Defeat TUC bid to gag Ireland debate

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A large meeting of Oxford Trades Council last week voted to "condemn the bureaucratic attempts of the TUC General Council to gag and censor discussion on Ireland within the labour movement.

Delegates supported an emergency resolution tabled by uxtora Ius brancn aemanaıng Add Alll Damnal damnadiar that the TUC withdraw its threat to disaffiliate any trades council which supports the conference convened in Coventry on March 14 by the Smash the Prevention of Terrorism Campaign.

Six trades councils have already decided to support the conference, and face disaffiliation along the lines of the TUC moves against Tameside Trades Council last year.

In each case the TUC has been moved to its frenzied, anti democratic action by the fact that trade unionists wished to discuss the question of the war in Ireland-a war in which TUC and Labour leaders have shamelessly thrown in their lot with the Tories in their efforts to preserve imperialist rule in the six counties.

TUC bureaucrats have made it clear that they regard it as an expellable offence to do so much as attend a conference designed to question and oppose existing I uC policy on irelana.

What is this policy?

The laughably misnamed "Better Life for All Campaign" upholds the military subjugation of the people of the six counties of Ireland, and exists as a "campaign" only insofar as its name is involved as a barrier to discussing Ireland in the British labour movement.

In practice it means that top union bureaucrats provide block votes to back up the reactionary "bipartisan" line of the Labour leaders on Ireland-thus lending political support to the brutal policies of successive Labour and Tory governments in using military terror, torture, beatings, no jury courts and a battery of repressive legislation to crush the anti-imperialist At last year's Labour Party conference an estimated 70-80% of constituency delegates voted for a troops out policy on Ireland: the support to the Callaghan/Mason • leadership came from the union delegations.

Witch-hunts

To take up the campaign in the unions to break such collaboration is to invoke witch-hunts from the TUC itself, sections of individual union bureaucracies and from, the Communist Party, who oppose the troops out' policy.

But as feeling on the question of Ireland has grown within both the unions and the Labour Party the bureaucrats have been forced to greater and greater 'UC General Secretary Murray lengths to suppress debate and criticism of their policies.

The TUC ruling on the SPTAC conference has wide implications-debarring trades councils from "associating" with any. "organisation whose policies or activities are contrary to those of Congress."

This would effectively prevent trades councils from involvement in any left wing campaign.

This gagging action must be actively fought by all trade unionists, Last year the NUJ nationally opposed the disaffiliation of Tameside-a move sabotaged by the NUJ delegation at Congress.

This year, let's ensure that a wide spectrum of union delegations are mandated to fight this TUC censorship-and take up the fight throughout the labour movement for an end to the bipartisan policy and for a policy of immediate withdrawal of British troops from Ireland.

Bobby Sands, the 27year old former Commanding Officer of the republican prisoners at the Long Kesh concentration camp, has now been one week on hunger strike in the latest stage in the fight to secure political status.

Unlike the previous 53-day hunger strike by seven Long Kesh men-supported by ing not five specific concessions but outright recognition as a political prisoner of war. lo focus attention on his fight, the 400 other 'H' Block republicans have ended their 'dirty' protest while maintaining their refusal to wear prison clothing or do prison work.

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sadly behind the level necessary. Britain.

The last hunger strike DOLLY'S ARI

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