[MASSEI PHOTO: Chris Davios. Report For anyone who…]

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MASSEI PHOTO: Chris Davios. Report For anyone who maintains illusions in the political 'neutrality' of the state the situation in Manchester on October 8 ought to have offered a stark lesson.

An estimated 9,000 police using helicopters and roadblocks were mobilised in a hitherto unprecedented exercise to protect the fascists of the National Front.

Outnumbering by about five times the total number of demonstrators on both sides, the police clearly utilised the situation to gain experience for future confrontation with the working class.

BODYGUARD

When fascist leader Martin Webster carried out his one man protest march through Tameside it was with the backing of a police bodyguard numbering thousands. • This, together with the confessed collusion of Manchester Chief Constable Anderton in keeping secret the venue of the later NF march in Levenshulme shows clearly that the original Tameside ban imposed under the Public Order Act was part of a major move to restrict democratic rights not of the fascists but of the workers' movement.

HOME SECRETARY

All this takes place under the direction of Labour Home Secretary Merlyn Rees. Meanwhile those union bureaucrats like Colin Barnett of the North West TUC, whos were so keen to support the police ban in Tameside and suppress support for the Trades Council's picket of Webster, act on the basis of considerations going beyond the struggle against the fascists.

The being Cont'd from gations on the lobby.

Workers at Great Ormond St. Hospital have blacked private ambulances and NHS ambulance drivers at Isleworth, Hillingdon and Hanwell have disrupted the non-urgent service at the West Middlesex Hospital.

There can be no better testimony of the willingness of hospital workers to fight against the cuts.

Instead of capitulating to the gangsters of the AHA, they have stepped up the fight.

The smashing of the Hounslow work-in is a reminder to all workers of the lengths to which the government and its agents will go to break resistence to cuts.

Responsibility for this attack lies firmly with the Labour government, but the union bureaucracy is equally to biame.

SMASHED

won for the counter picket before the police ban showed that, had the fascist march gone ahead as planned the thousands of workers mobilised in opposition would have been in a position to gain important experience as a force independent of the police and the state.

is this that the bureaucrat: of the labour movement fear ir period when these "leaders' are increasingly prostrate before the intrusions of the courts (as at Grunwicks).

The number one priority of the bureaucracy is to police Callaghan and Healey's wage-cutting pay policy This means holding back the increasing sections of workers coming forward to assert their own class interests to regain and defend their standards of living.

OPPOSED

Tameside has shown quite clearly that the police ban, far from being merely an 'unreliable' means of defeating the fascists (as the Socialist Workers Party and the International Marxist Group assert) was not a result of the 'pressure' of the mass mobilisation, but the opposite-a bid to prevent such a mobilisation from taking place.

All such bans should be opposed by the labour movement. The indications are already quite clear that the fascists can be dealt with provided there is a consistent fight for workers self defence.

In every area affected, the demand should be taken up for the setting up of workers defence squads based on the trades unions to protect movements and immigrants' areas etc against increasing fascist provocations. the National Steering Committee of Public Sector Unions announced plans for a week of action against the cuts in November-almost a year to the day from the last national protest against the cuts.

Proposals have been made for petitions, exhibitions and lobbies. But it is specifically emphasised that strike actions and demonstrations of the size of November 17 1976 will not be tolerated.

Attempts within the NHS shop stewards movement in London to link the work ins at Hounslow, the EGA and • the Plaistow Hospitals have been thwarted by full time officials who have insisted that each hospital be treated as a "special case"

SACKING

The left MPs have not been slow to call for inquiries and the sacking of particular administrators.

Not ırprisingly, Roland Police harrassment of black youth in the Lewisham area of South East London escalated again last week with the rearrest on October 5 of two of the 'Lewisham 21' along with two other young people.

One of them, Chris Foster, the son of Lewisham 21 Defence Committee chairman, David Foster, was so badly battered in the process that he later had to be taken to hospital.

Intimidation has centred on the Foster tamily, who have. been particularly active in organising the defence of the 21:

ROUGHED On September 17 Faith Foster and three of her children, including Chris, were roughed up and arrested by policemen who entered their home on the pretext of checking on the whereabouts of the defendant.

With the approach of the trial, and with these latest examples of the intention of the police to create an atmosphere of tension and fear, support for the Lewisham 21 is urgent.

Trade union branches, Labour Parties and other labour movement bodies in the area should send delegates to the Defence Committee and offer desperately needed financial aid.

The Lewisham 21 Defence Committee will meet at the Students Union Committee Room, Goldsmith College, Dixon Road, oft Lewisham Way, New Cross on Sunday October 16 and Friday October 21. Meetings begin at 7.30pm.

To LO for dismantling the national health service, has rapidly agreed to an enquiry.

These hypocrites voted for every cut in Parliament. Now when their policies are carried out, they express horror.

EXPOSE

The events at Hounslow have provided a new opportunity to build mass strike action against the cuts and to expose the betrayals of the social democratic and Stalinist leaderships.

The chief danger is that the movement will again be diverted into a 'Day of Action' , the focus of which will be the demand for the dismissal of one or two administrators.

Only national strike action can challenge and reverse the government cuts and spearhead the fight against inflation grough a rises scale of public expenditure to compensate for rising costs.

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