Bloody Sunday
finds Labour
silent
By Basil Hinton, Vice Chair, Labour Committee on Ireland. THE HIDEOUS scenes, amazingly broad. cast on television, of the RUC riot against a peaceful republican demonstration on Sunday August 12 must have rung some bells for miners and workers horrified by police brutality against NUM pickets. But it also highlights the continuing war on the six counties of Northern Ireland.
Since 1969 we have seen British troops sent by Wilson's Labour government attempting to beat down the nationalist population; in January 1972 we saw the Parachute Regiment's Bloody Sunday slaughter in Derry, followed by endless repressive measures denying the most basic democratic rights to nationalist opponents of British rule.
Liberal leader David Steel — no anti-imperialist — has openly condemned the Belfast RUC riot and the murder of Sean Downes. Yet from Neil Kinnock and Irish spokespersons Peter Archer and Clive Soley there has been the silence of the graveyard — despite Labour Party policy o opposing plastic bullets.
The Labour leadership's continued support for British occupation of Ireland puts them in a slavish position of support for Tory policy. They dare not utter a word of criticism of the gerrymandered imposition of the border in 1922.
The majority of people in both Britain and Ireland now support a British withdrawal: but still the Labour leaders cringe before the most backward sections of opinion in the labour bureaucracy and the propaganda of the Tory press.
There is no improvement for the Catholic minority. An eye witness recently touring the six counties has told Socialist Viewpoint that the RUC and UDR are still enting their fury over the failure to captur fartin Galvin during the Bloody Sunda Socialist Viewpoint, No. 1, Autumn 1984. Page 15
=Blackpool '84=
events. They are mounting a massive campaign of harassment and intimidation against the nationalist people.
The Labour Committee on Ireland is maintaining its policy of promoting a dialogue between the British labour movement and Sinn Fein and the nationalists Nationalist speakers have featured on the platforms of LCI-organised meetings in towns up and down the country. MPs who support LCI policy have been speaking out, and Ken Livingstone's stand has been exemplary on this issue.
The LCI also welcomes Tony Benn's draft Bill for a British withdrawal as an excellent initiative to raise the debate in the labour movement.
The formation of a trade union sub committee in the LCI, to make links between trade unionists in Britain and their counterparts in Ireland must focus on the rank and file level, and aim at changing the present positions of most union leaders in Britain.
Unconditional withdrawal of troops has been the key LCI slogan since its formation, and it must not be watered down into "Declarations of Intent" or vague calls for a federalist Ireland.
The LCI Women's Group has also been actively promoting links with women in the nationalist community, sending women's delegations to Ireland, supporting campaigns for abortion rights and against stripsearches. It is open to all Labour women interested in building links between feminism and anti-imperialism.
This year's Labour Party conference agenda has 18 resolutions on Ireland, 16 of which support various LCI positions. Under "Party Organisation", however there are four resolutions which mistakenly call for Labour organisation in the North of Ireland; we consider this to be a soft option, avoiding a stand on the central issues of the troops and the border.
Some of these resolutions will be composited, but we urge delegates to support those which primarily call for British withdrawal, and on returning from the conterence to join the struggle to build the LCI.