Socialist Action (LSA) Vol. 1, No. 3, April 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 no3 apr 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 IMMIGRATION
Articles on Abortion.Unemplovment. Labour Party S.L.P.. Education Cuts. Facism, Stalinism, Portugal, Spain, Zimbabwe
WORK PERMIS
NOW
ject of his tirade,
InS time.
wowes speech. coming after the press uproar about overseas students sponging! off the British taxpayer and immigrant workers entering the country without Iwork permits was carefully timed. It was clearly intended to whip up racial prejudice by suggesting that the real cause of the high jobless total was the influx of black.workers. ne response ine cabour leaders to his attack was shameful, if predictible. ev meek.v admitted a clerical error been made and promised not to repeat it. This spineless attitude is not new or course but stretches back to 1964 when, shocked by the deteat or a prominant Labour MP in the midlands due to an anti-back camba on inev nurse iedly introduced a White Paper limiting black immigration to 8400 a year.
Immigration
Since that time the main aim of the Labour leaders has been to out - ory ine ories. iniroaucing ever more restrictive laws.
• tor examo e. vames
Callaghan went further by intro ducing the Immigration Act which he 'defended against Powell by
On April 11th,
meetings.
break up. ine unla demonstration itse).
and to ensure it is well defended.
PAPER OF THE LEAGUE FOR SOCIALIST ACTION Vol1. No 3.
REPEAL THE RACIST 1971 ACT
In early January, Enoch Powell hit the headlines once again. The sub-
was the government's alleged covering up! for the fact that it had exceeded immigration quotas in early 1973.
saying it had kept out more blacks than any Tory laws.
Immigration Aci, passea by ine Tory government, ineretore. mere v ine most vistious in a long series of such Acts. introduces clear bar on entrv into Britain! & ensures that those few blacks get past ine immigration officers are denied rents. nev can. be arrested without a warrant & had deportea wiinour ran or appeal simply for being inreat to the dublic cood The fact that Labour has collaboralea in introaucing restrictions over
Act - has created a climate of legalised racism in which speeches of Powell appear increasingly realistic!. after all, with his talk of tighter merely taking the racist implications of these ineir locical conclusion.
Dangers
The danger of these policies is becoming only too clear today with mass unemployment on the cards.
By backing down before racists
Campaign to repeal the Immigration Act
ALL OUT APRIL 11
CRIA is organising a mass demonstration in Like other campaians the National Abortion Campaign and the Troops Out Movement), CRIA has attracted the hostility of the National Front which has, in the past, tried to disrupt its
There is no doubt that the National Front will organise a counter-demonstration on April 11th or go further and attempt to
They will not succeed in this of the demonstration is large and well-stewarded. The LSA would therefore add its voice to that of CRIA in urging the left to help build for the April 11th march
EOLAL KINS
WORKER'
racist backlash.
The present ated a
in 1971, is, as
noticeable by its colour. 'colour
foreign teachers to teach
elementary
catering industry. considered a
Sibility. the years - 8 the 197 challenge,
the root out racism,
Powell is, built up over
intlamed.
Acts to Challenge
It is for this reason that campaign launched by SO Vildle
Well are trying to tighten provide a powerful focal point tor strucine within the about
in ceneral.
blacks entering on the
cheap labour deprived of basic riahts.
which legalises racism in soc-
who have got away with racist garbage for too long.
Already the campaign has
isations ana student unions.
Bible support.
Last February, in the House of decided,
abortion Bill.
MPs' thinking. 1967 Act.
Set-back
such as Powell - the Labour leaders have laid the around for a
of the
nev nave. more orecisely cre-
climate that could lead to a split in the workers! movement
attention is turned away from It has, the real cause of social problems evidence by by creating a scapegoat only too
This has already begun to happen in the refusal by the NUT to allow
their opinions. immi- NAC's decision, grant children or by Harry Unwin's recent call for no foreign workers to be allowed in the
The fact that such an attitude is beginning to spread in the labour movement means that socialists
on the streets -are faced with a heavy respons-
Unless it can meet this unless it can turn Its verbally anti-racist stance into a concrete and erective campaign to
Ine prejudices the 1967 centuries of imperalist rule will be ever more
with an
'CRIA* is serious struggle to all the work done, repeal the 1971 Immigration Act, which the right wing around Pow
can Lessons movement against racist attitudes
The 1971 Act not only excludes
-DasIs or colour but ensures. that those few Cheap labor in mental jobs and are trealed as
Lecoing a direct challenge to this Act
iety, is to lead a direct challenge against demagogues like Powell,
their
won wide support from Labour MPs, trade unions, immigrant organit to be really successful - & act as a springboard to take the issue into the labour movement - it is vital to draw in the widest possB. Swart
ABORTION
The Struggle Continues
in a free votel Commons, by a large majority, re-establish the Select Committee to investigate James Whitels anti-
The decision to set up the committee represents a major concession to the anti-abortion lobby (SPUC) which, in the preceding period, launched a mass 60, 000 Strong demonstration to influence
This re - establishment of the Select Cttee - which has already made proposals to curb abortion rights - is clearly a major setback tor women in this country. I is a major set-back because, under its terms of reference. its only course of action can be to determine how far to go in undermining the rights women won under the
i was undoubteav ins wnich prompted the 6 pro-abortion MPs to resign trom the Cttee. They rightly pointed out there was no Doin barlicipaling in a body undi was already firmly biased against
The 'alarm! felt by the proabortion MPs is quite genuine. The only proposals to emerge out
Select Committee will be those forcing women, once again, to undergo the dangers and humiliation of back-street abortions.
already, enored all ine the Lane Committee in favour of the 1967 Act & there is no indication that the further evidence will make them alter
ineretore, not to participate in the fraud of giving evidence and to concentrate on building a mass campaign force the government to abolish the committee is to be welcomed. Now more than ever mass action
countering the pressure from SPUC which has been able to 'posture' as representing majority opinion - is key. to reverse the present trend. Fighting to defend the gains o
Act (let alone calling tor tree abortion on demand) is going to present NAC, however,
uphil struggle. IT Is to be able to 'draw in! enough support to halt further restrict-
it must draw on the lessons from the past. First of all, it is important to determine why, after
we are sull faced with the same threat tha we came together to confront.
There is no doubt that the governmentls decision to allow a tree vote on there - convening of the
Sábina Roberts speaking at Colchester NAO
APRIL 76 10p
Select Cttee was not only due t the pressure of SPUC and those inroads it has made into the Par iamentary Labour Party. It was also due to the fact that, follov ing on the promising demonstratic last June, which drew out 25, 00 on the streets, NAC remained pa alysed for almost 6 crucial month and was unable to otter any re policy.
The lack of any action gave th government a free hand and, the same time, helped demoralis the broad forces working in NAC which. inerearter. becan to decrease in both size and influence
Such inactivity, that gave SPUd the chance to masquerade as rep resentine malor ly oinion. MUS be laid firmly at the door of those tencencies which rouent. Inroug! out that period of time, against a
The IMG, i forms of mass action. particular, at steering committe after steering committee, opposed the call by the LSA (supported b IS and others) for a mass demonstration in the Autumn.
That demonstration was central for a number of reasons. First, it was necessary to provide a na ional focus for the groups which were being set up nationally; sec ondly, it was important to draw in new forces and, above all, i was vital to show the government just before the 'free vote! was to he ned that sue represented nothing more than a bigoted and /ocal minority. Single Issue
The reason, of course, groups like IMG were opposed to a national action was simply that they were trying to turn NAC from a campaign in defence of women's rights into one opposing the cuts on the N. H. S. Once the focal point! of the campaign became a struggle against the cuts, mobilising mass action against the government became unimportant besides local, fragmented activ ities around hospitals.
It was this political error • of trving to subordinate the NAC to other issues - which was the ke! reason why NAC was paralysed for six months and why the anti-abortionists won a major victory The danger today is that it appears the IMG has not learnt from its earlier mistakes.
The main thrust, the IMG says, in building the tribunal NAC is calling is for local groups to enquire 'how the cuts in the NHS have affected abortion rights' in order to work out a plan for the health service that caters for the needs of women as well as the whole working class.
(Cont page 8) larch for
Page 2 scan of this page
STRUGGLE ESCALATES
page 2
ZIMBABWE :
by Peter Marais
= ollowing the breakdown of the talks se:meen lan smitn and vosnua INkomo
the moderate ANC* taclion), the Z mbabwean resislance Tigniers nave escalated their guerrlila war againsi : -e white racist regime. encouraged - = doubt by the recent military victory c' :he MPLA in Angola, majority black •-le no longer appears a pipe-dream s-: a reality just over the horizon.
According to Martin Meredith, in the s--day limes, 'the mountainous region . :h Mozambique, which stretches for "i miles. is ideal guerrilla territory. ioout 1000 guerrillas have now infiltra:ed across ine trontler ana me drea •'operation, once confined to northeast, now extends to the south-west'.
:- addition to the guerrillas already - ahting in Zimbabwe, another 3000 in M'ozambique are reported as ready to
in Tanzania and e gage in action ana, Zambia which borders on Zimbabwe, :_-ther 10, 000 to 20, 000 recruits are es: imated to be in training. Protected Villages
-ne Smith regime, while trying to buy i'me with its negotiations with Nkomo,
meeting this mounting 'threat" with arce. The entire zone along the Mozambique border has been declared a 'no go' area in which anyone can be enot on sight. The Zimbabwe blacks are constantly being terorised and ¡arcible 'resettlement' of the rural copulation is underway along ine dorcers to 'separate' them from infiltrat-
- = guerrillas.
-he 'protected villages' into which :-ey are being herded are, as reported
- February's Washington Post, little se:ter than concentrated camps based "- :he Istrategic hamlet' principle used =: :he US in Vietnam to 'protect' the Essulation from the freedom fighters.
R-odesian Irebel leader' lan Smith is, - siever, in an unenviable posttion.
'le re-asserting the continuation of
..'se supremecy to calm the ultra-right a-o mould be quick to denounce him tor
The is coming increasingly -3 .. ,
--ce- pressure from imperialist powers frightened that his 'intransigence!
=s-ld lead to a race war exploding the
mecarious stabllity in souln Alrica.
Majority Rule
- -e imperialist powers recognise
s: he attainment of majority rule in
-Dabwe is now an inescapable fact,
=-- hat 250. 000 whites can no longer
er: their 'baascap' supremacy over
The hand - over of = m ilion blacks.
:xer to the moderate faction of the
:.C (led by Joshua Nkomo) would, in
• a r opinion, be a small price to pay
Jane maintenance ot their vast ec→
- amic interests in Zimbabwe and in
• #'enbouring states.
E.er the past few months, they have
=: been slow to pressurise lan Smith
:o coming to some sort or agreement
sore it is too late. London's point
"a: smıth coula expect no nelp in ine
Cent of a war lon behalf of the minagainst ine majorlly was SOOn) :oed by Washington which spelt it 'We are calling Mr smiin ana Ine
. -ie regime to negotiate realistically
- d seize what may be their last opp-
m.unity for a negotiated settlement'.
".hat the imperiallsı •owe s are, of
concerned with is not the pri-
-inle of Imaioritv rulel ( which they
aie turned a blind eye to in the past)
-• the fact that refusal to negotiate
:ould lead to what London calls
-oneral race wari that could spread
-roughout Southern Africa and sever-
upset their interesis there.
Vorster
-nis is also the reason why South
¿rican Prime Minister Vorster,
• -e maior backer of the Smith regime
- as himself put pressure on the rebel
»=cer to come to terms with the mod-
er a:e faction of the ANC. Recently, in
carefully worded tormuld, it was
=a-ted out to lan Smith that 'under no
'-r imstances could it (South Atrica)
mmi: its army to defence of Rhodesia
augh it may continue to supply arms!.
. orsier realises the need for swift
==: 07. A growing race war in Rhodes-
= could spread like wild-fire into S.
already,
* * c a ơn zc vc à .
-subled by SWAPO guerrillas. Inter-
e-: on by South Africa in such a war
.- cer pressure from the ultra-right
•=: gralis: Party, could then explode
= cerente policy with neighbouring
= ac< s:ales wnicn nas already receiv-
== = se:-back with the Angolan fiasco
African freedom fighter
For Vorster, pressurising lan Smith to concede majority rule in Rhodesia is a small price to pay for assuring stad liy Southern only too aware that his detente policy _ pressurising neighbouring states to collaborate with him at the price of massive economic loans - is the most effective way of maintaining imperialist interests there. argued that loss ot Anodesla as a Ibuffer! state would be advantageous since it would result in a reduction. of the border to be 'patrolled'. Britain's Role
Despite the fact that both London & Washington have condemned Smith's 'intransigence!, has not been Africa. Together with the US which continues to suppiy nelcopiers anc light aircraft for 'defence purposes', London plays a tundamental parl maintaining Vorster's apartheid reg".. These so-called 'defensive weapons!
are ideallv suited for operation against guerrilla forces in the 'veldt!. Possiblv of even greater importance than arms, however, is the Inesiment in south Africa by the US and Britain which enables Vorster to pursue his 'detente' policy of buying ... a
Plan Smith: advocate 01 white suor eldey.
Whites Leave once
More whites emigrated from Rhod-
esia (Zimbabwe) last year than at
any time since
regime of lan Smith declared unilat-
eral "independence! from Britain.
According to government figure: ,
about 10,500 whites left Rhodesia
last year.
nose wno are osiensibi ng abroad but have no intention o
returning. Government statistics show that
12,425 whites settled in Rhodesia
last year,
who have left Mozambique & Angola.
Emigration from .
creased steadily since 1972,
Limbabwean natonallsi ressidnice
to the white settler regime began to
mount.
Vorster and Jaunda after the Victoria Falls talks
vestment has continued,
Africa. He is in power.
uggle.
the vorster regime can even be
the same pressure brouaht to bear on south
financial Dians.
inow.
Opportunist
is not, of course,
simple.
tnenext electct.
Labour bureaucracy to
50 seats in the tuture.
nab e suvoori ine to muster
1965. when the racısi which enables
vear is out.
Gamble This does not include
The
many of them Portuguese the Labour Party,
• *nocesla lds inwhen
alist aspirations.
off neighbouring black states. This in-
despite the fact that a Labour government Is now
The eventual liberation of blacks in •Ine South Africa will be by their own str-
Socialists in Britain, however. can make that task easier by isolating
and attacking the props that keep it in existence. The sale of arms and investment serve to bolster apartheid and help it extend its economic tentacles over the wnoie southern African continent.It is for this reason that socialists must call upon the Labour government to turn its verbal attacks on racism into action: to halt all military and economic aid for orsteris regime now.
SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY
In a Glasgow Herald opinion poll, held earlier this month, it was estimated that the recentiv formed scottish Labou Party (SLP) would be guaranteed 8% of the total Scottish vote in the coming election. This figure (which would give it noseiblv 12 seats) must gratıty yın Sillars who has seen the party grow to 2000 members in only d rew montes.
Although leaders of the Labour Party in Scotland have written off the result of the poll as a 'flash in the pan', ine Times noted that their fast-dwindling support has forced them to imitate the SLP by adopting a 'tougher' attitude towards the government's devolution
The SLP has, after all, already won a quarter of the total Labour vote that
at. 24%, below that of the Tories and the Scottish Nationalist Party).
The upsurge in support for the SLP
La mere 'flash in the pan' as Labour leaders suggest. reason why Sillars & Robertson were willing to risk expulsion from the Labour Party by setting up the SLP
It was because they realised that unless Labour attach itself rapidly to the nationalist sentiment growing in the Scottish working class, it could easily be reduced to a pitiful rump in
The SLP represented, in this sense, a calculated attempt by a section of the
'head oft' the growing support for the SNP which, by all accounts, was estimated to gain over
The success of
this move can be measured by the very
SLP has been able in the past tew months anc Sillars to bank on winning over 5,000 members before the
gamble undertaken by Robertson
and Sillars is not, however, without
its risks. The SLPis nationalist stance could attract layers of Scottish work-
ers who, while clearly alienated trom
are still suspicious
of the pro - capitalist policies of the
SNP. Such layers, as they grow, could
bring 'their' pressure to bear on the
SLP for it to adopt a clearer class-
struggle perspective for their nation-
SOCLALISI AVIIUN
PROTEST
More than eighty Soviet political
prisoners staged a hunger strike in
late February and said they would
continue tor the duration of the 21s
congress of the Soviet Communist
Party.
According to the Feb 29th United
Press International dispatch from
MoscoW. the prisoners had been denied the dissident sources " said
right to present their demands dir-
ectly to the congress. They com-
plained of harassment, threats of
Ipsychiatric reaearch' and of under
nourisnmenl The hunger strike involved thirty
prisoners at Vadimir jail, nedi
Moscow, and about eight inmates of
the prison camps in the Urals and
Siberia. ABORTION FIGHT
Abortion has emerqed as a major
issue for the new , minority govern-
ment ot Fremier Aldo moro In Ilaly.
Last year, more than 500, 000 sig-
natures were collected to force a
referendum on Italy's reactionary
aor onaw 'adopted' under the
fascist regime of Mussolini. an
attempt to avoid this referendum.
which they feared would end in a
defeat for them as did asimilar one
on divorce, the ruling eristiar
Democrats worked out a comprom-
ise Bill with the Communist Party
last December.
The compromise proposai, which
put the final decision on abortion
in the hands of the doctor and not of,
was rejected by the wondn
Socialist Party. In January, Ine
old aovernment fell before it coulc
push through the proposed law.
new law is needed by the end
of April if the Christian Democrats
are to avoid the referendum they
tear. In sucn a reterenauir
main allies of the Christian Demo-
crats would de ine tascisls. The
pressure on the Christan Democrats
c na care. ve lac al docu.
800,000 illegal abortions take place
every year in Italy.
This trend can already be detected in the fact that Sillars has been forced to criticise Labour not only for its antinationalist stance but also for its clear abandonment ot 'socialist principles' The Times, only recently, pointed out that it is this championing of nationalist sentiment within a (at least verbally) socialist framework which has led to its rapid growth in such a short space of time.
lt is in this sense that the creation o1 the SLP represents, despite ihe opportunist motives of its leaders, a siel forward. It harbours the potential of providing a "labourl solution for the national aspirations of working people
would otherwise be monopolise SNP. Any disagreement with the SLP on a tactical basis ov ine bouratuls (as to whether or not it should have split from the Labour Party) must, at this stage, be of secondary importance.
Error
It is their inability to grasp this that explains why the 'marxist left' were so eager to 'join hands' with the Labour bureaucrats in westminster in conaemning the SLP for its adaptation to Inationalism'. Despite the substantial growth of the SLP, as late as las month the IMG ( in an article by D. Waterson and R. Davis) was ramming home the point that nationalism cannot provide '..any solution to the working class in Scottion" vas motivated on the
Such opposition grounds that the Inationalist stancel of the SLP would only serve to split the
united working class struggle against the government's policies. lt Would De difficult to find a more short - sighted
approach, The very fact that Scottish
workers feel they are suffering from to quit the Labour Party in droves natonal oppression - ano are r'eauy is adequate proof that such a 'split!
alreaay exisis. Healing this split will not come about
by denouncing these national aspirat-
ions as a idiversion'. result o
suggesting that socialism is hostile to
the rights of an oppressed people can only be to drive them into the arms of
the SNP which is an openly bourgeois party pursuing policies inimical to the
interests of the labour movement.
by Richard Munro
Page 3 scan of this page
LABOUR IN PERSPECTIVE
April 76
The Debate on the left
Democrats found out to their cost in the 'thirties.
nave,
in 1974.
Q. Are there dangers in using the term
'fascism' lightly?
A. If you read the radical press, you
can tind tigures as tar atield as Roy
Jenkins (who introduced the Prev
ention of Terrorism Act) to Enoch
Powell being defined as fascist. The
fact that such 'diverse figures car
be labelled in this way is a sure
sian of the confusion of the term, as
used.
Martin Webster of the NF
There is a danger nere. ce in. ars can acitalli as o ne rea' dangers o a threat when it does arise. what happened in the thirties the. German CP labelled the Democrats as 'social fasists' and refused to unite with them in a serious struggle against Hitler's blacksnltls. A similar error is being made today in Portugal where left groups label the Socialist Party as 'social fascist' and refuse ite with SP militants in a struggle against the right.
Second of a series of
articles on the nat-
ure and origins of
the Labour Party..
Reminiscing on the Labour Party, NEC chairman and minister in Lloyd George's post-war capiner, Georqe Wardle. to write: "..from the very first, the ties which pound Ine Darty loce ner vere ol the loosest possible kind. and in mv opinion wisely, always declined to be bound by any programme, scribe to any dogma or to lay down any creed". Whatever may be thought of the 'wisdom' of Wardle's comment, it offers an insight into the unique character of the party from its earliest days.
Unlike every other party claiming to represent workers' interests in Europe, the Labour Fariy was not tormed or clear political principles.
German Social-Democratic Party, example, it was not built around a socialist programme heavily 'indebted' to marxism but developed much more empirically out of the gradual & hesitating steps of the unions to find a political defence against the employers' offens.ive. Both Lenin and Trotsky (the latter in his discussions on the possibility of a Labour Party arising in the USA) were to stress this unique feature.
The fact that the Labour in a very real sense, the unions', groping uncertainly forward, •is central io understanding its nature and evolution. It meant primarily fhat the will ot inose newly-unionisea workers, struggling to create an independent noltica voice. was ededuc the trade union bureaucracy which had it has become active in many campaigns against immigration and abortion ri last few decades (as Brian Pearce was Lo poinı out ana wio saw
FASCISM:
National Front fielded over 90 candidates in the last election. Despite the recent split, Fascism is once again a subiect of debate withın the radıcal most recently, has indulged in a policy of breaking up metings organised by the left. The debate at present taking place in radical circles is not so much about whether the fascists have to be stopped by force. Every socialist realises that genteel Parlamentary manoeuvres are quite inadequate to halt a rising fascist movement, as the German SocialWhat is really under discussion is exactly what threat do groups such as the National Front pose today and what are the most effective means of dealing with them. This is by no means an 'academic' debate since, over 'the past years,
under the slogan 'No Platform for Fascists', called for active disruption of NF meetings and demonstrations which led to the death of Kevin Gately at Red Lion Square
Attempting to draw some of the lessons from this experience is of concrete importance in allowing the left to come to grips with the NF in the future.
Q.
A. ot socialism. begin to turn careless DOD I e ism at that time,
Social
. workers'
Moreover, many
strata have, O UnPressure able to them.
It has steadily
to sub-
off from their
LRC.
unlike ine ine rodu.
the time being, Party was, Labour'. 'cn cotine the early years,
agreed, "their task as
Angela Michelson The groups such as the IMG
What are the conditions for the rise
of a mass fascist movement ?
The most important point is that a
mass tascist movement can only de-
velop out of a serious defeat for the
Fascism finds
workers movement.
its social base in the 'middle strata'
and the unemployed - all those who
are 'squeezed' by the crisis & who
are demoralised by the inability
the workers' movement to solve the
acute problems that they face. It is
out of these demoralised layers that
fascism beains to recruit by posing
a 'radical alternativel to the tradit-.
ional formulas either of the workers!
leaders or the ruling class parties.
If the workers movement is bold
in fighting for a solution to the crisis,
then many of these from the 'middle
strata' can be won to the perspective
then they will to the rhetoric and dyn-
amic action of the fascist bands.
Q. Is fascism a threat today?
To read most of the radical press -
with their 'No platform for fasists'
line - one would be tempted to think
it was just around the corner. Major
changes have taken place since ine
Ithirties, however. The rise of fasc-
out of the demoralisation and defeats as suggested, aren
of the workers' movement. No sucn
demoralisation exists today (though
it could develop in the tuture) : ine
movement throughout Eur-
ope is on ine upsurge ds can be seer
• orucal anc spain receli the social base of fasc
ism nas grown nar rower• The middle
over une yeals, begun
to increasingly identify themselves
with the labour movement as can be While acting under pressure from the rank-and-file, the union bureaucracy continually acted as a 'brake' on this develooment and sought to contain ine Labour Representation Committee (LRC) within a framework politically accept-
They were aided in this by their intellectual allies. breaking from the decaying corpse of Liberalism. (notably the Fabians around Sidney & Beatrice Webb) who helped mould the orientation of the new party The political outlook of the labour bureaucracy with their 'whole network of social relations separating them
original class' could be sharply detected at the opening of the
The resolution put forward by Hyndeman's Social-Democratic Federation (SDF) caliling for a party based on Ithe recognition ot the class struggie and having as its aim the nationalisation of the means of production' was unceremoniously defeated. This was far too extreme for the trade union leaders & ex-Liberal allies trying to contain the unswell in working class actıvity wnicn had already pushed them this far down
It was replaced by the ILP proposal that the new party would 'willingly co-operale win any party wnicn, for
may be engaged in promoting legislation in the interests of
Such a perspective led, in to electoral blocks with the Liberals whereby both sides
in manv constituencies, not to contest each others! candidates. More generally, it laid the basis for the party's operation in the Commons as a mere oroo tor ine Liberais. 'left-winger' Lansbury to exclaim:". . I prompting
do not know a single question of legislation on which the Labour Party has mongood to dicacconiate itself from the
alimosed in the rise of 'white collar'
trade unionism and the radicalisation
of the student movement.
There still exist,.
rooted racisi ana chauvinisı iradit-
ions in the labour movement which
the NF is playing on.
A. It is true that the NF does partic-
ipate in mass reactionary campaigns"
such as SPUC designed to play on
the weaknesses of the labour move-
ment• li is important,
differentiate between racism - that
nas deep roots in ine workers mov-
ement - and fascism. The two are
not ine same even inougn one:
a period of time,
oner. The fact that the NF is in-
volved in these broad campaigns,
while a sign of their astute attemp'
to play on the backward prejudices
of British workers,
indication of their weakness since
they can only mobilise a few
red openly behind their own flags. Q. Neverineless.
unless one stops them while they
are small, l may soon pe loo lale.
A. NO - one doubts that the fascists
will have to be stopped - by force.
The question is. by whom.
The campaign led by groups as
the IMG and |-CL against
trying to break up its demonstrations
and meetings - is based upon a tol-
al ly wrong assessment of the present
The main danger today is
silualloll,
not the small,
attack launched by the Labour
ernment upon the rights and living
standards of working people. To see
the NF as the serious threat is to
admit the working class has been
defeated when the struggle has only
just begun.
Sending a few NF members 'home'
with a bloody nose will do nothing
to politically eracicale ine Dreeaing
grounds of fascism in the future.
What is the best way today of deal-
ing with a potential fascist threat?
The answer is 'politically!. The NF
is trying to create a 'fertile' ground
for the future by playing on the weak-
nesses of the workers' movement on
and Ineland. The left,
dulging in confrontations with the NF,
would do better at this stage to pro-
vide a serious polllicar challenge ie
it by getting
TOM or CRIA". Buildina a mass dem-
onstration to repeal the Immigration
Act or get the troops out of Ireland
would be a serious challenge to the
NF since it would undermine the
basis for future fascist growth.
left, while talking about the need to
challenge the NF,
nored these issues however.
Myth
The myth recently encouraged by some left groups - such as the International Socialists - that the anti-working class policies of the Wilson government prove
in some mysterious way, the LabInaT. our Party has 'changed its nature' just do not hold any water class leadership, with forces hostile to the labour movement, has been a constant feature of the party since its inception over 70 years ago. Prentice and Jenkins, hints of the need for a 'national government', have their ancestors as far back as the fonders of the LRC.
The main function of this leadership -an amalgum of trade union bureaucrats and 'intellectuals' of the Fabian siamp -has, throughout the years, been mainly to contain and discourage all independent activity on the part of the workers! movement. It has acted consistentiy de what De Leon concisely called 'labour lieutenants of capital' within the workers' movement, law and order, re-inforcing the of 'parlamentary change' and teaching that the interests of its class base are not so much opposed to the present system as dependent on its well-being. " Reg Prentice's attack on the Shrewsbury bulding workers for 'breaking the
echo of the taw is merery dr position on the 1926 General Strike in which Beatrice Webb condescendingly explained: "On the whole, a proletarian distemper which nad ie run its course and, like other distempers, it is as well to have done with it at the cost of a lengthy convalescence". Ruthless Fight
The fact that this leadership has been rooted in the party from its cannot e ex ane av s !
Q.
A. however, deep nowever. the 'left',
over
can lead into the
is also a clear
hund-
the danger is that
when anc
the NF
isolated NF but the
gov-
ban the NF?
A. mmierallon
MOl a
involved in bulding the
movement,
The them in a
have virtually igfail to do.
the labour An. anti-working willing to co-operate
win Incir
us acal he pointed out,
breeding respect for
myln
ilical parly.
Mentary system Fabian
course,
creation , resull
page
Do you think confror:a: :"s ine
counter-productive?
At this stage they are. C co.-g:
if the majority of workers were are-
pared to tackle the NF - as ire:
Mosley's blackshirts in the Eas: E-:
in the 'thirties - that would be c-:e
ditterent. lt is quite a dutteren: : "3
for a few isolated left groups to :r.
and do so. In the first place, SUC
'vanguard' actions only leave the
vast mass of workers as spectators.
In the second place, it suggests the:
instead of being the. ma'-
defender of democratic rights,
actively engaged in a campaign :o
destroy them. Thirdly, such actio"
is an organisational solution to the
political problem of defeating the \=
Mass anti-fascist rally in the 30s
Q. What about the attacks made by :te
NF on left meetings? Would it be
correcı to cali on une governmen: :"
That would be a' major mistake. i
would be a mistake to call upon :-e
government lo Dan anyone since "e
can be sure it would be the 'le*:
organisations that would be the * - =
to suffer from any curtailment o-
democratic rights. History has -:.
than confirmed this.
Faced with growing attacks,
first task should be to orgar ss
fence guards. As socialists,
not afraid of taking on the fasd's::
We want to do so, however, o-
most favourable to the workers!
To call for 'defence gua-ss
within the broader labour mo: ere-:
to defend a meeting is the bes
of doing this. By posing :-e .= ==
the aggressor intent upon ces:-::
the democratic rights of the labo--
it will be possible io
volve wide layers wno will dez
see these thugs in their rea
More important still, it wil:
real struggle for
rignts which the vanguard ac: :":
of groups like the IMG miserabi:
Blackburn tried to suggest. The c!as= collaborationist policies of the leace-: was not sneaked in benina ine pact= -
movement by a clandes: -: group ot Fabian intellectuals & .TC-" union bureaucrats, although this is - : to say that such figures were ho conscious promoters of such polic es
that went into the party's early year?
The roots of this leadership are, the final analysis, to be found in :-s political consciousness of the laboumovement itself which - while seeing the need to defend its own class interests - still retained deep illusions the possibility of so doing through ite medium of parlamentary reform. Tre party reflected, in this sense, both :strengths and the weaknesses of the labour movement which was 'groping towards the need for a political voice but not yet a socialist one.
This is the meaning of Leon Trotsk acute observation, in his study 'Whers is Britain Goina?!. on the nature oi: break from Liberalism which was, le:
the Labour Party res. resents a 'priceless historical ach:e. ement', it should not be overlooked :" the unions which created it were mor: 'disillusioned rather as to the gooc;: of the Liberals than as to ine democ": ic pacifist methods of solving socia! problems'. While the unions. fighti-g against the employers! offensive, hac seen the need to defend their interes: as a class through an independent se .
that party was domina:=? still by the outlook of Liberalism: of seeking reforms within the parlia-.
It is such an ideological outlook -; accepts the framework of the presssystem as its arena of activity & mere seeks reforms within it - which tes allowed the Labour bureaucrats to re. tain control over the labour moremedown to the present day. They hare.
been alded in inis by tre =. orical inability of the marxis: mo: s to implement an orientation tonare Labour Party which can combire an appreciation ot ine gair .. re (in terms of the conscio s-ess s labour movement) with a ru:- ess:
Page 4 scan of this page
In our opinion:
WILSONS
RESIGNATION
were pressing.
The timing is.
Far from coinciding with a "ul!', period of growing tensions within the Labour Party.
the type of pressure building up.
ion continues to soar, the pressures in the party will increase.
Disintegration
ent developing outside - as in the recent strike by 50, 000 Scottish
stand taken by the Tribunite MPS.
like benn, is heading for disintegration.
This disintegration trends are unmistakable. I will develop
to take shape.
Leadership
These pressures have, leadership battle itself.
taking place in the constituency Labour Parties.
two figures represented equally can racy Food and Ben, it should be called, trading on ineir lett' image,
differences with Wilson's policies. 'Left' MPs
The 'left! Tribunite MPs themselves, government 'cuts! legislation on its first reading in the House,
and lined up behind either Foot or Benn.
resignation ot wilson representea, MPs answerable to no-one.
At the same time,
candidates would have had to present themselves, at conference, policies to solve the problems facing millions of working people.
Real Issue
ernment.
have intervened upon. It is, erolos.
the left' MPS.
Both the IMG and the I-CL, tor example
ing radical trends within ine unions and abour rarty.
London, S.E. 19
Wilson's resignation last month was timed, he suggested, to coincide with a period of 'lull' opening up before the government when no urgent problems
The personal reasons tor wilson's resignation are not imp-
Wilson's decision to go coincides with a The recent decision b the Tribunite MPs to abstain on the government's 'cuts' legislation - and their later decision to sponsor the National Assembly on Unemployment due to launch a campaign against government policy this spring - is revealing of
Wilson's resignation is based precisely on an awareness ot these tensions and the fact that. in the coming period as unemployment escalates and inflat-
This growing polarisation within the Labour Party under the mass discont-
against Healey's social expenditure cuts - is not by any means limited to the
The decision by Sillars and Robertson to form the SLP as the labour vote in Scotland declines; the resignation of Joan Lester as Under Secretary of Education and the 'removal' of Prentice by the Newham CLP are all indications of this polarisation. The broad coalition Wilson headed tor so long, keeping within his cabinet both pro-coalitionists like Prentice and 'tefts'
is only in its embryonic form, at this stage, but the more rapidly in the period aneac as the gulf between the anti-working class policies of the government and the mood of masses of workers, expressed through Party conterence, begins
indeed revealed themselves in a limited way in the The fact that Foot and Benn should, togetner, collected such substantial support - while figures like Jenkins had to drop from the race after the first ballot - is indicative of the shift to the left now
While representing a shift to the left, however, the canditatures of these
an attempt by a sector of the labour burto head oft the growing radicalisahave played key roles in the Wilson government in getting across the need for mass 'unemployment' and both, in the leadership race, have not offered any clear programmatic
despite their retusal to support ine ceciceo noi to cut through this sham by offering a clear alternative. Rather than put forward a candidate based upon a clear programme, they meekiy caved in
in uns sense. a real opportunity to use the leadership election to pose the real issues before the labour movement. The
in a very real way, a crisis of direction for the labour movement as a whole. What was desperately needed was not a 'sham election! within the upper reaches of the Parliamentary Labour Party but a thorough-going debate within the Party on the real problems facing the labour movement and the need for clear policies to solve them.
Calling for an immediate recall of the Labour Party conference to decide these issues and elect a leader to carry inem our would nave mel a reai response among thousands of labour activists who quite clearly understand the undemocratic nature of the present election limited, as it is, to 315
leading a tight for such a conference would have enabled them to bring to the fore of the discussion the issue of programme since
The fact that the Labour 'lefts' were unwilling to challenge the elections both for their undemocratic nature and the lack of policies discussed is an example of their unwillingness to lead a real tignt agains ine vvlison gov-
It was precisely those issues that socialists - eager to use the elections as a means of clarifying the way forward for the labour movement - should
of course, ironical that many of the socialis! who have been noted in the past for their ultra-left position on the Labour Party, should have made exactly the same opportunist mistake as
advocated a vote for Benn in the
irst round of the ballot on the basis that he at least represented the grow
Advocating support for Benn instead of leading a struggle for the right of the labour movement to elect its own leader was to give credence to the undemocratic sham inat was being conducted. It was to ignore the fact that Benn's policies are opposed to the interests of the mass of working people, in this country and to ignore the right socialists have long championed for the Parliamentary Labour Party to be suborainate to ine democralic will or Farly conterence.
SOCIALIST ACTION
FORUMS
next topic: SCOTTISH NATIONALISM
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For receiving a list of the topics to be discussed over the coming months -
please write to the following address: SOCIALIST ACTION, 58, Auckland Rd,
NO CUTS IN PUBLIC SPENDING workers government economic strategy.
was a guaranteed rise lolai lo nave
relations exercise'
the contrary,
of a wide layer of workers
(Counter Information Service), which will mean fewer jobs..'.
Stream-lined
purpose.
on health or on clear Pouring
'at Chrysler recently is,
motor industry.
Haust y
queues'. Viable
ect of
where.
already shite
15 years'.
to become increasingly
vear. over 40, 000 men
as health or education
HEALEY'S CUTS MEAN
MORE UNEN
NO CUTS IN PUBLIC CUTS I SPENDING Motivating last month's social expenditure cuts, Dennis Healey commented that that they were the only way of 'restoring and maintaining full employment!. The sugar covering the pill seems to have had the desired effect. cluding Hugh Scanlon) visited the Labour leaders to inform them that they fully supported
What, in fact, the TUC was supporting
in the jobless record levels in the next fen years. Cutting social services to inject massive aid into industry will not, as Healey suggests in a neat 'public
create more jobs when an export-lea boom appears.
it is designed to finance 'rationalisation' schemes and 'productivity deals' that will be at the expence A recent report published by the CIS
which accuses the government of seeking to create a permanent unemployment euonomy, points out: 'State intervention Is no new phenomenum but it is now 'more oriented to the needs of capital than ever before.. Its main ettect will be to speed up the process of rational¡sation and concentration of capital -
The CIS have, of course, put their finger on the government's underlying
The money now being 'saved' education is to de poured into private enterprise to modernise It at the expence o peopies' joos. i ne chosen instrument for bailing out ailing firms is the National Enterprise Board (NEB) whose effects have already been seen at British Leyland or Chrysler. dieds,
over 262 millions in 'state aid'into Ricardo's collapsing company was not, as Healey likes to pretend, to
to 10%. oron uo ods Dul orecisely lo ciedica new 'stream-lined' firm in which over 9,000 jobs were 'axed'. What happened ever,
mere toretaste or wnat is to come over the coming years, particularly in the
The CIS suggests that, on the basis of the Central Policy Review Staff's report on the motor & componant supplies'
La total of 275, 000 Jobs will need to be axed by 1985 if British cars are to compete in the cut-throat EEC market (where there already exists a
The function of the National Enterprise Board will be to finance this Irationalisation' in which inous ands will be forced out onto the 'dole
Financing rationalisation schemes at the expence of jobs is not the only eff-
the recent. social expenditure cuts. They will also accelerate similar trends inside the nationalised sector
as the CIS point out, ' Britist Rail and the National Coal Board have
an enormous number of jobs - over 700, 000 - over the past
Cuts of £342 millions in the state Icies, sector will force nationalised industry
CommerCIdy viable! both by implementing price increases and cuts in the workforce such as that recently proposed by the Steel Corporation which tried to axe, this
Running down social services sucl
will only add to the unemployment total by pushing previously 'protected' jobs | often used
SAL
PARTY AVIATIC ARVE Only a short while later, a TUC delegation (in-
In ine past to sop up redundancies in industry ) into the danger zone. For the first time in almost fifty years, workers such as nurses and reachers are facing the bleak prospect of largescale unemployment in the Autumn, hospitals are closed and the schools' teacher-pupil ratio worsens.
It is little wonder, therefore, that ASTMS in a paper presented to last year's Labour Party Conference predicted that the jobless total by the end of the year would be at the record region of 2.25 millions
Connivance
That the government feels contident in getting away with such blatently pro-capitalist policies must. be laid firmly at the door of the TUC. Originally, course, TUC leaders sold the Social Contract - and the more stringent 10% limit - to the unions on the grounas that it was the only way to save jobs. They faithfully echoed Healey's words that a cut in living standards was preferable to 'millions living on the dole'.
The chickens in that arguement have now come home to roost. Despite the Tact Inal wages have complied to th 10% norm - which is likely this year to be tightened still turther to blo unemployment has • continue lo rise at the rate of 1,000 a day.
such as the Merseyside, the shadow ot the 'inirties is once again becoming a stark reality as closures and lay-offs have pushed up the total
Despite this growing evidence, now-
the TUC has at no time sought to chalienge nead-on ine government's policies by putting forward a viable alternative -based on the real need to defend jobs and living standards -and mobilising the entire labour movement to fight for it. The massive majority vvison won arine last cavour harv conference, supported even by 'lefts' such as Fool. is proot of inis
Even now when the social expenditure Culs are Doung lo push unemolovmen to recora levers, the TUC has meekly toed the line and - in the person of Jack Jones sharply criticised those Tribunite MPs who dared vote against the government's proposals in their first reading in the House. The most they have done is to utter a few 'concernee noises. hinting to Healey that it will be difficult to continue selling ine social contract without a tew toker unemployment safeguards (such as ' import controls').
Isolated
The TUC's cynical connivance with the government's pro-capitailst pol-
• prepared lo warch dole queues encinen as vine standares orummel. has had a major impact on the labour movement nis is not to say inal militancy in fighting redundancies & layotis nas been wanting. Factories from Plessey's in Liverpool to Persona in Glasgow have been occupied as workers have spontaneously begun to reject
a moment's notice, can throw people on ine scrapneap,
Page 5 scan of this page
April 76
PLOYMENT
Lacking a national perspective, however. these struggles have remained isolated and have generally defeat. While supporting initiatives of this kind,
June key lask al present 1s to spearhead the tight tor the right to work inside the labour movement as a whole . in the trade union and Labour Party branches - demanding that the leadership challenge head-on the government's policies.
Ine problems ot individual groups of workers - trom teachers to dockers -can no longer be solved in isolation. nev must act as the springboard for hammering out in the labour movement a national programme to sateguard jobs which the present government, elected by working people, must be called upon to implement in the interests of working people.
The proposals submitted by the TUC
Demands so far are totally inadequate. such as 'import controls' - or 'tightening immigration quotas' - are not only unable to stop dole queues rising but are extremely dangerous. Instead of uniting the workforce in a common fight for the right to work, they can lead to inner divisions by suggesting that it Is 'immigrants' who are to blame tor the high jobless total. Such a position, al a lime wnen unemployment looks like
Workers protesting Denis Healey's
massive social expenditure cuts that
will result in mass unemplovment.
becoming a permanent reature or ine tanascape, clearly opens up ine door to the racist demagogy of figures such as Enoch Powell.
UNEMPLOYMENT
week.
Line necessity tor cut-backs -open their secret accounts to workers' representatives.
nationalisation under workers' control
be nationalised as part of a workers' plan for production.
idly by used to improve housing,
"The key task at present
is to spearhead the
fight for the right to
work inside the labour
movement as a whole"
Campaign
Instead of splitting workers, the TUC must be called upon to champion the right to work of all workers - not only those facing redundancies but also the thousands already on the dole counterposing to government policies those in the interests of labour.
The recently held National Assembly on Unemployment, sponsored by forty Labour MPs and collecting together at least 3000 delegates from trade unior and Labour Party branches, a sioniticant tirst sted in inis direciion. The coming together of the biggest conrerence on unemployment sinceline 'thirties clearly reflects the growing understabding among ever-wider layACTION ers of the need for a national struggle against government policies.
While conference showed confusion over the demands to raise - calls for 'selective import controls' jockying those for more 'nationalisation! - it at least holds within it the tirst serious challenge to the TUC's meek submission to government policies. promising beginning to develop into a really effective campaign - capable of mobilising thousands in action - two things are required:
FIRST; that the call for a one-day strike on May 26th not be allowed to become a mere 'token' protest but be the beginning of an ongoing campaign inside the labour movement to demanc the present leaders fight in the interests of their members. replace them with those who will.
Calling for an emercencv Labour Party conference as the aim of such
Give way of challenging head-on the •r-calcis volcies or ine cabour leaders and calling them to account.
SECOND:
That the campaian should clarify its objectives in working out a clear labour solution to the unemployment crisis. Import controls and curbing the export of capital are not only inadequate but divisive. What is needed is a programme which can unite the employed and the unemployed •doint struggle around ine tollowing demands.
PROGRAMME TO FIGHT
* 35 HOUR WEEK: In factories where lay-offs are on the cards, the call should be made for dividing the existing amount of work among the existing workforce with no loss of pay. This call can be popularised nationally in the need for a 35 hour
* OPEN THE BOOKS: Employers who refuse work-sharing - and who insist upon
must be called upon at local and national level to
# NATIONALISE UNDER WORKERS' CONTROL: If employérs. refuse to open the looks - or "prove mereoy ine case ror lav-ofts « ine demano must be raised to
Unlike the TUC's proposal for increased subsidies for firms obviously incapable of managing their own affairs, they must * PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME: In order to rapidly absorb the thousands of unemployed, a bold public works programme should be called for. All cuts in social expenditure should be opposed and the labour and material at present standing
schools and hospitals.
in Portugal and Socialist Parties
democratic system'.
That claim no aganda line of
sign a new Dacl.
to its role political life.
Retreat
it is true, Trom earler proposals.
can offer
demands.
accrees.
For this matters.
body to the president...'.
Safeguard
on its former
or else 1o for decisions.
coup, in 1974, State order.
Pat Brain or leaders.
Miner attacks on
CDS
Workers' Unity
socialist programme,
PORTUGAL:
THE COMING
ELECTIONS
On February 26th, the major parties
- including ine Communis signed a new Witn une Armed
Forces Movement (AFM). According to
New York Times Correspondant Marvin
Howe, the new pact was designed to
end '.. military rule and establish a
doubt echoes the propthe military and of its
'allies'. It is clearly false. If the AFM
wanted to withdraw from politics,
would do so without obliging the
parties - from the CDS to the CP - to
The very fact that
new formal agreement between the AFM
and the parties has been imposed tends
to show that the military Is hanging on
as 'arbiter! in Portuguese
The provisions of the new pact show
La major retreat by the AFM •A rebor_ on
the pact negotiations of January 16th,
for example, indicated that the military
were demanding that the office of pres-
ident be reserved for an armed forces
commander. According to this scheme,
the president was to have the power to
declare war and make peace, proclaim
a state of serge or emergency, and dis-
solve the legislative assembly.
With the approval of the Council of the
Revolution, the leading body of the AFM, the president would also have had veto powers over all legislation concerning
economic, social and tinancial policy
Under the new agreement, the Council has abandoned many ot these earlier
As Marvin Howe points out, it has 'abdicated its powers to veto the choice of president, to define the broad lines of domestic and toreign policy, 1o rule on the constitutionality of laws &
an a lo lecisiate in civillar The Council will function, the tuture, essentially as an aavisory
Although this represents a 'retreat'
positions, ine military may very well believe that it will be able to manage Portuguese politics more effectively, at this stage, from a formal position as 'advisor' than from one of being directly responsible
In the months following the Caetano
the ArM was forced to assume direct control of the situation. The mass upsurge and the weakness of the bourgeois parties ( the CDS & the PPD*) left the leaders of the AFM suspended virtually in mid-air. They had to try and ride out the 'radicalisation' while retaining the essential underpinnings of capitalism and bourgeois
They undertook this 'task' mainly by involving the various workers' parties, over the years, in coalition governments wnose main inrust was to hold back the ground-swell in working class activity. The disastrous policies of the CP and
acting as a civilian facade for the AFM, did the trick. Not only have
democratic rights and living standards confused their own foll -= owers Dul iney nave also alienated many more who have begun to fall prey to the rightist demagogy of parties such as the
It is this growing trend to the riaht . leading many papers to predict a clear majority for the bourgeois parties in the coming elections - which has convinced the ArM that it is now 'safe' to remove themselves more from the political stage anu duopi d 'backslage role'.
While many observers in Portugal still expect a government based on the coming elections to be a continuation of the pre. sent centre-left popular front, they are all unanimous in pointing out that it will be under strong pressure from a rightwing opposition led by the CDS holding more than a quarter of the total vote.
This shift to the right - a major change from the May 1975 elections - can be laid firmly at the feet of the leaders of the CP and SP. Instead of mobilising the workers independently of the AFM for a
they have tried to defend their positions in the government by clinging to the coat-tails of an ever-more discreated mulitary ruie In competing among themselves for the Jose
page by Tony Roberts Portuguese CP leader: Cunhal.
eged ally', they have been prepared ::
champion attacks on the economic ga-:
and rights won by the mass movemer: ine period atter ine 1914 Laetano co--
While they have been prepared to ope suborainate inemselves to ine milliar almost 0% orphe pour ten Ins way • despite the fact that the: year's elections - the right has H^'=s=: up a large campaign tor democral se ernment' which has won growing s-s=
ne Arm's decision to retire' .. sidelines is based precisely on a awareness or ine contusion anc..
isation in the workers' mover eis eaders pollcies couplec .. upsurge in the fortunes of tne !? e no doubt hopes that such a trend, continues, will provide a favorab!e context tor ine gradual restoratio s bourgeois 'law and order':
Election
In such a situation, it is more impor:ant inan ever inal socialists interver: to provide an alternative strategy. T-= election period could be very profitat used to • call upon the mass reformis; parties to break their alliance with:-=
'progressivel military and to campaig in unity, around a socialist programme based on the needs of working people i their allies among the poor peasants.
Such a programme should not mere: take up workers' economic interests balso their democratic rights which the CDS and other right-wing parties ha: e Skiltully used to build up a mass base but to which they are, in reality, quite opposed.
Campaigning for unity in the workers movement around a clear programme -& demanding that the reformist leader: torm a workers government to impleme that programme - would find a positive response in the labour movement whichas still not suffered any major defea:=
BOLIVIAN STUDENTS
Student strikes broke out again in Bo ivia on March 6th, eight days after the Banzar regime briefly succeeded in er:ing an earlier strike wave that had bee going on for almost a month.
Police arrested twelve students in La Paz on the day the new strike began number of social science students occ.: ied the archbishop's office, where the i dunne d munger sirike. Students a the Technical University in Oruro sustended activities for thirty-six hours.
The strikes resumed after the Banzar government refused to meet student derands on examinations and to release student leaders arrested in the earlier strike. The regime has indicted these students under the state security law for being involved in an alleged subversive plot along with sectors of the labour movement and the teachers.
Support to the students' demands has come from the 7, 000 miners at Catan and Siglo XX. On March 6, they stopped work for 72 hours demanding tha: the Banzar regime settle the univers':" CONTICI nu. ovu member recerar ion Sindical de Trabajadores Mineros •e sollcia carled on Minine Mir sier
Antonio Zelava to interce o- :-s
Page 6 scan of this page
page 6
STALINISM
moression of many.
-rench colours'. orship of the proletariat' from the party programme.
Reacting to this news, the •ne New York Times said: 'However one appraises the sincerity of the changed nage the rench communists seek to aroject, the historic nature of the change "ine is undentadie...• : nue that the aim of the congress was to a ve ine impression or a new course.
French CP chief George Marchais told ine congress voted to recommend dropping any mention of the ¿ vergences' between the French and
io give lessons to anyone, acceot any Trom anvone'. : -e name of the 'Communist ideal' :-e 'happiness of man', Marchais criticsed the Kremlin's brutal suppression » political dissent. Historic Compromise
• 7 approaching ine signiticance or ine =rench CP congress, .- mina inal ine ceneral aporoach oulI'ned there is being followed by most of •re Western CPs. The British CP. example, published an article by former leader John Gollan in the January Issue o its theoretical magazine criticising ine treatment of dissidents in the USSR, :he remnants of 'anti-semitism' and the general lack of democratic rights. The leaders of the Italian and Spanish Communist Parties have been attempting for years to demonstrate some independence from 'Moscow' in order to gain acceptance from those capitalist …nev SeeK The ltalian CP has gone so 'ar in pursuit of its 'historic compromise' » h the Christian Democrats Economist ran an article last December urging non-Communist parties in Europe io seriously ponder whether the Italian Communists may not have taken on a role -ormally associated in Northern Europe. mich the Social Democrats..'.
he question raised by ine economist is the basic one that must be answered - analysing the meaning of the line now being followed by the Communist Parties o: Western Europe. nese parties and Moscow dissolving? Are they developing into Social Democratic Parties like the ones currentiy i- Britain or Sweden?
dancie The French Communist Party Congress
Stalinism
Certainly the Communist Parties,
Social Democrats, make no secret » their desire to help administer the capitalist system as they e ectoral alliances as in ltaly. -e ormism, however, =rom Social Democratic retormism anc responds to different pressures.
S:alinism, itself, is the result of the degeneration of the Soviet party and state : rai developed in the 1920s. =-reaucratic caste that arose in the war :arn country wanted only =i~ privileges within the borders of the *over nice This turn away from any =erspective of world revolution was, in December 1924, elevated to the
a theory when Stalin proclaimed (in ce ance or ine bolsneviks' iraaltion) -= possibility of '..socialism in one
-nis concept inevitably led the bur-
to view the Comintern not as = as toreign supporter on or parties =.: as 'foreign supporters' =-aric moves. Trotsky, -e deadly logic of such a new policy. co - :ed out: 'The new doctrine proclaims
a: socialism can be built on the
a single state. -:ervention. From this there can and --s: follow... a collaborationist policy awards the foreign bourgeoisie with -e object of averting intervention,
s " ill guarantee the construction of =x alism.. The task of the parties of :-= Comintern assumes,
Many character; their mission is to ine USSR from intervention &
is something new happening in the West European Communist Parties? This is the especially after the Twenty-Second Congress of the French CP, -eld in a Paris suburb early in February. Declaring a policy of 'Communism under the
editors of Popular Front
I is certainiy
maintain friendly wiin ine sor so to speak,
nor will we Moreover. and
the working class,
it should be borne
for
revolutionary strategy,
allies
intern's that the
itional phraseology, «itticull to untearn...'.
differences
ineir own ruling ciass,
Is the link between
in power
an imoertalist war.
rascism.
Fragmentation
…t could.
cartles
way to breaking the hold'. Certainly,
the communist bloc inan
Trotsky, that the orientation
generally, wings in the Communist like
openly 'seek!
Stalinist fully altered, arose differently
The narrow USSR.
to defend its
Opened. or ine ur bureaucrats. slalus
Diace Tor une not necessarily assured.
its dip- Detente in explaining
basis only there is no tney nave
distance from nol only,
as well.
therefore, an
The Historic
Compromise
In accordance with Trotsky's views, the perspective of '..socialism in one country' lea ine stalinist comintern to offer 'political support' to whichever capitalist government was prepared lo
diplomatic relations This orientation was. codified in the doctrine of the popular front' at the Seventh Congress of the Comintern in 1935.
The popular-front strategy was rationalised to the masses as the best way to detend democracy against fascism. But the method of defence proposed by Stalin was not the independent mobilisation of
but rather its subdon done coco deverve claimed to stand for democracy.
This policy of holding the struggle of ine working class within limits acceotable to the liberal capitalists was attempt to win their friendship. an integral part of Stalin's strategy: the establishment of military and dip. lomatic alliances with the imperialist democracies in return for his help in opposing the extension of the Socialist revolution. In pursuit of this counter-
the Stalinists were quite willing to strangle the Spanish revolution as, more recently, iney
genocidal war against the Vietnamese. From the point of view of programme, as Trotsky pointed out after the Com-
Seventh Congress, Notning now distinguishes the Communists from the Social Democrats except ine irao-
which is not too
If there were - and are - no serious
there still exists a major difference in another sonere ne social wemocrats oraclice 'class-collaboration' in the service of
whereas une Stalinists do so to further the interests of the Soviet bureaucracy.
Perhaps the clearest example of this came in 1939 when Stalin concluded the 'non-aggression' pact with Hitler. The parties of the Comintern changed their line overnight without a whimper. They stopped warning about ine hitlerie danger and started protesting the threat of
ed the USSR in 1941, they flipped back without hesitation and began calling tor an all-out war against the menace of
of course, be argued that the recènt declarations of the Communist
- from their criticism of the USSR's invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 - indicate that the situation Is tast changing and that they are well on the
'Moscow strangleit is true to say that today there exists wider differences in
Never would have been tolerated in Stalin's time.
Fi snoute be noted. of the Comintern towards the 'liberal' capitalists does,
generate social-democratic rarties. ne example of the Garaudy tendency in the French CP or the Johnson tendency in the British CP illustrate this clearly. Such tendencies have never success-
however, the fundamental character of Stalinist parties.
The basis on which these parties continue to recruit e nold ineir members in face of social-democratic 'competition! is precisely inrough iner link wiin tre
The link with Moscow can be camout agea tor tacticar reasons Dul lo break from it would require the type of acon curve na na no ev d
Moreover, from the viewpoint anv attempt to sever the link with the Kremlin would
The field be a dangerous aaventure. of Social Democratic politics already Is occupied by sizeable tormations with their own independent apparatuses.
Stalinist bureaucrats Is
The fact that the Western CPs have not yet broken their links with Moscow doesinot mean that, for tactical reasons,
not seen Ifit' to take their it. Such a distance is at times, in their own self-interest but also in that of the Kremiin
One of the major problems facing the Western CPs is the revulsion felt by most workers at the crimes perpetrated by Stalin in the USSR. This alone has been a major obstacle to them wInnind votes and daining allies in the
electoral field. While being careful not to criticise the theoretical legacy of
sialnism. inev nave been torced ever more to distance themselves from the erosser crimes denial of rights to political dissidents or national minorities. detectable particularly after the revelations of Kruschev in 1956.
During the 1930s and 1940s, possible for the Western CPs merely to deny that any such crimes existed. This is no longer possible. The comina to power of numerous CPs after WW2 - and the resultant rivalry between the
Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin concluding the Yalta agreement.
various national bureaucracies, each
pursuing its own 'seit-interest' - na: brought to light too many uncomfortable tacts tor ignorance to be an answer even in their own ranks. The violent
South Africa:
The largest wave of political trials in South Africa since the early sixties is
Since late in 1974, now underway. white racisi rec me nas arrested scores of people opposed to apartheid, including Sack ana wate student ecaers, urade unionists, university lecturers & writers. Many of those arrested were detained -without any charges or trial - under the provisions of the Terrorism Act.
The most important of these political trials is that of the SASO nine, leaders of the all-Black South African Students Organisation (SASO) and of the Black Peoples' Convention (BPC). Their trial resumed in Pretoria last month, a year after their first appearance in court. They are charged with conspiracy under the Terrorism Act - a charge which can lead to a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison and to a maximum sentence of death.
In South Africa, the term 'terrorism' has a very broad definition and can be applied to almost anything the apartheid regime considers 'subversive'. Any attempts to obstruct the 'free movement ot trattic or embarrass ine 'zaminis.. ration of the affairs of Statel are seen as examples of the 'terrorism' the Act is designed to outlaw.
Campaign
The case of the SASO nine is part of accoressive camoalon oirected aeains the Black student organisation and related groups inat nas been going on tor several years. in 1969 bv Black students who wantec their own organisation, the white-dominated National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). SASO adopted a Black nationalist outlook, publicly denounced the apartheid policies of the white regime emned foreign investments in South
Afretoria did not formally outlaw the
SASU as li did oiner anti-apartnerc organisations. Neverineless, OUT TO cestrov is crowine as SASO leaders were instrumental in orcantsine universily sil-ins' anc helping to set up other Black organ-
In 1973, eight leaders were lodiots 'banned' (i.e. prevented from attending meetings of travelling outside his or her town and publishing anything). Five more SASO leaders were soon to follow.
Such victimisation and harassment by the South African Security police against the SASO and the BPC was to force about sixty members to flee to neighbouring Botswana. they were not safe. In February, 1974, Onkgopotse Abraham Tiro, a former SASO leader at the all-Black University of the North at Turfloop, died by a parcel bomb in botswana
such as ine barbaric
This trend was
it was etariat'
criminal policies. way,
In such a
THE SASO NINE
the Durban and
rifles, marchers,
of arrests, is, ample of the
indication that.
recently
The SASO was formed
independent of, this year!.
The
and cond-
with Pretoria.
more than 3 people,
Nations of 12.60.
Even there,
SOCIALIST ACTION
suppression of the Hungarian & Czech uprisings, the armed confrontations on the Sino-Soviet border accompanied by mutual criticism of having 'abandoned' socialist principles has weighed heavily on the credibility of Western CPs.
It is under this pressure that trends have developed to distance themselves from the Kremlin to the extent of droping the term 'dictatorship of the prol-
because it is identified in the minds of most workers with Stalin's
While such critiques represent a growing fragmentation in the Stalinist 'bloc', that these parties are breaking their allegiance to Moscow. Nor does it mear that Moscow is not, within the framework of 'detente', prepared to tolerate verda calcism otis bouces in ex. change for the mass pressure the CPs in une vest can rine to Dear in te interests by a more democratic image.
Opportunity
The real significance of the recent declarations of the Western Communist Parties is not that they are.
'breaking' from Stalinism. It is that, in being forced to echo todav the criticisms of Stalinist crimes voiced long before by the Trotskyist movement, they serve to open up a serious debate among the many thousands of hones members who wish to discover the truth.
situation, socialists have a real possibility of explaining that it is not sufficient to dissociate from the crimes or slalin wich nave done more than anything else to discredit socialIsm in ine eyes or milions. It is necess ary to root these crimes in the political legacy of Stalinism - which still guides the Western CPs - and to break from it.
Based on an article by David Frankel
in INTERCONTINENTAL PRESS
In spite of this repression, the SASO and bry organised gemonstrations ir
Turfloop, in 1975, in sol-
struggle in Mozambique. Although the "allies were banned. Ine burban one drew between 4000 and 5000 people. A large contingent of police, armed with
dogs and clubs, attacked the injuring many & arresting fourteen. In the following days, the police carried out a nationwide wave
detaining about 40 leaders of the SASO and BPC.
Some of the political prisoners were kept in solitary confinement for four months and were not allowed even to see lawyers or relatives. Thirteen of them were brought to trial early last year and were charged, under the
means!. Of this thirteen, three have sunsecuentv been release• ano one other - Sadecque Variava - will be tried separatelv from the SASO none.
The present trial of the SASO nine Die ourse mer Are regist merely the clearest exrepressive policies. There is every
in the months ahead, the number of political prisoners will escalate still further. The February issue of 'Africal stated that, with the victory of the MPLA in Angola only
'observers believe that the South African government will tighten up internal security and clamp down ruthlessly on all serious opposition
The growing repression against black nationalists in South Africa places a particular responsibility on socialists in Britain whose government 'props up! the white racist regime through economic and political aid. It means they should campaign ever more forcefully within the Labour movement to compel the government to break off all links
FIGHTING FUND
Many thanks to those of our readers
last month, sent unsolicited don• We thought that if we asked, we inight get more. Having successfully launched Socialist Action as a monthly, our next objective is to publish it fortnightly. For this we need funds. So how about it? Target tibu per month
Page 7 scan of this page
April 76
EDUCATION
in February, Denis Healey introduced proposals to slash education expenditure Dy colom in ine next tew years. swinging cuts come on siegev erosion or ine eaucation service since coming to power. raver nad already cartea tor malor curs of £357m between 1974-5 and £264m be-
The fact that the government should be seeking is not, of course, crisis since WW1 has brought forth demanas tor eaucation curs 1922. cancelled manv of the reforms of the 1918 Education Act; the MacDonald government, in the thirties, the implementation of the Hadlow report and cut teachers' salaries; and, in the post - war austerity period, the Atlee • government backiracked on many of the provisions of the 1944 Education Act.
The present cut-backs are, among the most severe yet seen.
Gen Sec ) called 'spitting in the face ot the TUC'. They are also Ispittina ir the facel of thousands of students and teachers wno will tace larger classes, cut-backs in nursery facilities, continuation of old, dilapidated schools and rising teacher unemployment.
Control
The government obviously intends to ram through these cut-backs by tighter control over local authorities. Whitena nas ronxercisea Control over school building expenditure but only Unis year nds LEA's over other education expenditUlC.
This autumn, taking place with local authorities on the 'rate support grant', uea guidelines on coming year. reconsider unet nursery broor amme. to refuse places in schools to children who are not five until after the start of term and to make economies in 'sixth Torm orcanisation in dollon. were instructed not to improve pupilteacner ratos ane to reduce ine number of teachers in schools where the pupil rate was likely to fall. US STUDENTS FIGHT CUTS
• March 3: 1,000 students rallied at York College in Jamaica, Queeng. and then marched through the surrounding • March 4: 2,000 students at John Jay College in Manhattan held a rally and marched to the board of higher education offices. • March 5: More than 1,000 students from Hostos College, which has exten sive bilingual programs to serve the Puerto Rican community of the Bronx, blocked the Grand Concourse to prest une planneu saucown or merr sChool • March 8: 3,000 students protested outside hearing by nigher euucanor cutback while another 2,000 rallied at Queens College.
What We Stand For 17p
diverse torms - torwaro.
before the 'left!.
inal nas grown up,
The EEC - Does it matter?
movement.
FIGHT THE CUTS bAVE PICTOM
Case top of Labour's
Its 1974 White
make inroaas inio educatior new. avery economic
The Tories, in
postponed
however, They Fred Jarvis (NUT
the LTIe
year it sought to 'dictatel to
while negotiations were
Crosland issexpenditure for the LEA's were urged now to
Iney South
board of plans.
LSA PAMPHLETS
Prices include post and packing.
An analysis of the current radicalisation and a strategy for taking it - in all its The Labour Party - Which Way?
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
worla-wide, over the past decade.
Abortion - a Woman's Right 17p The key nature of abortion rights, in the struggle by women for their liberation, and defence of the mass-action perspective of NAC in winning them.
14p An analysis of the EEC and the ongoing debate it has provoked within the labour
Please send all postal orders or cheques (made payable to Socialist Action) to: c/o Dave Macleod, 1 Pretoria Road.
Tight restrictions on the rate support grant coupled with no supplementary payments during the year are clearly the weapons whereby to force local authorities - the Labour ones in particular - into towing the
authorities are likely to see his 'advice' as the green light to make yet more extensive cuts.
Unemployment
While these financial curbs have not yet affected the schools directly, have already begun to bite in terms of teacher unemployment. imates that although only 4000 teachers are registered as unemployed, at least 8000 are
• seeking jobs in schools but are unable to find them. In some areas even a part - time teaching post will proauce over o0 applicants when adveruse ane ine situation wilbe much worse next September.
in recent years. Ine number or teachens has increased annually by about 20, 000. In September, the increase should have been of the same order but was only in
region of 11,000 (which confirms the NUT's estimate). LEA plans for next
which are being ratified by local councils at the moment, nearly ume no increase in the number of teachers employed and, in some areas, they involve subslanta reductions
At the same time, the number of teachers leaving colleges would allow for a further increase in the total workforce of about 17000. unless some drastic action is taken in the coming period against the can be predicted that 25, 000 teachers will be looking for a job next Autumn. Long-term
It is not only in the days ahead that teachers' jobs are threatened. term prospęcts for the education system are even worse. In 1900, Advisory Council on the Supply of teachers established, as the target for teacher supply, pupil ratos necessary to reduce all bui 5% of classes to 30 or less: 19.7:1 •rary schools 16. 3•1 for schools and 10.6:1 for sixth forms.
A 4
27p
London SW16.
Crosland hopes
they
The NUT est-
Ducation,
figures', all ass-
and universities
cuts,
schools.
The long-
the National Tory Training and
the teacher-
for secondary
KEEP YORK
FOR
YEAR COLLEGE both teachers
20% a year.
aware teachers, will, Healey, pupils.
1975
8,000
Teachers
on the
dole and
Ms. Thatcher, when Secretary for Ed-
subtly changed this target to
that of a 110% improvement on the 197
•which meant a reduction of
about 50,000 teachers on the previous
target for 1981. The Labour government
nas accepted the new target and has
actually gone ahead with the wholesale
closure of colleges of education which it
implied. This year, the number of stud-
ents entering colleges was 30,000 and,
if the current plans go through, be reduced to a mere 12, 000 in 1978.
Thus a Labour government, elected on
a plattorm ot reducing class sizes.
in the immediate future ready to force
thousands of newly-qualified teachers onio ine dole as part ot a long - term trend to worsen the teacher-pupil ratio. Conditions
Fewer teachers dealing with larger classes will not only. or course. teacher employment but will also worsen lne slandara or ecucation ottereo in ine
Pupils will be taught by stretched staff in out-of-date buildings with inadequate facilities. In order
• such polcies ~aevocale• •vine Rhodes Boyson for some years -never end nad sce van. shod over the decision by last year's Labour Party Conterence to begin to
TEACHERS
The policy of the present government - particularly in the light of the recent cuts - has meant a major attack upon
and public education.
Despite the Houghton award, the gov, ernment's 10% wage ceiling has caused teachers' real income to be seriously eroded as intlation escalates at about
This is particularly true of younger (mainly women)teachers who were penalised under the Houghton pay
Continued cut-backs in the educational Duager wien will conunue at least lc 1980) will further affect teachers quotas are cut back, 'natural wastagel not replaced and redundancies created. lhe present unemployment level of over 5,000 is widely expected to rise to the figure of 25, 000 by the end of 1976 and more beyond. Once again, it is younger
women trying to 'return' work and immigrant teachers who will bear the brunt of this cut-back.
Reductions in staff will not only hit teachers, however, who will be forced to teach longer in larger classes with less time for lesson preparation. Such a 'deterioration' in staff-pupil ratios
in addition, directly harm the educational possibilities or ine mass of pupils - particularly immigrants in nigh industrial areas.
They will be further harmed by the grinding to a halt of the present school building programme and growing lack of adequate facilities which the massive educational cuts, introduced by
, will lead to. Pupils will be expected to be educated in out-of-date schools with inadequate facilities in larger classes by over-stretched staff.
To meet this attack, it is urgently necessary to win the NUT to campaign (in united action with other teachers' unions) on a clear programme based on the needs of teachers and the mass of
Such a campaign should be pro-
Teachers protest mass jobless prospects
IS. ot course.
decisions.
working people,
up their ailing firms.
it will
1s callously Ignored It is vitally necessary,
While Fred Jarvis may government proposals, ship nas not yet propose
over-
to as teacher unemployment,
A FIGHTING PROGRAMMI
Trom kindercarten rammes.
leacners.
fives. sincle basic scale.
For cutting transters.
* Against
emoloyment revers
Act.
Denis
other unions,
page
540º
TEACHERS
LESS
FOR OUR
NiLDREN.
reauce Class sizes to a maxımum ot ...=
The government's attack on educa: =
only a part ot a broac onslaught on the social services wt also rides rough-shod over Confer.
It is part of • strategy conale. al une expence or une nas:
massive sums into hands of private manufacturers to c-:
The fact tha: : will create even wider unemploymer: : worsening living standards for mit!'c"
therefore,:" in the coming period the teacher • un = begin to organise a mass resistence
and (where possibe united action with other sectors of :.. lic employees facing similar proble
complain of : the NUT leac: seen tit, however a series of demands deferc-: teacners interests - ane inose o wider education system - ¿ mobilis'-: members to fight for them.
up o socialists in the 1. to spearhead this struggle
tor a proe ramme (taking up such burning
class sizes ana ine school bullding programme ::: which can provide the memberst=:. a concrele alternative to the =: of the present government. * Against all cut-backs. For a ste
scale or ecucallonal expenditure ensure no worsening of standards to universi.. the period ahead due to inflation
off working people. ax ine Oc monopolisis and wealtny. Slash ence expenditure by withdrawir
troops trom ireland now in orce
devote massive funds into educa and oner soclamy necessary pr..-
For equal opportunities for wor:
tor para maternity lea and for free abortion on reques:.:
demanded by ine luc ror adeq-ai
child-care facilities for the unde-
Against all forms of wage restra -
ror a cost-ot-living clause InDu:
into all wage agreements to ensure
inal teacners' real incomes are re
Opposition ::
• erodea Dy intiation.
ine existine 'citterentials' witni!
the pay structure in favour of a
* Against all teacher unemploymer:.
all class sizes to a
maximum of 30 which will imorove
the quality of education & provide
emo ovment tor al opess teacers
(whether through 'cutting quotas'
natural waslage or redundancies'.
Opposition to any form of teacher
all attempts to 'penalise
immigrant teachers for growing .--
For the repes
of the present racist Immigratio
* Support for free speech & assem=:
for students, their right to form s:.
¡tical organisations and partic set:
in political activities.
* For the affiliation of the NUT :=
the Labour Party where,
it can partic pais
a united struggle by the labo--
ement to determine educa: o-a
icies in the interes:s of re mast
Page 8 scan of this page
SOCIALIST ACTION
On March 8, a massive general strike
swept through the oppressed Basque
drovinces in nortnern spain while tho-
usands of students and workers staged
strikes
Madrid. The protests came in response
io the killings of several Basque work-
ers in the city of Vitoria the previous
•veekena.
According to a Reuters dispatch from
Bilbao, Labour sources said that the
strike brought out 250, 000 Basques in
: he biggest stoppage in the north since
he 1936-39 civil war..'.
Protest
This current round of protests aren
•ul or a two-mon one rke ov over 5,000 Vitoria steelworkers. Employers
answered the workers' wage demands by firing strike leaders. an estimated 80 of Vitoria's whole
•orkforce staged a general strike in support of the striking steelworkers.
Police attacked the demonstration arrested picketers outside :hat had remained open. Reinforcements
•.ere called in Trom nearby •o nelp quel ine strikers.
ABORTION
Such a perspective, == a maor error Tor NAu. - = NHS cuts at - rown anti-abortionisis Is planning : take away women's rights to abort-
- ‚ould be aisastrous.
n: in campaigning against cuts in maters propositis, omen are not = ammittee's proposals,
oned to have abortions. - -e main task before NAC in the per:: ahead is to realise what stage the
--ggle is at. eught is being launched on the legal
=-: of women
he Select Committee. ==:: e is won,
io extend our rights me he demand for the right to choose
- pose anything else at the present sage - such as fighting the cuts in the •-S facilities-is simply, at this stage, = = version. Before we can =ose turiner demands we will have hac :: gefeat all attempts at restricting the
- :ed rights we have now. .. -an ihe right to abortion is established
that the struggle to make it a right in practice - posing demands -an as 'full availability send outpatient facilities', etc. be:: -es meaningful.
-so the defence of abortion rignis SUBSCRIBE TO
SOCIALIST ACTION
Name Address
58,
SPAIN
STRIKE WAVES
and assemblies in ings, Dronen
On March 3,
Carlos.
Temper.
Ine snoos
provinces The. groups Juan
alities,
vinism. cise The attempt (Contd, from front page)
if adopted, would o stress
a time when a cttee
inere s ne
under ine
relate
At present a major on-
demand. to obtain an abortion. skipped.
Unless this it will be impossible for
by pressing
go on to
It is Only
rignis, of on the NHS', ¡please make all postal orders or cheques payable to socialisi Action, Auckland Road,. London, SE19.
that called the March 3 protest state that six people were killed in the ass. ault and that more than one hundred
Government sources fi most newspapers list four dead.
The murders in Vitoria touched off strikes and demonstrations in Basque cities of Pamplona,
Bilbao and Sar Sebastian. Protests also occurred in Barcelona, Madrid and at several universities. Authorities tried to break up most of inese demonsirations. Political Freedom
During the weeks prior to the kill-
malor strike struggles had •ULi among TrUcK bakery workers, teachers, ured professors,
Jane construction workers. Campuses throughout Spain also continued to be centres ot opposition to the regime of
Since the death of Franco last Nov-
Unis nanapickea successor has failed to widen political freedom in Spain. unions and political parties are still illegal, for example.
Carlos has also imposed an popular wage freeze; denied amnesty to most political prisoners; tused to grant any real autonomv to the oppressed Basque and Catalan nation-
wise anguaces ana cultures consiantly fall victim to Madrid's chau-
The new king claims that he has put Spain on the path towards democratizion, but his cabinet's statement on the Vitoria what these promises are worth. statement, issued March 5th, said that the actions of the Vitoria police were 'directed' toward protecting the exer-
of individual freedom!.
Vitoria general strike la clear to hinder the programme retorm that ine spanish people desire and which the Government is not dis -posed to abandon'. can involve thousands in struggle. ery woman in this country is threatened by the select Committee, which aims to return thousands of them once again to the back streets and NAC, ing the struggle against that Committee, can begin to tap support. It is by involving these women
action, by struggling round a concrete issue that they can
to, inat we will be able to explain to them the need to go further anc fight for the right to free abortion on
Stages cannot, however,
A recent opinion poll carried out by MARPLAN on behalf of the that 72% of parents were in favour of abortion on demand. The fact that there exists such massive support means that the NAC has the potential tor involving thousands in action on the streets Concrcle y showine ine covernment na the plans of the Select Committee
be tolerated. a mass action orientation around the concrete issue of abortion
_toæetner with the new avenues
support opening up in the movement, inere Is no reason why NAC should not be able to reverse the present trends. Sabina Roberts
6 months £1-00
12 months £2-00
J.L.
drivers,
nonten-
King Juan rest.
to tree speecn,
Run-
and re-
March.
'orderly'
murders shows
The
It called
ment's decisión
600,000 by 1981.
CV-
Grants 01
with them a-
be
SUN found
own covernments.
and worid.
will
labour
reasons.
Furthermore.
NUS Campaign
during general strike two days earlier.
It is 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 among Spanish workers for elementary rights - such as the righ
to form political parties or to demonstrate - which the death of Franco seemed to promise them
Despite the brutality of the regime in dealing with mass opposition, unrest will continue to explode in anti-government action as happened on 8th
VICTIMISED
to slash £618m off the of this attack will, it is estimated,
shoulders of overseas racist wilcn-nunt ne len. students from 8, 400 to 3,400 by 1982. If such plans courses in other colleges will be scrapped.
will spread like wildfire up
those trom overseas who are a 'drain' on limited ressources.
nent on racist, lines will, it is hopec
round for the acceptance of these and future cut: increases five times above the 1976/7 rate.
to subsidise the British taxpayer. Immigration Act
2000 well-qualified black Rhodesians seeking courses here,
associating with anyone considered 'undesirable',
students and, tollowing ine rebruary demonstration,
Al ine same time,
few who do gain entry elementary rights on the same basis.
Basque workers packed Vitoria cathedral March 5 to honor three strikers gunned down by Juan Carlos's police
to ever idiocu
Basqué nationalists,
Nation.
such
OVERSEAS STUDENTS
In late February, over 25, 000 students marched through London protesting the
education budget in the coming. vears
While these cut-backs will affect all students, they will fall particularly heavily on the
students around whom the press has recently been building a for example, is considering plans to cut back on overseas West London (with an 82% immigrant student rate) will face closure and many individual
The ILEA's plans are, of course, only the thin edge of the wedge. If implemented,
and down the country as local authorities try to split the student movement by suggesting that British students will benefit from the cut-back on
weaken the entire student body and prepare the
Overseas students are not only threatened with course closures, however, but also with escalating fees at a time when inflation is soaring at around 20% a year. the cost of fees for overseas students has risen by 30% (from £320 to £416) and the Times has suggested that an official cabinet Ipolicv groupl has recommended vet further
such increases are usumed ov claims inal overseas students are spondina ott ine tar payer to the tune of £120m a year. Little mention is made of the fact that, since they bring approx. £150m into Britain every year in foreign exchange, they are in reality helping
¡ ne ettect or sucn increases (it implemented) would clearly be to slam ine door in ine face of thousands who are either self-supporting or dependent on assistance from their
Fi will limit entry into britain tor study to inose students or wealtny or powerful families alone, thus reinforcing class differences in the underdeveloped
The implications of the government's attack on overseas students has been glaringly revealed recently in its treatment of those applying for places from Rhodesia. 160 wil! be allowed entry - and, of these, 16 have already been deported for various
The government is able to enforce its racist attitude mainly by the wide powers that it possesses under the 1971 Immigration Act. It is under the provisions of this Act that it is able to keep out potential students who cannot attord rising tees or tind a place, ano deport those who, under the cut-backs, can no longer be guaranteed a course.
by pacine any cluent under immecae inrea or ceportation merely tom
possible protest that might gather momentum against its arbitrary powers.
The NUS is, at last, beginning to recognise the specific problems faced by overseas icularly around this issue. It is vital, in the coming period, that the momentum building up not be allowed to dissipate and that the NUS should place defence of overseas! students' course places and grants as central in the struggle against the 'cuts!.
it should be recognised that the attack being made on overseas students is part of a general attack upon black immigrants under the 1971 Immigration Act wnich prevents blacks entering ine country on the basis or ineir colour and denies inost
IS Tor mis reason inal us snould arso De carred upon to ammate to me campaion Ic Repeal the Immigration Act (CRIA) and help mobilise for the April 11th demonstration.
April 76
Continuing to defend Franco's legacy will only bring the Carlos governmen (and its fascist supporters in the army)
contlict with files s pressure for democratic change. The recent strikes and demonstrations are only the opening shots of a growing working class opposition which, already, has seen the struggle by the Catalan &
long oppressed by ine Franco regime, tor selt-determin-
Carlos may ride out ine present wave but not those of the future. Franco's legacy won't be removed from 'abovel but by Spanish workers who will reject the CPis plans for an 'orderly transition'to create a true socialist democracy.
governine impac reduce college places alone from 750, 000 to about
accepted, colleges like South
they
Dividing the student moveOnly recently, Of the it is estimated that only
it consciously aims to undermine any
organised one on March 12th part-
← Socialist Action (LSA) Vol. 1, No. 2, February–March 1976Socialist Action (LSA) Vol. 1, No. 4, June 1976 →