St Georges fight axe Ealing Tories in court move
Socialist Press1980 1980-05-21Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 4 →
Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: expect misread words, and now and then a caption or a line from a neighbouring story. For anything you quote, read the scan.
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They did, however, say fascist NF wanted to hold a that it would be "unlawful" meeting in Southall Town Hall for the rally to take place or last April. address it. directly to the police riot in Despite this the event went which Blair Peach was killed.
The conference put forward a resolution designed to fight the final stages of the closure.
*A staff meeting to be DON'T LET TURKEY BECOME ANOTHER CHILE Workers Socialist League Pamphlet Price 30p including p&p From WSL, BM Box 5277 London WC1V 6XX Despite massive competition, Ealing's Tory Council is already well on the way to establishing itself as the most reactionary in the country.
The latest in its long stream of attacks on the working class came just before the &TUC's day of action, when the Council tried to get an injunction to prevent a rally taking place in Southall park.
The rally was planned to be the culmination of local activities which had included strikes, lobbies, pickets and marches in the Ealing, Hounslow and Hillingdon areas.
Some time before the event the organiser, Jack Dromey, wrote to the Council to let them know what was The Council took three weeks to reply that the rally would be in breachof a by-law banning political meetings in the park. They only went to the courts the day before the event was to take place.
The injunction they sought would have banned Dromey and six officers of Ealing NALGO from organising the rally.
Actually NALGO had nothing to do with organising the rally but have been actively opposing the Council's cuts: This apparently was good enough for the Council to name them.
It was merely because of the Council's delay that the judges, who included the notorious Denning, found themselves unable to grant the injunction.
Unlawful for local MP Syd Bidwell to ahead as planned and was attended by thousands of local trade unionists and others.
Apart from Bidwell, speakers included Stalinist George Guy from the TUC's General Council, who spoke of the need for political action by trades unions.
Free speech
Ealing is the Council which claims that free speech is an "inviolate right". • At least that is what they said when the Defence of the fascists led Clearly for these Tories the right to free speech depends very much on who wants to do the speaking.
The fascists get police protection and the workers movement gets the courts used against them.
The working class are going to have to fight for free speech and every other democratic right.
Postscript. Local workers may well wonder who is going to foot the bill for the court case at a time when Ealing is suffering the worst education cuts in the country and every other area of public spending is being ruthlessly slashed.
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Benn: proposed reprimand, not expulsion answers witch-hun A further chapter has unfolded in the ongoing saga of moves by Oxford witch-hunters to expel Socialist Press supporter Ted Heslin from the Heslin was expelled in January 1979-and appealed soon afterwards against the decision. Since then the bureaucratic machinery of the Labour Party has creaked into action with a series of inquiries, hearings and contradictory decisions.
On May 8, Heslin was called to a meeting at the House of Commons of a Sub Committee of the Party's Organisation Committee, chaired by Eric Heffer.
On the basis of the report back from this interview, the Organisation Committee has, according to the latest leaks to the Tory press, voted to recommend that the NEC refuse to endorse Heslin's expulsion, and instead reprimand' him for his actions.
None of this information has of course been communicated to. Heslin, who, 17 months after his expulsion remains still uncertain as to his status.
His supporters in Oxford have called for a lobby of the next Labour NEC meeting, to be held on Wednesday May 28, and of the Party's Special Conference in Wembley onMay 31, to press the case for his full reinstatement.