Socialist Unrest In Great Britain

Chronicle (Levin), 25 June 1949, Page 5

Socialist Unrest In Great Britain

~ LO-NDON, May 10. Eritain's Socialists are worried. In spite of the lip service paid bv the unions to G-overnment continuation of its wage-freeze and austerity programme. industrial imrest is causing confusion throuehout the country. Sir Stafford Cripps has told the Labour Party that the only way to prosperity is through increased production. He has offered no incentive. Instead of holding a carrot in front oi' the donkey he has applied the wiiip oenind with the tnreat that, unless everyone works harder, conditions will deteriorate still further. The result is that the workers, who hailed the dawn of a golden age when Labour came to power in 1945, have become exceedingly restive. This week I have been attending the annual conference of the Labour Party in Blackpool. In the vast ballroom of the Wintergardeu over 1400 delegates sat in frozen silence while the crisp, unemotional tones of the Chancellor of the Exchequer cut through the haze of cigarette smoke. They were told. that there could be no wage increases until Britain was producing more; that the one way to^ economic recoverv wa's by hard work; that there was still an armual export gap of £3,000,000 in dollarg to be closed. It had been persistentlv rumoured earlier that Cripps might have to resign, so displeasing was his policy to the unions. But, at a pre-conference meeting, the Chancellor succeeded in gaining the grudging support of 'the' union hierarchv. Two possible reasons for ..their decision to toe the line have been advaneed. The first is that a major split in the ranks would mean certain defeat at the General Election early next vear. The woiinds received at the munieipal eleetions are still. smarting. The other suggestion was made to me hy a Parliamentary Under-Secre-tary, himself an economist. "Cripps knows too much. for any of us in the House. There are few people capahle of arguing with him on finance. He probably convinced the union ofiicials in spite of themselves." Whatever the reason, this support earried the Cripps poliev through at the conference. But many of the underdogs, in the form of Constituency Labour Parties, yapped angrilv at the Chancellor 's heels. Relief from taxation, respite from the perpetual queues. a greater share of profits for workers — these were some of the subjeets upon which thev expanded.

.As in New Zealand, cooperation is not alwavs the theme song of the union bosses. The secretarv of the National Miners' Union, Arthur Horner, toldme: "T am a great believer in the law of supplv and demand. I sell one of the searcest and most valuable commodities in the world today — miners' labour. If the Government wants it, then it must pav for it." This type of attitude provides one of the reasons why the party is casting somewhat Vorried eves towards the future. Unanimitv became more apparent when the election campaign was diseussed. After one pessimistic member had referred to the "disastrous" loeal bodv eleetions it was resolved to launch a drive in order to raise £400, Of* as a fighting fund, and to Taise party membership from its seant 000,000 to 1,000,000. "Labour Believes in Britain" is the name of the reeentlv published 30-page booklet which, the conference decided, will furnish the offieial platform for the next election. Discussions on this vital matter were led bv two Ministers who carry a great deal of weight in the party. Self-assured b'ttle Herbert Morrison appealed stronglv for solidaritv. Bombastic. emotional Aneurin Bcvan, whom manv think will be Prime Minister some dav, quoted the text "Suffer little children — " and painted a picture of a happv rising generation in a Socialist Britain. Botji, however, appeared to protest a little too much about the certainty of a Labour victory at the polls. "Does Britain believe in Labour?" mayjiave been the question uppermost in fheir minds.