SECRETS LETS Defend democratic rights!

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VIOLENC OLSTO Workers' traditional May Day demonstration in Leeds will be banned this year, along with any other march by workers or trade unionists until May 7.

This fresh attack on the democratic right to demonstrate freely -a right fought for in generations of bitter struggle by the workers' movement-yet again takes place under the pretext of curbing the Fascists.

Warning

Just as in Ilford-where the decision of the National Front to hold a march and the certainty of a massive turn out of workers to drive them off the streets led to a two month all-London ban on demonstrations by Lib-Lab Home Secretary Merlyn Reesthe Leeds crackdown must be recognised as a stark warning to the labour movement.

To call on the forces of the state to ban the NF fascists, or to welcome such bans (as did leading spokesmen of the Anti Nazi League in Ilford), is a suicidal policy that could quickly lead to a complete ban on workers democratic right to march!

But the Anti Nazi League, which has set out to draw together personalities from the worlds of politics, the church, sport, entertainment and the arts 7 order simply to propagandise against the National Front is -capable of seeing this danger Set aside Busy ensuring that they do offend any of their famous nsors, the ANL organisers have aside the only policy that can ure the fascists are driven from streets-the mass mobilisation workers in independent -ggle and the organisation of vorkers defence squads against he attacks of NF thugs.

Everyone knows that no amount of union bureaucrats, bishops or politicians will stop ME hoodlums beating up black Anti Nazi League demonstrators youth and workers.

Nor will the police who eagerly rush to defend the NF from anti-fascists. In Leeds last Saturday 1,000 police cordi oned off an entire area of the 1 own to protect a meeting of fascists from a crowd of demonstrators!

Silent

But Anti Nazi League spokesmen have remained tactfully silent on the Leeds ban-which flows from the very policies they advocate.

And the heavy representation of anti-socialist forces within the ANL has rendered it incapable of offering a socialist answer to the material problems of unemployment, falling living standards and social service cuts that provide the breeding ground for fascism among demoralised and backward elements of workers and the middle class.

The ANL cannot even call for the breaking of the anti-socialist Lib-Lab coalition that is masterminding these attacks on workers, since leading Liberal Lord Avebury and others are among its sponsors!

Joint action

The Workers Socialist League does not reject the broadest possible joint action against But we insist that such joint action must be designed to strengthen and broaden the independent action of the working class -and not head off and divert workers into dangerous illusions that propaganda against the Nazis' and reliance on police bans can defeat the National Front.

This means an all out fight to: *Defend democratic rights! No to police bans. Workers must drive the NF from the streets.

*Defeat fascist attacks Workers Defence squads to confront NF thugs *Break the Lib-Lab coal tion! Socialist policies to defend jobs, wages and the social services.

Two journalists and an exsoldier stand to suffer 14-year jail sentences as victims of the determination of top police and military officials to preserve the Official Secrets Act.

This fact, which could well be forgotten in last week's furore over the naming of the now legendary "Colonel B" is a symptom of the continual attack on democratic rights being carried out under Labour ministers who have willingly come forward as a respectable "front" for the forces of the state.

Immigration laws, the so-called "Prevention of Terrorism Act", wholesale bans on the right to demonstrate, and the deportation last year of journalists Phillip Agee and Mark Hosenbail are just some of the more open recent examples of the way the Labour leaders have strengthened the powers of the capitalist state and attacked basic rights.

SPLE TO The Labour Party is nominally pledged to repeal the Official Secrets Act, and to replace it with a measure "to put the burden on the public authorities to justify witholding information"

But the proposals to be published shortly by the Lib-Lab government seek only to revise Section 2 of the Act-which at present makes it illegal to communicate or receive any official information-no matter how innocent-whose disclosure has not been authorised.

"Enemy"

Section 1-the so-called "spying clause" is to be left intact.

This lays down that it is an offence to receive Or communicate any information that might be 'directly or indirectly useful to an enemy.

It carries a penalty of 14 years imprisonment. And it is the law now levelled against journalists Crispin Aubrey and Duncan Campbell, and ex-soldier John Berry.

Section 1 is seen as essential protection by the top officials of the armed bodies of men through which British capitalism maintains its rule over the working class.

And at a time when the Tory Party is analysing anew the balance of forces that led to the defeat of the Heath government by the miners in 1974 and weighing the prospects of using the army to smash a comparable strike wave today, the employers and the state apparatus share an interest in suppressing information on the working of surveillance agencies.

Crack whip

Because of this, the intelligence forces took the decision, in the wake of the struggle on the deportation of ex-CIA agent Phillip Agee, to crack the whip of the Official Secrets Act.

Through phone tapping and clandestine surveillance of supporters of the Agee/Hosenball Defence Committee by MI5, it was arranged to watch the meeting between Aubrey, Berry and Campbell which took place The the "ex the pr head of early last year.

The three were arrested, and charged under both Section 2 and Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act.

Surveillance

dreaded "Colonel B" was pert witness" produced by secution. He had been the top secret surveillance NT AN EVEN LING TOOL aR THEN COULD GO TO PRISON TEEN YEARS LICIAL BRITISH I JOURNALISI network known as SIGINTwhich collates material from spy satellites, ground aerials, spy planes, listening posts, and diplomatic, military and business communications systems.

He refused to confirm or deny whether the discussion between Aubrey, Berry and Campbell had actually involved disclosure of secret informationleaving the possibility that all three go to jail for a completely innocent discussion!

And to impede anyone who wished to challenge his right to give such "evidence" the Colonel was allowed to give evidence anonymously.

revealed When Peace News and the Leveller magazine put together the facts that were revealed about the Colonel in open court and identified him as Colonel Hugh A. Johnstone, they were subjected to a High Court action at the hands of Labour Attorney General Sam Silkin, in order to silence them.

When the NUJ paper the Journalist came to their defence, it too was attacked through High Court action.

When MPs last week raised a feeble protest at this censorship they were met by attempts by the Speaker of the House and the Director of Public Prosecutions to silence them and to restrict the freedom of the press to report Parliamentary proceedings.

Apparatus

What is at stake for British capitalism is far more than the naming of one former intelligence officer: it is the preservation of the whole apparatus of law which protects the armed force of the state.

To sweep aside that law, to unveil the squalid "secrets" and the huge network of undercover surveillance is the task of the organised workers movement.

This means that the Lib-Lab coalition must be decisively broken, and a leadership constructed within the labour movement that will see as its task not the preservation of the capitalist state apparatus but its exposure and its destruction.

Trade unions

The defence of Aubrey, Berry and Campbell, and the fight for an end to the entire Official Secrets Act must now be taken into the widest possible layers of the Labour and trade union movement.

Already the NUJ conferenca has voted to prepare for one day strike action on the day of court hearings. This must developed further.

Until this is done all Colonels from A to continue laughing all the way to their decoders.

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STOP POLICE PHOTO: Andrew Wlard. Report

BLACK PE NEVE STAY cialist Challenge JINF NF WILL NOT FiGHT RACISM BE

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