Based extensively inNowhern Ireland. In their turn, the police have liaised with the army, htmadives experimenting with terrogation methods eic. Some of the hardware wed in mot control has also been passed on to the police force. For example, the police have been equipped foe quite a long time with C5 gas — bose long-term effects are still unknown. The events leading up to Lewisham, where the police ed cameras and audio equr ent for the surveillance o black community, one vet anothc example of ihe way in which the police are being encouraged to se more sophisticated methods in he artempe to control an evel more restless working class.
Without wishing to be alarmist, is bkely that the police, siven the mccess at Lewisham, will be encouraged by the Governmentto expand their overt methods of control wall the akelod of stroger and stronger expressions not just in the fight against fascism attempesto restore lawand order' PUT TOIL efficient methods and pore and more violence.
They will be backed up in this campaign by she other wings of the The cat it no dare te The courts will no doubi secking to Impose heavy penalties on those facing Alter Lewisham, Birmingham and Notting Hill Socialis should be well awore of the donams which rhese mesheds of polirical contral pose And, within that we should be awate: of the need to defend ourselvests completely as possible seir-defence And security and by modene & strom defence campaign fer those comrades facing the relaliation of the counts.
We air eremin hat our strengi liesin our unity with chore from the workers movement, the women's movement and big orgapisasions who are prepared e assert our right to pultial" dissentica through miass actiod. hooligans" directed against the anti-fascists, a revealing story cametolight.
someone fire-bombed almost destroyed the bookshop of Centreprise in Hackпсу. community centre heavily used by black vouth in the area. It turned our that this was the fourth attack of this sort on Centerprise this yeur. Moreover, three other bookshops in North and West London were subject to racist attacks in the course of the preceding month, including one fire-bombed. All specialised in books for the black community, In February an bookshop in Southall had been similarly attacked concerted dation of the London black community only seeps into the light of day after Lewisham? Could it be thar the capitalist press is trying to teach London's blacks the lesson that has been so often drummed intothehead of che oppressed elsewhere: that it's only when you get up in your thousands and create bloody murder, that anyone is prepared to listen to the injustices that you have laboured under since birth? In the midst of all the outcries of 'extremists', "thugs", and On Monday, 15 August, 'One down.
and Centerprise is a local For the Why is it that this obviously effort at intimiLewisham youth armed with knives and a sawn off shotgun Five youth were badly injured and taken to hospital. Lewishom: A public meeting held by the Lewisham 24 Defence Committee formed to help a group of mainly black defendents who face charges of "conspiracy torob" was broken up by the National Front. One woman was beaten unconscious Cross: A few weeks later members of the NF launched savage attack on a demonstration in support of the Lewisham 24.
This is the real face of the National Front and other fascists. Like Kingsley Kead, who declared after the murder of an Asian youth inSouthall.
one million la go. black people will not leave Britain of their own accord, then they must be beaten, attacked and intimidated until they change their mind - that is LICE COILS Nor will the fascist attacks stop at black people. White labour movement activists are already coming under attack, Like the Communist Party day school attacked in Leeds, Trades Council member in Tower Hamlets marked down by the NF to have his kneecaps smashed.
Yet Rees tells us to ignore the fascists on the streets and confine ourseives to a vote against them at the ballot box. The labour movement will heed such advice at its peril.
NO PLATFORM The National Front are no ordinary political party - they are fascists, intent on making black people the scapegoats. for the economic crisis and destroying the organisations ol the working class - its trade unions, politica parties. The labour be prepared to organise, along with the black community, to defend itselt againse the lascist attacks Part and parcel of that in denying the fascists a platform to spread their racist filth and provoke arteks on the left and blacks. The demonstration in called by the NF. cxample, was openly aimed a: intimiThose like Labour Party General Secretary Ron Hayward, or Labour's Ladywood candidate, who join with Tory Michael Heseltine MP to denounce the lunatic elements of left and right, offer no defence for the labour movement against the fascists Michael Foot spends all his time attacking so-called socialists - those no resort to violence - who are not socialists at all', thus claiming that the anti-fascists who meet fascist violence with organised self-defence are as bad as the fascists. This is the old trick of trying to lump logether the attacker and the victim, if the latter dares to light back. It glosses over the real difference between the vilence or the lasests and the out, through their meetings and demonstrations, attacks by bands of thugs upon black and labour movement activists; the anti-fascists arc fighting for organ ised mass action by movement as a whole. to defend the labour movement and the black contunity.
Far from offering any defence for the labour movement, Rees and Foot supported McNce in using 4000 police in an attemptto allow the fascists togo phead with their march.
The paper of the left MPs in the Labour Party, Tribune offers eqwally dismal rems of wisdom, First, a propaganda campaign fascists br the Tabout Party, Excellenr. Bur why does Tribune not call for the Labour Governsent repeal immigration laws, as is the polics of the last Labour Party conference? This would show a real willingness to campaign against the ideas of che National Front.
Front whilst pursuing racist policies is pure hypocrisy:
Tribune's real position can be seen from their refusal to support the counter-mobilisation against the lasists: "Ir there had confrontation would the NF have got for the amount of Tribune asks. Well, perhaps it wond John Sever, defend itself? that the fascists are Lewisham to incite for sham, saying the labour the fascists.
Government and the racist Condemning the lence - by time, not ben a publicity t did? did it now show to fascist sympath isers nationally that the Front offers no easy way out, because it will be mer with the most determined te sponse from the labour movement to The Communist Party on the other hand do claim to offer a means of defence - Never again must the NF be allowed to parade its racist poison through the streets. Its marches must be stopped hy the police. However. until the police do that the Communist Party are content to retreat indoors and leave the fascists to rouse their hate marches through black communities as they sought to do at Instead of denying the fascists a platform, the Communist Party call La broad democratic alliance' like that with church figures in Lewi that it is by the development of this 'political, mass action" that the NF will be defeated We have seen only too well what this meant in Lewisham - limiting action against the Front to that which is acceptable to the church figures, and dispersing the anti-cacist forces as soon as the police step in to defend We too are in favour of political mass action to stup the front Weroo are in favour of imposing a han on the fascist marches. But we start from mobilising the labour move ment to impose that ban. The CPS tailing behind local church figures leads them to ignore leaders of the labour movement to implement their calls to defeat the Tascists with the minnam of vio mobilising the labour movement to make sure that tens of thousand of workers turn up next in Tameside in October. to atop the annoenced National Front march. We can be sure ben that the fascists wont dare show their faces, and the police wonl waste time trying to clear a way for them Will we see you there, gentlemen?
Socialist Challenge