Below British

Akers and the circumstances of those who offer or refuse them employment, the capitalist class. It is, therefore, fortunate that the Westminster government has provided reliable information to assist in this task.

In the October 1970 issue of THE EMPLOYMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY GAZETTE there is a fascinating statistical analysis of “Labour costs in N. Ireland.” (1968) which reveals just how “‘cheap”’ labour is in that part of the world. In manufacturing industry, for example, total labour costs for the year amounted to £848. The corresponding figure for the rest of U. K. was £1133. Since the actual wage payment accounts for about 98% of labour costs, those figures mean that, job for job in manufacturing industry, N. Ireland wages were just about 75% of those paid in Britain. A similar situation existed in the construction industry; the figures were £1028 (N.I.) and £1359 (G.B.). Again, job for job, N. Ireland wages were three-quarters of those in Britain. Worst of all was the situation of the worker in mining or quarrying; in that industry total labour costs in the Six Counties were £799, and in Britain £1275. N. Ireland labour costs in mining and quarrying were only 63% (less than two thirds) of those in Britain. In fact, the only approach to parity with Britain was in the white-collar sector of insurance and banking where Six County labour costs were 99% of those in Britain.

There is no sug zestion that the wage pay=" The point being made here is that even by England’s paltry standards the workers in the variations do not alter the case that in N. Ireland wages are much lower, job for job, than in the rest of the U.K. The provision of those figures is not to be Most authorities on Northern Ireland run up against the same problem when they come to discuss the finances of the state. Mansergh writes,“‘The Imperial Government has displayed no little anxiety lest any public discussion of the (financial) relationship between Great Britain and Northern Ireland should reopen the Irish Question as a whole” (“The Government of N. Ireland”’, p.222), He adds; “This anxiety is shared by the Government of Northern Ireland”. And that was written in 1936! I wonder how anxious they must both be now. And later, in 1964 C.J. Lawrence, in a book on the finances of Northern Ireland, complains about the cloud of secrecy over the most pertinent financial matters. And in the Commons Debate on N. Ireland in-September 1961, no less a figure than Harold Wilson made exactly the same complaints.

Well, to refer back to Mansergh’s statement, the Irish question “as a whole” is now reopened, but not because of any public discussion of the financial relationships between Britain and the Six Counties. The secrecy in that area remains, however, and there is probably increased anxiety on the part of both governments—if only because of the 7 vastly increased direct military expenditure. — The figures and the argument g e the true financial relats and if the extent of British capa tion could be demonstrated, it is the class element of the s of the working class there.

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¢ workers in Britain—it is not. adequate for t

N. Ireland are very poorly paid. Also, ihe oils should be said that Bee seh > com- groups mentioned. But the se na and