The French were busy trying to line up everybody against the Americans on oil, the Italians were threatenting that unless sorcone bailed them out their system would collapse into the hands of the "red peril", and the West Germans were trying to organise everybody on an even harder line than usual against the oil producing countries and the third But Wilson brought a glimmer of noTe 11 stands to reason that Dropided we get the right terms...I shall commend them to the British people and recommend that we should stay in and play our full part in the deselopment of the Community.
The response of the capitalist press was gleeful, The Financial Times headlined Wilson EEC speech smoothes the way and The Times rejoiced Wilson speech raises hopes of Paris Surimit talks success.
They have every reason to be pleused. Staying in the EEC is virtwally a life and death quescion for Britain's capitalise class. Witl Heath having failed them at the elections. the capitalists are now relying on Wilson and the Laboar Government to do their dirty work.
Wilson and Foreign Secretary Collaghan aim to confuse the working class movement by screwing a few concessions out of the French and Germans. On the basis of this "triumph a referendum can then be stampeded through Wilson will claim that the Labour Cabinet and (iF possible) the Parliamentary Labour Party are for staying in, and speak as the highest authority of the working class movement. On the basis of this he will try to dragoon chough Labour votes into alliance with the Liberals and Tories to get a majority for staying The Labour 'left' is quite incupable of dealing with this situation. All their nationalist nonsense about "Parliamentary sovereignty explodes like a bomb in their faces, The whole reason the Labour right can even think of getting away with such a manoeuvre is because they diso stand for 'Parliamentary sovercignty —in particular against the decisions of the working class move.
According to the right, Parliament is the ultimate expression of working class democracy. The "little' facts that Parliament is actually an organisation in which workers' representatives cacape from all working class control, that it has absclutely no real power over the armed forces, the state or the economy, are all conveniently forgotten.
And how does the Labour "left" deal with this! Do they stand up and say that while a Parliamentary system may provide much more favourable conditions for carrying out the working class struggle than rascism or military rule, nevertheless Parliament is not an instrument of working class democracy? Do they point out that even the existing organisations of the working class. let alone the workers' councils that will be built in the future, ure a hundred times more democratic than Parliament? No chance. They too -led by the likes of Michael Foot -troop along shouting about pres erving Parliament Sovereienty"
how to do is dig its own grave.
The Labour lefts' are pinning their hopes on an emergency Labour Party Conference to call for a vote #gunst membership in any referendum. But by the time this meets it will be loo late. A Labour Party conTerence held three or four weeks before a referendum won't be able to organise a real campaign against the bandwagon of publicity and tubthumping the capitalist and Wilson will be engaged in by then, of the working class movement are needed now to launch a campaign against memhership of the EEC on any terma. Leaflets and meetings must be pumped into the factories to conhter the massive press campauen. Only steps along these lines can defeat the machinations of Wilson and the capitalists.
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A goings on behind the scenes were enough to leave Jack the Ripper green with envy The only person bearing good tidings into this den of thieves and bandits appeared to be our own