[A Workers Socialist League contingent will join the…]

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A Workers Socialist League contingent will join the antiracist demonstration in Blackburn on 11th September.

The recent electoral gains made by racist and fascist parties shows that the danger of these movements winning a foothold remains as long as the labour movement is not mobilised against them.

Drawing strength from every betrayal by the TUC and Labour government, feeding off the frus tration felt by the working class confronted with mass unemploy ment, falling living standards and inadequate social sèrvices, racist and fascist groups have begun to win a degree of support even among some sections of workers.

At the same time in seeking to spread their influence, the fascists continue to engage in violent attacks on immigrant workers.

CLASS ISSUE

The task of revolutionaries i both to defend those being attack ed and show that these attacks are a class issue. Fascism is about breaking up the organisation of the working class as a whole.

Those immigrant. organisations or individuals who have started the formation of vigilante groups have taken an important step forward in breaking from the reformist position of appealing to the police, the capitalist state, to defend them selves against fascism - which itself is just another form of capitalism.

But, unlike the International Marxist Group and other groups we do not say it is simply a question of "Build labour movement the black communities by blacks themselves are any guarantee for protection against racist attacks" (IMG national leaflet): • We of course support the righi of immigrant workers to defend themselves in whatever way necessary against racist and fascis But we also have a politica responsibility to attempt to direct these self-defence groups towards calling on the strength of the organised labour movement as a whole so that the most united class attack can be launched against fascist provocation and violence.

If black workers and youth have been the first target of the fascists, picket lines and trade union meetings will be next. Fascists have already attacked meetings on WSL members and supporters in ardas affected must therefore propose at their union branches, trades councils and Labour Parties that a fight is waged for workers defence squads organised jointly between immigrant and trade union organisations.

Where possible, we must fight for this within immigrant organised defence, squads by attending as delegates from the trade unions and urging that they unify with trade union bodies, particularly trades councils, in their fight against fascist attack ACTION But the task of physical defence must be accompanied by a fight for a programme of action to mobilise the united class strength of the working class in defence of jobs and wages;

*No state control of wages -for a sliding scale of wages linked to the cost of living as assessed by committees of trade unionists and housewives.

*No to redundancies - For work sharing on full pay.

*No to closures - Occupy, open the books to establish the case for nationalisation without compen sation under workers management. For a programme of public works

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