During the last election campaign Harold Wilson, in an interview with David Frost, complacently maintained that nothing like Watergate could ever happen in this country.
He ignored, of counse, the whitewashing of the Lennon killing and the Littlejohn affair by the Labour Government itself to help the 'security forces" cover up the crimes committed daily against the Irish people.
UNDER THE CARPET There was no real inquiry into the Littlejohn affair, though it was publicly admitted that a member of the Jalt Tory Government had been directly involved in intervicwing the Littlejohn brothers and supervising their assignment: to infiltrate the IRA and act as avent provocateurs in the South of Ireland.
While in opposition, the Labour Party demanded an inquiry into the whole affair. Once in office, everything was brushed under the carpet. No doubt British intelligence informed the Lahour ministers that they were still engaged in carrying out similar acts to discredit and isolate the IRA, and that any inquiry would damage their present activities and discourago potential recruits and informers, As always, the Labour leaders succumbed. There wasn't a whisper of protest in the Parliamentary Labour Party, The stalwarts of the Tribune its end it will claim many more polgroup closed ranks, no doubt boasting of their sensitivity in appreciating the burdens imposed by the responsibility of office"
MORE SINISTER The Lennon affair is even more sinister. As we reported in these pages two weeks ago, the only thing remaining to complcte the cover-up was the Home Office report, To no one's surprise, the Starritt Report released last weck totally clears the Special Branch from any responsibility and has been accepted as such by the entire establishment. The leader writer in The Guardian mercly wondered wity Lennon was not protected by the Special Branch from the IRA assassins who obvjously gunned him down.
Malters are as simple as that fot The Guardian. They proclaim that the TRA killed Lennon. They offer no proof, and since the IRA is banned they need not fear any court actions for lihel, The self-atyled conscience of Libera? England is not unduly worried hy what has happened.
The National Counril for Civil Liberties has to its credit denounced the report as a 'whitewash on the Special Branch and demanded an "independest inquiry". As its acting general secretary, Patricia Hewitt, pointed out: The major questions raised by the Lennon stroy about the work of the Special Branch are left unanswered by the Starritt report.' We should, of counse, add that even an independent inquiry beaded by some old judge would, in the pres ent political situation, have produced a similar result. After all, it was Judge Widgery who baldly stated that in a nasty world the police had to do nasty jobs. Starritt is more crude and denies that anything nasty was done at all.
The Labour Attorney General Sam Silkin has stated his complete satisfaction with the handling of the Lennon case. There was "no impropnety as far as he was concerbed, and that for the Parliamentary Labuur Party will be that. The case is buried, and all guod Labour MPs can sicep in peace.
WORKERS' TRIBUNAL We du not need to stress apain in these papes the cnormity of the cover-up operation carried out bv Jenkins with the approval of th Cabinet. In the present atmosphere of hysteria und anti-lrish witch-hunts, the Labour loaders might hope that they will get away with it -and, indeed, for a perind they might. But the Irish war still goes on, and before itical casualtics, amongst whom will be the whitewashers in this Labour But for the workers movement it is vital that these issues are taken up We are in favour of an independent workers' tribunal to investigate the Tole of the Special Branch and the inteligence services. The Bertrand Kussehi Foundation, which has inv-