Feudal view
Sir: Mr Witcombe's letter (December 27) is none the less interesting for failing to touch upon the subject of my letter which you kindly published in your December 13 issue, namely, the TUC's reaction to the Lords' amendments to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill to which it purports to be a reply.
I would seriously question the premise that "the Left" equals altruistic concern for "all under-dogs" and trade unionism /capitalism represents only the selfish interests of particular segments of society. One can make out a strong case for the proposition that, in spite of having some obviously unacceptable faces, capitalism in the form of a property and share owning democracy has done in the past and can still do in the future far more for the under-privileged than any of the currently fashionable egalitarian-isms of the left, whether Marxist, Maoist, or Socialist.
I would also seriously question the Shavian premise that trade unionism i's the capitalism of the working class. The maintenance of differentials which Mr Witcombe rightly sees as a hall-mark of trade unionism has more in common with a static, feudal view of society than with the dynamism of equality of opportunity provided by a free enterprise system. It is capitalism, tempered here and there with comparatively modest doses of collectivism, which has, for good or ill, during the last one hundred years or so transformed the basis of our social organisation from an aristocracy to a meritocracy.
This meritocracy is buttressed by a system of parliamentary democracy which, although admittedly far from perfect and continually susceptible of improvement, cannot be bettered by any other type of government to be found in the world today. At different times it has been under attack from different quarters and at the moment is threatened by the trade unions' attempt to usurp the functions of the Legislature. If our institutions, which have been long in the making, and our freedoms, for which we have fought on so many occasions, are to survive, this threat must be met and defeated.
Robin A. Howard 1 Temple Gardens, Middle Temple Lane, London EC4
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