Margate last weekend bore a heavy responsibility.
the Jenkins laws.
As conference debated the emergency Irish resolutions, security tightened around the hall. The press were excluded, All bags were checked on the doors. All visitors were excluded - well, nearly all, as apparently the Special Branch managed to worm their way into the hall.
The right wing, hoping to ride a wave of emotion, were in for a rude awakening. Their condemnation of indiscriminate terrorism for political ends and the demand for the closure of student union facilities to those who support such violence were crushed. The students at Margate were looking for a way in which they could contribute positively to solving the crisis in Ireland.
The motion that was finally passed, backed by the Communist Party, had a few good points and several bad ones. Its clear opposition as a further move to weaken civil rights and liberties in Britain is to be welcomed.
The passing of this statement makes the NUS the first mass organisation to voice its unequivocal oppostion to the repressive Jenkins laws and demand their repeal. Hopefully it will not be the last.
GREY LINING
However, in every silver cloud there is a prey lining. What did they propose that students should be doing to rid Ireland of British imperialism? Did they support the call for the immediate withdrawal of British troops, or for the backing of student unions and the NUS for the Troops Out Movement, or for a massive demonstration on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday? Although the IMG and I5 were fighting for or these things at the conference, the CP-backed motion included none of them For the CP the Irish crisis, created and fostered by British imperialism. can be solved with a few pious words and platitudes. They suggest the introduction of a Bill of Rights into a country which was purposely divided by the British ruling class to maintain its rule. A Bill of Rights will be destined for the waste paper bins as long as the Orange state, built upon the foundations of protestant privilege remains.
While it is important that the NUS took up a position on the need to withdraw the British troops, the CP are hedging their bets by saying that the troops should first be withdrawn to barracks and then eventually, in the near distant future, out altogether. To accept this means to agree that the troops had the right might not just stay in their barracks, but could well be sent hack to oppress the nationalist population yet It was for these reasons that at Margate the IMG and IS called for a0stcntion oi the main motion because of its omissions and inadequacies. About a quarter of the delegates agreed.
Still the passage of the CP motion is-a step forward, though a small one. Students now have to go back to the colleges to build a real movement to force the troops out and get a huge turnout on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Having done that, we will be in a better position when the next NUS conference meets to win the NUS to the demands of self determination for the Irish people and the immediate withdrawal of troops. Delegates at NUS conference stand for one minute's silence in memory of murdered anti-fascist student Kevin Gately The other main issue facing the NUS
----- pull-quotes -----
self deTermialion
Ninety-colleges had called for an emergency debate on the passing of Jenkins's anti-terrorist laws and the Irish crisis in the wake of the Birming ham bombings. The Margate conference, coming so soon after Birmingham, had the chance to give a real lead to the working class movement against
to the Jenkins anti-terrorist provisions to be there in the first place. It also discounts the likelihood that they
PURDISA CHOICE FOR BE