Kinnock &GCHQ

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came a Labour MP (for Dudley) in 1945.

As Postmaster General between 1964 and '67, he was Harold Wilson's chief trouble shooter and intrigue-master, before falling out with Wilson ad resigning in a huff, then going out to grass in the House of Lords.

These days a quarter of a million isn't much if you I say WHILE trade unionists across the country struck to support union rights at GCHQ, Labour leader Neil Kinnock was busy ... sacking frontbenchers who had voted against the Tory ban.

On February 28 Kinnock sacked Max Madden and Frank Field from their frontbench jobs. They had voted against the Tories in Parliament on Monday 27th, in contradiction to the Shadow Cabinet's 'tactical' decision to abstain.

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rebanon smoulders Supergrasses condemnec The marines go... the people of Lebanon still pay the price Solidarnosc CAPITALIST investment in China is increasing.

The total so far comes to abuut $490 million in offshore vil, and $400 million elsewhere.

105 joint ventures were approved last year, involving foreign capital to the tune of over $250 million. The biggest were a Belgian telephone equipment operation, and an American Motors jeep factory.

'Multi-skill'

A RECENTLY-published survey has identified 150 factories where 'multi-skill' agreements have been brought in.

These agreements remove traditional craft demarcations and call for skilled workers to cover several different jobs.

The survey finds that payments for such flexibility have usually been small, and that the agreements are becoming more and more common.

Monday Tuesday Wednesd Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday MONDAY March 5: Who kille James Davey? Public meeting, 7.30pm in the Main Room, Hillfields Community Centre, Charles St, Coventry. Speakers include the father of Colin Roach. larch 5 12 6 13 7 14 8 15 9 16 10 17 11 18

Back to barter

STARTLING figures have been published about the increasing share of barter in world trade.

A US company, 'Business Trend Analysts' , reckons that some 30% of world trade now takes place by barter, and some 40% of Third World/Third World trade.

"Ford trades its cars for thousands of Uruguayan sheepskins, Levi-Strauss sells a turnkey plant to Hungary and gets jeans in return, and a Washington law company receives chicken and leather jackets and payment for its advice to a developing country"

This return to primitive economics is caused by the dryingup of international credit in the wake of the great debt squeeze.

Deportations

DEPORTATIONS from Britain are still increasing. The most recent figures available are for 1982: in that year, nearly 2,000 people were deported, or an average of six a day.

In 1973 465 people were deported.

Women get 69%

WOMEN'S pay in Britain is only 69% of men's (figures for manual workers in manufacturing industry).

Inequality here is worse than in other countries. In Italy women get 87% of men's pay, and in Denmark 85%. Saturday March 31. Socialist Organiser day school in Sheffield. 10.30 to 4 at the Mount ex Polish miners Zbigniew Bujak, a young worker from the Ursus tractor factory on the outskirts of Warsaw whose workers played a central role in the protests against price increases in June 1976, became a leader of an unofficial group of activists in the plant in the late 1970s.

When Solidarity was formed Bujak became the chairperson of the Warsaw regional organisation, known as the Masowsze region. He became one of the most authoritative national leaders of Solidarity during its period of open existence.

Aged 29, he is said to be one of the foremost leaders of the Solidarnose underground organisation now.

The following is the conclusion of a recent interview with him.

How do you see your future?

If everything goes normally, I think that the authorities will retreat from their current policies in 1985. After all the years in hiding. I'll emerge, go home and hide, and no one will be able THE US marines left Beirut on Saturday February 26, with the US battleship New Jersey signalling their departure by yet another round of shells at Druze and Syrian positions.

The US intervention has been a fiasco. Its aim was to help create a strong pro-imperialist Lebanese state, linked by a treaty to Israel. It has created only an intractable chaos of communal conflicts.

The marines pull out, to await better times. And as for the people of Lebanon... too bad about them.

The country is now effectively partitioned. The Israelis control the south. Syria and its Muslim allies are dominant in the north. The nominal Lebanese government of Amin Gemayel controls practically nothing.

Gemayel is trying to make a deal with Syria, with Saudi Arabia adding pressure from the background. Other Christian forces oppose his abrogation of Lebanon's treaty with Israel. Muslim militias want to see Gemayel removed.

und ground, but not for long: maximum of five years.

I'm an optimist, and therefore never speculate on the chances of the situation getting even worse. What will happen, if things gei very bad? Let Rakowski and Jaruzelski ponder on it.

Isn't it difficult for you?

I find the huge number of changes - daily changes - to be the greatest strain. Something • changes at every moment, every week: here a different place to stay, there different people, new contacts, new problems. But apart from this ... I have a very large family. We were always on good terms with one another, and it was always noisy and lively. I miss that, of course. I used to live in Lesna Podkowa, in the forest, among the trees - this cannot be compared with living in hiding in Warsaw.

Five sacked FIVE Polish workers have been sacked, and 67 fined, for strikes in protest at the recent food price rises. Sinn Fein press conference on 'supergrasses' AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL has written to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland expressing its concern over the use of 'supergrasses' in trials in the Six Counties.

The letter was signed by Mr Thomas Hammarberg, Secretary General of Amnesty's London-based International Secretariat. It pointed out that while it was against neither intenational standards nor UK laws for the testimony of accomplices to be admitted in evidence in criminal trials, several features of prosecution practice in 'supergrass' cases raised doubts about the quality of proof in such trials.

Specifically, Amnesty raised the following points:

*Many defendants were convicted solely on the basis of uncorroborated testimony of

March

former accomplices.

*Although in English law the norma rules of evidence ruled out testimony obtained by 'hope of advantage... held out by a person in authority", in some 'supergrass' cases testimony had been admitted in evidence which was given by people who had themselves been offered immunity from prosecution for serious crimes.

*Some such witnesses had been in custody for long periods - well over a year — before the trial, so that the police had ample opportunity to unduly influence their testimony.

*Lack of juries in "Diplock Courts" in Northern Ireland meant that the normal practice of the judge warning the jury of the dangers of convicting defendants on the sole basis of such evidence could not be carried out. Propaganda Joan Maynard MP talked to Socialist Organiser about the Press outcry against her last week when she said that the word terrorist was a tag attached to opponents of the establishment for propaganda purposes.

"The main point I made was that they called men like Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya a terrorist and he became a founder of his country. So did many others called terrorists for daring to oppose imperialism.

"The way the media use tags like terrorist is just shameless propaganda to stop people thinking of the issues.

"I think the main reason for the outcry against what I said was the Chesterfield by-election. They wanted something to hit the left with, to try to smear Tony Benn with. As usual...

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FACTS& FIGURES Capital in China

ida undergro

nd By Paddy Dollard -