Two members of the Coventry branch of the International Marxist Group were arrested in the carly hours of Last Saturday morning, and held for 22 hours before being charged under the Criminal Damages Act, and released on El 00 bail.
One of those urrested, Will Roose, is well known as the main organiser of the Coventry Prisoners Defence Committee, which has been supporting the seven Irishmen from Coventry, currently on trial in Birmingham on charges of conspiracy to cause expJosions. Will was punched in the face before being taken into custody, and subjected to intensive questioning.
The two comrades were not allowed to contact a soucitor. and other members of Coventry IMG were densed access to them.
Police questioning centred on the recent bombing incidents, the work of the defence committee and the politics of the IMG. The police have raided the premises of the Coventry IMG on two occasions, taken away documents, and questioned IMG member. The two were held in an undisguised attempt to harass Coventry IMG and to disrupt the Detence Committee tully in Coventry on Saturday afternoon, which, despite this, went off successfully.
The arrest of these militants in closeconnected with recent raids in London, which led to a 500 strong T.U. BACKING FOR ANTI-FASCIST DEMO We publish below the text of a letter Further bodies to pledge support in. circulated to the left press by Brian dude Nicholson of the Transport & General Highgate AUEW, and Central London Workers Union. Support for the demo AUEW (TASS). against the National Front is growing.
Dear Sir and Brother.
It is a bitter thing, in this day and age, to have to warn the Labour movement about danger from the fascist forces on the extreme right of British, politics The following facts, however, demonstrate that this problem needs serious and urgent attention. and that the working class movement must take steps to deal with it promptly.
The largest extremist organsation of the far right, the National Front, which already his over 10,000 members, is holding its annual conference and rally on Saturday, 13 October in London's Conway Hall, near Holbem. This is intended to be a prestigious occasion for the Front, to set the seal on two major developments concerning this fascistic organisation. Firstly, its recent electoral advances 15,000 voles in the West Bromwich by-election and high votes in several local elections) obtained largely by anti-immigrant propaganda - the Front admits to being racialist' - will be emphasised to argue that the NF is now an acceptable national party Secondly, the Front's agitation aimed specifically at winning support from members of trade unions will be stepped up. Recently, letters from the NF have appeared in some union journals, and the Front's own Joumal Spearhead (March 1973) boasts that they 'have made barely any impact at all among the upper classes' but 'great gains' are possible among the. Working classes" The articles in this paper increasingly and openly discuss how the NF can influence trade unionists in particular Recognising this danger, the Transport and General Workers" Union Executive recently endorsed a motion calling for a campaign to expese the fascist NF. Now, it is time for the rest of the moverent to face this problem. I therefore urge your readers to give maximum support to the demonstration against the NF on the day of their conference, whith will aasemble at 12 noon on 13 October at Eincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2 To help show that the Labour moverent s opposed outright to fascists and their propaganda, Yours fraternally.
Brian Nicholson, T.G.W.U. Region 1.
Red Weekly 12 October 1073 Pep: B demonstration last Saturday, invalving tenants and squatters groups, Irish and left-wing organisations. The secretary of Colchester Trades Coun al described to this demonstration how a bus-load of trade unionists and left-wing activists, returning to Colchester Trom the demonstration in Shrewsbury in solidarity with the building workers on trial there, was stopped and held for questioning in connection with the bombing of Woolworths in Colchester.
The intensity of the repression is indicated by a rash of trials; the Belfast Ten at Winchester, the Coventry Seven at Birmingham, and the Blackburn Three trial to open soon in Lancaster. Although arrested on the Mozambique demonstration, Tariq All, NUS secretary Steve Parry and others whose trial for police assault takes pisce this week, have been victimised as part of this generalised repression.
The left should not fail to note that although a vigorous defence succeeded in discrediting much of the police evidence, the trial of four of the leaders of the Bloody Sunday demonstration in London in February 1972, resulted in suspended sentences of eighteen months for John Gray, and nine months each for Bowes Egan and Michael O'Kane. Jobn Flavin was acqubtled.
Todmorden Trades Council,
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