THE "Battle of Red Lion Square" as the Sun and Mirror called it, or "Bloody Saturday" as it is more accurately termed in the left press, has raised some burning issues throughout the labour movement.
Many calls have gone out for an enquiry. These have come from the Tribune group of MPs, the National. Union of Students, the Divisonal Council No. 15 of ASTMS and literally dozens of local trade union and student bodies.
But to be really effective any enquiry has to be independent of the police and the capitalist State of which they are a part, Judges and Jegal experts have already shown that their role is to protect the police. This is why it is important that both Nottingham Trades Council and Liverpool Trades Council have gone on record demanding labour movement or trade union enquiries.
SPG Also being rapidly revealed is the role of the Special Patrol Group. This army trained police proup is the shock troops of the ruling class who have been used against Hull dockers, against Imperial Typewriters workers and against other picket lines. It has now been confirmed, even by papers such as the Guardian and the Sunday Times, that the Special Patrol Group was sent into action against the Red Lion Square demonstration. This organisation will undoubtedlv claim deaths in the workers movement in the near future. The demand for its disbanding is a crucial one and has already been supported by Camden Trades Council and Waterloo branch of ASTMS among others.
But the main line along which work must be directed in the aftermath of Kevin Gately's death is in the cause for which he gave his lifethe struggle against racism and fascism. The fascists of the National Front are not yet a mass threat. But they are building up their respectable front and roots from which later, as the crisis deepens, they will be smashed now, while they are still to become a mass torce.
this. No less a fascist than Joseph Goebbels said 'If the enemy had known how weak we were, It would ning of our work', but once the fascists become a mass force then the working class must pay a very high price. As Hitler said Only one thing and democracy.
try to develop a merr base. They must weak, and before they have the chance The fascists themselves understand probably have reduced us to jelly..
It would have crushed the very begincould have broken our movement - if the adversary had understood its principle and from the first day had smashed, with the most extreme brutality, the nucleus of our now FASCIST' LABEL There is no doubt that the National Front ace worried by the way the Jeft's campaign is pinning the true label fascist' on them. Tyndall, the Chairman of the NF, was forced to write a letter to the Times on 24 June in which he spoke of the campaign against the National Front which was leading people to say that all its marches and meetings should be banned in future". He bleats on about how this is against Tree speech This shows quite clearly that the NF, who carefully try to avoid being associated with the deadly label of fascist, are getting rattled by the left's The campaign against the fascists can take another big step forward with the demand that the Labour Government hans the National Front! Orange Order marches planned in Birmingham and London and in the organising of a massive counter-demonstration. Support is developing rapidly for this. George Antbony announced at Saturday's demonstration that the North London AUEW Group had adopted this demand, Nottingham Trades Council, Camden Trades Coun cil, Waterloo ASTMS, and East London NUT have also taken it up. It appears likely the NUS will take up the slogan, and the Morning Star has been campaigning for this position Other resolutions calling for a stepped up anti-fascist campaign have come from Liverpool Trades Council, the Coventry brunch of UCATT, and Coventry AUEW, TASS no. I branch. The UCATT National Conference has passed a resolution supporting the-original Red Lion Square demonstration Finally Warwick University Students Union, Kevin Gately' University Union, has passed a resolution with only one vote against calling for a ban on the NF/Orange Order demonstration, and setting up an antifascist action committee with trade union forces and with 1500 voted Irom the Students Union, and calling for a national conference of trade union and student organisations on racism and fascism in the autumn. This can provide an important focus for continuing activity.
If these beginnings are developed we can start to see a working class response which can crush the fascist and racist vermin in the egg. Then Kevin Gately will not have died in * For a working class enquiry into the police acts leading to the killing of Kevin Gately * Disband the Special Patrol * The Labour Government must ban the National Front/Orange Order marches in London and Birmingham and the labour movement must mob ilise to impose the ban.
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*KEVIN GATELY OPPOSERSM ASCISM 1Y