Sexual discrimination in regard to the admission of immigrants, was-Roy Jenkins had to admit in Parliament last week —'a little difficult to defend." While a British man who marries a woman of whatever nationality can husbands of British women have no such rights of admission, and these couples are frequently forced to live abroad, Roy Jenkins, the Home Secretary, is of course a very reasonable man. He has no wish to tear asunder what God has ordained; still less to undermine the family, which so well serves to keep women in their place, and deals with the rearing of children.
But the admission of foreign Phato: EZRA NATHAN (Red Weekly)
Picketing during the STC strike last summer-Asian workers were intimidated from joining in by threats that their legal status would be looked into. husbands presents a certain problemsome of them are black. Jenkins did not mince his words:
same basis as wives," he said, 'this fial and continuing wave of male bring her to live in Britain, the foreign Immigration, particularly from the Indian sub-continent. It was, he had no hesitation in stating, men from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to whom the Labour Government specifically wishes to deny British citizenship.
DOUBLE ACT
sexism-which should raise the tury of the women's movement as well as that of black militants-comes at a time when the labour movement double act of the late Tory Government.
class laws were passed by the Tory *Government: the Industrial Relations Act and the Immigration Act. The Immigration Act was a vicious piece of racism that attempted to cow a section of the working class, Now immigrants were to be brought over on a work contract, just like the immigrant workers in the rest of the militant they could he deported. Police were allowed to detain blacks on suspicion that they were illegal' ment, bad introduced an immigration law that the European Commis were in oppesition, they changed their minds. Shirley Williams, James Callaghan, and Roy Jenkins vied in general and the Act in particular.
Immigration Act was reinforced in 1968, thus declaring possibly ten thousand blacks illegal" The police, with their new powers, instigated a witch hunt and carried out indisof black workers, were threatened with deportation.
*Were I to admit husbands on the would undoubtedly lead to a substan- be looked into.
This neat double act of racism and urgently needs to take up the struggle against the second part of a notorious In 1971, two totally anti-working checked.
If they "misbehaved" and became In 1968, Labour, then in Goverasion for Humun Rights had pronounced racialist. But in 1971. when they The reactionary nature of the "71 1973 by the Lords" decision to make the legislation retrospective to March, criminate mass ruids on the bomes s In a series of strikes black workers Asian workers at Standard Telephone and Cables in North London were intimidated from joining the strike of West Indian workers by threats that their legal status would During the recent strike by Asian workers at Art Castings in Nuneaton, the police justified their large numbets to control the picket line on the grounds that they were checking for the presence of illegals' -and consistently broke up the pickets by taking them off to examine their documents.
DOCUMENTATION
In order that black workers should he able to prove that they are not "illegal they have to produce documentary evidence, Attempts have been made to make black workers produce passports betone getting Insurance cards or Social Security benetits. Recently, the engineering department an amnesty of those who "illegilly" of Nottingham Corporation has been sending the passports of all black applicants for jobs up to the Home Office so that they can be The 31 Act has given the green light to every petty racialist tyrant involved in Immigration Control, and remain. has encouraged National Front vigilantes to sniff out illegals' The British Embassy in Pakistan has refused to allow two-year-old Misha Shah to join ber parents in London until she has been interviewed about her national status. Whether she is expected to sign che statements that she will be required to make is not yet STUDENT NAME Nottingham for over 15 years recently went to the Caribbean for a holiday. On returning his passport was overstamped with a two month short term visa.
It is clear that the "71 Act must be scrapped in the interests of the working class us a whole. The Queen's speech promised to repeal the Industrial Relations Act, but there was no mention of dealing with its twin, the Immigration Act. Jenkins. in opposition, called on the Tories to withdraw their Act. Now his long Impatient wait to destroy this racialist legislation is over. He can repeal the Act whenever he wants. It is clear however, that he has no intention of doing this.
AMNESTY
Jenkins appears to be considering entered the country between March 1968 and January 1973. This would not require even an amendment of the Act. But if he does only this (and we are fully in favour of such an amnesty) then the essential elements of the "71 Act will still It is vital for toe interests of the whole working class that the Act is completely scrapped. It is casential that the labour movement, and partic ularly those unions on record against the Act, such as the AUEW, should use all means necessary to bury it. ANDREW JENKINS FOR MORE DETAILS RETURN THIS TO 97 Caledonian Road, NI.
Red Weekly 5 April 1974 Page 3
Since the Chilean coup last September, the problem of 'the unity of the resistance and of the unity of the forces opposed to the dietatorship' has been continually posed.
We are among those who believe that such unity is absolutely necessary. Moreover, it undoubtedly corresponds to the deep-felt mood of the masses after their defeat.
But that is only to pose the problem, and not to solve if. What Is really at stake is the character and content of this unity.
PRESENT SITUATION
Six months after the coup, what does the present situation hold out in this respect?
At the present time, desrite many efforts as well as concessions, such MIR propegenda is distributed through Iaflets small enough to hold in the hand unity has not been achieved in Chile between the various workers and revolutionary organisations.
It is true that this has not been made any casier by the brutal repres of all the parties of Popular Unity and the MIR [Movement of the Revolutionary Left]. These do not correspond to any stage which has been reached in the process of uniting the various forces inside Chile On the contraty, these appeals simply correspond to the necessities' of work outside Chile-or rather, to tepresentatives believe to be the necessities of work abroad! ie te present a united front to the various sobarity and fund-raising movements).
STRATEGY
But before dealing with the significence of these appeals, we should first look rather more closely at the reason for the lack of unity inside Chile: the differences in strategy.
In the days tollowing the coup. the MIR put forward as one of its most important tasks the achievement of unity, and the establishment of a united structure which would comprise the various different parties of Popular Unity and itself, This step was correct and totally justified, given the offensive of the victorious reactionaries and semi-fascist elements Since then, the MIR has on several occasions outlined its positions, although not going very far towards clarifying them On the one hand, in a leaflet signed by its national secretatiat and widely distributed in Santiago at the end of December and the beginning of January, it called for the creation of a *Popular Anti-Gorilla las military dictators are generally known in Lalin America] Resistance Movement.
This popular resistance movement, This would be made up of all the political forces prepared to fight the gorilla dictatorship-and specifically. Popular Unity, the progressive sector of Christian Democracy i the main bourgeois partyl, and the MIR'.
In outlining these two ways of approaching the problem, however. there is much ambiguity and above all confusion as to the exact cless nazure of these alliances. This could very quickly lead to serious mistakes and changes in direction not intended or even foreseen by the comrades of the MIR seen, because they imply a conflict and the nature of the revolution to be made positions which have been made cicar many times both before and after the coup:
collapse as a result of its own contradictions, brought about by a heightened struggle between different sections of the bourgeoisic, any illasions that its orientation can he changed by peaceful means, will only lead to a second catastrophe.
ship of the proletariat of the towns and countryside-the only class capable of leading it -a fight including different methods of strugele and most importantly the armed struggle of the masses, will be able to get rid of the military dictatorship ship must be seen as the vital moment things easier, Democracy.
tell us.
REVOLUTIONARY TASKS We say 'not intended or even fore with the fundamental positions of the MIR as to the tasks of revolutionaries -The dictatorship will not simply -Any illusions that its fail can be -Only a fight under the leaderUnity Government.
- This overthrow of the dictatorI tactical grounds by the need to make But in fact they are grounded in an incorrect understanding of the political relationship of forces inside the workers movement and, Rowing from that, between the workers' movement and what the MIR calls the "progressive sector of Christian "The defeat of 11 September was not a defeat of the working class, but that of a reformist strateay, of reformism', the comrades of the MIR That is true. The militury coup which overthrew Allende's Government also overthrew the idea that one could march forward to socialism by the peaceful road, limiting the independent organisation of the working class, keeping strictly to the channels marked out by the (capitalist) State apparatus, and sacrificing the interests of the working class in an effort to conciliate the 'progressive' capitalists, But having said that, we must not forget that the reformism of the Communist and social democratic parties has deep roots in the history of the Chilean workers' movement, Moreover, the present situation paradoxically provides it with an opportunity once more to extend its hold, despite the political and orgunisational defeat which it sutfered at the time of the coup, and despite the previous radicalisation of the working class during the three years of the Popular This opportunity for reformism arises because the immediate concerns of the working class understandably MIR leader Miguel Enriquez: Two radi confront each other in Chile CH
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