A not inconsiderable amount of news print was devoted to police. activities over the Easter holiday. The cause-the traditional bit of bovver at the seaside. It had all been done before by the Mods and Rockers. Perhaps the press would have baulked at churning out the same story for the seventh consecutive vear, 11 the friendly fuzz hadn't had a bright idea for disarming Ine skinneads By Monday the East End of London had exhausted its attractions as a holiday resort. the trainloads of skinheads and casers were cescencine on unc coast Brighton, Southend, Weston Super Mare. Skegness. Yarmouth and Tonbridge were hit and in most cases the waiting at the stations. 30 youths had been prevented from ven getting ON one train at Victoria.
master-stroke the answer tain's youth problem, was delivered as the rival factions were limbering a bit of aggro. Skinheads were to remove their braces and would not be able to fight AND hold to point out that nobody had forced the skinheads to part with these two crucial items. But as a police spokesman said.
'If they had refused we would probably have taken them in and charged them with DOSSCSSINE an offensive Cynics may doubt the legal validity of that ploy After that the story was the same as usual. The petty bourgeoisie was scared out of its wits. at the prospect of having its shop windows broken. There were a few mindlessly savage attacks on individuals; but for the most part what action there was was confined to SkinneROs greasers beating the hell out of each other, trailed incessantly by the police.
There were a number of arrests in all the resorts: offences ranged from assault TO using obscene language. Eleven beople were unea a towar of f215 at Brighton. The chairman of the bench there, Mr Herbert Ripper, announced The skinheads were also in action at the CND/YCL rally on Sunday at the Victoria Park. The Young Communists. with their customary concern for working class youth, were deeply proud of this mass demonstration of unity by middle class pacifists. Thus they and others were appalled when 200 skinheads appeared on the scene waving a large black flag and with every intention of disrupting the happening. with amberge ballan ds made cer "balloon for peace" belonging to the Peace Trades Unions. There wee theatre clashes with Joan Littlewood's group, and confrontation with the Pacifists, notable for the hostility shown by both sides.
The skinheads" perceptive choice of target did no more than remind CND that they now have both feet in the grave.
Black Dwarf reporter nationalisation SCHISE Nationalisation has become an immediate econosame time as, (and mic demand, al lne partly because of.) the way the Labour Party has rid nationalisation of its political clothes. Nationalised industries are so much a part of the social scene, and the planning of different sectors has becocosal for private investment, that sections of workers are having to make the future developments of their industries a component part of their basic economic militancy. In the initial clashes that have already occured, they have been forced to repoliticise nationalisation against the wishes or une Labour Party.
As Labour tries to play hegemonic middleman to a 'classless" society they naturally take steps WOrKHIE class actions. That much is well known. The actions at the docks and the airports are tiny swallows of working class counter-initiative. They are far from making a summer. But they show that at its own slow pace and in what would seem be very different sectors. British workers are more than capable of taking up the political struggle of their class and deploying the Labour Government.
The Black Dwarf 20th April 1970