Cops turn out to save fascists

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TILBURY dockers meet again on their pay dispute this Thursby Mick 1000 demonstrators, about 50% of them black youth, gathered outside High Cross school in Tottenham on Tuesday May 3 to protest against a National Front meeting at the school.

But cops were also present in their hundreds, and successfully marched about 30 fascists into the meeting. Throughout there were frequent clashes between cops and demonstrators, and many were arrested.

Tottenham is the scene of the only byelection in London on May 5 - caused by the elevation to the peerage of sitting GLC councillor Andrew McIntosh.

It has been an extremely low level campaign by the local Labour party. But apathy has now turned into anger and disgust at the local Labour council, who last Thursday night, _28th, agreed to allow the fascist National Front to use council property for a meeting.

This decision overturned a previous council policy, and it has been followed up with over-thetop letters to school caretakers rePICKETS protested outside the court on Tuesday May 3, as four tenants from the Broadwater Farm estate, Haringey, north London, appeared on charges of 'obstruction' and 'criminal damage' to the local police station door.

Broadwater Farm is a large housing-estate where the majority of tenants are black and unemployed.

AS with black people everywhere, police harassment is major problem, especially for youth.

At the end of last year the police arrested a black youth on the estate. That wasn't unusual. What was different this time was that tenants from the estate went down to the police station to demonstrate and protest the innocence of this youth.

After about two hours the IRU [Instant Response Unit] turned up and laid into the picket. The president of the tenants? association had his nose broken, and three other people suffered bruises. The police then arrested the four who were injured, and charged them. Subsequently they released the youth originally arrested without charge.

SOLIDARITY Conference: June 4 and 5, County Hall, London SE1 O Sullivan minding them of their statutory duty to allow the fascists to enter.

The response of local trade unionists, the black community, and a large section of the Labour Party including a minority of the councillors, has been in complete contrast. Large sections of the black community immediately called for a picket to oppose the Front. The caretakers refused to open the school, and the NUT has also opposed the use of the premises.

Disgust at the way that many councillors have buckled soon turned to anger inside the Labour Party, and will be expressed in demands for their resignation.

Left councillors forced a special Labour group meeting in the street outside the school on Tuesday, but failed to get the decision reversed.

day, 5th.

demanding pay parity with clerical staff. Livingstone is tipped to replace him.

their constitutional right to reselect. QUIETLY, very quietly, Labour's right wing seems to have accepted that if there is a June election then no further action against Militant is possible before it.

Both the March and April National Executive Committee meetings put the issue off. The next NEC is May 25, and seems unlikely to rush into further drastic action.

So the situation still stands with the witch-hunt having claimed only two victims - Clare Doyle and Lyn Walsh, in Norwood. . The other three Militant editorial board members are still recognised by their CLPs in Islington and , Hammersmith, and the CLPs have not even received threats from the NEC.

It shows that the witch-hunt can be defeated. But still we can't be complacent. After the election, at latest, the right wing are bound to return to the charge. Ken Livingstone - challenging Freeson