With a scream of 'scum like you ought to be garrotted", National Front thugs launched a vicious and planned attack on a National Council of Civil Liberties conference in Manchester last Sunday. Chunks of concrete were hurled at the platform and bottles flew through the air.
Lo ensure maximum personal injury, NF members - - aided by Ulster Volunteer Force and British Movement goons - sealed off the doors and then lashed out with chairs, bottles and glasses. The mother of one of the speakers was smashed over the head with a chair, and a prominent member of the local Labour Party neded 19 stitches in a face wound. put to the conference: that the Prevention of Terorism Act is a threat to the Irish community and the whole labour movement. In fact, it is the atmosphere of intimidation created by this Act - making Ireland the focus for all reactionary forces - which allowed the Front to launch its assault.
PERNICIOUS The responsibility for this state of affairs lies quarely on the shoulders of the Wilson Government, which introduced this pernicious Act to back up its repressive policy in Ireland and deny the Irish people their right to self-determination. Red Weekly's persistent warning that British workers ignore the struggle in Ireland at their own expense is coming home with a YCHECalCC Sunday's events make one other thing clear. The split in the National Front has put everything up for grabs. The kid gloves are off, and more attacks can be expected. From now on meetings of workers" organisations, especially on the question of Ireland, must be protected by self-defence pickets. Fasists smashing up working class meetings is another "Return to the Thirties' the workers' movement can ill afford and must prevent. practice, there has been no truce and the Officials -other.
naked repression.
It is difficult to grasp the reasons for such an assessment. As the Provisionals temselves have pointed out, the British Army has breached the truce on many occasions. Rees has frequently made it clear that his only interest in the truce is to allow a free rein to the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary to carry through their campaign of harassment against the anti-Unionist working class. In — out ramner a cease iri on the part of the Provisional IRA.
ASSESSMENI
A more realistic assessment would see the closure of the incident centres as a highly significant indication of Britain's intentions. Rees's announcement was made while the two major Republican organisations - the Provisionals were lockea in violent contact with each This feud was the perfect pretext Rees neded to concede one or te maror demanos made ov me bovausts. and also by the collaborationist SDLP. He also announced the ending of special category (political) prisoner status at roughly the same time, openly declaring his intention to "depoliticise' the anti-imperialist struggle.
Certainly Britain's poliey has not consisted entirely of The phasing out of internment, earlier release dates for prisoners, and the truce itself all benefited the nationalist working class on the surface. But if the carrot has been big, the proverbial stick has been even bigger. More importantly, the carrot itself is rotten right through. Britain has given no commitment to end internment permanently, kept them benina closed door upon the people to 'trust in the Leadership'. •rovanst exmems allowed to block sucn unity.
The way in which the Provisional leadership operated the truce unfortunately fell into imperialism's trap, spreading illusions that negotiations would lead to 'victory'. Instead ol open negotations - in wnien the mass or the nacionans working class could have participated - the Provisionals The Provisionals thus failed to use the truce as a vehicle to allow the anti-imperialist forces to assess the relationshir of forces with imperialism and Loyalism, and thus plan initiatives which could rebuild the confidence of the nation alist working class and shift the relationship in its favour. The mass participation of the anti-Unionist working class is not just some extra comfort for the "Soldiers of Ireland", but an absolutelv essential recuirement for the armed cam paign. Yet the Provisional leadership have bluntly rejected every appeal for anti-imperialist unity, preferring to call The Provisional leadership prefer to ignore the decreasing militaney and increasing demoralisation within the gettoes. But neither the imperialists nor the Loyalists will ignore it. Already the last week has seen an intensification of British Army operations against nationalist districts, and one of the most brutal sectarian assassinations yet perpetrated by The carrot and the stick is an old policy of imperialism. But its age makes it no less dangerous, and it is now an urgent task of militants to prepare the nationalist working class to resist and defeat it. The key to the solution of this task is the development of united action involving all the anti-imperialist forces. The Provisional leadership must not be
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