The Socialist Issue 214

ALMOST 20 years to the day after Britain's cities simultaneously erupted against the policies of Thatcher's Tory government, there has been a series of explosions revealing the simmering anger against Blair's Britain.

The press portrayed the recent events in Bradford as race riots - the reality is that these uprisings have primarily been against the racist far-right Nazi menace and racist policing. They have also been an outbreak of frustrated anger against the reality of life for whole sections of society in Britain today - both black and white.

As MAGGIE, a Socialist Party member from Leeds who was amongst the hundreds gathered in Centenary Square, Bradford on 7 July points out, all the young Asian men she spoke to wanted a peaceful show of strength against the Nazis. However, the huge police presence was provocative and as events unfolded it was clear they were there to stop the counter-demonstrators not the Nazis.

Socialist Party member HOWARD, who was involved in organising the merged counter-demonstration of Bradford trades council and Anti-Nazi League (ANL) against the Nazis, explains how things developed: "Shortly after mid-day, a well-known Nazi activist entered Centenary Square, where he had a conversation with police officers and then left the square. This individual is extremely well known to police and has been involved in many acts of intimidation and violence over the years.

"Events came to a head when word went round that this person and a group with him were in Addisons Bar, just off Centenary Square. Soon a crowd gathered outside with the intention of seeing them off.

"The fascists emerged and whilst standing behind a police line taunted the crowd to attack them and hurled racist abuse. One lone Asian man charged them and ended up on the floor where he was repeatedly stamped on the head for five minutes, whilst the police only three feet away waved their batons to keep the anti-fascist crowd from aiding him.

"This was the turning point. The police pushed the crowd out and the riot then kicked off because of people's outrage at the police protection of the fascists.

ANGER INCREASED when within an hour the same Nazi was again wandering around Centenary Square and was again protected by police when Asian youths tried to chase him off. This individual was eventually detained by the police - probably for his own protection.

There have been wildly inaccurate reports in some of the media about Asian and white gangs fighting. During the whole day, whilst it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between who was who amongst the whites, the atmosphere was most definitely not anti-white from the Asian youth, but was understandably suspicious.

The crowd which gathered outside Addisons bar was totally mixed. The Fascist strategy of getting events portrayed as a race riot was achieved thanks to the local police.

Tensions had been increasing in Bradford in the weeks preceding the proposed National Front (NF) march. Rumours were rife and many young people were getting 'prepared' for the expected arrival of the NF determined that they would not be able to run amok in the city.

NF threats

In a disgraceful capitulation to NF threats the city council, on police advice, cancelled the Bradford Festival due to be held the same day. Their excuse was that they could not guarantee public safety.

The maximum the NF had turned out on any event in Lancashire was 25. Most people were outraged by this decision, seeing it as giving in to NF threats. As one anti-fascist activist put it: "NF 1, Bradford 0".

There were several suspicious individuals who were probably 'spotting' for the NF. But the anticipated arrival of leading NF member Terry Blackham never occurred.

There were unconfirmed rumours that there had been arrests of known fascist activists approaching Bradford and that the Leeds contingent, seven of them, were boozing in Leeds city centre.

This could create the impression that the police were acting to prevent the NF arriving in Bradford. But the reality is that although the police later lost control their heavy presence was designed to protect the fascists not the local community.

Racist Match That Sparked Growing Anger

LABOUR HAS been quick to provide its knee-jerk solution to the recent inner-city riots; bring out the water cannon. Ignoring the real nature of events, Blair and his cabinet have blamed all the recent riots on 'mindless thuggery'.

This response will provoke even greater anger among Britain's ethnic minority communities.

While the majority of people in those communities would not see burning cars or destroying pubs and shops as the solution to their problems, many also know that the riots were not caused by 'outside agitators', 'left wingers' or sections of Asian youth trying to protect their 'drugs patch'.

Nor was it a case of Asians simply having a go at whites or the police. Indeed, some press reports show acts of courageous bravery by Asians protecting elderly whites in the mayhem.

The events in Bradford, as our reports show, were started by the police's patent refusal to deal with racist abuse and acts of thuggery by far-right Nazis.

This was the match that ignited the accumulated anger that has built up in Britain's inner cities against the New Labour government and the pro-big business agenda it eagerly pursues.

That anger is affecting working-class Asians, Blacks and whites alike. It is partially reflected in the historically low turnout at the election.

The riots are an outpouring of bitter anger at a government that protects the wealthy and allows them to grow ever richer, while it attacks the disabled, those living in poverty, young people, pensioners and every disadvantaged section of society.

Even Thatcher's government in 1981 took notice of the inner-city riots and commissioned the Scarman Report.

The reality in the intervening 20 years however shows that very little has changed and that discrimination and poverty still blights Blacks and Asians in Britain's inner-city areas, which our feature on pages 6 & 7 shows.

As Malcolm X, the American anti-racist Black leader explained: "You can't have capitalism without racism."

Insecurities

Labour's response to the riots is no change, except to bring in more tools of repression sounding just like Thatcher's Tories when they claim it is a "law and order issue".

However, since the 1980s demographic changes in some of Britain's biggest cities have left large sections of alienated and poverty-stricken Blacks, Asians and whites stranded in deprived inner cities.

The Commission for Racial Equality has produced a report on Bradford saying amongst other things that both whites and Asians were critical of efforts to help these areas saying that regeneration processes "forced communities to bid against each other for scarce resources and this creates divisions and resentments."

Increasing selection and segregation in education are adding fat to an increasingly volatile fire.

While there have been some dangerous and divisive aspects to the riots in Oldham and Burnley the events in Bradford were not anti-white riots, despite the press portraying them as race riots.

However, despite the disciplined restraint of the majority of Asian youth in Bradford last Saturday the police's strategy and tactics allowed the still minuscule fascist grouplets to have an effect out of all proportion to their size.

The reason they can have such an effect is because they play on the fears and insecurities building up in inner-city areas and are provocatively organising marches, which are then banned, but still going into the areas on the day of proposed marches throwing out racist abuse and filth unchecked by the police.

The Socialist Party argues that the labour movement, especially the trade unions, needs to urgently organise a massive mobilisation against racism and fascism in the North of England in the autumn.

This will show that wherever the far-right racists and fascists raise their head they will be blocked by huge counter-demonstrations.

But large demonstrations have to be linked with political campaigns to show white working-class communities that they share a common enemy with Black and Asian people - the capitalist system. Such a campaign needs to lead to action to alleviate poverty, bad housing, two-tier education and health services etc. In short replacing this rotten capitalist system with a socialist society.

Support the Merseyside firefighters

Defend Public Services

MERSEYSIDE FIREFIGHTERS have voted by a 82.7% majority for strike action. Chief fire officer, Malcolm Saunders and the Merseyside Fire Authority want to recruit non-uniformed staff directly into uniformed management positions. Currently all uniformed officers have to start as firefighters.

This is not only playing around with nationally agreed conditions of service, it is also playing fast and loose with people's lives. All public-sector workers are facing similar attacks as Labour presses ahead with privatisation.

Saunders' challenge of the FBU ballot was roundly defeated in the courts, which cost council taxpayers thousands of pounds. And even the employers' representatives on the national disputes panel have upheld the union's case.

Merseyside FBU secretary, Les Skarratts said: "If Saunders and the Fire Authority have the ability to disregard a national decision to resolve a dispute - what is to stop them having carte blanche to smash through all conditions of service for firefighters, officers and control staff in Merseyside, effectively undermining our right to formally object and seek independent resolution of a dispute." Les added: "Our members are concerned that this could affect the standards and delivery of a fire service on Merseyside."

Fire Authority chair, Bootle Labour councillor Peter Dowd said: "The authority is confident all the necessary contingency plans are in place... the fact is we will see Green Goddesses on the streets for the first time since 1996." Obviously the employer is keen to take on the FBU.

Back in 1996 Dowd took a similar stance and brought out the army and its Green Goddesses. Then the Socialist Party stood against Peter Dowd in the 1996 local elections. We intend to do the same thing when Dowd is up for re-election.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Party is building an anti-cuts alliance of those groups of workers such as Sefton care home workers who are fighting cuts to other local government services, (see The Socialist newspaper, page 11.)

The FBU conference decision to democratise the union's political fund shows how trade union activists are preparing to take on New Labour's privatisation agenda.

Workers need a voice as Labour, Lib-Dems and the Tories are all singing from the same pro-market hymn sheet. Working-class people need independent political representation as never before.

Support the Merseyside firefighters' struggle to defend public safety and their working conditions.

No privatisation. Public services must be publicly funded under democratic working-class control. End and reverse all previous privatisations, including the Private Finance Initiative.

Reverse all cuts in wages and working conditions endured by public-sector workers when their jobs have been privatised. For a minimum wage of £7.50 an hour for a 35-hour week for workers in all sectors.

FBU national rally and march starting at the Kings Dock, Liverpool at 1pm, Friday 13 July.

Lilley The Pinko?

PETER LILLEY and the right wing London Evening Standard and Telegraph, leading members of the Tories, more often seen as the party which locks people up, have called for the legalisation of cannabis.

This follows on from Brixton police effectively decriminalising cannabis - people found with small amounts of the drug will no longer be prosecuted. The government has told customs officials and police to give up hunting for cannabis smugglers and dealers.

Lilley wants to popularise the Tories after their humiliating election result. He calls for licensed premises where small quantities of cannabis can be bought in line with the Telegraph's campaign for a 'Free Country'.

These right wingers claim to care about the devastation that heroin brings to many working-class communities, arguing that if those wanting to buy cannabis can avoid using pushers of hard drugs it will reduce the chance of them buying heroin or cocaine.

What the Tories mean by a 'free country' is one with the 'freedom' to sack workers, pay low wages and profit from privatising our public services. Once cannabis is legal, tobacco companies are likely to become the new dealers, using resources far greater than the current pushers to persuade people to smoke it.

Peter Lilley is no champion of people's rights. As Secretary of State for Social Security in the last Tory government he cut benefits for the disabled, unemployed and asylum seekers.

Benefits for single parents were frozen and the retirement age for women raised to 65. The Job Seekers' Allowance (forcing the unemployed to accept the worst of jobs or lose benefits) was his creation.

But it must be hard to rebuild the Conservative Party when a Labour government is continuing Tory policies. Surveys show that between 70% and 80% of the population favour relaxing the cannabis laws.

Labour seem to be slowly relaxing drug policy even though Blunkett promised to "rid the country of the plague of hard drugs" when he became Home Secretary. Some Tories see this as an issue where they could appear radical.

Recent research shows that the "war against drugs" is being lost. As prosecutions and seizures increase so does the availability and use of drugs. In other countries where cannabis is legally sold, then there is a fall in the use of harder drugs.

While the rich and others with affluent lifestyles use heroin and cocaine mostly for a leisure pursuit, the dealing and use of hard drugs in many working-class estates present a different picture. Here it leads to wasted lives through constant use and addiction as well as rampant crime as users steal to feed their habit.

Trevor Phillips, black deputy leader of the Greater London Assembly argues against ending prohibition of class A drugs because black youth find that there is money to be made from drugs "thus learning that if he wants the Mercedes or the gold chain, here's an alternative to study and work."

But many youth (black and white) use drugs in the first place to forget their problems. Many people turn to dealing to improve their lifestyle when decent jobs are at a premium, even when people get a good education. No prospects and alienation from society breed a drug problem whose consequences for working-class communities is appalling.

Capitalism is firmly to blame for the conditions of many working-class youth and their communities. Capitalism will profit from the misery they bring by being the worst drug pushers.

At present they push alcohol and cigarettes; they would gladly do the same with cannabis too. We are not in favour of profits being made out of selling cannabis.

Doctors should be able to proscribe heroin to addicts and there should be facilities for testing drugs and balanced advice on their use. People should not be criminalised for taking drugs and there must be rehabilitation for addicts.

Such reforms could ease life for drug users and their communities but capitalism and its defenders like Lilley merely want to make profit from addiction and dependency.

Northern Ireland 'peace process'

Sliding Into Sectarian Conflict

'PEACE PROCESS' is fast becoming a misnomer to describe what is happening in Northern Ireland. Trimble's resignation as First Minister has put the future of the Assembly and therefore of the Good Friday Agreement in doubt.

Bitter sectarian clashes have become a regular part of life along the interfaces in areas like north Belfast. It is clear that the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) - or at least big sections of it - have returned to war.

Their attempt to build a political wing in the form of the Ulster Democratic Party has got nowhere. It is the Johnny Adair wing that is now in the ascendant and the pipe bombings and shootings are the result.

Most of the recent sectarian attacks have been orchestrated by the UDA and are directed against Catholics. (see box) But sectarianism is not a one-way street. There have also been attacks on Protestant homes and Protestant property.

Aware of the dangers the British and Irish governments, together with the leaders of the pro-agreement parties, will now try to work out a rescue package for the Assembly. They hope that some trade-off between IRA decommissioning on the one side and demilitarisation and policing on the other can get Trimble off the hook.

Agreement at the top

The problem about any such rescue operation is that the ground for compromise is narrowing. The peace process has always been about getting an agreement at the top, between sectarian politicians. Meanwhile the division on the ground, which has always been the real problem, has remained and been reinforced.

It has been reinforced both by the pro-Agreement parties who need people to keep voting along sectarian lines to put them in power and by the openly sectarian anti-agreement forces who have been whipping up sectarianism in order to destabilise the Executive.

Early on in the peace process the Socialist Party described it more as a 'repartition process' than a genuine process of bringing people together. The truth of this analysis can be seen in what is happening today.

The recent elections were probably the most polarised in Northern Ireland's history. The fighting that is taking place on the ground is about territory.

Loyalist groups are trying to halt the geographical advance of the Catholic population and stop areas becoming mixed. One of the main reasons is to create a climate of fear and confrontation in Protestant working-class areas, so that groups like the UDA can maintain a degree of control and their drug operations can continue.

For republicans the sectarian battle over territory has been conducted under the disguise of a fight for 'equality', 'parity of esteem' and so on. Socialists are absolutely opposed to discrimination and are for the rights of all groups within society to express their culture without harassment or intimidation.

But there is a difference between this and using the increase in the Catholic population in formerly Protestant areas to gradually change the complexion of these areas, to make them more overtly 'nationalist'. Many of the flashpoints over parades are in areas that until quite recently were mainly Protestant but which are now mainly Catholic.

What is happening illustrates very clearly the changed nature of the troubles. A recent television documentary about the origins of the ceasefires explained how the IRA tried to reach an agreement with loyalist paramilitaries that they would not shoot each other. Their aim was to emphasise that the war was against Britain, not against the Protestants.

In the early years of the conflict both sides, but especially the republican movement, saw themselves as highly politically motivated. The IRA liked to compare themselves with the African National Congress or other 'national liberation movements'. So the target was 'British Imperialism', not those on the other side of the peace line.

Whatever the motivation, the effect of the IRA campaign was always sectarian. However a long political road has been travelled since the 1970s and 1980s.

The British are no longer viewed as the main problem. Republicans want the British government to act as 'persuaders' of the Protestants who are now recognised as the main stumbling block preventing a united Ireland.

The consequence of this and of the naked sectarianism of the UDA is that if there is a full scale return to conflict it will not be to the 'long war' and the Troubles as they were. This time the comparisons will not be with the ANC or any other 'national liberation struggle' but will be with Bosnia or Macedonia. It would be a sectarian war over territory that would lead towards actual repartition.

It may well be that the opposition of the mass of people to the sectarian killings and attacks will prevent this for now. But there are no grounds for complacency. Even if there is a political deal and the Assembly survives it is quite clearly not a solution. How will it survive the next election when an anti-agreement unionist is likely to be the First Minister with a Sinn Fein member as his or her deputy?

Although this year's Drumcree protest was relatively quiet, reflecting the impasse affecting all sides, the peace process in the hands of sectarian politicians and paramilitaries will fail.

Left to these people the end result will be a Bosnia. It is urgent that an alternative is found.

What we need is a real peace process based on bringing the communities together and allowing people to set about solving the problem themselves, not relying on the failed sectarian politicians to do it.

We need an initiative from community and trade union organisations to challenge and halt the sectarian attacks. We need these organisations to start to combat the sectarian intimidation and allow people who want to live in mixed communities to do so. The sectarian flags and bunting should come down.

We need a united working class movement to bring Catholics and Protestants together to tackle the real issues of providing decent jobs, decent services and facilities.

The sectarian parties disagree on everything - except how to cut hospitals, privatise our services and excuse employers who pay poverty wages.

We need a working-class party to challenge them and to show Catholic and Protestant workers that there is an alternative socialist way forward that can halt the present slide into sectarian conflict.

Killed For Being A Catholic

THE BRUTAL murder of Ciaran Cummings marks the return of the sectarian murder gangs.

Of course this was not the only recent attack - or the only killing. It is a wonder that more people have not been killed by the pipe bombs and shootings that have become common in recent weeks.

A year ago the loyalists responsible would have been put down as "dissidents" opposed to the ceasefires and to the Good Friday Agreement. These people traded under overlapping titles like the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders, both of whom have claimed this attack.

The UDA are linked with the Loyalist Volunteer Force and other smaller groups and this murder, like the recent killing in Coleraine, looks like their handiwork. This is not just the action of a few dissidents but shows the direction the people now dominant in the UDA are headed.

This killing has been greeted by shock and revulsion. People in Antrim where Ciaran lived were stunned. Not just Catholics, but the vast majority of the Protestant population also. In other parts of the north there was the same reaction of shock and anger.

At the FG Wilson factory in Newtownabbey, where Ciaran worked as a welder, his workmates, Catholic and Protestant, stopped work and went home when they heard the news.

The fear now is that we are headed back to the nightmare of killings and revenge actions that we all hoped we had left behind. Aside from the embittered sectarians in and around the paramilitaries no-one wants this.

The key reason the previous round of killings was halted is that ordinary people Catholic and Protestant demanded a halt. Threats and killings were answered with strikes, protests and eventually massive demonstrations.

The decision by Ciaran Cummings' workmates to go home shows that a call for protest action made by trade unions and community organisations would be supported.

The time for such action is now - before more people get killed and before working class people start to think that nothing can be done to get the killers off our backs.

Solidarity with Turkish political prisoners

THE CURRENT economic crisis in Turkey adds to the horrific repression already suffered by the Turkish and Kurdish people.

Turkey's 'civilian' government has a vicious record of repression against internal opposition and has continued its ruthless war against the Kurds.

Over 10,000 political prisoners, opposition activists, trade unionists and Kurdish freedom fighters are held in inhuman conditions.

Last December, the military crushed a protest by the prisoners against the introduction of 'F'-type prisons, which are portrayed as a modernisation of prison conditions.

In fact, the new prison regimes limit free association and include the routine use of solitary confinement and torture to break the prisoners. 30 prisoners were killed during this crackdown.

The prisoners are presently conducting a hunger strike, a 'death fast', against their conditions, in which over 50 have died to date. Some are serving 100-year sentences with no hope of remission.

Meanwhile, Turkish workers and poor peasants face an unremitting attack on their living standards as the economy goes into deeper crisis. Since the collapse of the currency in February over 500,000 jobs have been lost. The economy faces an even deeper recession than that after the crash of 1997. And this is before the effects of a more generalised world downturn are felt.

There was already widespread discontent among Turkish people before this latest turn of events. The government has been swallowing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 'medicine' for some time and is also preparing for entry to the European Union. All of this has meant cuts in state spending, retrenchment and privatisation.

Workers' action

Anger against the measures led to mass protests by workers and rural labourers, but also by small businessmen and traders, shopkeepers and taxi-drivers. On 8 March (International Women's Day), there was a demo of 50,000 women workers against IMF budgetary cuts.

Turkey is already an embarrassment to the European Union leaders. As a candidate member it is pledged to improve its human rights record and to introduce democratic reforms.

However, a coalition which includes the extreme right MHP, (linked to the fascist Grey Wolves terrorist gangs), with the military always waiting in the wings, and faced with a mass opposition from its own people, is unlikely to be able to deliver.

Turkey's fragmented Left is faced with the opportunity of placing itself at the head of the anti-government movement. The solidarity campaign for the political prisoners has brought a limited unity in action by the various communist, socialist and workers' parties.

If the Left could unite around common political, social and economic demands, a movement could be forged to challenge the regime's austerity programme and fight for a democratic and socialist solution to the crisis.

Shut down the F-type prisons - free the political prisoners.

Lift the ban on opposition political parties.

End arms sales and military ties with the Turkish regime.

Self-determination for the Kurdish people.

Mass workers' action to smash the government/IMF attacks on living standards.

Stop The Ilisu Dam!

THE BUILDING of the Ilisu dam in south-east Turkey will lead to the forcible eviction of nearly 50,000 people, mainly Kurds.

The British government's Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) plans to underwrite construction firm Balfour Beatty's work in the dam, using $200 million of taxpayers money.

To this government, trade links with the Turkish government are more important than investing in schools and hospitals.

Since 1984 the region has seen over 30,000 people killed and 3,000 villages disappear, following an armed conflict in the area between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish state. Human rights abuses in the area range from extra-judicial killings to torture, rape and disappearances.

In this context, the building of the dam is a further attack on the Kurdish people. It will also be an environmental disaster, flooding villages and depriving areas downstream of vital water supplies. Yet, alternative energy supplies exist which the Turkish government is refusing to consider.

Thousands of refugees will be created as result of the dam but the British government won't provide them a safe haven here.

Now, doubts have emerged within government circles about British involvement in the project given Turkey's appalling human rights record and the ability of the Turkish economy to support the project.

Years of campaigning are now beginning to have an effect, in which British trade unionists have played a crucial role - in particular, the railworkers' union RMT and the construction union UCATT.

The Ilisu dam campaign will continue to work to end all British involvement with the dam.

JUST TWO decades after the 1981 riots, clashes such as those in Bradford last weekend show the deepening anger and bitterness amongst Britain's Asian population about hostile policing, racist attacks and poor social conditions. RAPH PARKINSON (UNISON National Executive Council and North West UNISON Black Members' Committee - personal capacity) looks at the issues affecting Black and Asian people in Britain today and how to build a united mass movement against racism.

DURING THE last few months we have seen disturbances across Lancashire and now Yorkshire with British born Asian youth battling on the streets with white youth and the police. These riots are taking place almost exactly 20 years after the riots in Brixton, Toxteth and Bristol.

What are the main differences between the incidents during the 1980s and current developments? At the time of the 1980s riots the mainstream press screamed about 'race riots'.

In reality, while those riots took place in inner-city areas with large black and Asian populations, they were not race riots. Rather, they were explosions of anger at poverty, unemployment, and, most immediately, brutal racist policing policies.

While it was primarily young black people involved, the focus of anger was against the police, and substantial numbers of white youths also rioted alongside young blacks.

Today the Financial Times, newspaper of the British capitalists, admits the nature of the riots of 20 years ago and draws a contrast with recent events when they say: "But the 1980s riots took the form of a violent revolt against heavy and discriminatory policing. Street fighting between racial groups on this scale [of the recent riots] has not been seen since the 1950s."

Many of the underlying reasons for the recent riots are similar to those of 20 years ago. In the ex-mill towns of Lancashire high unemployment, poor housing and hostile policing have resulted in widespread anger and resentment among all communities - Asian and white. However, this is being expressed differently to the way it was 20 years ago.

Segregation increasing

IN OLDHAM, in particular, there is a high degree of segregation between different communities. For example, one school in Glodwick has a 98% Bangledeshi roll. Oldham council's own figures show that Asians have been discriminated against in public housing; spending longer on waiting lists, often being offered lower quality housing, and being segregated on specific estates.

This has played a significant role in the segregation of Oldham. A supplementary role has been played by estate agents that have been found to be limiting the areas where Asians could buy.

The segregation is not between a rich and a poor community. The destruction of manufacturing industry has left both communities among the most deprived in the country. In this situation the neo-Nazi British National Party (BNP) have stepped in to attempt to stir up racism.

The lack of service provision, poor housing and unemployment, combined with the failure of all the mainstream parties to offer a solution, has created fertile ground for the BNP to put across their simple solutions to white working-class youth, who feel ignored by both central and local government.

The public statements made leading up to the general election by leading New Labour and Tory politicians around asylum and immigration issues added fuel to the neo-Nazis' propaganda.

The Observer newspaper (1 July) reported that eleven organisations have produced a damning report to the UN Human Rights Committee. They say that politicians and the media have encouraged racist hostility in their public attitudes towards asylum seekers.

These politicians must therefore share the blame for what is currently taking place and should take steps to prevent these disturbances spreading across the country.

Asian fightback

THE REACTION and fightback from within the Asian community has surprised most people. The older generation of the Asian community are stereotyped as being passive and subservient.

However, second and third generation youth are as militant as the black youth during the 1980s and prepared to defend their communities against the racists and the lack of support from the police.

Twenty years on I don't believe that the defence of black communities will be left just to bricks and stones. We need a response based on labour movement and community residents' united action and self-organisation.

We need a struggle that links the fight against racism to the fight for decent, well-paid jobs and affordable housing.

The role that could be played by the trade union movement was highlighted at UNISON conference where an emergency motion was supported unanimously calling for a demonstration to be held during the autumn in greater Manchester.

Socialist Party and other United Left members played a leading role in putting this motion together. We must now fight to ensure that this policy is not allowed to remain on paper, but is acted on and is a success.

UNISON members should be made aware of this demonstration and other trade unions and trades councils should be approached for support. We also build for the demonstration among the public - at schools, colleges and in communities.

The issue of racism is now starting to be addressed within UNISON and as part of an action plan developed by officers and supported by the National Executive Council.

In November 2000 UNISON asked the Labour Research Department undertake a survey of employers of UNISON members and of UNISON branches to see how they had responded to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report.

End discrimination

The aim of the survey was to identify good practice, which UNISON could then use in its negotiations with other employers. The results of both this and another survey show that ethnic minorities are under-represented in many UNISON-organised workplaces, and that only a third of employers had changed their policy in the light of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry report.

I believe that the findings of this report would be quite similar if other unions conducted a similar type of exercise. However, it is not enough for the union leaders to document racism, we also need a fight against it.

To be effective, this must be done alongside a battle to defend and improve the wages and conditions of all union members.

Twenty years on since the inner-city riots it may be true to say that we now have more Black and Asian members of the police as well as more Black MPs and national trade union officials.

However 40% of black children live in poverty, 56% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi children live in poverty. In inner city areas up to a third of black youths are unemployed. Black and Asian workers earn three-quarters of the average wage of whites. Black and Asian workers continue to be bullied at work.

New Labour's minimum wage hasn't lifted anyone out of poverty, so-called economic success has meant increased exploitation of Blacks and Asians.

Children from Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin leave school under-achieving by 20%. In fact school harms Caribbean children who arrive at school achieving 20% higher than the average.

Black children are three times more likely to be excluded and are less likely to be selected for GCSE exams. A narrow curriculum pushing children to the limits so that schools can climb league tables is damaging black children's educational opportunities.

The Socialist Party campaigns against exploitation of all workers. For example, we have organised workers to fight against poverty pay, privatisation of housing estates and school closures.

The Socialist 13 July 2001	Unite Against Racism
Unite Against Racism	Police tactics spark Bradford riots Exclusive eye-witness reports We call upon the trade unions to name the day for a national demonstration against racism. For a socialist programme to eradicate the causes of racism by providing decent jobs and homes for all and ending poverty and unemployment. ALMOST 20 years to the day after Britain's cities simultaneously erupted against the policies of Thatcher's Tory government, there has been a series of explosions revealing the simmering anger against Blair's Britain. The press portrayed the recent events in Bradford as race riots - the reality is that these uprisings have primarily been against the racist far-right Nazi menace and racist policing. They have also been an outbreak of frustrated anger against the reality of life for whole sections of society in Britain today - both black and white. See Also: Racist Match That Sparked Growing Anger Racism: Oppose The Bosses' Divide And Rule
Racist Match That Sparked Growing Anger	What We Think: LABOUR HAS been quick to provide its knee-jerk solution to the recent inner-city riots; bring out the water cannon. Ignoring the real nature of events, Blair and his cabinet have blamed all the recent riots on 'mindless thuggery'. This response will provoke even greater anger among Britain's ethnic minority communities. See Also Unite Against Racism Racism: Oppose The Bosses' Divide And Rule
Firefighters: Defend Public Services	Support the Merseyside firefighters: MERSEYSIDE FIREFIGHTERS have voted by a 82.7% majority for strike action. Chief fire officer, Malcolm Saunders and the Merseyside Fire Authority want to recruit non-uniformed staff directly into uniformed management positions. Currently all uniformed officers have to start as firefighters. Pete Glover and Matt Wrack
Tories: Lilley The Pinko?	PETER LILLEY and the right wing London Evening Standard and Telegraph, leading members of the Tories, more often seen as the party which locks people up, have called for the legalisation of cannabis. By Jane James This follows on from Brixton police effectively decriminalising cannabis - people found with small amounts of the drug will no longer be prosecuted. The government has told customs officials and police to give up hunting for cannabis smugglers and dealers.
Northern Ireland: Sliding Into Sectarian Conflict	Northern Ireland 'peace process': 'PEACE PROCESS' is fast becoming a misnomer to describe what is happening in Northern Ireland. Trimble's resignation as First Minister has put the future of the Assembly and therefore of the Good Friday Agreement in doubt. Peter Hadden, Belfast Killed For Being A Catholic
Solidarity with Turkish political prisoners	THE CURRENT economic crisis in Turkey adds to the horrific repression already suffered by the Turkish and Kurdish people. By Keith Pattenden. Turkey's 'civilian' government has a vicious record of repression against internal opposition and has continued its ruthless war against the Kurds. Stop The Ilisu Dam!
Racism: Oppose The Bosses' Divide And Rule	JUST TWO decades after the 1981 riots, clashes such as those in Bradford last weekend show the deepening anger and bitterness amongst Britain's Asian population about hostile policing, racist attacks and poor social conditions. RAPH PARKINSON (UNISON National Executive Council and North West UNISON Black Members' Committee - personal capacity) looks at the issues affecting Black and Asian people in Britain today and how to build a united mass movement against racism. See Also: Unite Against Racism Racist Match That Sparked Growing Anger

Unite Against Racism

Police tactics spark Bradford riots -- Eye-witness reports