Socialist Action (LSA) Vol. 1, No. 2, February–March 1976
A different group, and a different paper from the IMG’s Socialist Action of 1983–88. The League for Socialist Action were supporters of the US Socialist Workers Party’s tendency in the Fourth International who split from the IMG in 1976 and rejoined it in 1982.
The scan: Socialist Action v1 no2 feb-mar 1976.pdf (PDF, Marxists Internet Archive)
Uncorrected machine reading of the whole issue. This text was read by machine (Apple Vision OCR) from the scan and has not been corrected or cut into articles. Each page gives the headlines first, then the columns in order, so one article runs on into the next. Expect misread words. Use it to find things; quote from the scan.
Page 1 scan of this page
SOCIALIST ACTION TROOPS OUT
ABORTION:
On February yin, by a massive majority of 313 to only 172, Commons decided to re-convene the Select Committee which was originally established, in ine last session, to 'investigatel James Whitels anti-abortion Bill. decision to re-convene the Cttee (which has already led to a tightening up of the 1967 Act) is a clear victory for the mass abortion campaign which SPUC has been waging over the past number of years.
The implications of this vote are, as Labour MP Renee Short ineicated. far - reaching. Select Cttee was set up, recall, to consider a Bill which aimed to reduce legal abortions by over two thirds. It has already recommended certain restrictions (such as clamping down on the number or toreign women allowed abortions in the country which Barbara Castle has, quite happily, accepted.
Now that the committee has been recalled, It can only deal with the more contentious clauses in the Bill. With a Cttee dominated by known anti-abortionisis, outcome can only be thousands of women being torced, once again, to risk their lives at the hands of back-street abortionists. 'Free Vote'
This major set-back must be placed at the door of the Labour government which, nather than fighting to implement the decision of conference which clearly came out for free abortion on request!, decided to allow a tree vote on the issue. Even Barbara Castle, who was against the Select Citee
being recalled at this stage,
in favour of MPs voting as 'individuals' because abortion is an issue on which individual feelings of conscience run so deep!.
Allowing a free vote clearly
was a major concession to the
anti-abortion lobby led by SPUC
which has, over the years, made
deep inroads into the Parliament-
ary Labour Party itself. Rather
on thrusting its reactionary view
on the mass of women - the gov-
ernment has backed down before
it all along the line.
'Backing down! means not only
another slap in the face for con-
ference decisions but also for
millions of women who voted
Labour in the last election and
who will be most effected by any
further attempt to curtail those
limited abortion rights at
guaranteed under ine yor Ac
SPUC
As the Select Cttee gets down
NEWHAN
CONSTITUENCI
E ABORTON
PAPER OF THE LEAGUE FOR SOCIALIST ACTION Vol1. No 2.
THE FIGHT IS ON!
to work in the period ahead, can be sure that SPUC will keep Ine
up its pressure to it comes out wii ine mosı tarreaching anti60, 000 strong ne mass The nstration it launched in October
last year - which frightened the government into holding a free votel on the recall of the Select anti- Cttee - is an inaication or ine
forces it can mobilise.
Ses moves are. not just motivated by an attempt to resirici abortion rigns Dul by a fear of what those rights The svmbolise in the radicalisation
of growing numbers of women over the past decade or so. The anti-abortionists understand too well inal the right to tree doorion, cutting across woman's role as a mere 'wifel or 'mother can undermine the stability of the family unit which is particularly dangerous at a time of social instability.
Having won major concessions from the government, carry on their campaign all the limited gains of the 1967 Act nave been reversea. April 3rd Confronted with a major attack abortion rents ibility resting on NAC is heavier than ever betore. ll Is NAc alone and the broad forces it can bring into action as it did last June - which stands between the maiority of women and a return to the desperation children & humiliation of backstreet abortions.
Responding to this attack means, first and foremost, mass turn-out for the April 3rd Wds demonstration call. It means mob-
ilising not only those forces who supported June 21st last year but also those - particularly in the abour movement - who nave come out since that time in support of Ifree abortion on request'.
April 3rd should be merely the opening shot of an ongoing mass campaign directed against the government who must be called to account for openly flouting the decisions of the TUC and Labour Party conrerences. of the campaign must clearly be to disband the Select Cttee which, composed as it is of known antiabortionisis. can only come out with further inroads into women's riaht to choose whether or not to have an abortion.
It is only by building a mass opppresent osition in the streets - of a woman's right to choose
- that the government will see, no uncertain way, that women in this country will not tolerate any further restrictions to the limited rights tney now possess.
All out on April 3rd!
FREE
ABORTION
ON DEMAND
" NO
we
ensure that
abortion moves.
demo-
of course.
they will
until
major concession
the respons.
ment.
ot unwanted
bullcinea
measures. sharing' disappears,
status.
Neutral
new.
The thrust
and Belfast in 1969.
'explodel at any time.
on ine however,
atically
50 years. constant arrests,
ionalist community.
Blood-bath?
the same time,
Last month, the Labour government ordered the 'crack! SAS into South Armagh to deal with what Wilson called an 'exceptional area requiring exceptional measures. working undercover in the Six Counties for many years now. The fact that the government should have 'played up! this move clearly means it is planning an escalation of violence against the nationalist minority throughout the Six Counties.
Such a decision represents a
to hard-line Unionist opinion which violently opposed Rees' previous policy of trying to wool the minority to a sham power-sharing formula by granting certain minor 'reforms! minority bul such as the phasing out of intern-
privileges -
The outcry that these reforms! met wiin trom nara- iners Ke back-lash. Paisley - who threatened to take action themselves through their own para-military groups - has swiftly pulled Rees into line. The decision to send in the SAS now is only one example of submitting to the Unionists! call for tougher its protection,
As all talk of 'powerit Is being accompanied by a build-up of the hated RUC and the denial to republicans of political prisoner from the South.
This escalation in violence by the government is not, of course,
Rees is merely treading the same well-worn track of his predecessors from Whitelaw back labour movement. to Callaghan who introduced the troops onto the streets of Derry
Rees might, like them, maintain that the role of the army is, above
elementary all, to restore 'law and order! in labour solidarity. a war-torn province that could
One oraer which the army is there to uphold,
is an order based or the bigotry and privileges of the Loyalist state which has system-
discriminated against the nationalist minority tor the pası
This has inevitably turned the army into the main repressive force in the Six Counties against the minority who are forced by the very nature of their struggle for democratic rights to openly challenge the 'status quol. The
harassment,
collaboration of the army with Loyalist para-military groups, nas only served to burn inis or the mind of the beleaguered nat-
unionist nare- iners such as Paisley are, of course, only too
aware or inis tact, Contident inal the government dare not chall-
challenging the The Left
status quo it is there to uphold. they are encouraged ever more firmly to press for defence of their caste privileges. The back-
The SAS has, of course, been
City.
down of the Wilson government before the Ulster Workers strike in 1974 was a concrete example of their growing confidence.
the army not only serves to repress the nationalist
- by encouraging the Unionist block to defend their
- constantly threatens the possibility or a rignt - Wins
The escalation in sectarian murders recently by the Loyalist para-military groups is a clear warning signal.
Far from preserving the 'peace!, the army remains the main threat to it in the Six Counties. •Without
the Unionists would be forced to come to terms with the nationalist minority in a situation where any threat of violence could spark off mass support Responsible
The fact that the armv is the key force in suppressing the rights of the nationalist minority places a clear responsibility on the shoulders of the British
Calling for the immediate withdrawal of these troops - who have no right to be in Ireland and who never have had such a right - would be an
Fact of international
Far from championing such a right, however, the labour leaders were themselves directly instrumenta in sencine in une troops in the first place. The latest decision to order in the SAS - cheered on by the Tories _ is only the latest example of their trampling underfoot of a right which the labour movement has always supported: the right to self-determination.
The treacherous role played by the Labour leaders has met
with hardly any opposition with-
in the ranks of the movement as a whole. The TUC and Labour lefts! may throw up their hands in horror at the atrocities in the
Six Counties and call for a Bill
of Rights to detena the national-
ist minority. They share with
the abour leaders. nowever. c common belief that the solution to Ireland's Iproblem! does not lie in the hands of the Irish them-
selves but in those of British MPs in a British Parliament who
will continue to determine the
affairs of Ireland.
The fact, however, that six
years after the entry of British
troops onto the streets of Derry
FEB-MAR '76 10p
NOW
and Belfast there still exists no mass campaign fighting for their immediate withdrawal cannot be laid solelv at the door of the Labour leaders. It can also be laid firmlv at the door of the socialist left which, true to its traditions, has virtually ignored the issue.
The failure of the left to unite in building such a campaign is,
an example of their failclearly, ure to give concrete aid to an oppressed nation fighting for its rights. Such a campaign, calling on the government to get the troops out immediately, could help undermine the morale of the British army and give renewed courage to the oppressed minor-
It could concretely contrib ute to the outcome of the struggle in the Six counties.
More than this. however, the left's 'abstention' is a failure to grasp the impact of this struggle on the situation within Britain. Only last year, the government whipped up a mass anti- Irish feeling around the bombings in Birmingham. They used these bombings to violently split the workers' movement and to push through the Anti-Terrorism Act which violates ine democrane rights of the entire labour mov›ement. The demonstrations that took place against the Irish in the Midlands were the most reactionary since the Powell ones organised by the dockers in the middle sixties.
A real campaign to withdraw the troops would not only, in this
directly contribute to the sense. national struggle in Ireland but would also be an integral part of defending and extending democratic rights in Britain. It is true that such a campaign will have to confront the decades of anti-Irish propaganda which is deeply rooted in the labour movement. This struggle cannot be avoided or skirted around. the British labour movement is prepared to passively tolerate its own government's brutal oppression of the Irish people now, it will just as passively tolerate tomorrow the victimisation of blacks or discrimination against women.
It is for this reason that build-
Troops Out Movement ine une (TOM) into a mass campaign is a central task before British socialists. Groups such as the IS or IMG, whose internationalism is more verbal than practical could play a key role here.
socialist movement has, over the
years a scandalous record in
defending the Irish freedom str
uggle. It is time to put that record straight. D.Macleod
CONTENTS
• Single-issue
campaigns
• Angola p5 • Scottish Labour p2
Party
Page 2 scan of this page
SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY
page 2
Discussion Article: Last month, Party was born. and John Robertson to found the SLP, Labour Party, government policies.
Under the catch-phrase of opposing 'dose after dose of pragmatism', SLP's programme seems to consist of little more than an attempt to 'hold' Labour to its Manifesto pledges, particular those relating to unemploy-
expenditure which ment ana social have hit Scotland harder than other The real motives behind Robertson and Siller's move is a recognition that, unless Labour can quickly attach itself to the growing nationalist sentiment sweeping through the Scottish working class, as disillusion with government policies mount, Labour's returns a the next election could be reducea to a pitiful rump. confidential report made to Labour's SLP leaders have taken to neart ine National Executive that there is now a real danger that the party's 36% of the Scottish vote could dwindle to a mere 24%, giving the SNP a clear majority of over 50 seats.
The aims of the SLP, launched at a time when Labour's devolution' plans have received such a cool reception, is obviously designed to 'contain' this growing trend towards the SNP which could lead to a real disaster at the
Sillers himself views next election. with alarm the fact that 'Labour has been almost the last party to acknowledge the growing feeling of Scottish national identity'. Opportunist?
While the SLP represents an attempt by a sector of the labour bureaucracy in Scotland to 'contain' growing nationalist feeling (as increasing layers oi
disillusioned with Wilson's workers. turn to the SNP), it would be policies, quite wrong to dismiss it merely as an 'opportunist' manoeuvre, Groups such the SLP could adopt a programme of as the IMG. who appear worried that
'generalities or nationalism', make a
mistake nere.
while the suP represents an attempt,
on the part of its leaders,
the growth in nationalist feeling,
reflects the growing impact of this new
consciousness within the labour movement
*self. The reason why Robertson and
Sillars have been ready to accept even
expulsion from the official Labour Party
s simply because they are aware that
not to identify with nationalist feelings
s to court political suicide.
comment on the 'melting' Labour vote
"the creatione thou SLP marks,
ine creation or tic
this sense, a major step forward since
it signifies that the labour movement, or
at least sectors of it,
to come to grips with the national asp-
irations of the Scottish working class
which have, so far,
While the SLP is,
the NF alone. still dominated by reformists such
as Robertson or Sillers who nave,
numerous occasions,
working class positions, this need not
always be the case.
The SLP could begin to attract layers
of radical Scottish workers,
Wilson's pro-capitalist policies,
could begin to demand a clear class
expression of their national aspirations.
This will not be an automatic process
and will depend very much upon the
positive attitude of scottish revolution-
aries towards the SLP and how they
intervene to provide a programme which
can satisfy national feelings through a
17.1m unemployed
Unemplovment in the maior capitalist countries has soared to 17.1m workers, the highest level in 40 years, figures released ational Labour organisation, last November.
IThis represented a massive increase of six million to a level of 5.2 labour force, September 19741, the ILO said. The regional breakdown of the total numbers officially without jobs was, the United States 8. 1m; in Western Europe 2. 9m; in Southern Europe 2.7m; in Northern Europe 2. 1m and. in Japan, Australia & New Zealand 1. Sie
at an inaugural meeting of over 400 in Glasgow, There can be little doubt that the decision by MPs such as Jim Sillars
was not motivated by the need to mount a clear,
the Reaction
left,
posed at present.
marxist left.
The WRP.
against the groups, tones of the WRP,
Red Weekly,
for laccomodating'
to profit from way, it also the class struggle. example.
Siller's fostered by in Scotland itself,
are being forced
been pioneerea Dy as Nationalism
on adopted clear anti-
Mostle I0 who
Canada, Bretons in France
minorities,
Scotland but also,
Ireland in 1969.
according to
by the Intern- parties such as the
independent state. is possible,
of the overall compared with
of workers LOr. and Canada,
the Scottish Labour
eliciting threats of expulsion from the national
socialist opposition to Jim Sillars: formed Scottish Labour Party to 'undercut' growing support for the SNP. class-struggle perspective.
Judging from the attitude of the British
the potential for such a positive development does not seem favourably
Hostility to the SLP has not been confined only to Labour bureaucrats in Westminster who have called for the expulsion of the splitters but has found a similar reaction in the
Irish nationalism, actually went so far as to criticise the Labour leaders for not taking stronger disciplinary action
Scottish rebel MPs. _otner while not adopting the 'shrill! have not politically differentiated themselves from such a hostile reaction towards 'nationalism'. The ICL have seen the creation of the SLP as a 'blind alley' and the IMG,
have sharply pointed out that 'nationalism' cannot 'provide any solution to the working class in Scot-
Behind these criticisms of the SLP
to the nationalist feelings of growing layers of Scottish workers lurks the belief that, in some
nationalism represents a 'threat' or a 'diversion' from carrying forward
Red Weekly, for speaks disparagingly in the same article of Scottish workers being under the illusion that they suffer from some 'form of national discrimination'.
Such an attitude from the lett, which ignores the nationalist traditions that run through Scottish labour history, is radically false. It is such an attitude,
the labour bureauctats in which has helped push growing numbers of workers behind the petty-bourgeois banners of the SNP by suggesting that socialism is hostile to the nationalist aspirations of the Scot-
Writing off the national aspirations of growing numbers of Scottish workers
can be short-sighted in the extreme. The
development of such feelings in Scotland
is not an exception' but part of an inter-
national resurgence of nationalism
the advanced caplialist countries.
rise of the black movement in the USA
was merely the forerunner of similar
upsurges among the Quebecquois in
the Basques in Spain or the
The roots of this nationalist revival
lie in the inter-action, among oppressed
of arowing economic dep-
rivation with long-standing feelings of
social and cultural discrimination. is this inter-action which helps explain
not only the recent developments in
of course, the much
more explosive outburst in Northern
possible that such a
resurgence of 'national identity' can
become trapped behind petty-bourgeois
SNP in Scotland
which offers the mirage of an loil rich'
Such a development however, only It ine lad-
our movement is unable to put forward
a concrete class-struggle perspective & for the national aspirations of large
layers of working people.
To term nationalism in Scotland a
diversion' which the labour movement
in particular, the SNP) should
not bother with is to convince the mass
of working people that socialism has no
answer to their sense of national dis-
crimination and to push them behind the
banners of the SNP which can therefore
pose as the sole force struggling for
by Richard Munro
On the contrary, Socialists in Scotland should be seeking ways of encouraging Scottish workers to grasp that their national aspirations will not be solved by supporting the SNP (whose program is anti-working class) but by fighting in the labour movement for it to take them up in a clear class-struggle way. formation of the SLP, despite its recent attempt to 'ban! left groups, potentially fruitful way of posing this alternative perspective.
Method
The sectarian positions taken by large sections of the marxist left towards the SLP stem from a methodological error
In April of last year, cut education grants by This cut, which was in line with the policies of the previous Tory govern-
is merely a foretaste of what is ment,
A government recently recommended further cuts of between £500 and £600 millions during the period 1976-80.
The impact of these cuts will, of course, be felt in all areas of education as local authorities are forced to 'prune! school building, facilities and staffing ratios. Already, 5000 teachers are unemployed and it has been estimated that this will escalate to over 15,000 by this time next year.
Such cuts will be particularly felt, however, in already inadequate nursery facilities as local authorities seek cut-
in what are considered 'ow prior•acks ity areas.
INADEQUATE
Al present. local authorities for nursery facilities provides places for only 7% of children
under five. It is already recognised, by the DHSS, that these are badly run and
cannot provide places for the further 12, 000 children who are regarded as
'priority! cases for nursery care.
As a result of government cut-backs, however, even these limited facilities
are in danger of being stripped away.
It is not just a question of
plans for lexpansion' but of actually
cutting back existing places.
In Islington, only recently, the local
authority has cut back on staff,
cut 10 places in each of two nurseries
and has completely closed another. What
is happening in Islington is,
part of a growing trend that is taking
place throughout the country as local
authorities console themselves with the
thought that at least women can 'stay
homel to look after them
COLLEGES
Cut-backs in nursery facilities can
also be found,
passed by NUS last year which noted
that lack of child-care facilities put
women students at a great 'disadvant-
age',
Faced with smaller allowances, many
colleges which nursery facilities will postpone them
others will cut back on
their 'staffing! ratios such as South
Bank Polytechnic
hoist up nursery fees exorbitantly,
has Middlesex Polytechnic.
to say, all of these solutions' will
effectively hinder women getting an
adequate education and will ensure
that the already low percentage
women in higher education will drop
still lower.
That the NUS is not unaware of this
can be shown in the resolution passed
at last year's conference which point-
ed out that 'The cuts presently being
implemented in higher education will
cause opportunities for women... to
degenerate still more'.
DISCRIMINATION
Cut-backs in nursery facilities will
obviously effect the welfare of child-
ren since many mothers - forced to
go out to work - will necessarily have
class struggle
The point,
identity', should
practice,
traitors. not Itelling'
AL me same lInC The
offers a are weicome.
NURSERY SCANDAL
Dennis Healey over £86m. minders.
however,
White Paper ing inflation. government grants to the
4700 KIVO 500 NURSER PLACES postponing :700 00 NURSE has
of course, despite the resolution
The NUS,
intended introducing
and yet others will
should also, as Needless
SOCIALIST ACTION
which has also been observed in their attitude towards the women's liberation movement or towards black power. They criticise the 'nationalist' tendencies of the SLP as 'splitting' a united working-
against the policies o the Wilson government.
quite simoly. is that it is impossible to get such a united struggle when large layers of Scottish workers feel - as they increasingly do - that they suffer national discrimination. Instead of criticising this growth in 'national
the first step by socialists be to defend the right of the people to determine wnetner or not they want self-determination.
socialists showing, that they respect the wishes of the Scottish people to decide their own future that the ground will be laid for a united struggle against the labour
Such a united struggle will
be forged by socialists in London
Scottish workers that their national aspirations are a 'diversion'.
Scottish socialists should be boldly fighting inside the SLF and broader labour movement Tor a clear class-struggle perspective which can pose an alternative to the SNP for growing nationalist feelings.
The LSA is opening a debate in the
columns of SOCIALIST ACTION oI
Scottish Nationalism. Contributions to leave them with 'untrained' baby
It will even more obviously effect
thousands of women who wil be forced to stay home and sacrifice their own lives as they leave work or drop out of colleges. No doubt this may satisfy the government, who will therefore find it easier to get away with its mass unemployment strategy, but it will not satisfy women. Not only will they be forced to abandon their own independence but will be forced back into the home to live upon a single wage at a time of rapidly ris-
Single mothers will, of
SLINGTON
WORKING WOMEN
SOROUSUT THE
WITNGATER
BAND TOGETHER LIST MUKL Childink TO FIGHT support WILSON JURSE LESS Brents KIDE
A WOMAN'S
RIGHT TO WORK be hit harder than all others. confronted with the cut-
backs, has called for action against
important step forward and women in the government's poricies. This is an
the Nus should fight inside the unior
to ensure that this issue features in a -
central way in the NUS platform.
however, be raised more
generally within the labour movement
which should also be forced to take up
a struggle against the government's
attacks on women's rights.
Marion Delaney
NEXT ISSUE
• Labour in perspective
• Zimbabwe • The National Front
Page 3 scan of this page
LABOUR IN PERSPECTIVE
February 76
The repercussions of the 'abortive!
coup last November are only now assum-
ing full impact in Portugal. The coup
itself - encouraged by the Stalinists
despite their last minute 'pull out' - has
allowed the Azevedo regime to resume
the initiative after it had been reduced
to near impotence, last year, under the
rise in workers! struggles.
Azevedo and Gresreis ea derin *r the Popu lr Dem crats
Resuming the 'initiative' does not just mean clamping down in the armed forces wnich nas already seen the arrest of over 70 officers & the re-establishment of what the Supreme Revolutionary Council calls 'military authority'. also means using this change in the balance of forces to begin to roll back the economic and political gains won by the mass movement since the 1974 coup
Undoubtedly, this attack on the workers movement has been cautious, reflecting the government's fear of a new 'upsurge!. The recent mass demonstrations that have shaken Lisbon - particularly the 40,000 strong one organised on January 17 by Intersindical - prove how cautiously the government still has „red vc a working class that has still not been defeated. Nevertheless. Jis ooecuve is clear. It is, as Azevedo spelt out last Decemoer, to create the climate for the 'voluntary and conscious acceptance of sacrifices'.
Economic Front
The true meaning of this policy, on the economic tront, was made perfectly clear by Azevedo in a televised speech later ine same monın wnen ne pointed out that the state of the economy depend-
and workers!. According to New York Times correspondent Marvin Howe, warned that unrealistic wage claims and over-employment nad causea many enterprises to close.
First of a series of
articles on the nat-
ure and origins of
the Labour Party..
Writing in the Red Mole in 1970, a few months betore the 'elections', Robin Blackburn dismissed the early Labour Party
La 'bureducralic manoeuvre'.
Facility almost always has a knack of distorting the truth. The early Labour Party was not hatched (as Blackburn implies) in the committee rooms of the then equivalents of Harold Wilson or Reg Prentice, It was born despite such figures out of the escalating struggies of tha labour movement, of the century, at the turn
ana ine nesitant understanding of ever-wider layers of a common interest to defend.
The creation of the Labour Party took place, interestingly enough, in a period similar to our own in several respects. its seeds were embedded in a decade of shocks & upheavals sparked off by the growing threat to Britain's dominance in world trade by the industrial powers of Germany and the USA. order to retain their slackening grip over the world market. British employers resorted to a well co-ordinated attack upon workers' living standards and rights almost identical to the one we nave witnessed over the past decade or so.
An intensive drive was heralded to lower working conditions, introduce 'speed-up' (productivity deals) abolish "resurcuve oracticesi and break the backs of the untons which nad grown enormous y in the preceding period among semi-skilled workers such ac
PORTUGAL:
AZEVEDO REGIME TAKES OFFENSIVE
Azevedo's call for discipline is, of course, highly reminiscent of the AFM's
earlier call for the need to win 'the battle for production..'. The fact that
Azevedo feels confident enough to call
openly for sacrifices - without the left
smokescreen that surrounded the AFM's earlier appeals the shift in the balance of forces created wy ine aporlive November coup,
The impact of the government 'austerity programme! can be measured by the fact that it speaks of 'over-employment' at a time when 13% of the workforce is on the dole. It can further be measured by the fact that it calls for tax rises and wage cuts at a time when government subsidies on essentials have been ended and Intlation is raging. the capital have, for example, 100% recently.
The government not only feels confident
enough to open an offensive against the lapour movement but has also announced that its land-reform programme is being pur 'on ice' in the northern two thirds of Portugal and in certain parts of the south as well.
Democratic Rights
Immediately after the November coup, the Azevedo regime began making direct inroads into the extension of democratic rights in 1974. temporary curfew in Lisbon & censoring the press by removing pro-CP editorial staff - can now growing trend. Direct attacks have, more recently, been made on the right of protest and assembly.
The government chose the January Ist demonstration in Oporto (called to demand the release of 140 people arrested in the wake of the November coup) to further test out its repressive line. The Republican National Guard opened fire on a crowd of 3000, killing three and seriously wounding many more. ernment defended the attack, the demonstrators with being part of a plot to help the prisoners lescape!.
The government's use of the Republican National Guard, police force known for its right-wing
was not accidental. In the January 3rd Washington Post, a report
wam warto staes nald recruitment campaign for 10, men is being launched by television adverts'. 'he Examples such as the demonstration in oporio - or inat in Lisbon a tew days later broken up by part of a growing anti-democratic trend
1890 alone, had tripled).
Such an offensive. attempt by the employers to create a r'eduy supory or 'scao laoour inine National Free Labour cave rise inrougnout ine 1890s to a whole wave of 'lock outs' & provoked sirikes• uniet among inese were the Lancashire cotton workers' strike of 1090, ine miners sirikes ot 1094 anc 1898 and the engineers' lock-out of 1o9r wnica resuttea in ine impositior of the humiliating York Memorandum. Taff Vale
The impact of these struggles on the consciousness of the labour movement -particularly newly-unionised sectors who lacked the conservative approach ot ine ocer be minimised.
and hesitatingly, to a growing awareness among more militant layers of a common interest of the labour movement that had to be 'independently' defended. Up to that point in time, eager to point out, little concept of !labour! class in the community!, and there was often intense hostility between the semistitea ana older offensive launched by the employers, increasingly centralised through the creation of Employers' Federations, slowly began to overcome 'craft! Isectional! differences as the increasingly identified together around ine need to detend the cause of labour. Even though this process was most obvious, in the initial stages, among the newiy unionised, it gradually ine more cratt-conscious unions whose interests were clearly endangered by attacks reached a climax in the Taff Vale Judge-
plan proposed, Supreme Revolutionary
In a dispatch from Lisbon,
- is only indicative
defence'.
Transport costs in Workers Parties
risen by their own mass base. "nere Is
after the downfall of Caetano in 1974, These initial curbs - imposing a
to win the position vvvvccœn cvc
be seen as part or a basic interests
'sacrifices'.
class offensive.
The govcharging of dangers. for their policies,
a 'para-military)
• a massive , 000 extra
January 10th, and credit',
commandos - are labour
the small farmers, strike action, coupled with the wider implications.
Association,
action, ually powerless.
Liberals Democratic Federation
craft unions - should not They gave birth, slowly
as Pelling is unions to
Ithere had been of the Liberal Party.
as a distinct от ine
craft unions. The In much ine same way as
labour movement the Democratic Party.
and unions
spread to of its class interests, pushed
union autonomy which
independent political voice.
by T.Roberts
which could most clearly be seen in the
on vanuary 9th, by the counci inat
would ensure continued military rule.
LI1C Wash-
ington Post stated that 'the military plan
would enable the Council to dissolve
the elected legislature and veto many
of its decreees on everything from nat-
'onalisation inrougn toreign attairs to
While the political parties may insist
on obtaining a reduced military role in
the period tp come, it is clear that the
military intend to remain the real power
in Portugal as they have been ever since
ine coup in 1914 inat overinrew vaelano
Unfortunately, neither the Communist nor Socialist parties have openly come
out against the offensive (launched by the military-backed Azevedo government) ment.
against the workers' movement. Both
parties continue to remain in the govern-
ment and, by being implicated in its decisions, have seriously disoriented
Not course, lttle new in inis.
Instead of breaking with the AFM, the Headers or boin retormisi oartles nave participated in successive capitalist governments since caelano's downfall
competing among themselves of the AFM's most Instead of attempting
to unite the masses in defence of their
dedinsı ine motitan
they have acted as agents of the AFM
in the labour movement helping to sell
the need for 'belt-tightening' and for
There can be no doubt that this service rendered to the AFM - allowing it to masquerade benina a civilian tront -has been crucial in allowing the AFM
win ineir antı -working Covering up, in this way, tor the military is however ful
By taking responsibility and even passing them off as 'progressivel if not 'revolutionary, the reformists like soares or Cunhal have not only confused the workers' movement but have opened the door increasing y to ine 'right who have begun to trade off popular discont-
The mass demonstration of over ten thousand small farmers in Brago,
on calling for 'fair prices is a case in point. it Is by refusing to champion the demands of the
moverent and its allles. such as that pushes the latwas seen to have much
It was clearly recognised as a threat not only to the railwaymen's union but to Itrade unionism' itself since, if any unior could be made to legally compensate a company tor losses incurred in a strike
the unions were rendered virt-
Rents,
It was in response to such attacks, l response to attacks upon the unions no longer on a sectional but on a nationa basis, that the fertile ground was created on which the 'propagandal of the early soclallst groupings sucn as the Social
and the Independent Labour Party (long strugglimg for a 'workingmen's party) was to fall. The deepening awareness among unions of common interests to defend - those of the labour movement - began to drive a wedge through the 'marriage of convenience which had hitherto caused the
clutch at the apron- strings
Up to that point in time, the majority
unions ( particularly the craft unions) had trailed behind the Liberals
today, the USA. in the USA supports The unions advocated support for the Liberals in exchange for the latters' policy of free trade (under which cheap food rates were quaranteed) and a less antagonist. ic attitude towards the labour movement.
The sharp offensive launched by the employers, however, cementing in the labour movement a arowing awareness
growing layers in the unions to break from this alliance with 'Liberalism' and seek an
They were
page 3
ter into the arms of the 'right!.
Left Forces
The forces to the left of the reformis:
parties, still disoriented by the Nov-
ember coup, have no alternative. Desp'.=
the fact that the coup was the logic of
the Stalinists' ultra-left stance, many
of the groups have yet to break away
from tail-ending the CP's demagogic
line which helped split the labour mov-
ement and create illusions in the !efts
among the military.
More important today than ever is the
need to openly call for the two workers'
parties to cease their bickering and to
unite in opposition to the anti-working
class offensive of the Azevedo govern-
Such a policy of united action, at
all levels, could be spearheaded by the
call tor ine ur and sr to torm a work.
ers' government based on the majority
of the popular vote they won in last
April's elections.
Campaigning for such a perspective
could begin to unite the labour movemen:
and give it a clear direction. It could
also begin to show it, concretely, that its present leaders are bankrupt and pose the possibility of a real socialist solution. Certainly, inis is the only way forward for the movement in PortLydi Wuere mass of workers have as yet suffered OeSoIle Sel-•acks
no decisive defeats.
Abortion threat
Action Life, a church-sponsored
pressure group in Austria, claims
to have collected 800, 000 signat-
ures on a pelltion calling on the
government to make abortion, once
dudin a crime Abortions duri-g
the first three months of pregra-s:
became legal in Austria lasi : ea"
with the change in a fifty-year-cic
law.
According to the Austrian Justice
Minister, up to 70,000 illegal ab-
ortIons : were performed annua
until 1975. One Vienna clinic sa c
Inal no woman nad died in 2.400
abortions performed there since
vanuary 1915 compared with the
nationwide mortality rate of 25%
before the new law was passed.
nad concenirated attention on the irisr 'question'. Step Forward
Such a process did not, of course, take place overnight. tons scasne NUM only decided to 'break' from the Liberals as late as 1908. Nevertheless. it was out of this deepening awareness of a common class interest that had to be defended that in 1899, the Labour Representation Committee was formed The LRC, sponsored by a loose federation ot trade unions and socialist curr-
set itself, it is true, very limited objectives.
It wasn't even sure whether its aim was to set up a party, let alone a party based on clear socialist principles. Its aims, as originally defined, were as limited and fuzzy as they are today when it was decided it should ".., ensure that working Class opinion snoula de represented ir the House of Commons by men sympathetic with the aims and demands ot the labour movement and whose candidatures are Promoteu by one or olner of ine organised movements".
Behind these unclear and hesitating words, however, lay a radical change in consciousness by important layers of the labour movement which 'marxists! such as Robin Blackburn contemptuously dismissed when comparing the Labour Party with the Democratic Party in the
A radical change because, in the decision to promote candidates Isvmo athetic with the aims and demands of the labour movement' lay an awareness these layers of the need to create for themselves a palitical voice
This fact should not be under-estimated by those (particularly outside the labour movement) wno see oniy its negative teatures represented in the figures of Wilson or Prentice.
Ine Labour Part) symbolised, in its creation, an importan: step forward in the awareness of millions of workers, an awareness of themselves as a class with distinct interests as a
Page 4 scan of this page
page 4
In our opinion:
UNITY OF THE
to grasp the need for an alternative to the left of 'reformism'.
left all the more ironic. Groups such as IS,
competing with the Communist (if not Labour) party,
who have left! these groups but to a wide layer of radicals,
the labour movement, no are
escalate.
Roots
basis of understanding the errors of the past.
For many.
ing mass unemployment and eroding living standards.
and their allies. It is by no means,
state of disintegration it is in at present.
in Britain on the basis of a clear methodology..
Mistakes
growth was never accompanied by clarity in ideas.
startling shifts in their positions.
a few years later.
momentum slowed up,
depth.
for their self-determination.
dramatically revealed today.
Clarity
In order to go forward, at present,
a group on alahole ations,
the left as a whole around burning issues.
LSA.
In the first place,
Programme'.
ordanisation can be bullt.
In the second place,
Tor unILy in action by
and their allies.
It is by firmness in political programme
not ignore burning polltical issues.
What We Stand For 17p
diverse forms - forward.
The Labour Party - Which Way? 27p
before the 'left!.
that has grown up, world-wide, over the past decade. Abortion - a Woman's Right 17p
and defence of the mass-action perspective of NAC in winning them
The EEC - Does it matter? 12p
movement.
to. clo Dave Macleod.
LEFT
many left groups grew in both size and influence.
Groups such as IS and the IMG attracted large numbers of radical youth who had seen the limitations of both the Labour and Communist parties and who had begun
The dramatic growth of these groups makes the present fragmentation of the
which had the heady illusion are now convulsed with inner disputes resulting in 'split-offs', expulsions and growing disillusion.
There can be no doubt that this fragmentation is demoralising not only to those policies of the Labour and Communist parties. It is doubly demoralising that this still seeking an alternative to the reformist fragmentation should occur at a time when the need for a strong alternative is more necessary than ever before as attacks on working people and their allies
The task, however, is not to remain demoralised but to uncover the reasons for this set-back in order to ensure it is not repeated. The fragmentation that exists at present can be 'positive' if it leads to further regroupments on the clear
the present situation can be explained away as the result of the decline in radicalisation in the broader labour movement which has, alternative strategy, temporarily acquiesced to the government's policy of creat-
There is obviously some truth in this since the 'left' obviously reflects, greater or lesser extent, the shifts in mood and consciousness of working people knows not only 'flows' but also lebbs! which do not always throw the left into a however, ine yull answer.
The real answer is to be found within the left itself and its political inability, over the past years, to relate to the complex developments of the class struggle
One of the major weaknesses of groups such as IS or the IMG was that their
Both these groups tended to
'abstention! on the Labour Party in the 1970 election to one of full support only for example, was able to shitt tron
This constant adaptation to the moods of different layers they were working with meant that the composition of these groups was never based on a common understanding of the way forward. While the groups were growing fast, the momentum tended to 'hold together' the internal differences - but the moment thai
as at present, these differences burst forth with startling
nature of the present radicalisation in Britain. Almost all the groups (above all Lack of political clarity was accompanied by an inability to grasp the complex IS) were unable to grasp the significance of the development of the women's liberation movement, the black power movement or the struggle by the Irish people
Refusal to relate seriously to these questions of importance to millions - and refusal to pioneer them inside the labour movement - meant that they, adapted to a narrow 'Economist' view of the class struggle which saw militancy over wage concerns as an end in itself. The fallacy of this attitude has been
it is important to learn from these errors.
Short-cut tactics - such as the decision by Workers' Fight to 'unite' with other forces to create the I-CL on an unclear political basis - is no solution. repeats the mistakes of the past and harbours within it the splits of the future.
What is important today is a perspective which, while allowing for building
equally allows for the maximum unity in action This is the perspective of the any serious political tendency needs to be built around a
clear programme which allows it to respond to the complex developments of the
class struggle with a clear method: the method outinen cies on she set the Lia
While prepared to discuss with all tendencies on the left,
is convinced that agreement on that programme is the only way in which a real
while such a debate takes place, there is an urgent need all tendencies around key issues effecting working people Building united actions around the issue of abortion, Ireland &
racist immigration laws are concrete examples of this in practice.
and by complete flexibility in building
mass actions with all other forces on the left that there lies a way forward out
of the present fragmentation which both clarifies political ideas and which does
LSA PAMPHLETS Prices include post and packing.
An analysis of the current radicalisation and a strategy for taking it - in all its
A marxist evaluation of the Labour Party and the problem it has posed, historically,
Revolutionary Dynamics of Women's Liberation 22p A marxist analysis of the roots of women's oppression and the struggle for liberation
The key nature of abortion rights, in the struggle by women for their liberation.
An analysis of the EEC and the ongoing debate it has provoked within the labour
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1 Pretoria Road, London
Bill.
however,
both inside & outside
abortion rights.
which was able, the inks derween abortiul example,
1o d - and which is, in many ways,
The class struggle continuing - is not
laws to abortion restrictions.
Single Issue
with MCAPP*
course,
the living standards
Portion rights was, mistake.
its importance
It merely
the
of the working class'.
groups were unity that had been built same time,
iveness remains the sole
street abortionists.
conference,
most effective way,
MASS CAMI
Last June, over 25000 marched through London against James White's anti-abortion
There can be no doubt that this mass opposition instrumental in getting the White threat 'shelved' and putting back the plans of the anti-abortion lobby who had long been campaigning to repeal the 1967 Act. NAC's early success was not due,
merely to the Soontaneos outcry that grew up against the reactionary attempt by the SPUC-supported Bill to rob women of their 'limited'
It was also due the type of campaign launched by NAC
in a few months. tap this potential and draw it onto the streets in mass action against the gov-
only, Winning NAC to this perspective - to ine building mass action on the streets on a concrete issue of concern to millions of women - was no simple task. It meant a running fight against those tendencies in NAC who were only too anxious to turn it into a 'paper' campaign limited to small meetings abstractly debating
and, TOR 'cuts! on the NHS.
This debate which took place in NAC
still unique. It reflects a wider debate taking place in radical circles as to the most effective way of carrying forward defence of living standards and democratic rights against attacks ranging from racist immigration
One of the major weaknesses of NAC, in the eyes of such tendencies as the IMG, was precisely the fact that it was organised around the single issue of abortion rights. As early as June 19 Red Weekly was trying to remedy this by encouraging NAC to '.. link itself
which aims to unite all those forces fighting for a full and comprehensive health service based
on the needs of the working class'.
Struggling against NHS cuts is,
an important way to challenge the government's attempt to undermine
of working people.
The attempt by the IMG, among others,
to force this position on those who had
united around the need to defend ab-
however, a serious
It was a serious mistake because
dissolving NAC into an attempt to
combat the NHS cuts - downplaying
left, - ettectively cut across the maximum unite campuggling against ability of the campaign to create
the real threat facing women through
government's anti-abortion moves.
While those forces who built NAC were
quite willing to unite around the issue
of abortion rights, many were not.
yet, convinced of the need to fight for
a 'health service based on the needs
By trying to extend the programme of
NAC into a 'multi-issue' campaign, such
in reality, endangering the up and, at the the interests of masses of
women for whom the campaign's effect-
safequard
between them and a return to the back-
In their paper following the October
the ex-Workers Fight
tendency wrote that the LSA 'always
single-mindedly insisted on the most.
narrow campaign!. Keeping NAC to a
single issue was not, as Workers Fight
infer, a 'fetish'. It was simply the
all layer
creating the maximum unity among the
scattered forces of the left which can
act as a focal point for drawing masses
into struggle as happened on June 21. them
The LSA's insistence on the 'most
narrow campaign' was simply a refusal
Mass rally in USA against vietnam war
SOCIALIST ACTION
1 - called by NAC - was directly
to repeat the sectarian error of the left which constantly tries to dissolve the concrete issue at nand - sUCh as the struggle tor abortion rignis - into paper resolutions on all and sundry understood only by a few 'initiated'.
Consciousness Widening NAC's programme would not
in this respect, have endangered
unity of the left on an issue of key importance to masses of women. would equally have destroyed NAC'S potential for boldly moving out & drawing into action inousands of people who were beginning to identify with its concrete objectives.
This is precisely the advantage of the single-issue campaign since, by taking up a concrete issue that faces people in their daily lives, it can begin to araw them into struggle at their present level of consciousness to change the situation. in NAC who were so eager to 'extend' This is not unimportant. nose torces the programme should ask themselves why the Working Women's Charter (a campaign organised around a series of cemanes was. a mass opposition to the government's itself, unable to launch
anti-abortion moves. The reason was of course, that being based on a multi-
it was limited in its appeal only to those who were already convinced women's liberationists or socialists.
The significance of NAC (unlike the Charter) was that it was able to break through this 'elitism' and involve only the committed but the uncommitted. This was a welcome step forward since the only force capable of stopping the government in its tracks is not a few ¡convinced' socialists but masses of people who have begun to struggle on an issue seen as important to them.
It has been the left's inability to grasp this simple fact which has held back the building of effective opposition on the streets to the increasing attempts by successive governments to erode democratic rights & living standards.
Racist immigration laws remain on the
statute books and the troops remain in Ireland because of the inability of the
over the years, to launch effective movements which can relate to the understanding of masses of people. Mass Action
For many groups on the left, such a
mass action perspective is unrealistic.
Workers Fight, writing on ireland at
ironically enough, when over
60% of people had shown in opinion
polls they were in favour of withdraw-
ing the troops, pointed out:.." is
utopian to believe that TOM can become
a mass movement'. Such pessimism
merely cloaks, in reality, the fact that
the politics of such groups are not even
directed towards drawing layers into
struggle (which remains the only way
to concretely aid the Irish people in
their struggle for self-determination).
This orientation, which rules out the
possibility of mounting any effective
opposition around key issues, stents
in large part from an inability to grasp
how people begin to radicalise. It fails
to understand that people cannot be
changed through 'ideas! alone but only
by involving them, at their present
level of consciousness, in struggles
around issues seen as important to
It is only by drawing wide layers into
independent action on the streets and
Page 5 scan of this page
February 76
AIGNS
Sabina Roberts
in the factories that more and more
will begın to see that social change is
not dependent on Parliamentary man-
oeuvres but upon mass action.
was demonstrated most fully
anti-war movement in the USA whic
not any contributed to the victory of
the Vietnamese people but which also
helped radicalise a whole generation
in class-struggle metnods.
Fighting for such
(as that on June Zlst) involves,
naturally, a tireless struggle against
the reformists who continually attempt
to downgrade it in favour of placing
reliance upon MPs who are boosted as
the 'real' force for social change.
also involves a fight, however, against
those sectarian forces such as Workers
Fight (now the ICL) who, by attempting
to limit these campaigns to the already
¡initiated', equally tend to downgrade
independent action by masses.
This was the major mistake made by
those forces inside NAC who wished to
link up the campaign with other issues.
By suggesting that only those who were
willing to support a whole variety of
issues Cocon e
were effectively slamming the door on
masses of women who were ready to
struggle against abortion restrictions
but who were not yet at a level to grasp
the other points.
Boln ine retormists & the sectarians
join hands, in inis sense.
agreement that, whatever happens, real
change will come about not through the
independent action of masses of people
demanding their rights but
the manoeuvres of a few MPs or by
small 'elitist' actions (such as those
organised by the left in the anti-NF
campaign). In both cases,
people are reduced to the passive role
or spectators.
Government
One of the main achievements of NAC
was to force the government to 'drop!
the White Bill. by mobilising action
on the streets - and winning support
from the TUC and Labour
forced the government to temporarily
retreat on its most extreme measures
against abortion rights brought in under
SPUC pressure.
Mobilising mass action on the streets is not only, nowever, way of creating a viable opposition to
anti-democratic moves by the government. " also. by taking ever - wider layers into struggle around a concrete objective, increasingly reveals to them the true nature of class society raises their consciousness.
Many groups on the left, IMG, have maintained that directing such mass action against the government can alually create lusions in Farliament as a body for social change. Such an arguement only reveals an inability to grasp the dynamic of mass action.
The mass of people already possess illusions in Parliament - if they didn't ine lett would not silli occupy the 'peripheral' place it does. building mass action in the streets -and demanding that the government respond to such actior more will begin, through their experience, to realise of Parliament and see the motor force for social change in their own indepcluen action.
It is, of course, possible that in the course of such action concessions will be won. Mass action in the USA led for example, to the legalising of abortion and to the withdrawing of troops from Vietnam in the early seventies. To maintain that such concessions could lead to creating 'illusions' in Parliament is as ridiculous as claiming that winning 'wage concessions' through strike action will lead to creating illusions in private enterprise.
On the contrary, winning will only give wide layers confidence in their own ability to change the situation without reliance upon the manoeuvres of MPs. It is by gaining such confidence that such layers will we stimuldled to struggle turtner tor other demands through class-struggle methods which will deepen their understanding of class society and the need for fundamental change.
Une of the basic errors of the left, particularly of young radicals, is to Delieve that struggles must be posed ar vuna demands wich cannot be
What these radicals tend to misunderstand is that whether a demand is or not is purely a question of the relationship of forces in most cases. What differentiates a
and divided.
regroupments,
position is mounted
concrete issue,
by the which Is,
independent action
quite socialists) they
On January 12th,
in common
government of Angola.
At the same time either by MPLA,
Angola and those
Ine mass or
African assistence.
African backed MPLA -
rary - NAU
per sudde Key
'unity talks'. the most effective
Jane ibian borders
such as the
raids. Such a move was It is by
own une mitations
Mercenaries
demands
stage,
La 'direct' way.
04 l0 44 votes
the fact that their
been tied, however,
revolutionary from a reformist struggle
is not solely the demands but the way
In which the demands are tought for.
Unity in Action
At present, the left is fragmented
It is vitally important
that, while a debate of clarification
continues that can lead to further
wrodder issues tacing
masses of people are not sacrificed.
Concrete unity around key issues -
such as withdrawing the troops from
Ireland or repealing the Immigration
Act - can assure that an effective op-
Such an opposition, built around a
can been to craw
in wide layers of people and give them
concrete perspective for strugale at present, lacking. At a
time when the workers' movement is
on the retreat on the economic front,
campaigns on these issues can begin
to offer a real struggle against the
government which can increasingly,
over spilt into une labour movemen
The positive action shown by NAC
over the past period - which was able
to draw wide layers of the labour mov-
ement into opposition to government
policies - offers a real perspective.
It is by building such mass action
campaigns that the left can begin to
relate to masses of people who, tor
too long, have seen it involved merely
in internal bickering.
at an emergency
meeting of the Organisation of African
unity tal nela in Addis Ababa, 22
African states supported the Nigerian
resolution calling tor the recognition
of the MPLA as the sole "legitimate'
as recognising the many of them condemned the
'agressive' policy of South Africa in
'UNIT A' and the FNLA, nationalist which had, in CroUDs.
the internal civil war, invited South
The decision by large numbers of
states to recognise the Sovietstemming specifically,
in the case of Nigeria and Ghana, as
a result of South African intervention -
came as a serlous sel-back tor the
aims of US Imperialism in Angola.
was a slap in the face for Kissingerls
attempts (through the 'African tour!
of his envoy William. E. Shaufele)to
African governments to
drop their support for the MPLA and
adopt the US position on the need for
The rebuff suffered at the OAU conf
troops to within 60 miles of the Nam-
protect the Cuneme dam & to prevent SWAPO guerrillas from conducting
what remains of its 'detentel policy with neighbouring states. were being forced to modify their attitude towards the MPLA meant that any only served to isolate South Africa
The 'pull back' of South African troops to 'defensive' positions near allowed the MPLA to step ensive ever more forcefully. In the north, it has managed to rout FNLA forces (taking such key towns as Uige) and push them over the border into Zair A forces hard and seemssikely In the south, it is pressing to capture in the near future such Can a twas as Ivovo Meamonda.
The removal of S. African troops to the borders of Namibia must clearly worry the Ford administration which, it is suggested, was the main pressure on Vorster to enter the Angolan situation. It must worry them because, after the painful defeat in Vietnam which has left sections of the US ruling class unwilling to become embroiled, at this
in another 'colonial war! they
unable to intervene themselves in Last December, the US congress, by
cut off all 'offical! funds to the anti-MPLA forces in Angola. The Inability to enter the war directly,
erswhile ally has been forced to 'pull back' obviously strengthens the MPLA position. Despite the fact that its hands have
the USA is still pouring massive funds to UNITA and the FNLA through !friendly, regimes such as Zaire and its CIA agents are
tradition but to break throuch it.
represents at present its British section).
The LSA believes that,
INTERNATIONAL
HANDS OFF ANGOLA!
busy collecting mercenaries from both
the USA and Europe. On January 11,
the Sunday Telegraph
besides an estimated 300 American
mercenaries.
European mercenaries have entered
Angola secretly over the last few
monins'.
Dominoes
The real reasons for
do not stem, as Kissinger
maintain, from the direct threat of
a marxist 'take-over! in Angola which
could topple the 'dominos! of Southern
Africa. The MPLA is not a marxist
movement. Agostinho Neto, MPLA leader, has openly pointed out that !!
dislike these classifications. I am not a Communist,
am first of all a patriot!.
Far from being a 'marxist' movement, the MPLA has guaranteed the US and oner foreign investors such as Britair (which has over £2000m in Angola) that it will respect private property and has been ready, occasiona to put down strikes and independent working class activity. the present moment it is confronted with mass walk-outs, in Luanda, leatners. electricians, bakers servants and mechanics. attitude towards this can be detected in a speech made by Neto on December z0th when he inaicated inat the fight against UNITA and the FNLA must be accompanied by what he termed 'the battle or production. labour, for productivity, laziness, accinsI idleness, sabotage of our rear lines!.
The Ford administration is only too aware that the MPLA is no more a marxist movement than is the FNLA or UNITA which have both, guaranteed to respect foreign investment and who have adopted clear anti-working class stands. to intervene in Angola is motivated by other reasons. 'Detente Writing in the Guardian on January 9th, Jonathan , Steel pointed out what he considered to be the behind the US moves. that. while the MPLA was no marxist movement, it was supported in the Imucedues! (townships)
Angola's biggest industrial base, workers whose radical aspirations
OUT Ol
ANGOLA
Demonstration in the USA against
intervention in Angola.
The LSA & the
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL
One of the major drawbacks of the British left has been its insularity. It has been this insularity which has prevented it from understanding the complex nature of the radicalisation ir. Britain - from the growth of women's liberation to that of black power - which can only be grasped from an internationalist perspective.
The League for Socialist Action was not formed to accomodate to this insular
seperately from building an international revolutionary party.
At the same time as identifying with the FOURTH INTERNATIONAL, however, the LSA has deep political differences with the International Marxist Group (which IONAL is not seen, at present, as compatible with membership of the IMG.
the most effective way of clarifying the political differences it has with the IMG is through testing out the different lines in practice. Experience will, we are sure, lead to such a clarification.
reported that, such 'activity' likes to
leaders.
I am not a socialist. 1 example, nstrations leaders
on more than one
At
by influence of civil The MPLA's
The the battle of against could give the against
the 'detente!. equally,
allow the _ine cecision Out Now
The first was rcar molves to stabilise
of Luanda, by editor:
page It is for this reason that the LSA is in total Support for the FOURTH INTERNAT-
while remaining in political solidarity with the FOURTH
Political Cttee 6.2.176 Christian 50g. -
Holden Roberto (INLA). and Jonas savimb: :".:
have often caused problems for v=._ i
After the downfall of Caetaro,
the Luanda workers e gass.
in a powerful series of strikes, demo -
taking them
considerably to the left of the MPLA.
who tried to • DU Inem coas
An MPLA 'victory! could lead to se--
ious pressures being placed UDor
which could force it to adopt more 'radical' positions.
The second was that a united Angola,
rich and relatively removed from the
South Africa, would be more independent its actions and could provide aid to SWAPO guerrillas. Creating conflict in Namibia could be a serious threat to the 'detentel line South Africa has been trying to build over the past period with US help.
third (and possibly most vital) was the fear that an MPLA victory
Soviet Union, which is backing the MPLA with supplies and with 'troops' via Cuba, a very useful bargaining counter in its diplomatic moves with the West within terms of
A USSR-backed regime, rich in natural resources and with massive Imperialist investment, would
Soviet bureaucrats to make 'gains' within the policy of detente.
US intervention in Angola is not so much motivated by fear of a marxist take-over - it is only too the USSR is not there to foster the aims of revolution - but by a desire
• Southern Africa and keep it within 'its! sphere of influence. It no doubt calculated that to have three squabbling facts was more conducive to this aim than to have a political victory for one of them.
Even though they have been unable to intervene 'openly' (due to the dec-
Congress), mass undercover support for UNITA and the FNLA as well as the activities of CIA agents are designed to achieve this aim. The position of socialists in such a situation must be crystal-clear. They must call on the British government which has been collaborating with the joint US-South African strategy, dissassociate itself from imperialis "anoeuvres in Angola by demanding the immediate withdrawal of all troops and supplies. 'Hands off Angola! 'must be the rallying cry.
A Scott
T. Roberts Editor: C. Chinnery
Dist Manager: D. Macleod
Page 6 scan of this page
page 6
The death of
- me death of Chou En-lai at the age of se. enty-eight in Peking on January 8th brought to a close a political career ira: spanned fifty-seven years of act-
Line centre or events shaping rodern Chinese history. This, itself, is estimonv to his skill in the devious --er-party warfare that had led to the •urge and disgrace of all but a tew C-airman Mao Tsetung's oldest and c'ases: associates by the beginning of : = 1970s.
last years, Chou served as piece in Chinals qovernmental us and its diplomatic corps. cad repulation lor sudve uruodds with the crude strongamm: hods of the regime which he Tere: alca.
Ghouls extraordinary staying power
the multifarious purges that dot the history of Chinese Stalinism resided - an absence of principles and a keen sense of which way the wind was blowi-g at the top of the party hierarchy. 'Moderation'
The Western capitalist press. after Feking's turn towards Washington in 1972, professed to be charmed with Chou's personality and pleased with his moderation as a diplomat. on his death, the editors of the New York Times hailed him as 'one of the more far-sighted statesmen of the 20th century', citing as evidence his part, along with Mao, in 'repairing the longshattered Sino-American relationship'.
These gentlemen, who are no friends or ine cninese revolution. are not shamming in voicing their regrets on
They are expressing chou's passing. appreciation for an estwhile enemy. for real services rendered. It is this internal transformation of Chou, „Ine selfless proletarian revolutionist into Chou the bureaucra-administrator: anich constitutes the central thread or his lite and wnich detines nis prace in Chinese and world history. Stalinism
Chou took part in virtually every major event in the revolution of 1925-
La revolution brought to a bloody and disastrous 'defeat' by Stalin's *coricies of collaboration with the bourgeois Kuomintang & bureaucratic dictation of tactics to the CCP. It
Chou was formed as a revolutionist. was arrested at Canton in March 1926 in C-ang Kai-shek's first move against ..e CCP: he participated in the Shang-
uprising in the spring of 19278 mas one of the main leaders in the c:: who decided to welcome Chiang's
leading to the anti-communist Stoke Plant
ate 6
PARKING Chrysler workers at Stoke
-ast month, after a concerted campaign
trade union. officers, ~ rysier worktorce was oressurisea
accepting the government proposals for 'saving' the firm. In voting at mass meetings in Linwood, Ryton and Stoke for these plans - thereby overturning =revious decisions to occupy the plants a: ine threat of any redundancies - the C-rysler workers were persuaded to accept 9000 lay-offs.
The decision at these meetings to accept the recommendations of senior sewards and union orticials does not i-s: mean, however, forcing one third become unmistakaby ciear in me years -re Times, in a recent analysis, acte to ine omer surines tea to as. ernment's decision to pour £162m
CHOU EN LAI
massacre of April 12th.
He was in Wuhan in July 1927 when Stalin's policy of continued collaboration with a 'left splinter' of the Kuomintang led to another massacre; he took part in the Nanchang Uprising of August 1927 which marked a turn towards ultra-leftism, as 'Third Period Stalinism' which lasted until 1934.
Corrupted bv Stalinism in his first serious experience of the workers' movement. ine young, talented Chou became converted into ine prototype' or ine runctionaryadventurer, exchanging this role in 1949 for the even less admirable one or runctionary-daministrator• nientionis or nis carrer Dear out InIs narsn lucement. Chiang Kai shek
Chou's greatest personal triumphs were dil inspire einer ov obeisance Lone Stalinist machine or by the effort to conciliate and join together different classes, internationally.
Mao's disgrace, the Autumn Harvest Uprising of 1927, Chou became the chief lieutenant of Li Li-san, the Stalin-appointed jead or ine party arter is tounding leaders, such as Ch'en Tu-hsiu and Peng Shuuse. were made scarecoaston failure of Stalin's policies in China.
ven L was ourced.
Chou adroitly switched loyalties to ine new Moscow on crac of Wang Ming. ¡hatcher mant in removino mao trom the post of military commissar of the so-called Kianasi soviet in August 1932 (Chou was rewarded by being given the post himself). however, just as supple in dropping his former leaders and submitting to Mao when at the Tsunyi conference in January 1935, into North China, eeded in defeating Wang Ming & taking over the party leadership.
Following the Seventh Congress of the Comintern in the summer of 1935 (wnich elected boin mao and chou to the Comintern Executive Committee), Cnou toune nis true niche as the ablest Chinese practitioner class-collaborationist reopie's rront line. His most famous single exploit ot the 1930s was his intervention in December 1936 to save the life of Chian Kai-shek after the revolutionary 'generalissimo' had been arrested by his own troops at sian tor sabotaging the resistence to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
CHRYSLER
subsidies are dependent on what is a 'no strike' pledge, support the government's - even inougn it may 'ugnien' in ine period ahead - and on a recognition that all existing agreements protecting working conditions are to be scrapped as rationalisation' measures are now introduced.
Strategy
There can be no doubt that persuadina the unions to ram this deal inrougn is a major victory for the government's
strategy towards the car one lett industry. The problems facing Chrysler - a decrease in sales due to fierce competition in a shrinking world market - apply, to a greater or lesser extent, to all car firms in Britain.
The government is only too aware that if these firms are to compete today in a world market which,
competitive, lower manning levels are vital. the past 20 years, britain's the world market in car sales has slumped by 15% and. is considered a 'car glut', will slump even faster.
Only recently, Review Staff (the government 'think Tanke sumitec a cocument entitier ' The Future of the Car which It spelt out, in black the problem. Unless, it said, a drastic improvement on such issues as productivity levels,
an industry in which the balance of trade in cars would deteriorate by al gave billion a year (by 1975 prices). More InC concrecy. ancies of between 50, 000
known later
Idea suc ane
The
both nationally & During the period of ionary: seeking to use the atter the tallure ot
Ine
in vanuary 1931,
Chou acted as Wang's in July 1946,
war thate utimatev lost Chou
Chou was
"New Democracy'),
during the Long March
Mao's taction succ-
the Korean war.
This true calling as the
of the Chou. in fact, on a cuarantee le wage policy
La lead'.
Viability
through!
impossible without the of union leaders.
well,
nationalise Chrysler lock, following entry has become ever more TODS
Over share
at a time of what
Play -olls. the Central Policy
the government's policies,
Industry! in and was there is
over-manning ancies. 1985 could see
it recommended redund-
and 275,000
At the war's end in 1945 Chou again distinguished himself as the most energetic collaborator of American generals Hurley and Marshall in trying to persuade Chiang Kai-shek to accept the CCP as junior partner in his government. This was typical of the outlook of the Stalinist funct-
massive forces accumulated by the CCP in the anti-Japanese struggle as a bargaining counter in an effort to bring together the contending classes.
It was through no fault of Chou's or of General Marshall's that this reinte•ramon tune cur-nelorerr¡tories into Chiang's government talled. It was ine aristocrarc and obdurate Chiang who launched military offensive against the CCP
precipitating the civil
entrusted by the CCP regime after 1949 with the abortive attempt to organise a capitalist coalition government (the explicit political content of Mao's heralded
project that collapsed only in 1953 under the pressure of bourgeois sabotage of the government and economy during 'Peaceful Coexistence' From the early 1950s, Chou found
diplomatic arbiter of Stalinist 'peaceful existencel with world capitalism. As the Chinese representative to the Geneva conference in 1954.he tried to placate Washington by pressurina the Vietnamese to concede to ine French the reoccupation of the south of their country after the Vietnamese military victory at Dien Bien Phu.
is credited for being the initiator of the formula - 'two Vietnams! - which laid the basis for THE LESSONS ions.
The government's attitude towards Chrysler - forcing through a smaller, more stream-lined company by redundancies - is merely the first step in a long-term policy that will, in the period ahead, be applied to other firms. It is obviously taking seriously the think tank's report that it must 'give
The government's ability to 'push
this rationalisation scheme al neysler would ciearly nave been
'co-operation'
Accepting the 'viab¡lity! of private enterprise is not just the hallmark of the government but also of the leaders of the AEUW as
such as Bob Wright, who made no attempt to force the government to
stock and barrel as the sole way of protecting
That such a campaign would have won the wholehearted support of the workforce is demonstrated by the fact that mass meetings at Linwood and Ryton
emancie occupations at the first sign of any
instead of channelling this mass feeling into a viable opposition to
the union leaders tried to intimidate the workforce by suggesting that if Varley's plans were not accepted, they could be withdrawn under Tory pressure, thus leading to even greater redund-
This attitude, which ties jobs to the Iviability! of private enterprise, not only led to 9000 lay-offs for the Chrysler work-force but will prove equally disastrous in the fight against recuncancies in mme perioo aneda as
SOCIALIST ACTION ine genocidal American aggression of the 1960s and 1970s.
Chou's next 'triumph' was at the Bandung conference in 1955 where he hobnobbed with Nehru, Sukarno and other 'unaligned' bourgeois leaders •t ine semi-colonial woron involved here was not simply China's attemot to •reach ine American embargo or to offer support to oppressed nations fighting for genuine independence from imperialist domination. The something more Chou ottered that was characteristic of Stalinist diplomacy was реасети co-exisience witn capilalist regimes in exchange for trade ana alplomatic concessions.
The meaning of this formulation has
since the Cultural Revolution. Under
China has explicitly enous quidance. withdrawn support from revolutionary movements in countries whose governments are friendiv with rekind. examples range from Sri Lanka, where nou come mented une sandaranairt regime on its efficiency in suppressing its radicalised youth to Chile some years later where China was among the first governments in the world to recognise the military dictatorship of General Pinochet.
For the international working class, the Chinese • revolution remains a major progressive accomplishment. But the motor forces of the Chinese revolution do not reside in functionaries like Mao or Chou who were
in the immensely powerful mass movement of the workers & peasants who will again resume their march to-
Based on an article by Les Evans
in INTERCONTINENTAL PRESS
as British Leyland.
Accepting the starting point of 'viab¡lity! leads inevitably to accepting cuts in manning levels and working condit-
It leads to fragmenting the work • force in the scramble that ensues as workers fight to 'savel their job at the expence of fellow workers. This will become even more obvious at Chrysler in the coming period as ine voluntary redundancies! scheme ends and the management begins to wield ine axe
Lessons
lnis is not, or course, to suggest Ine union leaders found it easy to get the Vane-s ccaro cans acceoted. the various shop stewards' meetings, the vote in favour of the plans was only narrowly passed - being carried at Ryton by 45 to 43 votes and at Linwood by 156 to 129.
The fact, however, that the unions were pushing support tor government policy as the 'lesser evill seriously contused ine membership wno, light of no viable alternative, clearly felt intimidated into accepting them. The maor lesson, in this sense, to emerge from the Chrvsler experience is no - as groups such as the International Socialists maintain - the need for more militancy. The Chrysler workers do a"ne labour torce oronto ne co action at Linwood - in the teeth of government threats to end subsidies -only goes to show.
The major lesson is that the struggle against unemployment cannot be solved locally but is inseparable from a real national struggle in ine unions ana ine Labour Party around a clear programmalc allernative to tne dollcies or tne right-wing leaders. It is only by building a polltical opposition natonally lo the 'lesser evil' policies of the labour
demands of work-sharing, opening the books and nationalisation under workers control - that this militancy can be given a real alternative perspective to the dole queue policies of a Scanlon or a Jones.
Page 7 scan of this page
February 76
Immigration:
ration. …ne main inrust ornis speech.l
immigration quolas tor ine year 191s.
Powells soeech. which accused ravour of 'conspiring' to hide the true facts was careruly calculalca. Coming on top of the press 'scare stories' of large numbers of immigrant workers in the country without work permits', clearly intended to play upon the worst racial prejudices ot backward workers by suggesting the real cause of escalaling unemptoyment lay in ine intux or black workers.
…ne resoonse or ine Labour leaders was not to challenge the racist basis ot rowell's attack Dul, on ine contrary, to meekly admit that a 'clerical error' nac been mace. I nis spinetess altitude on the part of labour leaders is not new out part or a long iradition of capitulating before racist demagogy which has led them. over the years, to try and 'out-Tory' the Tories in introducing restrictions against black immigrants.
Dangers
In 1965, after the racist back-lash in the Midlands which led to the dramatic
Labour government introduced the White Paper wich proposed restricting black immigrants to 8500 a year and, in 1968, •roven out ine mmicraton Act waica Callaghan defended against Powell on the grounds that it had kept out more black immigrants than any piece of Tory legislation.
The present Immigration Act - which the Tories introduced in 1971 merely the latest in a long line of such acts which reduce black immigrants to the status of 'aliens' dependent upon a work permit to enter the country.
Such policies of the Labour leaders, which tacitly admit that black people are at the root of unemployment or bad housing, have helped create a climate of legalised racism in which speeches by right-wing demagogues like Powell appear increasingly realistic. Powell is, after all, with his talk of 'voluntary repatriation' and 'tightening quotas!, merery laking lo a ocical conciusior the racist implications which lie in the Acts Labour introduced way back in the isixties.
The dangers of such policies are only too clear today with escalating unempl oyment. By refusing to openly challenge tigures like Fowell - or. rather, preparing the ground for him with their previous restriclions' - ne avour leaders have paved the way for a right wing backlash. Such a trend can alreaay be detected in the decision by
unions such as lne ul or lad wno. recenty. refused to allow immigrant teachers to be employed to teach immigrant children their own language on the grounds that there are already many unemployed British teachers. Campaign
If this attitude is to spread in the months and years to come, it could seriously split the labour movement E turn attention away from the real cause of social problems - such as unemplovment - by creating a scapegoat only too noticeable by its colour.
It is for this reason that the decision by the Campaign to Repeal the Immigration Act (CRIA) to launch a mass demonstration in April this year is to
A serious strugale to repeal this Act - which the right-wing around Powell are trying to 'tighten' Still further - could begin to act as a powerful focal point for struggling, in
QUABUS VICTORY
The Omani regime is claiming war against the Dhofari tribes. The Dhofari, ethnically different from the Arabs living and long denied economic benefits from the central government, have carried out a tenacious guerrilla war with support from South Yemen.
Situated in the peninsula, Oman is in a strategic position because of its proximity to the oil-rich Arab-Persian Gulf and vital shipping lanes. Sultan Quabus of Oman was aided in the fight against
the Dhofari rebellion by a 4000 man Iranian force and a smaller vordanian force.
Kenneth Perkins and officered by about 350 British soldiers. defeated and vow to continue the struggle.
Line Iranian torce in uman.
POWELL:
LAUNCHES ANTI-IMMIGRANT ATTACK In early January, Enoch Powell hit the headlines once more on the question of immig-
which received wide press publicity, the Labour government was deliberately covering up for the fact that it had 'exceeded'
it was
Enoch Powell: hoping to stir anti-immigrant prejudice.
the labour movement, against racist attitudes in general.
The Immigration Act not only discrimInates againsi Diack people entering ine country on the basis of their colour. It also helos to institutionalise racisn in this country by ensuring that the few who do manage to enter (under the work permit system) are treated as 'cheap ¡abour nine mosi meniai loos ano are deprived of the most elementary rights. by challenging, ised racism in society - 'legalised' in the sense that it justifies the oppression black people suffer in every aspect of their lives - a serious be offered to figures like Powell who, for too long, away with their racist garbage.
Responsibility
Already. has met with a positive response from Immer an orcahisallons. and trades councils. enrecuve. however - for it to be able to act as a springboard to take the issue into the labour movement - it is vital to draw in the widest possible forces have, The fact that the Labour over ine years. Dacked down racist pressures, responsibility lies on the left. Unless it can meet this responsibility and turn its anti-racist stance into a concrete and effective opposition to the demagogy of Powell and his followers, the coming perioa coura see ine prejudices Dullt up by over centuries of imperialist rule ever-more inflamed.
Building a mass demonstration in April could become a real tocal point tor aeveloping such a campaign and pioneering It witnin ine broader labour movement.
The LSA would add its voice to that of CRA's in urging all student unions. trade union and Labour Party branches ana - in arcad such as IS or the IMG to affiliate to the ad-hoc committee building the demonstration and to publicise it widely.
Information about the ad-hoc cttee can be obtained trom Franco caprino, 45, Kensington Park Road, London W.11. REPEAL THE IMMIGRATION ACT
ALL OUT APRIL 11th National Demonstration
Assemble Marble Arch 2.30
victory in its ten-year in the northeast of Oman
ARABIA south-eastern tip of the Arabian
SOUTH Salol YEMEN
The 12000 strong Omani army is commanded by British major
Officials of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman deny that they have been
Although the Omani regime does appear to have improved its position substantially, it is indicated that it will continue to keep
to the attempt
*Switzerland
was that Last October,
Line vote. ine
La new mcdote
be introduced. * Germany
January 13. pay'.
In a alreci way, ecal-
resistence would
have been allowed to get
ine call tor ine demonstration
Labour MPs
For it to be really
as in ke saac oeutcher. leaders sinister molves. means that a heavy
Hansen, Trotsky's death, 'accomplice of the GPU'.
Set-backs closer home, c/o
political line. Bob Swart
Hansen in a hard-hitting
thinking for themselves.
arguement,
no doubt hopes,
IRAN
monolithic set-up.
New victim ?
DHOFAR!
and CIA agents. sectarian politics.
EUROPE-WIDE CAMPAIGN
The legalised racism against black immigrants in Britain - which can be traced back
Immigration Act - forms part of an ominous campaign which has been gathering force throughout Europe. Workers in countries from Norway to Germany have been facing increasing entry restrictions and racist attacks.
immigrants comprise one-sixin or ine total population & foreign workers make up more inan one-inira or ine worktorce.
La referendum calling for ine exouision ornat ine torelen population by the end of 1977 received 34% of
covernment responded lc the racist campaign by announcing that
limiting the number of new foreign workers to enter the country in the next 12 months to 20,500, would
The economic 'downturn! has led the government to launch severe attacks on the 2. 5m 'gastarbeiter' (guest workers) which includes some 600, 000 Turks. On
last year, Bonn announced new measures to reduce the numbers of foreian workers in Germany and to give 'preference' to German job-seekers.
offering lump-sum payments to workers who offer to resign. Most who accept the offer are immigrant workers. As the New York Times put it, 'the feeling of being less than welcome was a tactor for many who decided to take severance
WRP SLANDERS
TROTSKYIST MILITANT
The Workers' Revolutionary Party
(WAF) Is naraly known tor its savours
polemics with other left tendencies.
in most respects.
even less savoury than previous ones.
in a recent series or articies,
'Security and the Fourth International',
ine healyles open an investigation inte
the death of Leon Trotsky.
Such an investigation is not inspired.
the case of an honest biographer ovareal desire
to discover the facts but by far more
Its aim is to 'indict'
former Trotskyist secretary, Joseph
'criminal negligence'
It not ot being an
seem strange that the Healvites
should devote more space in their fast-
ailing 'daily! to witch-hunting a leading how,
Trotskyist militant than to covering key
issues such as the national struggle ir
Ireland. The answer is not so strange,
however, as it may at first appear.
Since its split with the OCl, its sister after
organisation in France a few years ago,
the WRP has suffered some severe set-
backs. It recently lost several leading
members of the Workers' League,
sympatnising section in the usA, and,
launched a witch-hunt
against over 200 trade union members
in its own ranks who had the audacity
¡• oppose ine leadersnio's sectarian
ne cause or inese set-packs - wricr have left the WRP more isolated than
ever Detore - was analysed •v voseon
article in
Intercontinental Press (Vol 13 No 12).
In particular, Hansen singled out the politically sectarian course followed
by the WRP and its well-known organ-
isational 'thuggism' which denies its own members elementary rights - like Alan
unabe o rev dollcay lo such an
the Healyites have reverted
to the level of politics where they feel most at home: personal slander. Healy
by concocting frameups in the Stalinist tradition against his
critics, to cloud the issue and divert the members of the WRP from probing the real reasons for these set-backs & ine lack or rignts iney possess in nis
The slanders directed against Joseph
Hansen, a leading member of the world Trotskyist movement for over 30 years, need not be refuted. They are based on rumours culled trom seit-contessed ort
A clear, factual reply to them can be found in the pages Intercontinental Press (Vol 13 No 42).
What is worth refuting is the methoc used by Healy in dealing with political tendencies he has differences with. It can serve as an object lesson for young radicals as to the ultimate logic of
page the Tory government - in 1962 - to introduce their Commonwea!:.
*Norway
Eager not to be left out of this anti-
immigrant campaign, the Norwegian
government announced last February
that it had decided to ban the entry of
foreian workers for one year. Worker
from other Scandanavian countries ano
those with 'special skills' would,
Costs , be exempt.
* France
Immigrant workers account for mort
than 15% of the labour force and, with
Ineir tamuies. Tor aboul oo or ine por
ulation. Often confined to the worst slur
and shanti-towns, those from N. Afrio
have been subject to continuing racis:
allachs
Only recently. for example, followir
the murder of a Marseille bus driver b
an Algerian, the mass circulation dai!
"Le Meridional' felt confident enough ::
write: 'We have had enough of Algeriar
theives, Algerian thugs, Algerian bras
garts, Acer an troupemakers. a ceri:
syphilitics, Algerian pimps, Algeriar
lunatics and Algerian killers'. During
the next three weeks, 11 Algerians we
murdere and scores more assault.
Gerry Healy: uses Stalinist meinods.
Hansen himself, in his reply,
notes for the Healyites, 'All other political tendencies.. are recaraed as agencies of the bourgeoisie to be dea!: with accordingly! This attitude on :-s part of the WRP is, of course, mere! a substitute for taking up and arquir: against the political ideas advanced =: Tival tenancies. There is no poin:. ical opponents if they are 'agencies o? all, discussing with ones' pol the bourgeoisie'. On the contrary, ire task is to 'expose' them, even if this means juggling with the facts.
Such a premise leads, quite inevitab!: to ine wildest slanders and trame-ups (in the Stalinist tradition) to prove the "case ne accusations aeansi Joses Hansen are not new, in this respec:, but merely ine spiciest alsn yet to de seen from the Healyite kitchen.
The April 23rd issue of Workers Press tried to 'smear! Bala Tampoe fleading roiskyist and nead or ine Ceylon Mercantile Union) as : 'associa:-
Tim Wohitorth, las year expelled from the Workers League was accused of 'harbouring and cover. ing for a CIA agent' and, most recent!:
Thornett, who was expelled fron the WRP for exercising the right to think for himself, was described by the General Secretary as a 'police agen:'.
'Big lie'
The fact that Healy should be reduced to labelling every political opponent -inside and outside the WRP - as some form of police agent is not just a simple question of It is an attemp to 'shield! the dwindling membership of the WRP from the political argumen!s of rival tendencies by the use of wha: can only be called Stalinist methods
ls an attemoi to divert attentior away from the fact that the leaders o Ine war nave turned a once-promis -g group into a barren sect unable to reldie to ine redi issues tacing work.s people and unable to tolerate any rea criticism of this course.
We can assure the WRP however the: the time when it could pass such falss coin as 'Trotskyism' is long past Tre WRP broke with Trotskyism, and in its organisational practice long
The technique of the 'big lie' w: not hide this fact.
Page 8 scan of this page
SOCIALIST ACTION
Last year, sarbara Castle admitted rat 'we will be lucky if in the next few ; ears we will see any growth whatever
the service'. Castle's comment was, anything, an overstatement since only = few months later it was announced that • e Nho grant would de siasnea - by £ 76m - at a time when inflation was on • me move am an anua nate or
Castle's stand against 'pay beds' in the
piacale ine labour movement by finishing the work of Bevan,
cover uD ine TaCI unal such cuis have pushed an already inadequate service breaking pole. ills ine tinal "urn of the screw' in the NHS which has ince 1964
seeil government chocrature =-op from 15.1 to 11.5%.
-hese cuts show that the government •s not only prepared to sacrifice the
• ing standards of working people - as : -e pay freeze bites ever deeper - but := sacrifice their very lives as well as e. er more are abandoned to illness, sain and premature deaths. At present, .:h building programmes grinding to
staff being cut and facilities worsening, It is more ditticult to get -: o hospital today than it was back in • 2:3
Building programme
«ule receniv. David Owen went on a : =_~ of new hospitals and commented it « as very 'saa'to see so many notes in ire ground where new hospitals had been
• ne noes uwen reterrea to =-e, ot course, ine result or inese culs
as e case or vewcastle. nave see- building allowances cut from the = su, voo requestea to a mere pittance :: =125,000.
building =-agramme can be seen to full effect • -e- it is realised that 75% of all beds =.= able are in hospitals built prior to *E and that only 42 hospitals have been
: after 1945. It is hardly a wonder,
•=-etore, that at present there is an ==: matea nait a million on the walting
s:s:0 be admitted for hospital care and
=. es in semi-Victorian buildings often
government has partially tried to
eay ine sluation by its new boucy
redistributing financial resources
• more privileged areas (London)
-ose in most need. If it is realised
=: ine 'privileged' London area was
in a Dhss as being
bosed of pre-1948 hospitals lacking
: wally none for mental illness, the
extent of the present crisis can be
S:e-dardising heath throughout the UK .-ch is the aim of the government's
SUBSRIBE TO
SOCIALIST ACTION
Name -Address
' • v. MacLeoc
NHS CUTS
Castle: implementing massive health cuts.
"recisir oution bocv simoiv means closing London hospitals to keep open alreadv inadequate ones in Leeds. Staff cuts
Labour's cuts do not only mean making inroads into the building programme but into staffing as well. It has already been estimated by COHSE that, for some time, there has been a shortage of 70,000 nurses and that most hospitals lack their complement of technical staff (e. g. radiologists and psychotherapists).
Despite this •acks nave airecay being forced to further reduce their limited staff - 50 nurses being sacked in S. Glamorgan and 80 in Portsmouth
and implement a policy of non-replacement and chopping training
Axing staff ratios means, fewer patients being treated (as wards are closed) which can lead to serious
ality rates points out that, due to lack of hospitalisation facilities. rates of young children under one year old increased by 212 in the four months up to November 1915 compared to ine same period the preceding year. ¡i so means placing dr workload on notorious for being under-paid. partly the result of this new which accounts for growing militancy among ancilliary workers, more recently junior doctors who were held up, by Barbara Castle, 'a reckless disregard for the interests of the patients in the NHS'.
It is not, of course, who have shown this reckless aisregard' for the NHS but the present Labour government wnien, tollowing pro- 1ory
is prepared to sacrifice the health of batients and jobs workers to bail out ailing firms such as unrysier.
Alternative
Solving the problems of the health service does not lie, Barbara Castle. drawal of private medecine while cuts in funds and staff in the public sector continue. Such a 'solution', encourages the growth in 'private medecine' as trends show.
Recent cuts have seen a rapid growth in new members to or vae neaninsurance organisations (such as BUPA) and increasinolv made by drug companies nade to nose dense la lack of facilities, prescribing ever more drugs. At a lease make all postal orders or cheques payable to socialist Actior 1 Pretoria Road. London. SW16.
cue to lack or tunes.
in the region of £538m. the MCAPP* last year,
pro-lory measures
all culs,
arue companies.
Ine mass or working people. alone at its peak,
outbreak, inadequate situation, cut-
meant nosoildis are
involved,
of course,
mortality Extremists
Time tried to preserve
unbearable On January 15th, remaining staff who are
Itis on strike, situation
nurses and
as showing
the junior doctors
of health as pretended by in the phased with-
in reality,
large promis being
as doctors, face of the facts.
are forced back on.
Times,
campaign had started!. 6 months £1
'extremist fringel but,
12months £2
is holding wages down at
Reforms
time when the NHS is being crippled
Line rinancial Times estimates that drug companies are expected to make record profits
The real task before the labour movement today is to begin working out a strategy for implementing what Nye Bevan once termed a 'comprehensive health service free to all in which poverty would not be a disability and wealth not an advantage'. A positive start was made in this direction at
conference in October, which pianned out a clear programme in opposition to Labour's
The conference called for an end to
for a sliding scale of social expenditure, for opening the books and for the nationalisation of the basic
Touch a programme. which could begin to pose a serious fighting alternative to the government's policy, is not only ot importance to workers in the NHS. It has the real potential. it is cemands are pioneered within the broader labour movement, to •raw ever-wider lavers no sooori for a health policy in the interests of
Ann Fiander
STRIKE WAVE
HITS SPAIN
In a massive strike-wave, last month,
involving more than 100, 000 in Madrid
Spanish workers
served notice that they will not sit by
in silence while Franco's old collabor-
ators in the government debate timid,
The Carlos regime's response to the
which rapidly spread from
Madrid to Barcelona where dockers,
electrical and telephone workers were
was typically brutal.
Demonstrations & assemblies - such
as the one in madrid's main university race.
on January 12th -were quite savagely
•sperse• ov ine bolice Many legenc
strikers were arrested and charged
The
postal and telephone workers were
drafted into the armv & made subiect
rest.
In the midst of this upheaval, the reg-
an air of calmi
« ooked rouno tor suitabie scapegoals.
at a time when over
250. 000 workers were estimated to be
the Carlos government att-
ributed it to the !.. action of certain
extremist groups that have sought to
disturb or delay the government plans'.
Workers in industrial suburb of Villaverde
The pretence that the opposition to
ine recimes corley is mee lo ine
extremist fringe obviously flies in the
La January 16th In
dispatch from Madrid to the New York
reporter Henry Giniger even
pointed out that the strike wave could
not be placed at the door of the illegal
'workers commisions' (influential in
the growing strikes last year) who
'found themselves joining in after the
The mass outburst was not due to any
on the contrary,
to ine growing impatience of layers of
workers not only with the economic pol-
cies orine carlos covernment- wnich
La time when
inflation is soaring at 17% - but alsc ion.
with its clear refusal to grant any
substantial democratic rights.
It is true, of course, that the Carlos
regime has tried to put on a 'liberal!
image to undercut the groundswell of
opposition that was growing in the last
tew years of Franco's ruie. Ine plans
it has put forward however such as
cranine creder collica treedom lo
February 76
Cuts demo
NALGO nas recentiv decidea to
support the demonstration called by
the NCC (National Co-ordinating
Committee against Cuts in the NHS)
to be held probably this spring.
The support of a major union such
as NALGO. whose members have
already been subjected to the Gov-
ernment's cut-backs in 'social
expenalture, is obviously of key
importance
The main task now is to build for
the demonstration within the labour
movement - inside trade union and
Labour Party branches - to mobilise
the largest possible torces against
the cuts. The demands of the NCC
are:
* for a sliding scale of social
* for opening the books expenditure
* for a Workers' Enquiry into
the NHS
* for an end to private practice
inside and outside the NHS. official trade union movement, and, at a later date, allowing 'universal suffrage' - are marginal.
Their true purpose, as admitted by Justice Minister Antonio Garrigues, not so much to dismantle the Franco dictatorship as to 'tart it up'. Quoted in a Reuter's report from madria lasi month, he pointed out that'... the new government would not aismantle ine Franco regime but improve it & bring
While Carlos promises a parliament based on 'universal suff-
The still intends to keep an appointed upper house with powers to block the decisions of the 'elected representatives
Carlos inability to even begin dismantling the Franco heritage (shown most clearly in his refusal to release those thousands of political prisoners still rotting in the dictatorship's jails) which is the real cause of growing un-
The minor reforms he has put forward cannot even begin to satisfy the desire amona Spanish workers for elementary rights - such as the right
to form political parties to tree speect, or to demonstrate - which the death of Franco seemed to promise them.
Despite the brutality of the regime in dealing with mass opposition, such unrest will continue to explode in anti-government actron as nappenea only ‹ few weeks back when over 50,000 demonstrated in Barcelona demanding the release of all political prisoners.
Dilemma
Continuing to defend Franco's legacy will only Dring me warlos government (and its fascist supporters in the army)
pressure for democratic change. The recent surines and acmons rallons dre only the opening shots of a growing working class opposition which, already, has seen ine struggle by ine walalan c Basque nationalists, long oppressed by Ine rranco regime,
Carlos may have been able to ride out the current wave but inis is merely e foretaste of what is to come. The Franco legacy won't be dismantied trom 'above'• It will be dismantled by the Spanish workers wno will not De afraid to lgo beyond' the plans for an orderly transition parties such as the CP have ir store for them in order to create a socialisi democracy.
J.L.
← Socialist Action (LSA) Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1976Socialist Action (LSA) Vol. 1, No. 3, April 1976 →