The nationalization of Britain's steel industry has long been an emotion charged shibboleth for British socialists. Clement Attlee's Labor government succeeded in taking over the industry in 1951 only to be driven from office eight months later, partly because it had muddled the steel industry so badly. The Tories put most of steel back into private hands. When he took over as Prime Minister in 1964, Harold Wilson tried to renationalize steel with his thin majority, but retreated when he saw how perilous ly close the vote would be. Last week, with a healthy majority assured since the March...
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