By Kathryn Marshall THE LABOUR Party has often paid lip service across the floor of the House of Commons to attacking racisu. Behind their words, the party has actually been responsible for making the anti-racist, anti-fascist cause harder to fight.
Their appalling record speaks for itself.
In 1965 it was a Labour govemment which abolished the rights of unskilled Commonwcaln immisrants s0 work in Brilan In 1968 it was the same Labour government which zoomed the Commonwealth Imigrants Act through parlament in 6 days. This display of haste was in order to prevent British citizens of Asian origin, who were being expelled from Kenya, from entering Britain.
A year later the Immigration Appeals Act imposed new visa requirements on Toe wao wince o rest of their family in Britain and prevented flances of Britmonwalth The 1974 administration failed to repeal the Tories' Immigration Act which they had introduced in 197l.
The story has continued in the same way. In 1988, LaNEWHAM'S Labour Council may be about to make a 20 per cent cut in the funding of the Newham Monitoring Project.
NMP is one of Britain best known and well-respected anti-racist organisations.
Maximum pressure needs to be put on the council to defend NMP's 15 years of community based anti-racist work.
For more details. phone NMP on 0181 555 8151 or 0181 552 6284.
Socialist Outlook has published this new A Labour government committed to socialist policies would scrap racist laws nity to attack the Tory Immigration Act which included the abolition of rights of appeal ipr most people facing deportation. Then in 1992. Labour front benchers made a they have deal to enable the Asylum Bill grounds" to go through.
Abstained The party even abstained on last year's vote on the tal's population. fit to abstain. Order Act. This act abolished Within its own ranks, the the neht to silence, It reintro- Labour leadership has also duced the 'Stop and search' demonstrated a distinct lack law whereby police have the of commitment to black repright to search the public if resentation let alone self-or'reasonable ganisation. The party has ro black or anti-racist officer. A Tor thinking that they may be carrying offen- staggeringly high proportion sive weapons or that incidents of the equally staggering thousands of people who are in December 1994 even currently facing expulsion the Home Office revealed that tom te nour Coe in London over 40 per cent of from the black and Asian those who were stopped and communities.
The latest comments from of the black community. de- members of the front bench spite the fact that the black show that now even the lip community makes up only service is bocoming increasabout 20 per cent of the capi- ingly unconvincing.
Labour's Jack Straw has The Act also increases po- recently stated that Britain