IV. SELF-DEFENCE AGAINST FASCISM

IN line with their general policy of betrayal of the workers’ interests, the Right-wing leaders of the Labour Party do their utmost to prevent the Labour movement from understanding what is involved in the racial disturbances, and from taking any effective action.

‘Leave it to the police,’ they cry. ‘Law and order,’ echo the ‘liberal’ Press and the Tory Press, regardless of the fact that if coloured people are frightened to walk the streets, that is fascist ‘order’.

Under the eyes of the police things go from bad to worse in Notting Hill. Knifings and beatings are commonplace, night after night.

The Right-wing Labour leaders want to immobilize the working-class movement.

The Socialist Labour League wants to see the working-class movement swing into action against the thugs.

The Socialist Labour League has proposed the setting-up of workers’ defence committees and defence squads, consisting of white and coloured trade The job of these committees and defence squads would be to protect the persons, lives, property, homes and civil liberties of all victims of the fascists and their dupes.

They would by their mere presence make it impossible for the racialists to show their faces or distribute their inflammatory propaganda.

The defence committees would carry out a widespread publicity campaign, explaining to white youth the falsity and bad faith of fascist propaganda, answering the lies about immigration and immigrants, pointing out that only a united working class can resist the employers’ offensive against jobs, wages and The defence committees would make themselves responsible for providing material and financial aid to coloured people who had been attacked, replacing spoiled furniture and clothing and broken windows, not as an act of charity, but as a means of demonstrating im practice the solidarity of white and coloured workers. there is an immigrant population, so that a powerful united front can be built to defend the workers’ traditional liberties.

How can workers’ defence committees and defence squads be formed? First of all, London Labour must raliy to the defence of the coloured people of Notting Hill.

The Socialist Labour League proposes that there be held a conference of local Labour Parties, Communist Party branches, trades councils, shop stewards’ committees and other working-class organizations, together with coloured people’s organizations.

Such a conference could consider all practical details, and could organize demonstrations and public meetings to carry forward the campaign.

Shop stewards’ committees in the large factories should organize deputations of their members to visit Notting Hill and pledge support to the coloured people.

Let Labour break down the intolerable isolation of coloured people from the Labour movement.

The capitalist Press says workers’ defence squads would be ‘strong-arm squads’, We say: Let the strong arm of the organized working class protect the coloured people in our midst from fascist violence.

Let us prove in deeds to the coloured workers in our midst that British Labour is a mighty force, which has the strength and the determination to sweep the fascists off the streets.

A united front of the working class, coloured and white, beginning in the factories and spreading through the whole Labour movement, is the only effective answer to fascism in Notting Hill.

The Socialist Labour League pledges that it will fight as hard as it can to make the proposals in this article a living reality.

ONLY SAFEGUARD OF PEACE IS ACTION BY