leader of the Liberal Party.
have slept with in the early 1960s the South African security services have been gunning for 'bomber' Thorpe ever were onto the story several years ago.
miraculously appear in Scott's bank account just before the February 1974 elec.
front page headline treatment in the London Evening News.
erals through gossip and scandal-mongering.
were smashed in Scotland; and the rise in the Liberal vote at the Tories' expense itancy.
gence of a strong unopposed Tory Party. Over the past week the capitalist press has barely been able to contain its glee over the allegations made about a homosexual relationship involving Jeremy Thorpe, the Of course, it is quite irrelevant for us whether or not Thorpe had a sexual relationship with Norman Scott. If he had, we would defend his right to have such a relationship. Our objection to Thorpe is based on his position as an outright enemy of the working class, not on whom he may or may not But why has it taken so long for these allegations to surface publicly? After all, since his famous speech calling for the bombing of railway lines in Rhodesia after UDI. And a front-page report in the Daily Mirror claimed that South African agents More interestingly, one account suggests that the Tories paid Scott £2,500 in 1974 for evidence of Thorpe's sexual behaviour. Although Tory Central Office is threatening writs, there is a file on Thorpe at Tory headquarters, and £2,500 did tion. But fear of libel charges meant that these allegations could not be published until Norman Scott was able to claim legal immunity by laking them in a court of law he story does not come out of the blue, though. We should not forget that a ludicrous charge of bank robbery is now hanging over Young Liberal leader Peter Hain, nor that the conviction of Hain's brother for a minor shop lifting was given And the Tories certainly stand to gain a great deal from the discrediting of Thorpe, Hain and the LibThe 1974 elections revealed that maintaining a number of different political parties to express the interests of varying sections of the ruling class is becoming a bit of a luxury for British capitalism. The chosen party of capital, the Conservatives, made it impossible to keep Labour out of office given the rise in working class milThe Wilson Government may confuse and disorient the working class through its pro-capitalist policies. But it cannot do what Heath failed to do in both 1972 and 1974 - defeat the working class head-on. That is still necessary, and the ruling class is clearing the decks. A strong Tory Party must be reconstructed from the rubble of 1974. Margaret Thatcher becomes the Iron Maiden and uses Cold War rhetoric to rally the middle class. The decimation of the Liberal Party is essential to the emer
4 Cowley/Students Red Weekly 12 February 1976 SOCIALIST