Editing Winter of Discontent (section)

==Political difficulties==
[[File:Uk inflation history.webp|thumb|300px|right|UK inflation history <br> [[1976 sterling crisis]]]]

As the Ford strike was starting, the Labour Party conference began at [[Blackpool]]. Terry Duffy, the delegate from [[Liverpool Wavertree]] Constituency Labour Party and a supporter of the [[Militant tendency|Militant]] group, moved a motion on 2 October which demanded "that the Government immediately cease intervening in wage negotiations". Despite a plea from [[Michael Foot]] not to put the motion to the vote, the resolution was carried by 4,017,000 to 1,924,000. The next day, the Prime Minister accepted the fact of defeat by saying "I think it was a lesson in democracy yesterday", but insisted that he would not let up on the fight against inflation.<ref>{{cite book |author=Labour Party |title=Report of the Annual Conference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sjCNAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Labour Representation Committee|page=235|isbn=9780861170357}}</ref>

Meanwhile, the government's situation in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] was increasingly difficult; through by-elections it had lost its majority of three seats in 1976 and had been forced to put together a [[Lab-Lib pact#1977|pact]] with the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] in 1977 in order to keep winning votes on legislation; the pact lapsed in July 1978. A decision to grant extra parliamentary seats to [[Northern Ireland]] afforded temporary support from the [[Ulster Unionist Party]], but the Unionists were clear that this support would be withdrawn immediately after the bill to grant extra seats had been passed &ndash; it was through the Ulster Unionists agreeing to abstain that the government defeated a [[motion of no confidence]] by 312 to 300 on 9 November.<ref name=hay/>

===Further negotiation at the TUC===
By the middle of November it was clear that Ford would offer an increase substantially over the 5 per cent limit. The government subsequently entered into intense negotiations with the TUC, hoping to produce an agreement on pay policy that would prevent disputes and show political unity in the run-up to the general election. A limited and weak formula was eventually worked out and put to the General Council of the TUC on 14 November, but its General Council vote was tied 14–14,<ref>{{harv|Shepherd|2013|p=35}}</ref> with the formula being rejected on the chair's casting vote. One important personality on the TUC General Council had changed earlier in 1978 with [[Moss Evans]] replacing [[Jack Jones (trade union leader)|Jack Jones]] at the TGWU. Evans proved a weak leader of his union, although it is doubtful whether Jones could have restrained the actions of some of the TGWU shop stewards.

After Ford settled, the government announced on 28 November that sanctions{{clarify|date=August 2013}} would be imposed on Ford, along with 220 other companies, for breach of the pay policy. The announcement of actual sanctions produced an immediate protest from the [[Confederation of British Industry]] which announced that it would challenge their legality. The Conservatives put down a motion in the House of Commons to revoke the sanctions. A co-ordinated protest by left-wing Labour MPs over spending on defence forced the debate set for 7 December to be postponed; however, on 13 December an anti-sanctions amendment was passed by 285 to 279. The substantive motion as amended was then passed by 285 to 283. James Callaghan put down a further motion of confidence for the next day, which the government won by ten votes (300 to 290), but accepted that his government could not use sanctions. In effect this deprived the government of any means of enforcing the 5 per cent limit on private industry.<ref>{{harv|Shepherd|2013|pp=55–58}}</ref>