A blow for press freedom

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Harry IN WHAT proved to be a short but highly successful struggle, Scotland Yard has been forced tu back down from a ban imposed on press facilities for Newsline, daily paper of the Workers Revolutionary The ban was introduced on January 24, when a reporter and photographer were barred from a press conference given by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Kenneth Newman.

The journalists were informed that the police had decided Newsline was 'a political broadsheet, not a newspaper' • And a subsequent letter from Acting Commissioner Kavanagh announced that The Director of Information decided to limit invitations to the mainstream •press, and in his judgement this description does not apply to your newspaper' Nor of coarse woeld the description apply to any other left-wing newspaper once such a precedent were established. Though making no approach to other left-wing publications, Newsline began a campaign, which enlisted swift support from the National Union of Journalists, Ken Livingstone, several Labour MPs and a growing number of trade union bodies. A public meeting was called.

But on Friday 11th Scotland AN EDITORIAL statement in the last issue of 'London Labour Briefing' supported the proposal for a properly convened joint conference to establish a single Labour Palestine campaign. This is the proposal put forward by. the Labour Movement Campaign for Palestine. It also described the the WRP take-over of November's LCP Conference as 'regrettable' A mild description, and not one the Briefing Editorial Board had originally Yard retreated and sent a letter assuring Newsline that it would not be excluded from future press conterences.

The outcome is both a victory and testimony to the concern inthe labour movement for the defence of democratic rights.

It is ironic in this context that the spearhead of the campaign should be Newsline, whose own readiness to exploit workers' reluctance to use the courts was agreed. 'Regrettable' was substituted for 'outrageous' after Ted Knight phoned to remind Briefing of his readiness to take legal action. Having helped to pack the LCP AGM with WRP members, Ted Knight has since tried to fix subsequent reports with legal (in reality, financial) threats - just like his friends in the WRP. In the case of Briefing he has had some success. At a further Editorial Board meeting it was agreed to include facton starement about ute" demonstrated in its vicious slander campaign last autumn' against Socialist Organiser supporter Peter Mcintyre in the aftermath of the 'Operation Major' DHSS raid. - And it is doubly ironic that one of the first trade unionists to issue a statement in defence of Newsline's rights was Jonathan Hammond, President of the NUJ, who is also chair of the Socialist Organiser. Alliance and Treasurer of threat in the next issue. Even this has now changed.

At an Editorial meeting last Tuesday, called to discuss a slate for the London Labour Party Regional EC elections, it was voted to delete even the factual statement.

Fully supporting this retreat, were supporters of 'Socialist Challenge' " concerned with maintaining their links with Ted Knight in the LCP. ... • ohn Bloxam the Labour Movement Press Defence Fund established by this paper to meet the costs of fighting a libel action brought against us by Vanessa Redgrave, a Central Committee member of the WRP, publishers of ... Newsline!

We welcome Newsline' victory against the police. We only wish their apparent concern for democratic rights of labour movement papers would persuade them to withdraw from the costly High Court proceedings which potentially threaten to bankrupt our newspaper, and pursue their complaints against SO through an independent labour movement inquiry.

In the meantime the date of the High Court hearing is looming ever closer. We urge our readers to support the LMPDF with donations to enable us to mount a defence against the WRP's well-financed legal attack. send to: Labour Movement Press Defence Fund 214 Sickert Court, Essex Road.

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Organiser no.121 February Page