Hence in London last weekend (4 - 5 November) was the most important and constructive conference so far. It was attended by about 1,700 women, three times as many as on previous occasions. The conference also reflected the significant political changes taking place in the movement over the last six months.
SELMA JAMES Selma James and her radical feminist supporters were hoping to find acceptance of the anti-Marxist positions in her pamphlet, Women and the Trade Unior This argues that the way forward to the socialist revolution is for women to demand payment as housewives, and organise with the "wageless' outside the trade unions. In her eyes unions are the enemy of women and of the working class. This bourgeois socialism was rejected decisively in most of the major workshop discussions at the conference, including that in which Selma James herself participated. Its supporters rightly judged it inopportune to put the "6 points" to the conference for voting. Selma James' intervention has however had the positive effect of stimulating political discussion throughout the movement. Various attempts have been made to produce critiques on a class basis, by local groups such as Bristol Women's Liberation, and individuals in the London workshop. But there have also RED BERETS (From page 1)
aporate. Thus Britain would achieve a retum to stability in the North without the risk of instability in the South.
REALISTIC ASSESSMENT This policy was based on a realistic assessment of the situation within the Catholic community in the North, the situation in the South and in Britain. Its weakness, and the source of its ultimate failure, was its misunderstanding of the effect of the reform programme within the Orange community. The plebeian elements in the Protestant population saw the reform programme as a threat to their economicaDy marginal, but politically important privileges. This stratum reacted by a movement to the right. But, due to Westminster pressure, the main stream Unionists, the Stormont regime, was forced to adhere to the reform programme. In this situation, the hair-cracks in the Orange monolith, the Unionist power block, became clearly visible.
The Orange monolith is structured like a pyramid, combining all classes in the Orange community in a single reactionary power block. The apex of this pyramid was led in one direction by British imperialsm, while its base shifted in the opposite direction. The effect of this was seen in the successive tumbling of Prime Minister after Prime Minister, until in August 1971 the position of Brian Faulkner, the last of the Mohicans, was threatened. Britain realised that the fall of Faulkner would be the beginning of the fall of EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Tariq Ali, Robin Blackburn, Peter Gowan, Alan Jones, Martin Meteyard, John Weal, Judith White.
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Road, London N.l. Us (a reply to Selma James). This discussed the possibility of setting up Women's Action Groups in unions around three main areas of work: (1) to fight against sex discrimination and for democratisation of the unions - the former to include demands enabling women to fully participate in union activities, e.g., creche facilities for meetings, etc.; (2) to ensure that the unions support struggles against women's oppression; and (3) to organise non-union women, especially those traditionally ignored by unions.
Everyone at the meeting will be circulated with a list of those attending, so that they can contact others in the same union. A meeting on 20 - 21 January in Birmingham has been arranged, at which the agenda will include discussion of the political basis and programme of the action groups, the detailed problems of working in different unions, and the ways in which community issue campaigns can be related to industrial organisation and action. It is hoped to have a bulletin out before this meeting, containing information about what is already happening in various unions. In London on 21 November the Socialist Woman Group is holding a public meeting to assess the work of the conference and discuss the future strategy of the women's liberation movement The meeting will take place at the General Picton pub, Caledonian Road (five minutes walk from Kings X tube at 7. 30p.m.
the confidence trick that it is. The "Maguire revelations" and the British propaganda campaign, and the phoney peace movement, all of which were designed to split the IRA, have failed.
The Officials, whom Whitelaw had hoped to neutralise out of the struggle by this stage, are now coming under increasing pressure from within their own ranks to take a more positive role in defence of the Catholic ghetto areas.
The local government elections, central to his plan for drawing out the moderate elements" in the community, had to be postponed. The plebiscite, which was originally intended to be worded in such a way that to vote for the Union meant voting for the abolition of the ascendancy, has now, under pressure from the "Get in or get out" mob in the Tory party, been worded in such a way as to provoke the possibility of Lynch being forced to announce a similar plebiscite.
Bi-partisan policy with Labour, so essential if Ireland is to be kept out of domestic British politics, will also be endangered by this move.
The Provos, reacting from their actual experience of leading a popular movement tor more than three years, move steadily to the left, and therefore become progressively a holder organisation for Britain to deal with. ONE SUCCESS When added together, this list of failures would have been enough to have seen Whitelaw follow O'Neill, Chi-Chi and Faulkner into the dustbin of history.
That he hasn't is indicative of his one outstanding success to date. The present policy of the carrot and the big stick - or as it is now known in Belfast, "Red Berets and Green Paper" - has been successful in one of its major purposes. Because it is not an openly repressive policy, large numbers of potential supporters of the irish struggle in Britain have been confused and disoriented The potential of a mass solidarity movement which existed earlier this year in the immed. iate aftermath of Bloody Sunday has not been realised.
CENTRAL TASK In Britain, the task of building a movement in solidarity with the Irish struggle has become more difficult; and the very difficulty, instead of acting as an additional spur to sections of the British left to increase their efforts to build such a movement, has in fact been used as an excuse and a smokescreen for the betrayal of sections of the left.
The central task today for all those workers, students, Irish exiles and socialists who support the Irish struggle is to overcome these problems and in overcoming them to construct a movement capable of giving meaningful solidarity action to the Irish struggle.
At this point in time, this means building the Anti-Internment League.