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WHILE TOURING Bangladesh, Callaghan told joumaliste who asked him questions about racism in Britain to mind their own business. In india he was a bit more pointo ano clamed mar britain was construcung a multi-racial society ant racist lawa in te word, mis was in place ord comment on the McKinnon affair.
homework properly they could have asked Callaghan of decade in aiding racism. Callaghan was well-known as a racist Home exclusively to black people but admitled by Crossman in his recently published diaries.
Forit is a fact that Labour is now paying the price for its failure to do anything to help curb the rise of racism. Joe Ashton's effective anti-Nazi broadcast, as we have already streesed, was a step forward. essentially motivated by a desire to prevent the fasciels from taking too many Labour votes in the local and national elections. Labour's immigration policies and Ite package of social and economic mesures encouragad the growth of racism. Uniess Labour Party members recognise this fact they will not get anywhere In combatting the cancer.
McKinnon's racist remarka should not come as a privacy' of his club or al dinner parties fairly regularly, Stanes bien sudiscardswossuie display of racism which the reprehensi bie Un ess ine covernment is utter y subine Mckinnon will probably be sacked or asked to resign, à a Dobson, Thorn is, however, amora imponant point. l Is the way in which judges are appointed in this country In 1975, for instance, 68 per cent of the judges appointed to the High Court went to public schools, and 74 per cent to Oxford and Cambridge. The class basis and bias of the judiciary is well known.
Professor J.A. Griffith (The extremely effective fashion It is a revealing comment on British Labour that they have refused to institute any reforms whatsoever in the and had the most advanced But it was have liberal finde press A recent book by Potitica demonstrates tns ian In the name of a 'united student movement' the leaders of the National Union of Students have taken a big stride down the roud to the destruction of the student movement as an independent and campaigning force.
The NUS conference in December represented • decisive shit to the right in NUS policy, and a consolidation of the alliance berween the leaders of the Broad Left [a coalition of Communists and Labour students] and the Federation of Conservative Students, argues COLIN TALBOT, a member of the NUS executive and organiser of the Socialist Students Alliance.
Student union organisatica came under direct attack in 1971 when Margaret Thatcher proposed to astitute public control' of student union finanocs. That external threat was soundly defeated by the higgest mass mobilisations of students in the NUS's bistory.
Today that is restarting, aided and abetted by Tory students within the unions. As before an atmosphere of witch-hunt i bein created by the education authorities in preparation for an all-our offensive.
Isolated colleges have afready come under attuck, like the union officials at Birmingham Polytechnic who face possible imprisonment for union donation to striking firelighiers.
The response of the NUS NOIS OUIS SEISEAISONKE around the philosophy that If enemy might not be able to catch you Before the attack has even started in carnest, the CALCULIYC accepted public accountability" of union funds, and denounced those who want to tight as wreckers". Ву в IL RES Angly women accupy Evening News office. refused by the wonsen involved who insisted that they all had something ta say about the scurrilous story. When the managing editor conceded to hy a very harrassed-lookine our demands co de breseDe er mune. we agreed to have ooly four speakers. lo put OUT demands to the News Editor.
Amidst flashing cameras and more abuse from people outside the offices confronted Lou Kirby, editor Evening News. and Stuart Kuttner, ome 0r Cop investigative journalists. The minute majority this position endorsed hy conference, Parallel to the N'S retreat on union independence bas come action and more subissons torbe Gorerement and lobbies of Parliament. The anly exception to this has come on the issues of grans and overseas students.
The position of studenis who (supposediy) gel discretionary grants and the tale of overseas students, now racing vicious racist quotas, has becoms so bad thai the NUS has heen Torced to cail some action so these students can let off steam' il nothing else. That's why the NUS has called demos on quotas on 22 Febriary and on grants on 3 March. Havine cales there actions le Nus executive will de only the hare minimum to build thent, being more interested in the delegate labby of Parliament on grants on 2 March.
AUTONOMY The Socialist Students Alliance is planning an all-oul first demand presented to them ains for the right of reply to the articles — a demand which was granted with surprising rapidity Kirby. Alongside this was the demand that any further investigations being carried out hy the should cease immediately and that apologie should be given 1os the invasion of privacy cotailed in le investigations.
was put to Kuttner and Kirhy that the story was a union autonomy and develop AJOUTE demands of further oducation 80d overseas students national conference on student autonomy has been called for 1R February. It has adready gained endorsements from a very large number of student union officials SPRINGBOARD Al the same time the SSA is of the 2 March into a day of In the -localities, including mass pickets of local authorities and occupations of colleges This is a direct challenge to the NUS-called lohhy of Parlament. It will be used as a springboard io build massive support the demonstration the following day also being produced to build the quotas demo on 22 February.
Derais of posters ond legfiers grants quotas contacting Colin Talbor of che Magrant breach of the NUT code of conduct, shich grounds of sexual preference Kirby's reply emphatic. No. they bad not broken the code, nor had the aversensationalised thestory believed that published the public interest* because it highliented "abuormal procreation. 1 am not concerned wich sexism', he said, refusing to give an apology Needless to say, this provoked a good deal of anger, and a meIber DE Lia Swealsto produced a sensational article decrying their plays for children as "sex plays". Another woman produced an article -again by the same journalists sensationally the queer bashing?!, Kirby was asked.
And of course it is. The story in the Evening News Lavery LINTOUS SINCEI generalised attack of poople to determine their own sexuality and lifestyle is coming under attack from all the reactionary sides of society, and wherever these attacks occur, socialists should follow the example and demands of the women who zappod the The laterests of workers sad capite