Save Bridget's

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BRIDGET Parsons, a Birmingham teacher and SWP member, has been jailed for six months for 'threatening words and behaviour' - a charge that usually results in a fine of £ 100 or so.

The police and the courts (egged on by the notorious Toy MP Jill Knight and the equally reactionary Birmingham Evening Mail) have long been itching to send Bridget down. In 1979 she vas arrested during a picket of "Pollyannas" , a club that operated a colour bar. She was found guilty of actual bodily harm to a woman PC (despite no medical evidence being produced) and fined £540.

But the Evening Mail wanted more. In a series of witch-hunting articles it demanded her sacking. Bridget lost her job as a maths teacher and was only reemployed (on a "supply" basis) after a campaign by the local NUT.

During the steel strike Bridget was arrested for obstruction during a demonstration in Corby. Earlier this year she was again arrested for obstruction while giving out H Block leaflets.

Now, after being arrested during the Handsworth riots and refused bail for six weeks, Bridget faces six months in jail. Again, the Mail is calling for her to be sacked, and the local NUT campaign to save Bridget's job. Even a spokesperson from the Birmingham education department described her as a "caring and competent" teacher.

Bridget Parsons is already paying dearly for her socialist commitment. We must ensure that this courageous comrade does not loose her job as well. GIVING evidence to the Scarman Inquiry on Friday August 21, 'London's chief cop David McNee demanded the right to clear the streets.

He proposed a new Riot Act - enabling the police to arrest anyone just for being on the streets after a senior police officer had 'designated a particular area as one of public disorder' and ordered people to disperse.

And he also called for strengthening of the Special Patrol Group that killed Blair Peach.

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McNee calls fo riot act