ommendations miseducated the marchers about the nature of workers' democracy. His talk about 'there has to be a military discipline reflects the same sort of notions which the trade union and Labour Party bureaucracy come out with when they argue against the existence of independent or even 'rank and file' groupings inside those organisBehind all these tactics lay the attempts of the IS leaders to ban any banners, policies or practices which were not their own. This IS control was evident during the march. The march's council was eventually restricted to 12 members: eight were elected, four were nominees of who and what it wasn't clear - but all these four were members of IS.
Nor will the campaign achieve anything while it refuses to take seriously the mass organisations of the working class. They should not exclude Labour Party banners, as they did, they should welcome such support. They did invite trade union banners throughout march, but there were precious few, just as there were precious few mainstream working class militants on the march.
Such militants will not be won easily. Nor will the active as opposed to passive participation of trade union branches, trades councils, even elements of the "left' bureaucracy who are willing to become involved in the fightback ag ainst the policies of the Goverment and TUC. But such a fight is essential, because a campaign not oriented to the mass organisations is going nowhere.
It may be good fun to chant Hurry, Hurry, Kill Len Murray' or Jack Jones's Body will be lying in the grave'; it may get publicity to disrupt Tribune meetings; but infantile chants say nothing to the working class and busting up meetings is no way to involve workers who retain reformist illusions.