PAPER OF THE LEAGUE FOR SOCIALIST ACTION Vol1. No 2.
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 internprivileges -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 systemdiscriminated 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 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 within 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 nationalist 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 themselves 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 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 minorIt 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 buildTroops 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.
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CONTENTS • Single-issue campaigns • Angola
• Scottish Labour p2 Party