When the corpse of Kenneth Joseph Lennon was "discovered" in a Surrey lane last Saturday, the defenders of "law and order" joyfully took up a witch-hunt against the IRA, with Jill Knight haying at the head of the pack.
Now the publication of Lennon's statement exposes their sickening hypocrisy. His revelations about the methods used by the Special Branch back up the claims previously made by the Littlejohn brothers almost to the letFor the guardians of legality the law is simply a device. A weapen to be against the political enemies of the state, but broken at will whenever it suits the lawmen themselves.
On one point there must be urgent action by the Labour movement, Patrick O'Brien, Phil Sheridan, Jerry Menly and Sean Campbell are in prison as a result of Lennon's activities.
He was approached by -Dwyer of the Special Branch at a time of great personal difficulty (a typical SB trick), and persuaded to infiltrate Sinn Fein. He convinced four others thut something more thun politicali action was needed, and was encouraged by Ron Wickens, his SB contact, to participate in setting up a robbery.
When Campbell, Sheridan and Mealy dad been given ten years for conspiracy to rob, he was encouraged to trap O Brien into photographing Winson Green Prison, which O'Brien got three years.
His next target was to have been Brendan Magill the organiser of Sinn Fein and one of the most important political leaders of the Irish community in Britain.
Two years ago the revelation that a group of people in East London had been trapped into receiving guns by a Special Branch informer, led to their acquittal. A similar prin ciple must be applied to these four men.
The bourgeois press has stared stonily past this point. This is despite the acres of sensational coverage they have given to Lennon's statement. The Guardian editorial even says that the NCCL 'has gone too far!
way in which the Special Branch traps victims into committing crimes is particularly ominous, given the recent news of their involvement in a trade union struggle at Strachans. in Southampton.
The NCCI must be commended for publishing the statement. But its call for a parlamentary enquiry does not meet the situation. It would only lead to the case being cuught in entrails of the bourgeois legal machine. It is the Labour movement which bas the sharpest interest in bringing the facts out, and it is the Labour movement which must undertake a full and pubtic investigation into this scandal See p. 2 for story of Special Branch actirities ar Stachins' Engineering. used tor Kenneth Littlejohn: Lennon's confession from the grave backs up many of Littlejohn's accusations, It also shows that the dirty tricks uncovered by Littlejohn are not confined to the security service or overseas operations, but are carried out by the police in this country. The Labour movement has a direct interest in finding out just how much dirt lies behind the Littlejohn and Lennon revelations. The TUC's decision to intervene into