Hussein is the only viable puppet of imperia.
lism. In southern Ireland, there is an alternative to Lynch for imperialism. The Fine Gael/Conor Cruise O'Brien fake Labourite coalition would be a more malleable instrument for imperialism, with a more dependable The logic of this position forces Lynch to go even further onto the attack than previously.
In 1957-4962, Fianna Fail stabbed the IRA in the rear, while maintaining the stance and the aura of Fianna Fail "Republicanism" in both State and Party.
There is no such possibility for Lynch. The very trajectory of his present actions forces him to launch a "Kulturkampf", designed to challenge and dissolve away the traditions of State and Party, in the educational, cultural and political spheres. The momentum of this Kulturkampf will force the regime to widen the net of the repression, and thus to create the objective possibility for wider resistance to repression.
To be effective, this resistance must challenge the very foundations of Fianna Fail. To build such a movement is the acid test for socialists and Republicans in the South today. To build a mass solidarity movement, comprchensive enough to combine solidarity with this struggle with an on-going campaign of olidarity with those fighting against the forces of British imperialism in Ireland, remains the acid test for the British left.
The only existing organisation capable of acting as a central basis for such a solidarity move ment is the Anti-Internment League. It is from this that we draw the importance of the demanstration in Scotland on the 25th and that n London on 28th January BLOODY SUNDAY COMMEMORATION GLASGOW: Thursday, 25 January, 7.30 p.m. in the Shettleston Hall, East Glasgow. Speakers: James Wray (father of one of those murdered), Dick Jones (AUEW-TASS), Gery Lawless, Brian Trench and speakers from both wings of the Republican movement.
LONDON: Sunday, 28 January-demonstration starts St Paul's 2.30 p.m., marching via Fleet Street and Gray's Inn Road to Camden Town Hall, Euston Road for rally, Speakers: James Wray, Mike Cooley (AUEW-TASS), Gery Lawless, Paul Foot and speakers from both rings of the Republican movement.
On Wednesday 17 January, at 3.30 in the afternoon, the Prime Minister spoke to the nation on TV. His speech was the opening shot in the battle over Phase 2' of what the Government calls its "anti-inflation measures"
The whole future of the Tory Government is bound up with its success in getting the working class to swallow "phase 2'. Without successfully holding down real wages in the next 9 months, British capitalists will have acute problems in standing up to competition from capitalists abroad. And at the same time a victory over "Phase 2' is indispensable in the ruling class's struggle to decisively weaken the whole working class movement.
The Government is under no illusion that it can persuade militant trade unionists to accept a cut in their living standards in order to bail out the capitalist class. Their aim instead is to confuse more backward layers of the population with empty talk about help for the lower paid, and at the same time try to ensure that opposition to their package remains fragmented. If Heath can achieve these two objectives then the road is clear for a showdown with the militant core of the labour movement. LABOUR LEADERS RESPONSE Caught between the devil and the deep blue Devastation in the North. Page 3-For "peace' or solidar sea, the union leadership cannot accept the deal. They face loss of control over their membership if they do. On the other hand they offer no way forward. Phoney booms and imaginative growth rates do not fit the facts of capitalism's present crisis. They sit and wait for a Labour government, and a deal that will be more acceptable to their membership. Meanwhile, they hope the lack of any central leadership will cause the rank and file opposition against Phase Two to peter out. Heffer of the Tribune group, calls for an emergency recall of Parliament. The 'lefts' want a platform to shout their opposition from. Any platform will do except the working-class. As a so-called representative of the working class, Heffer and Co's test is not in Parliament but on the terrain of the actual struggle of the working class. The Communist Party revealed its strategy on the front page of the Morning Star. All its efforts are directed to recall the T.U.C. to organise "massive action" to defeat the Freeze. But a recall of the T.U.C. was not required to defeat the jailings of the Pentonville 5. What was required was the organisation of indep endent action by the rank and file. When the C.P. has the organisation which could build such independent action, the Liaison Committee for the Defence of the Trade Unions, and yet simply concentrates on lining up the SOLIDARITY TILL FINAL VICTORY!
bureaucrats in token opposition, reliance on the C.P. is a dead end.
SMASHING PHASE TWO.
It is undoubtedly the case that the Phase Two will not prevent one group or other from attacking the Incomes Policy. But we must be clear on the basis for victory against the Freeze, and the Tory government. When the 7%% pay norm was challenged by the Power Workers, the fact that they were isolated from the rest of the working class led directly to their defeat. The miners on the other hand drew support from all the working class, and won.
The lessons are clear, the struggle against Phase Two will only be successful if the struggle is seen as being in the interests of the entire working class. The demands of the Car Workers, and the Miners must not be limited to a wage increase. They should call for all out support to smash Phase Two. To do this it will be necessary to organise many sections of the working class around them.
Equally, today the Hospital Workers stand in danger of complete isolation. A victory against the "new norm' by this low paid group of workers would be decisive in smashing the ideological icing around the Phase Two cake. Again we must organise the support of all groups of workers in the heart of the labour movement for this struggle. A victory by the low paid against the norm is worth a great deal to all sections of the working class.
REVOLUTIONARIES As the policy of the Union leaders and CP can lead to the defeat of the working class, the role of revolutionaries is extremely important. Demanding bigger increases or more muscle is not enough. The demands and organisations we fight for must link into the entire needs of the working class, including tenants, housewives etc.
All militants must campaign in and outside the labour movement, for recognition that Phase Two is in the interests of nobody except the ruling class. And that involves supporting national and regional conferences of the rank and file to map out a policy against Phase Two. We must also demand support for all workers in struggle now, through support committees and solidarity action. Lastly we should demand that the C.P. calls for an emergency L.C.D.T.U to take up the issues of Phase Two and organise
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Indochina Rally - Saturday 20th Jan. Assemble 2pm - Charing X Embankment Organised by Indochina Solidarity Conference. Followed by joint march with