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of those of the winter of 1973-74, which forced the country onto a three
day work week and ultimately led to the fall of Edward Heath's Conserva
tive government. As a result of this winter's turmoil, Labor's principal
appeal to the electorate -- that it could handle the powerful unions
better than the Conservatives could -- has been severely damaged. The
months of strikes and threats of other walkouts have dramatically cut
into the Labor's popularity. Latest polls give the Tory party a 13% lead
over Labor.
Whether, and how, to curb the power of the unions has now become the main
issue of British politics. Expected labor-management confrontations,
with the possibility of still more paralyzing strikes to come, could yet
produce a national upheaval far worse than any seen in Britain to date.
Public patience with the unions appears near the breaking point, as
evidenced in a recent Gallup poll in which 84 percent of the British
public expressed the feeling that the power of the trade unions is
inordinate. Nor surprisingly, Tory leader Thatcher has been pushing
hard to capitalize on the national mood of disenchantment over union
extremism.
In the few weeks remaining before election day, both parties will be
busily maneuvering for votes. The Labor government will be making fresh
efforts to patch up some sort of last-minute agreement with the unions
to bolster its standings in the polls. The Tories will most probably
seek to maintain their current lead by holding out the prospect of a new
beginning under their leadership.
The only nationwide third party is the small Liberal party, led by David
Steel {its former leader, Jeremy Thorpe, is under indictment for conspiracy
to murder). Though customarily drawing only five to six percent of the
popular vote, the Liberals hope for enough seats to hold the balance of
power between the two major parties after the election.
The election results will be known in less than a month. The big question
is whether any government wii1 be able to successfully stern the steady
tide of national erosion and stave off the almost certain economic ruin
which faces Britain today. For even in the non-stop electioneering
currently underway, few voices of any party are to be heard addressing
the fundamental root causes of Britain's half-century of decline from
world-power statUS:- Politicians continue to search for the easy way out,
for solutions which will be palatable to the voters. Until Britons come
to realize there is no easy way out, prospects remain bleak indeed.
--Gene H. Hogberg and Keith Stump, News Bureau