As Labour beats a hasty and undignitied retreat before Tory allegations of extremism, the decision to stand International Marxist Group candidates is shown to be thoroughly justified. It is only the revolutionary candidates who are raising the real issues confronting the working class The Workers Revolutionary Party, who are standing Vanessa Redgrave in this constituency, let Prentice off the hook on this issue by devoting only a glib phrase in their Manifesto to racism.
IMG members and supporters are conducting • vigorous campaign in the conslit uency. Last Saturday they organised a motorcade along The main streets. Meetings were held at street corners, shopping precincts and in the markets. Over 200 copies of the Red Weekly wete sold on Saturday. After Sunday's first distribution of the clection address a follow-up sale of the newspaper resulted in a further 112 copies being sold on Monday evening. Some 20,000 election addresses have now heen delivered and these will be followed up with the Red Weekly. Leaflets have also been produced and distributed in Urdu, Bengali and Punjabi.
On Friday 22 February Ross and Tariq Ali will be speaking at Fast Hum Town Hall, The meeling will be chaired by Torry Barrett, convenor at William Warnes Factory in East London, Meetings are alsn being organised at factories and outside the Royal Group of Docks.
Members and supporters able to help any day should either call at 97 Caledonian Road, London, N.l., or phone 278 9526.
Motorcade. Members and supporters with cars call at 97 Caledonian Road at 9.00 a.m.
Saturday, 23 February. Comrades without a car report to East Ham tube station by 10.00 a.m.
There will be a canvass and paper sale on Sunday. 24 February. Carsreport to 97 Caledonian Road by 9.30 a.m.Ham tube station by 10.30.
In Attercliffe, Sheffield, the IMG candidate Turiq Ali has held a number of highly successful meetings. On Tuesday nearly 100 people apposed by either of the two compunities, this will undercut the talk of politicians like Fid and Faulkner about the democratit mandate and provide an added stimulus to This, combined with the growing eridence that a section el The Protestant community is now willing to think the unthinkable, and Club, Colridge Road, Attercliffe socialism, pave the succinct reply: "Yes: -otherwise East Tactories and colleges Sheffield 9. a.I.
whole strategy for Ireland.
Sunningdale NO ARTORATION in the election.
perch.
Despite the attempt of the local Labour Party to mobilise support for their candidate amongst the immigrant community, "Vote Ali" posters are given prominent display in a mumher of immigrant cafes. These cafes are also distributing Urdu and Bengali translations of his election address. On Sunday, 24 February, at 4.00 p.m., Tang will he speaking to an immigrant workers? meeting in the Urdu and Punjabi languages at the Colidge Youth Regular meetings are being beld outside factories such as Bone Cravens Ltd., where some 40 workers heard Tarig and IMG national organiser Brian Heron explain the need for united working class action to smash the Tories. Meetings are also being held in the mining areas around Shetield accompanied by u showing of the film Salt of the Earth.' The campaien has attracted considerable press publicity, and Tang has had a ave interview for London Broadcasting, along with "Manny" Shinwell and Norman St. John Stevas in which he argued for the continuation of the mass struggle and the revolutionary road to In a special clection programme tun by Yorkshire Television that well-known defender of "aw and order,' the Bishop of Wakefield. asked: Just how revolutionary is Tariq Ali? Does he want to destroy society as we know it?" Ron Thompson, a Shelfield engineering worker and an election campaigner for Tarig On Wednesday, 27 February the campaign occupying. will culminate with an election rally. Speakers will include Jean Jepson. the sacked convenor from the Hull factory. Armstrong's in Beverley, Bhat you are using to wage that struggle which Charles Michaloux, former member of the banned Ligue Communiste, John Wilkinson, Targ's clection agent and Sheffield shop steward, and Tariq All. This will be followed by a play riven by a group of London Equity members, and the evening will end with a social. Tickets for this are 10 p each, obtalbable from 7 Newman Road, Sheffield 9, or nay at the door, It will be heid in Samanthas. Mecca Dance Hall, Queens Road, Sheffield 2 There is no doubt that this hig working class constituency, much of it designated as a shum clearance area, with its rows of run-down houses and its immigrant ghettos, is being made aware of the real political issues facing the working sentences class. By Sunday over 30,000 election addresses will have been delivered. Sales of Red Weekly have more than doubled and the IMG has won new members and supporters in a number of Members and supporters ring Sheffield 23764 or call at 44 Hatherley Road, Saturday. 23 February, IMG members and supporters should join demonstrations called by the Sheffield Trades and Labour Council in conjunction with the Sheffield District Committee of the ACEW. Demonstration staris Wicker Goods Yard, Sheffield at 10.30 talk about an 'amalgamated Ireland' and "getting the Brits out', could ruin Britain's Sinn Fein, under consideranie pressure both from genuine grass-roots feeling, particularly in the Andersonstown and Bailymurphy areas, to boycort the clection, and from some of the more sea green incorruptibles to put up candidates in all 12 constituencies (including those held by Bernadette Devlin and Franks McManusi, bas decided not to perticipate' The meanie of this non-participation will vary from epastituency to constituency. Sinn Fein Preaiden: Rory Brady has made it clear that Sim Fein would not mount ans compaign urging voters to baycolt the poil, and it can be assumed that in this situation candidares Tke Albert Price, father of Dolours and Marion Price, should be able to count on enough sup poet to topple Gerry Fitt from his Wear Belfast This will depoad on how many voters the pro-British Northern Ireland Labour Party can gain among those sections of the Protestant problem. workers, particularly in engineering and shipbuilding, who are concerned that any break mists, the Glasgow IMG challenged the Tory Prentier to a debate. After a top mecting with Scottish Tories, Heath culled a press conferenc at Abbolsinch Airport, Glasgow, IMG member and supporters of Bob Pardie's clection campaign, picketed the conference, Their leatlet said: You say extremists are the main issue. We are the extremiss, why not debate us?
Queens Park, the more genteel name now affixed to what was once the Gorbals consti. tuency, has a five cornered contest. There are candidates from the Labour Party, the Cooser vatives, the Scottish Nationalists, the Communist Party and the IMG contesting for the constituency once fought by John Maclean As the workem at Maclarers, scene of a twelre week sit-in against the multi-national ITT company, said to Purdie: The other candidates have been here once-to get our vote. The IMG is here every day helping our struggle,' Purdie's meeting at the factory was attended by over 70 per cent of the workers As Purdie told the workers: "Te is the kind struggle that you are waging and the means chows the way forward for the working class What you have demonstrated is that there is a workers solution to the crisis. That is how the working class must fight, not rely on elec toral methods of struggle.
The Glasgow IMG have beld regular street corner meetings, and on Sunday morning held a meeting outside the higgest Catholic church in the area. An interested and generally sympathetic audience heard Purdic talk about the repressive attacks being made on the working class and argue for the right of the Price sisters and their fellow prisoners lo be retumed to Northern Ireland to serve their On Monday 25 February the Govan Hill Ward Comnitree, a community association. have invited Purdie and the other four candidates to address a public meeting on their election programmies. On Tueaday there will be an election rally which will be addressed by Bob Purdie and veteran Glaspow militant Harry MacShame, MacShane was an active collahurator of Jobn MacLean, for many years a member of the British Communist Party, and the main organiser of its work amongst the uberapioved in Scotland during the thirlies Both meetings will be held ar Dizons Halls, Cathcart Road and begin at 7,00 p.n.
Help is needed for this campaign. Please ting IMG Committee Rooms, 429 5943 with the British connection would lead lo uneraployment in these industries Elsewhere, the SDLP has delherately decid ed te split che anti-Unionist vote and give the seat to Unionist candidates so as to defeat militant, anti-imperialist spokesnen like Frank McManus and Bernadetre Deslin This makes it almost certain, before the count ing has even begun that the Loyalist anti-Sunningdale candidates shoukd take at Jeast five sents, wich another two possible. H Devilin and McManus can retain their soats. despite the splitting tactics of the pro-British SDLP, this would mean upwards of seven out of 12 seats returning anti-Sunningdale member Such a massive rejection of Sunningdale, If coupled with a defeat of the Tories in Britain and the return of a Labour govertment faced with the growing nood in the hour movencr for a withdrawal of troops trom Ireland, could spell the total deleat of Brilish strategy in Ire Even in the event of a Tory victory, a massive rejection of Sunningdale would remove one of the miin props of its carefully conceived package solurion for the trish Red Wickly 22 February 1974 Pag
----- pull-quotes -----
EFFIELD .M.G. 2 election threatens strategy