PUTTING CLASS WAR INTO THE CAMPAIGN

Communists want—and get—
a big wave of strikes
ALL over Britain. in half a dozen different important industries, the Communists are working to build up as much industrial unrest as possible before polling day. By this means they hope to inject a " class-against class " atmosphere into an election which, from their point of view, tends in the main to be a far too gentlemanly affair.
This is. in fact, their normal tactic at election time. But this time they are meeting with unusual success.
The big strike in the Yorkshire coal field. the Merseyside tugmen's strike, the threat of a stevedores' strike next week. which will dislocate a number of important docks, all suit their purpose well.
Some of these are directly Communist fomented. others are heavily hacked by the Communists. All are entirely according to the Communists' liking.
Always, when elections are pending, the Communist Party works to try to produce a wave of industrial unrest. Such a situation. it believes, serves its purpose in a variety of different ways : It helps to bring the class war into the election: It raises the workers' militancy, so making them tend to " vote as Left as they can "—i.e, to vote Communist where the Party has a candidate, to demand left-wing policies of Labour candidates where it has not; It makes the campaigns of both' sides more hitter.
They would dearly love to provoke the Conservatives in particular into promising to make unofficial strikes illegal—and then proceed to get a wave of such strikes in protest.
At the annual conference of the Communist dominated Electrical Trades Union last week-end Mr. Frank Foulkes, the President, who is himself a leading member of the Party. anticipated such a situation. He made it known that any strikes by members of his union will he treated as " official." even though the authority of the executive has not been sought before strike action is taken.
Their work
The Communist Party has 17 of its own candidates in the field and where these are standing. the whole weight of the party for miles around is thrown behind them.
Where there is no Communist standing. the Party sends its members to work for Labour candidates
Where they still do Communist propaganda. In most cases. though not all. the Communists' aid is neither sought nor wanted and their value as allies is regarded as at the hest doubtful.
The work they opt for is, in particular. canvassing. for by the nature of the work there is no-one to check on what line they are taking when they are on the door-sten. In fact they advance policies which hear little relation to those of the Labour. Party.
An indication of their approach is contained in the current issue of World News. which is the Party's weekly journal for its own activists.
A special box reads as follows. "Going on the knocker? Don't forget to take with you, whether nr not a Communist candidate is standing in your constituency. conies of the following:. ." Then follow the names of four Communist Party eublications which outline. not Labour Party policy. but that of the Communist Party
itself. D. 14.