Why the Broad Left has upset the Daily Mail

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Report THE Daily Mail, now joined by the Thames TV gramme, has been waging a campaign against Post Office telecoms in general and PO engineers in particular.

On 26 February 1981, TaruCIe Paedocd phone fixing fiddlers'. The friend alleged widespread illegal installof telephones and (private branch exchanges) by Post Office engineers.

The article was technically inaccurate described the PABXs being 'illicitly tapped into the national switchboard'. There is no such switchboard, and to secretly pul lines into the national The Mail offered SYSLCI no evidence for its allegaLIuls A small amount of illegal installation paratus, such as the odd extension, undoubtedly goes on, but on nothing like the scale suggested by the Mail. The main problem - the backlog in installation is caused by lack cash, itself the result of government-imposed cash limits on the nationalised industries.

Also in February, the Daily Mail ran a piéce on 'Computer power takeover', attacking the Post Office engineers Broad Left.

This detailed the advances made by the left in the POEU. and quoted general secretary Bryan Stanley and right winger John Price of Mainstream about the need to stop the left.

The Mail wants to put the blame for the undeniable backlog in apparatus installation on PO engineers by calling us lazy and corrupt. It is thereby justifying the government's handover juicy part of the business friends in big business, wno are nol sud ject to any cash limits.

Cest slanderous

tacks on PO engineers are CasOteea tOso alenus in the event of confrontamon over tae monopoly o. pay.

This is made more likely by the advance of the Broad Lett in the union. s( the Mail gives backing to the desperate attempts of the right wing Mainstream group and the majority on the executive to cling power by alleging a sinister chl-wile consonacy The present leadership of the union has comp ly failed to defend the erests of its membershi the 35-hour sell-out in 1978, last ye sell-out on pay, and total failure far mount an effective c paign in defence o monopoly.

By contrast, Left supporters fought on all these iss and far bein secretive and manipula WC compl dways OccH open in campaigning our ideas The Broad Left wa