The Daily Express was only one of several papers which used this version of the "red scare" tactic to try to get at the miners last week. Strange to say, there was scarcely a mention of the donation from the United Mine Workers of America which came through at the same time.
Of course, there is some element of truth in this. Bean is undoubtedly acting out of the motive of becoming next leader of the Labour Party. But it is only in the case of Benn that these types of motive are given prominence Anyone who is prepared to openly oppose working class action, as we shall see in the case of Frank Smith, is always presumed to have motives as white as snow. As for Taverne himself, in order to preserve for him some shred of credibility, his view that Phase Three is too generous and that the miners shouldn't have been offered Even clearer than the attitude of the ruling class press to the Labourleadership is its crearment of the trade union bureaucracy, Continual attacks are made on any trade unionist leading a struggie, while those in favour of calling one off are praised to the skies. A typical example was the Daily Mail editorial of 11 January which, after an attack on Scanion for •something he had unforfunately not said, went on to stress 'there are union leaders like Tom Jackson, of the Post Office workers, and Mr Frank Chapple, the electricians' leader, who genuinely look forward to a time when a just But the man whom the press has latched on to as the bosses' trade unionist of the moment is Frank Smith of the NUM. This red-baiting follower of Moral Re-Armament has been given endless miles of press coverage with such views as "Who is Britain's hero in this ugly sordid industrial business. Who otber than Frank Smith ... Stick it Smith, All honest British folk except the fascist Marxists are behind you' (Evening News, 9 January), The following day the Evening News waxed positively lyrical, Under a banner headline, 'The man who spoke do. out for the Silent Majority, it talked of Frank Smith, the reluctant hero of themation's darkest hours'. This Teluctant bero' so reluctant he carefully sent a letter to the Times in the middie of the overtime ban- was zealously allowed to spell out his semi-fascist theories 'Cyril Smith, the heavyweight Liberal, he had the right ideas for our industrial problems a commission, contederation, call it what you will of industry, Government and the Trades Union Congress to decide what is right". These the weekend, to end the crippling overtime hun.
He spent all day taking calls from fellow miners industrialists, and ordi nary men and women congratulating him on his stand over the dispute Said his wife Gladys last night, *1 am proud of Frank for hasing the guts to say this"
Frank's first visitor yesterday was his next door neighbour, 53year-oki engineering worker Jack Haywood.
Said Juck: "When Tread what Frank had been saying, Ijust had to shake him by the hand."?
This eulogy of Smith's support became rather exposed when the Leicester miners came out on strike against him. The press tune was therefore changed to that of the 'red plot The Epening Standard on 8 January declared *At his Coalville office today, Mr Smith accused Left-wing extremists of plotting", It went on to sayı Hinting that Communists were behind the walkout over his remarks, Mr Smith said: "1 still find it incomprehensible that there was such a swift reaction to the comments I made at the weekend. spoke out for the first time only on Saturday night, and by Monday morning the nen were walking out. You can't help wonde ing if it was all planned in advance.
REMARKABLE PLOT A truly remarkable plot this, Apparently not only is the 'ted menace capable of organising whole groups of men to go out on strike against their will, but it is even capable of reading people's thoughts so that it knows in advance they are going to make certain statements! The small consideration that even Smith had to admit he had not received any message of support from a single Leicester miner was of course as nothing beside the creeping menace The media campaign on Benn, Smith and all the other trade union and Labour Party leaders during the present crisis shows absolutely the need for both an independent proletarian press and for workers in the media lo act as the safeguards of the working class, Trades councils should follow the example of Newcastle by establishing their own press, and, when three South Wales newspapers feel uble to refuse to publish a paid advertiseient from the NUM on the miners" case, as they did this month, it is essential that jou malists and print workers exercise their own form of censorship, as the Fleet Street electricians bave threatened to CENTRAL LONDON A.I.L.
Forum with Bob Purdie and Gery Lawless on the current situation in Ireland. General Picton pub, Caledonian Road (5 mins Kings Cross tube), 8.00 p.m. Friday 25 January.
A central element in the ruling class political leaders and prospective Labour candidates. This point already made in the Goodwin letter: 'How pamphlet Heath's War on your Wage Packet' can an alternative government encourage law attempts to give this some basis as follows: