NOW! Ireland killing no mistake!

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PHOTO: Laurence Sparham (IFL) JOINT STEWARD Speke workers on their long struggle against speed-up prior to closure The murder of 16 year old John Boyle by British imperialist troops is being branded as a "tragic mistake" by the Tory press and by every defender of the continued military occupation.

But there is no mistake involved. The heavily-armed forces that uphold British rule remain there as a result of conscious policy by the capitalist class and their servile lackeys in the Callaghan cabinet.

And last autumn Northern Ireland Secretary Roy Mason ordered a further intensification of the under cover activities of the murder squads of the Special Air Services,: which meant that even the notional restrictions on the use of rifles Viscount Rothermere -owner of the Daily Mail, president of Associated Newspapers, one of the most last week.

Nevertheless at 80 years of age Rothermere had lived several decades too long.

Yet in one of the most convincing displays of the futility of trying to rid the world of individual capitalists his son, the 'Honourable' Vere Harmsworth became the third Viscount even as his father croaked his last.

There is indeed always a cloud to every silver lining.

Esmond Cecil Harmsworth had a hard life.

Born the son of a modest owner of several national newspapers he had to outlive his father before he earned his right to tell the nation what to think.

He was the youngest. MP entering the House of Commons from Eton and the Royal Marines in 1 as a Unionist.

Alter ego

There he acted as his father's alter ego ensuring that the Harmsworth family had a leading voice in three of the four estates of the realm-the House of Lords, the House of Commons and the Press.

The outstanding achieveby troops-as set out on the "yellow card" were effectively abandoned.

Since then a policy of 'shoot first, ask questions afterwards' has led to a spate of deaths, culminating in the shooting of John Boyle.

This naked use of repression in Ireland has now reached the point where even the police, Protestant workers and reactionary demagogue lan Paisley have been forced to expose the ludicrous lies put out by the army.

The task is to show that this killing is not simply one isolated outrage or 'tragedy' but part of a continuing historical outrage of barbaric enforcement of colonial rule on the Irish people.

The Labour leaders have shown themselves determined to beat, intimidate, intern, harass and muzzle those elements that ments of his 30 years in' charge of one of the biggest newspaper empires in the world were his vicious and stubborn control in 1955 of the Newspaper Publishers Association in the Fleet Street strike and his role in closing down several newspapers.

His newspapers reflected not just the business needs the Rothermere family and their like but also his personal whims.

When his second wife left him for lan Fleming, Rothermere ordered that James Bond books should receive scant space in the book review columns.

In his personal habits Rothermere was mean and nasty.

Even Cecil King-former chairman of the Daily Mirror and himself no slouch when it comes to big business anti-charismarafiad to now him. any death bed compliments, ¡crustu lo pay mum any stressing instead the mediocrity of his talents.

This is not quite the picture his faithful lackies in the editorial chairs of Fleet Street painted of Rothermere. The Times called him a "dominating figure in the world of a journalism"

although he was rarely seen at the working end of his newspapers.

The Daily Mail gave readers two whole pages sickening sycophancy. ' 'He was a forceful member first of the House of Commons, later of the Lotds, a gifted public speaker, a connoisseur of painting and a fine sportscharged with conspiracy, and printer Gary Kennedy, a leading SDLP member who printed Republican News has also been imprisoned "on remand"-the latest substitute for formal internment-charged. with membership of the IRA.

The jailing of Kennedy lad to harassment of the Irish Pabloite paper Socialist Republic which was printed on the same press as Republican Frightened printers, seeing Kennedy jailed, have not surprisingly drawn the conclusion that to print anti-imperialist material in the North is to invite arbitrary arrest and detention at the hands of Mason's armed thugs.

Support demand

Last weekend 2,000 workers and youth marched to condemn British imperialism's barbaric role in Ireland and support the demand of the Republican prisoners for prisoner of war status pending a withdrawal of British troops and an amnesty.

Now each of these marchers must ensure that the struggle to force the withdrawal of British troops from Ireland and ensure the self-determination of the Irish people is taken up with renewed vigour throughout the Labour and trade union movement.

These demands must be coupled with demands for the expulsion of butcher Mason from the Labour Party. 'man and tennis player.

"He loved Fleet Street, in his own words for its "passionate love of liberty and devotion to the freedom of expression"

The article went on to describe his 'sympathy' for the working journalist.

In words the truth of which he could presumably vouch for, he said:

"There is no single moment of the day that he is able to call his own and in a great many cases, there is not a night he can call his own"

Recalling his hard childhood the paper remarks:

'One of his vivid childhood memories was that once a year, Lord Northcliffe would invite his nephews and neices to lunch. Each would find a £5 note under his or her plate"

Later on the £5 notes became gifts of newspapers.

This week as the Rothermere dynasty stepped one generation nearer extinction the Daily Mail, that stalwart supporter of Moseley in the 1930s, was still throwing its energies into defending the international rule of the bourgeoisie.

Its pages were strewn with attacks on the Soviet Union, support for the police and demands for further. wage cuts and tougher stands against the working class.

The task of seeing that the Daily Mail and those who shape its policies join the •second Viscount Rothermere in the dustbinof history is the task of a Trotskyist party

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Saturday. the Labour Party, ignoring It : had been hailed by completely the ParliamenNUM 'left' Arthur Scargill tary support given to them in a message conveying his by the lefts'! role the any Labour 'left' Neil Kinnock and "Trotskyist" Tariq Ali made a fitting couple on the platform of the Cardiff anti-racist Carnival last Saturday.

2,000 joined the march, which was called by the Cardiff Committee against Racialism (and obviously backed by the Anti Nazi League).

Its stated aim was to provide a peaceful show of solidarity and opposition to racialism as well as to have a good time"

The march started in the working class area of Bute and was joined by many of the black and white youth who live there, some with their whole families.

A conference entitled «Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory" which excludes any discussion on programme, anv examination of the VALI of the 'lefts' within Labour Party and reference to actual struggles within the trade union and labour movement obviously does not have much to offer the working class.

Such was the case at the 150-strong conference, jointly inspired by supporters of the Internat- annarters of tha Intornat ional Communist League and the Chartist group, that was held in London last "best wishes" Wednesday July, Kinnock Trade union banners included the NUM, NALGO, CPSA, AUEW and NUPE plus the Cardiff Trades Union Council and Welsh TUC.

'No politics' was of course the aim of the organisers and both a steel band Chaired by Ted Knightthe one-time Trotskyist who is now the 'left' leader of Lambeth Council-and addressed by prospective left' candidate Ken Livingstone and by victimised Clay Cross councillor David Skinner, the conference steered well clear of any analysis of the record of wretched betrayals carried out by Tribunite MPs on every major issue of government policy.

Far from minds

Livingstone certainly spure ur lut ictu lu expust annla ef tha naod ta suaran Labour's 'traitors'-but centred exclusively on the role of the right wing of And while SCLV speaker and a jazz band were drafted in.

Whenever the music stopped, in fact, the spontaneous shouts of "Smash the National Front" were generally megaphoned out by "One Race, the Human Race" or "Equality In" from the stewards.

At the rally which launched the Carnival proper Ali, fresh from the Richard Baker chat show earlier in the week and Neil Kinnock added their non-political comments.

Although Ali did mention that the real problem was capitalism in crisis-at which Kinnock clapped-he went on to draw the conclusion that what was needed were more carnivals all over the country, that the ANL. had been "vindicated" and were partly responsible for the decrease in the fascist vote.

The other people Ali saw Mike Davies referred fleetingly to the "ultimate aim" of removing the right wing MPs, this objective was far from the minds of almost every speaker. So too was any fight for consistent socialist Voted A bid by supporters of the Workers Power' grouping to raise amendments specifying a more precise programmatic platform for the SCLV was overwhelmingly voted down-with ICL supporters arguing that the campaign itself was a "compromise" to link up with and organise others who "don't share our conception". • The amendments were not even discussed.

An IMG speaker, surprisingly professing concern at this failure to discuss programme, referred glowingly to the splendid work of "Comrade" Ernie Roberts in N. Hackney CLP, and was welcomed to the fold on all sides.

Another speaker referred to the fight against the cuts, stressing his view that there should not be too much emphasis on mobilising health workers-who are not were alien people"

Judging laughs and was getting platform agreed with Nothing the Labour 6'0 67 as partly responsible were the Tories who were poaching the racist vote!

Kinnock was a happy man when he got to his feet. No speaker-least of Tarig Ali-had fingered the Labour government's responsibility for maintaining the conditions that breed fascism.

"I agree with Tariq" began Kinnock, before going on to blather about mobilising "beauty, joy and equality" against the forces of ugliness which of course of linnam to the "British by the smiles, claps Kinnock from his fellow speaker, Tariq him too. was said against leaders or their 'lett' assistants; not a word was breathed about workers self defence; and a good time was had by fakers of all descriptions.

Butcher Mason-Scargill's 'soci gone so far as to fight for Maso Barnsley mining constituency!

"Callaghan and Healey have found an echo in the labour movement" , one Chartist announced.

Under these conditions he felt the SCLV had to play the role of a "nuisance" to Callaghan.

If this were done, then, according to this same Chartist, Callaghan would "be forced to debate openly".

"Then", he went on, "we will have achieved deal indeed!"

Silence on 'lefts'

It took a WSL supporter to pinpoint the conference's resounding silence on the role of the 'lefts' and to challenge the notion that "debate" on socialist ideas would change things.

Years of Labour Party conferences should surely PHOTO: Andrew Wiard (Report)

alist' campaign has not n's removal in his PHOTO: Chris Davies (Report)

reférred to a fight within her own right-wing led Labour Party ward in which she had lost by only one vote a resolution calling on the local MP to wage a campaign for a PLP motion of no confidence in the Callaghan-Healey leadership, and for a new leadership.

If the forces of the SCLV took up such a fight and struggled to end union sponsorship for right wing MPs they could play a real role.

As the time set for the Official Sec ets trial of journalists Crispin Aubrey and Duncan Campbell and former soldier John Berry draws closer, Prime Minister Callaghan has formally announced the abandonment of a Labour Manifesto pledge to scrap the Official Secrets Act.

Replying to a Parliamentary question by Barbara Castle, Callaghan replied that while he had the Manifesto pledge "in mind"

"I regret that I cannot come to that conclusion at this time"

Labour policy is to call for the repeal of the Official Secrets Act and its replacement with a freedom of. information' Act, placing the onus on the state for proving that information should be withheid.

Four years in office in close liaison with all of the most reactionary heads of military intelligence and the professional Civil Service has clearly persuaded Callaghan and the Cabinet that these bastions of capitalist class rule must remain shrouded from the eyes of the workers movement.

Like every other pledge in Labour's manifesto which might in any way weaken or threaten capitalism, it has been cynically jettisoned by the Callaghan-Healey leadership.

Suffrage

----- pull-quotes -----

sacker of thousands of newspaper workers and

unpleasant products of British capitalism had the grace to drop dead

sS G ae arse, Ge