Freedom of press is a class fraud

thinks Pensions hypocrisy Hare the depth to wich the British Leaders winion an a sink.

of abject Nowhere ted than ore elected Labour government without or and because laun inside back dated Union law power BY A POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT struggle to expose the lies, myths and hypocrisy ELECTRICITY - SUPPLY in this country. workers have over the last few days been made vic- capitalist news media — in tims of a ruthless campaign dominant part-has always by government, press and been to sustain the so-called sanctity, inviolability, immutability and permanence of the While the main aim of this capitalist system and the 'right' campaign has been to defeat the power men's legitimate demand for a £5 16s wage ing class at home and the increase, it has another func- colonial peoples abroad. tion in the Tory strategy.

This is to divide the working-class movement on the eve of anti-union legislation being enacted, and to whip up an ultra-right move- Anglican Church in the 17th ment against the working class with which to bludgeon trade unionists in the coming struggles.

While arming itself with emergency powers, the capitalist class openly encouraged provocations and even violence against electrical-supply work- he who controlled it!

darker under stand: they defeat power workers. they will come for YOU the day All the stories about the plight of old people, the sick in hospitals and children exposed to danger are a hypocritical and brutally cynical sham.

Actual policy the country meals, refused decent pensions increased unemployment and overty, reduced hospital uilding and cut the health service.

And they want to defeat the power workers in order to be free to do more of these things.

Saturday's letters in 'The Times' indicate the mood that is being cultivated for even more stringent laws.

doubt inspired by 'Labour leader' Lord GeorgeBrown's earlier letter attacking the strikers, one correspondent once-created freat othe threat lock-out?' And anothe he Minister of Pow THERE is nothing like a good dose of class which make up the so-called freedom of the press The main purpose of the which the press plays a preproprietors were a virtual law unto themselves and treated their workers as they pleased there was no cause for alarm;

the capitalist class to then there was 'freedom of exploit and oppress the work- the press indeed.

SLANDERED As the credibility of the Church continues to sink When the late Vicky left particularly among workers, the 'News Chronicle' because of the censorship exercised on position not unlike that of the his cartoons on Kenyan atrocities by the business incentury as the central pillar terests, Fleet St hardly t the spiritual domination ol whimpered. the ruling class in those days. But when Jak's cartoon The purpose of the press came under the critical was succinctly expressed by scrutiny of print workers outone of its Popes-Mr Cecil raged by the most scurrilous King—not so long ago when press campaign launched he said he was all in favour of power, so long as it was CHALLENGED This monopoly power-the 'freedom of the press'— to £1,250 Dec.

and slander the working class in an uncontrolled way was Appeal Fund lenged by the print workers they held up publication of provocatively reactionary Jak cartoon on the power workers £298 9s 40 Previous to this the Nationa Union of Journalists' chapels Fleet St held up several their campaign for increased editions of certain dailies in THERE ARE 18 days to raise the final £951 10s 8d towards the total so let's push ahead affront to the pater- with the campaign for the nalism of the feudal barons fund. and Fleet St Popes elicited The Tory press and TV are the following revealing outburst from the "Observer's' trying to whip it up against the electricity supply workers. managing editor Mr K. Obank:

The Workers Press will answer 'We now have journalists who see nothing wrong in and fight back against their lies and distortions. We will stopping the presses to force a pay claim,. to suppress a do everything in our power sad day or all of us vien to defeat this Tory governthe very, people who claim Help us by raising as much these ancient rights, who carry as you can before the Xmas this torch, feel free to quench period. Post all your donations it at the flick of a chapel Vorkers Press Appeal Fund Oh yes, very sad indeed, 86a Clapham High Street London, SW4 So long as the newspaper All Trades Second Annual Conference THE CHARTER OF BASIC RIGHTS "he right to a job, to strike and rganize, to retain gains made, o fair prices, to welfare benefits nd to decent housing. lefend and maintain these rights in a fight force the Tories to resign.

BIRMINGHAM Sat. December Digbeth 10.30. am r delegates' or visitors' credentials Alan Wilkins, ATUA secretary, 53 T Styvechale, Coventry.

return of less than 1 per cent on its sales this year— bringing profits to an all-time Thousands of aircraft workers have been sacked, and it is estimated that Boeing alone has lost 130,000 workers since 1968.

Impact

The impact of a full-scale US recession on the rest of the capitalist world would be even • more marked than in the US itself.

Fear of this development, more than any other factor, is responsible for the very rapid turn to the right in W Europe, Canada and in Britain.

With their anti-union laws and emergency powers, the Tories are systematically preparing for a world slump.

They hope to hogtie the working class with the aid of the trade union and labour bureaucracy before the full force of the storm from across the Atlantic hits home in Britain. hour trial ition to TUC policy only ASTMS divisional council member Maureen Turnbull raised the question of General Strike action to force the resignation of the Tory government.

Her attack on the TUC 'left' trade union leaders and Communist Party members who cover up for it was described by Feather's assistant Len Murray as 'moving the reference back of the general election'.

This was impossible, he said. Such action would only provoke Heath to make the Bill even worse.

Murray was repeatedly interrupted during his denunciation of the opposition to the TUC policy. against the trade unions they law and since the "law'--as are viciously slandered and the Industrial Relations Bill told to shut up!

"The Observer' — whose ally aimed against the working "liberalism' is a cloak for the class and its liberation from most putridly offensive smears capitalist property relations we against the working class- see, therefore, that 'press freenow hinds the print workers dom' is in fact class freedom. action 'ominous' and editorializes: 'the freedom of the press EMPHASIZED must mean the freedom to publish anything within the -This fraudulent 'freedom' law ... the freedom of the will be even more glaringly press consists in the freedom emphasized if the anti-union to publish despite anybody's laws go through parliament. objections'. (Our emphasis, This will enable the capital'Observer', , December 13.) The 'Observer' statement is ist press to support the antinot only a warning to the trade unions of the unpre- of the government as liberally cedented press attacks in the while the working-class press Point - it reveals this is the will be gagged effectively by in all its clarity and explicitness the the risk of incurring heavy whole fraud of capitalist press fines for supporting so-called Since 'freedom' to publish is conditioned by capitalist clearly shows—is fundamentWitchhunt