Police chief rallies to NF

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Students picket against college closures outside the Department of Education and Science Chief Constable of Greater Manchester-is rapidly earning himself honorary membership of the National Front.

He provided 2,000 police to defend their latest meeting in Bolton from 1,000 demonstrators-and also supplied a whole range of special effects.

Coaches approaching the area were stopped and anything which could have been interpreted as an "offensive weapon" was confiscated.

Battered

Twenty one people (all anti-fascists) were arrested and several demonstrators were taken to hospital having been kicked in the groin, battered around the ribs or otherwise 'restrained' by Police obligingly held back the demonstrators while fascists gave salutes from the windows of the Town Hall.

Small wonder that the appearance of Anderton at the Town Hall earned almost PHOTO: Andrew Wiard, Report as big a reaction among the anti-fascists as did the appearance of NF chairman John Tyndall.

But Anderton's services are not confined to providing an escort agency for the fascists.

Special passes

He also introduced special passes to be issued to journalists attending the meeting.

Reporters were told to apply for special passes at Manchester police headquarters as press cards would not to get them into the building (last year's NUJ conference specifically instructed members to refuse to accept special police passes, and to insist on the NUJ card being accepted).

As the struggle raged, the secretary of the north-west Committee Against Racism, Colin Barnett, distinguished himself by appealing for "calm".

Puny numbers

The anti-fascists ignored this piece of collaboration NO Anderton and responded by hurling smoke bombs, fireworks and bricks at the fascists.

Police from eleven forces were used to protect the puny numbers of fascists who attended the meeting.

The next public appearance by the fascists is a youth rally in Birmingham on Saturday.

All anti-fascists in the area should mobilise to prevent

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SI PKES, weanesaay 1› repruary 1y.

John

1977 housebuilding figures-revealing almost the lowest number of starts in new building since 1958-are a crushing indictment of the capitalist policies of the Lib-Lab coalition Only 1974, year that saw the collapse of the Tory government's speculative property boom and the emergence of the bankrupt Wilson government, has seen less houses begun.

This crisis embraces the public and private sectors.

The public sector, reeling under the impact of Chancellor Healey's swingeing spending cuts and cash limits, has cut new house building by 38,000 over last year's figure.

Even the arch-reformists of Labour I Weekly while trying to pass off the blame onto Tory councils were forced to admit:

"But the Government PHOTO: Chris Davies, Report

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this taking place. EXETER OLLEGE ROLL NO S.U. CUTS ILLE