no substitute for hard anatais, Justification enounh for the existence of small Independent publications such as ours!
We can't promise to bring you exclush on-the-spot footage from every corner of the mor na do premIsa not to make things up or treat pr a of the Ful imour factories as proven fact. PHASE ONE was the elimination of Clause Four, a trial of strength with the left in the Labour Party and the unIons, in which he enlisted the backing of the right wing mass. media.
Phase Two in Tony Blair's preparation for government will be further moves to cut the unions' voice in policy making. It is already clear that union leaders who have opposed him will be allowed little or no influence on key issues.
Phase Three is likely to Include proposals for the state funding of political parties that would end Labour's financial dependency and enable Blair to sever the remaining links between the party and the trade union movement that founded it.
Blair knows that his government, like previous Labour governments, will run into conflict with the trade union movement If it sticks to its right wing programme of minimal change.
Millions of workers who are at present indifferent to the wording of Blair's new clause will vote Labour not to uphold the rigours of competition and the market, but in the expectation that new policies will be implemented to benefit them.
Minimum wage They take seriously the call for a minimum wage, and they want that to be set at a serious level in excess of 24 per hour.
They want an end to the Tory war on the public sector, and cut- throat competitive tendering in local government and the NHS. They want extra funds for , health, education and pensions, and schemes to create real jobs, new houses and restore a viable public transport system. They may not realise that none of these are on offer from Blair's New Labour.
They will vote Labour because it remains the traditional party of the working class, and because workers. take politics seriously.
This is not France, where the far left can safely cast a first round vote for a leftist candidate they know cannot win before choosing again in the second round. Workers want the Tories out, and Labour is the only plausible alternative government to the Tories.
Tony Blair has no intention of proposing policies that answer the needs of the working class. But it is equally clear that his actual policies can only be tested out, fought and defeated in practice.
As long as the dominant factor in workers' minds is getting rid of the Tories, debate on finer points of policy for the future appears abstract and irrelevant.
The time to take on Blair and win is once the main enemy has been swept away, and the timid role of Labour in office runs into conflict with the mood and aspirations of the working class.
That's why the fight now in the unions and in the CLPs remains crucial in setting out the ground for the fight to come.
Blair so far has accomplished only Phase One of his master-plan to reshape the Labour Party. The left must fight tooth and nail to stop the completion of this plan.
The battle in every union conference this summer must include the fight for specific policy commitments that would be demanded of a Labour government, and for opposition to any attempt to weaken the union link.
And the June 17 conference, aiming to unite the left in the party and the unions in a campaign for socialist policies, will be an important rallying point.
Blair is preparing for government. The left must prepare as well.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 83 May 13 1995, Page 4.