Industrial relations
Sir: Much of the blame for the current industrial unrest lies on the shoulders of the Prime Minister, who has clearly shown himself to be the enemy of ordinary, heads-above-water working-class people.
When he rudely stuck up the rents of council house tenants by £1.50 per week (equivalent to a drop in wages of £2 per week) and invited those who didn't like it to come and be means-tested, he clearly showed his mettle. And now he is doing the same with the council house rates. Robbing the poor to help the poorer is his battle cry. But the poor resent being robbed; and people who live in council houses — as many gas and hospital workers do — are moved to throw stones.
Furthermore, the great majority of rent rebates are automatically deducted from the state social security benefits, and the net benefit to the individual is therefore nil.
Almost by definition Mr Heath is a mean Prime Minister; probably the meanest we have ever had. His municipal means-testing — done by girls at around £1,000 a year — is arguably the biggest growth industry in the country. I cannot see any hope for good industrial relations whilst so partisan a premier occupies the national chair.
J. A. Riley 6 South Avenue, Leigh, Lancashire Sir: Once again, as during the General Strike, we are being told that the activities of certain trade unionists are a threat to democracy.
Contemplating the changes which have taken place in this country during the last ten to fifteen years, most of them for the worst and many of them in defiance of the wishes and opinions of large sections of the public, it appears to me that some of its defenders currently so vocal are and have been a bigger threat to democracy as we thought we knew it than most trade unionists past or present.
Norman Henry 29 Inglefield Avenue, Heath, Cardiff
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