Yet the British left is beset with confusions at the very time when the possibility of building a really strong movement for "Troops Out of Ireland' is now emerging. A number of groups have drawn the conclusion trom recent developments that a civil war is just around the corner in Ireland, and that the main job in Britain is therefore to build 'relief committees' for the provision of material aid. This view is profoundly mistaken, as a glance at events over the summer will show.
The split between Craig and Paisley indicates that all is not well in the Loyalist camp. Of course, Craig's position in no sense represents anything of a 'conversion'. It is simply a manoeuvre to try to in volve the SDLP politicians in a Loyalist-dominated government.
Craig told the Sunday News that his plan "was the last chance for a new Stormont Pariiament with all the powers of the old", and it Tremendous opportunities exist today for developing the struggle of the Irish people for self-determination. The Loyalist camp is split in the face of Labour's resistance to an immediate take-over; the Army is coming out more and more openly against the policies of Rees; and the tensions inside the Tory Party place a question mark over the continuation of 'bipartisanship'. This situation places heavy responsibilities not only on the Irish vanguard, but also on the workers' movement in Britain. Irish crisis Brian Grogan examines the implications of the latest in the pan.
British imperialism sees this as essential if it is to have any chance at all of regrouping the middle ground. And the Provisionals have bas ically no alternative, either. They may let off a few bombs to keep the heat on Rees and indicate what will happen if the Army continues to violate the truce, but they are unlikely to take a deliberate decision to call it off.
This is not to say that the Loyalist threats, the shin-kicking activities of the Army, and the pressure of the Tories might not combine to produce a situation where Rees was forced to call off the truce. Indeed, his statements last week seemed to indicate that he was being driven closer and closer to such a decision. But this course of action would have deep-going effects at home.
Already the maintenance of the truce, along with the continuing impasse of imperialist policy in Ireland, has accelerated the radicalisation inside the British working class movement. The Troops Out Movement labour movement conference in May had nearly 250 delegates from the trade unions and Labour Party, although the TOM has been rather slow to capitalise on this support. And this turn-out was no flash