10,000 protest at police
Socialist Press1979 1979-05-02Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 12 →
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under Published by Folrose Ltd. for the Workers Socialist League, 31, Dal Printed by Anvil Printers, London. Registered as a newspaper On Saturday a crowd estimated at ten thousand marched in Southall to protest the police murder of Blair Peach.
A WSL/SYL contingent carried placards demanding a trade union enquiry into the murder and the formation of workers' defence squads.
However, much of the potential militancy of the march was defused by the organisers' policy-motivated by leading IMGer Tariq Ali-calling for a "peaceful silent march"
By the time demonstrators filed past the spot where Peach was battered to death (slogans could be shouted afterwards) the march was almost at an end.
Workers defence
The situation today calls for demonstrations which can become militant calls for the formation of workers' defence squads to deal with the NF fascists and police attacks.
Instead the Anti Nazi League and it sponsors are concerned with applying the Christian pacifist principle of "turn the other cheek"
The extracts from the WSL/ SYL leaflet distributed at Southall reprinted below stand in sharp contrast to the Ghandilike stance adopted by the demonstration's leaders . . . . .
•Blair Peach, trade unionist and left militant, was murdered by the cops in Southail on Monday 23 April. The uniformed scum who killed him went on a wild rampage through the area. Their massive military operation had one aim -to terrorise and intimidate the Asian community, and particularly the youth.
"Blair Peach must be avenged! A powerful movement must be built to crush the National Front vermin against whom he was demonstrating. And this means a movement that can defend itself from the scabs in blue who protect the 44/2 fascists' "right to free speech"
'No Reliance on the Bosses' State: The murder of Blair Peach shows where the State stands. The Labour "left' • the Communist Party Stalinists, the 'Anti Nazi League', and all those who have called for the state to "ban" fascism or "protect democracy", , must now answer the question. What about the state's "protection" of Blair Peach?
"Be it defence of picket lines or clearing out the NF scum the need for workers' defence is more urgent than ever. In every trade union, youth and immigrant organisation the call must be for a workers' enquiry into the death, of Peach and the urday's huge demonstration preparation ot detensive measures-campaigning for. the maximum number of serious volunteers-to organise defence of all future mobilisations.
"The coming battles will never be won by saintly pleas to "cool it" or by pious wishes for "peaceful' . anti-fascism. Nor will they be won by adventurist minority confrontations with the cops that only end in fines, jail sentences or worse.
"They will be won when the enemies of the working class and the immigrant community are taught their lesson with a taste of their own medicinethrough the building and trainmovement."
tmouth Park Hill, London at the Post Office.
The NF succeeded in holding their election rally in a West Bromwich school despite attempts by 500 anti-fascists to stop them.
This was due not simply to police and fascist efforts but also to the pacifist line of the Sandwell Committee against Racialism and Fascism (SCARF) which is dominated by the so-called New Communist Party.
A sustained campaign by the leaders of the Sandwell council FUND A much better response to our £2,500 Special Fund this week has brought the total to £214.25. But we are clearly only just at the start as. far as this fund is concerned and a concerted effort will be necessary by our readers and supporters if we are to raise this target by the end of July as All donations to this fund and our £600 Monthly Fund should be sent to: Socialist Press Fund, 31, Dartmouth Park Hill, London NWS 1HR.
Oxford Tote winning no.
April 22, 207; 194 April 29, 242. workers had resulted in a situation where no council employee was willing to open the school.
The Director of Education himself had to step in to "defend democracy"" and open the school for the fascists.
It is now very likely that the school will be blacked by local trade union members.
However this principled fight was predictably sabotaged by the Community Relations Council who, as a diversion from stopping the meeting, formed a queue of 200 people to fill the hall.
• Another 400 demonstrators were present, some mobilised by SCARF and some by the Birmingham ANL.
There were also a considerable number of young 1. blacks and whites from Smethwick and West Bromwich who gathered spontaneously to stop the meeting.
But these forces were in no way deployed to block the entry of the NF.
After 40 NF stewards had been escorted into the hall, the 200 queueing anti-fascists were allowed to enter.
They set up a chant of "Nazi, Nazi" which prevented Tyndall and his henchmen from starting the meeting.
The fascist stewards then launched an assault on sections of the audience, in which a Methodist minister suffered the consequences of his pacifist line in the form of a bloody head after being crowned with a chair., Riot police then moved in to assist the fascists in ejecting their audience and the "public" meeting proceeded after a brief interval.
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ing of workers' defence based on the mass power of the labour