New cosmetic purge in

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Faced with renewed evidence that the recent upsurge of working class militancy in Poland has in no way evaporated, the Stalinist bureaucracy has been forced into a further face-saving purge.

Six top bureaucrats including former Prime Minister Babiuch have been expelled from the Communist Party after an acrimonious all-night session of the Central Committee.

The fate of ousted President Gierek remains undecided until the outcome of his heart attack is known.

All those purged had previously been replaced in their former governmental posts-by new bureaucrats chosen from and by the extensive privileged caste that has held political power in Poland since the establishment of a nationalised economy in the late 1940s.

Behind the latest cosmetic attempts to slap a "clean" face on the Stalinist regime stands the determination of the Polish 1) the immediate release of all political prisoners in Turkey and a halt to threatened executions 2) an end to all economic and military aid to the junta from the British government 3) solidarity with the Turkish workers and peasants and Kurdish people including Labour Party support for action organised by the trade union movement."

Bakers Union Rupper, Bakers Union; Arthur Lyon-Taylor, Toxteth LiverpLP LP National Youth Officer; Frank workers to see the fruits of the deals that concluded the wave of strikes that have swept the country in the last few months.

A token one-hour general stoppage by hundreds thousands of Polish workers last Friday was vivid proof to the bureaucrats that their efforts to delay and block the establishment of independent trade unions and the implementation of wage increases have been unsuccessful.

Any hopes that the movement would quickly subside have been dashed. And yet the bureaucrats know full well that the formal concessions they made to the workers would, if fully implemented, stand as a major challenge to thett own power and privilege.

So far the Polish Stalinists are still seeking to outflank rather than confront the proletarian threat to their control: but a real danger remains that they may yet conclude that they have no option but to take a firm stand-and call on their Kremlin sponsors for military aid in a savage crackdown. Polish dissidents handing out leaflets We urge Socialist Press readers to raise these demands in their union branches, and fight for trade union action to black all arms and supplies destined for the Turkish junta.

The Turkey Solidarity Campaign invites affiliation from all labour movement bodies.

Further details can be obtained from the TSC, co BM Box 5277, London WC1V 6XX.