Behind Abc Farce- Democratic Rights
Socialist Press1978 1978-09-20Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 4 →
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Signals Corps Staff Officer- communications centres has upheld prosecution that the judge ruled could attempts to create an aura only be referred to by Campbell, Aubrey and Berry with supporting pickets.
League Platform of the ANL meeting that last week put the cat among the Tory and Liberal igeons by putting forward the correct call for trade union action to black out possible arty political broadcasts by the National Front.
The restrictions on information imposed by the Official Secrets Act were exposed to the level of near farce last week in the Aubrey/ Berry/Campbell "Secrets" trial at the Old Bailey.
TXTL.:1~ thr juuge-an cA*MUUNAL ISNT PHOTO: Mark Rusher, IFL CRET 17 MORE The Socialist Youth League. which supports the political programme of the Workers Socialist of cloak and dagger secrecy, the true absurdity of the hush-hush approach continued to emerge.
It was revealed that virtually all 57 IlK and lIS QlL a ts WON! numbers were already well-known, had been featured in numerous news reports, were listed in the phone book, had been toured by hiking school expeditions, or were used as pasture land for sheep with no security clearance.
Wing Commander Donald Evans, head of the defunct Orford Ness radar station told the court that the attempts to create an air of mystery around this base was • "absolutely idiotic"
Treasure And on Thursday it was revealed that a team of schoolboys from Ampleforth College had engaged in a "microwave treasure hunt" from "top-secret" station to "top-secret" station along the East Coast of Scotland!
Lord Hutchinson told the court that microwave tower spotting is no more harm than train spotting."
The farce was heightened when Defence QC Jeremy Hutchinson pointed out that one microwave tower "rose high above Tottenham Court Road" , but that he was not allowed to mention it in court.
Stephen Oakes admitted when cross-examined on the West Drayton joint military and civil air traffic control centre that « There nothing • secret about it" though •prosecuting QC Leonard continued to object to it being namer 1 in Behind the farce and the absurdity however is deadly serious attack on democratic rights.
Duncan Campbell accused of infringing the Official Secrets Act by collecting information that "may be, directly, or indirectly, useful to an enemy."
Yet, as in the case of these well-known bases, the vast majority of this information is publicly available or derived from published sources.
All of it would be well known to any external enemy of British capitalism.
The people who know nothing about these bases are of course the British working class.
Campbell, along with John Berry and Crispin Aubrey, also face other charges under the Official Secrets Act, in this trial, which is conscious attempt to intimidate journalists and the labour movement from probing the plans, movements and military apparatus of the capitalist state.
It is essential that Labour Parties and union branches bombard the Labour leaders Ssssh !! secret! with resolutions demanding the dropping of these charges and action to implement Labour's manifesto pledge to repeal the Act itself.
The ABC Defence Campaign, which now faces its major test as the trial unfolds, must also take the initiative, jointly with the NUJ which is officially supporting the campaign, and call a labour movement delegate conference to build the broadest support for their fight against the victimisation of Aubrey, Berry and Campbell.
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And PHOTO: Andrew Wiard, Report
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NEVER STOP THE NAZINI
'Nothing secret' And Squadron Leader