Donal Anti-racist march in Bradford, 7 October.
Despite the absence of any lead from the TUC and other so-called "leaders of the labour movement, the racist organisations campaigning against the entry of the Ugandan Asians have been having an extremely hard time of it recently. Though organising their demonstrations in areas where their propaganda has previously met with a certain favourable response, they have on every occasion been challenged by the action of local anti-racist groups.
MAJOR EFFORT The National Front demonstration held in Blackburn on 30 September was described in the NF's internal bulletin as their major effort for that month. The effect which the anti-racist campaign has already had was shown, however, when a mere 200 or so gathered for the NF march, while a counter-demonstration attracted upwards of 1,000 supporters. With such a relationship of forces, the police were quick to act on behalf of the racists. Police attacks on the counter-demonstration led to the arrest of fifteen comrades, mostly young workers; but this could not conceal the size of the defeat suffered by the racists, who will think twice at least before they venture out onto the streets of Blackburn again. In Bradford a week later the Right received another blow when they were again outnumbered by counter-demonstrators. This time the racists had organised under the banner of the British Campaign to Stop Immigration. Unfortunately on this occasion the impact of the Left was somewhat lessened by the decision of the local Communist Party to pull out of the recently formed Bradford Anti-Racialism Committee, and organise their own separate march. Their appeal, seemingly aimed at Christians and "moderate Tories", called for a charitable welcome for the Asians because "the ctual numbers involved are small and well within the country's capacity to absorb" So on the day, instead of one united counter-demonstration, there were in fact two separ ate ones.
The main counter-demonstration, however, organised by the IMG, IS and various other groups (including the CP and YCL in Leeds) under the slogan of "No Platform for Racists', by itself rivalled the mobilisation of the racists. It also attracted almost twice the number Bradford CP's handwringing liberalism was able to muster; thus proving yet again that only if the problem is tackled at its roots can an anti-racist campaign begin to make any headway. LEICESTER The racists' next attempt at a demonstration takes place in Leicester on Saturday, 21 October. Socialist, trade union, student and other groups in the area are already organising for a massive response in a city whose council's attitude has done much to foster racialism there. The National Front and similar groups started out with high hopes of using the Asians issue to extend their influence, particularly among the working class. Leicester provides another important opportunity to prevent this by putting a stop to their activities now. The fifteen comrades arrested at Blackburn have been charged with a number of offences, including some under the Race Relations Ad. Considerable costs are likely to be incurred as a result, costs which if they are not met independently will severely hinder future activities in the anti-racist campaign. Please send as much as you can to: Pat Horne, 16 Queensway, Blackburn. All donations will be acknowledged. actually designed to increase the real incomes of the working-class but is simply an insurance against anticipated price increases - Thus real wages can be run down by this amount (the "threshold") without any new increase being called for. In the Heath plan it is assumed that this holds true of the first 6 per cent of every future wage agreement. The "threshold" must, however, be passed by a full percentage point before any increase is forthcoming thus prices could rise by anything up to 7 per cent before the threshold increases would come into operation. This would mean that any worker earning £38 a week or over could see every penny of next year's rise wiped out by inflation and have nothing left to show for it: this affects about 25 per cent of male industrial However, even when the threshold comes into operation, it only provides 20p for every 1 per cent of increase, i.e. only enough to maintain the real wage level of that section of the working-class earning less than E20 after their £2.60 increase (ie, currently earning £17.40 or less). Thus the cost of any serious rate of inflation will be borne by the working-class. The following table shows at what level of current weekly earnings (assuming a £2.60 wage rise next year) workers could expect to lose all their increase, or even suffer a loss of real wages, for different possible rates of inflation:
Rate of Level of wages at which Inflation. loss of real wages would occur 6 - 7% 7 - 8% £35 18 - 9% £34 9 - 10% £32 This indicates the serious threat to the living standards of the working-class by the government proposals: any rate of inflation greater than 8 per cent would endange the real wages of the average worker, and anything approaching 10 per cent would reduce the real wages of a clear majority of British workers.
who tried to demoralise the workers occupying On the other hand, whatever pressure Eaton's And this is-a situation which could lead to