Keep Left' Annual General Meeting Forward to the revolutionary Seventies-say Young Socialists

1969, editor Aileen Jennings told These troops, he stressed, were now preparing , to take on the Ulster working class not piecemeal, but as one class.

The Northern Ireland Young Socialists were now struggling to build their own paper in a situation where the workers urgently • required a Marxist leadership.

Sketching the history of the Greek Trotskyist movement, a representative from the Workers' Internationalist Rents warning for Coal Board chairman, intends to visit Yorkshire later this month to discuss with tenants' leaders increases in rents for Coal Board houses.

Some indication of what miners can expect is revealed in the recent decision of the Yorkshire Rent Assessment Committee (i.e. the appeal Tribunal) concerning rents for ancient colliery houses at Nostell, Wakefield.

Built around 1900, these houses are in deplorable condition. The assessment committee was forced to declare :

Dismal "These houses are situated in a drab, colourless and depressing estate. They are of dismal external appearance, without gardens, poor quality private roads and irregular brick pavements. In evidence it was stated They have a barrack-type appearance and are commonly called THE LUMP"?

The committee's official comment goes on to describe rising damp through floors, penetrating damp through walls and damp through roofs and guttering defects. 'Keep Left' editor Aileen Jennings giving the main report to last Saturday's annual general meeting at the East India Hall, East London. Also on the platform (left to right) are Dany Sylveire, chairman, Ray Eitord, a member of the outgoing editorial board and John Simmance, Young Socialists' League of Greece stressed that militancy alone was not enough to defeat the capitalist class and the treacherous role of Stalinism and social-democracy in his country.

The Greek comrades had already established their own paper and outlined plans for its expansion in 1970.

'Great struggles ahead of us, stressed a representative of the national bureau of the Alliance des Jeunes pour le Socialisme.

'But for them to be victorious we have to build a political force capable of leadership trayals of reventral the Stalinists and of the bethe reformists.' The Annual General Meeting greeted great leaps forward made by the French comrades in 1969 and carried a resolution pledging wholehearted support for the mass rally they planning at _e Bourget on February 1.

Speakers from Young Socialists and the AJS stressed that in 1970 — 'the year of Lenin and Trotsky' as both organizations have comnonly decided to call it-thes vould go forward together in preparing international conference revolutionary outh towards the end of the carried resolutiously, ended s The resolution, which rally in france on February 11 Forward to • Forward to the building of a mass Young Socialists in Britain and to the rally on July 5 at Alexandra Palace !

Forward to the inter ational conference of revolu tionary youth!

Numerous other repairs are required. Repainting is long need electrical installations res overdue tenants newing'.

Needless to say, the Rent Assessment Committee was extremely sympathetic to the landlords' problems.

"The present landlords, the National Coal Board, inherited these conditions from their predecessors and have not the necessary funds to keep these houses in a good state of repair.

Interest

•We are informed that the NCB are to spend an average of £30 per house per annum on repairs, but have also to meet additional charges of £30 per house for interest and depreciation.' The NCB is claiming that while existing rent income meets the costs of repair and maintenance and produces a surplus of £20 a year • per house, these additional interest and depreciation charges-now transferred to area accounts-result in a net loss of £10 per house.

In other words, tenants are National Committee member. C.P. leaders silent Kremlin creeps closer to Franco THE leading Madrid Catholic evening paper 'Ya featured a report on Sunday of the latest moves by the Franco regime to open up diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

Franco's end-of-the-year speech emphasized his government's desire to improve relations with eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Already diplomatic links have been established between the fascist regime and the governments of Poland, Hungary and Rumania. '• Now comes news that the Spanish Foreign Minister, Lopez Bravo, and the vice tenants being asked to pay more rent in order to put more money in the pockets of speculators and profiteers.

Needless to say, the Appeal Tribunal agreed.

It fixed a rent of 35s 6d a week for these hovels and left the door open for further increases.

Its decision was':

'The Committee have determined that a fair rent should be £2 10s but because of the general state of the property and lack of essential repairs, etc., we have reduced this by a total of 14s 6d to 35s 6d.

'However should the NCB can apoly for a new "fais rent» can apply tor a new before the three-year period expires.' (Our emphasis.)

In plain English, the tenants pay 35s 6d if the houses stay damp and unhealthy.

If anything is done about this, the rent jumps to £2 10s.

Nothing could show more clearly that Coal Board tenants must rely on their organized strength and place no faith in these 'fair rent' tribunals. president of the Soviet Foreign Ministry, Mr Kovaliev, met in foscow on January 2.

Interrupted flight

The three-hour meeting took place after Bravo interrupted his flight from Spain to the Philippines by landing at Tashkent in Soviet Central Asia, where another plane had been made ready to fly him off to Moscow.

His talks with the Soviet official took place at Moscow airport.

He was then flown back to Tashkent, where he resumed his journey to the Philippines for the inauguration ceremony of the anti-communist President Marcos.

Franco's regime, now under immense pressure from a reawakened working class, is desperately casting about for allies.

Allies revealed

The current strike of Asturian miners has helped to reveal who some of them are.

In an attempt to break the strike, the fascist regime intends to utilise its friendly relations with the Stalinist bureaucracy by importing coal from East Europe.

It is completely in keeping with the treacherous record of international Stalinism that the Soviet bureaucracy exWEATHER London area, South-East England, central Southern England, East and West Midlands, East England, NorthWest England and Central Northern England: Mist and fog; clearing, some bright intervals. Outbreaks of rain later. Maximum temperature 8C (46F).

Channel Islands and SouthWest England: Mainly cloudy, rain at times. Maximum temperature 10C (50F).

Glasgow area and N Ireland: Mist and fog, clearing. Then bright periods perhaps rain in evening. Maximum temperature 6C (43F).

Outlook for Wednesday and Thursday: Rain at times in all areas and near normal temperatures. government.

capitalist class within sight of a temporary end to the period of minority Christian - Democratic government and allows Italian social democracy to celebrate in a uniquely craven manner over half a century of class collaboraThe form of the announcement itself, avoiding any direct reference to the forthcoming horse -trading of ministerial posts and other benefits, and 'authorizing the secretariat to pursue the discussion with the parties of the centro-sinistra to deepen the themes under debate', , reflects the bitter opposition of the Italian working masses to any revival of such a government.

FREE HAND

As a turther sop to workers it is linked with a (purely platonic) appeal for an amnesty for the hundreds of workers faced with criminal charges arising from the political and trade union struggles which convulsed the country during the later half of last year.

No official conditions have been laid down for PSI parcorrespondent tends a hand to the fascist regime of Franco just as the Spanish workers, led by the miners, strike their heaviest blows against it.

Cynical record

And it is also in line with the equally cynical record of British Stalinism that its daily paper, the Morning Star', reports the news of the Franco-Kremlin tie-up without any comment.

And how •can Gollan and Matthews criticize the deal?

Surely this is the essence of 'peaceful co-existence'?

This latest manoeuvre of the Soviet bureaucracy, which writes anti-Franco articles in 'Pravda' with one hand only to clasp the blood-stained hands of his henchmen with the other, is a model example of Stalinist counter-revolution British, as well as Spanish workers, should take careful note and be prepared.

ALL TRADES PUBLIC MEETING Lessons of the 1969 Ford strike and the fight for parity DAGENHAM ednesday, January Marsh Green School New Road Dagenham tered as a newspaper at the Office. Published by Workers • 186a Clapham High Street, London, S.W.4. d by Plough Press Ltd. (TV), lapham High Street, London, ditions necessary for a return of the PSI to government'.

As in the British Labour Party, it is made clear that the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party is when the greatest betrayals are in prospect.

UNDIMINISHED The strength and fighting spirit of the Italian working class remains undiminished by these squalid manoeuvres. The unity forged in the recent struggles over wages, conditions and housing is now expressed in the many factory, tenants' and agricultural workers' committees responsible directly to those who elect them for the conduct of their struggles.

The central and urgent task in the Italian labour movement is now the building of a revolutionary, Marxist leadership to wrest the political direction of the class from Stalinism and social democracy.