The upholding of a bourgeois court of Colin Jordan's appeal against sentences passed on him and Tyndall shows again how carefully and skilfully the ruling class preserves, while not counteiancing, the reserve fighting force which it may still have to use in the event of growth of the liarxist Left in conditions of economic blitzkrieg. This little incident should serve at least to shatter the illusions of those who still pin their faith in the capitalist executive and judiciary as organs for the effective suppression of fascist bodies.
liarxists must drive home to every section of the Labour lMovement the lesson that only the strength of the working class can smash fascism. Other people —- liberal-iinded persons, racial and religious minorities, muscular Christains and the like --— can and must be won for an anti-fascist campaign, but the bedrock must be the organised workers! movement, and it is our job to help straighten out the thinking on this question and to get things properly movinge
Does this mean that, where the Labour Movement is in "control" (however limited the form of that "control"), say of a local council or educational authority, it should abstain from making whatever use is possible even of the machinery of bourgeois government? On the contrary, while taking care not to rely on such "legalistic" methods, covery advantage which they present should be seized upon and utilised to the full. The undeniable fact that the ruling class will retaliate against the Left by using Fascist provocations as the excuse to ban Left meetings and marches, and dismiss Left-wingers from jobs, does not affect the issue, Since when,Fascism or no Fascism, have Left-wingers not bcen dismissed when they have presented a serious threat on a vital sector?
This class issue can be approached only on class lines. It is no concession to emotionalism to congratulate the Coventry authorities, Labour-—controlled and under working-class pressure, for the job they did on Jordan. When defending Leftists similarly dismissed, we fight not as middle-class Liberals in defence of some abstract concept of freedom, but as champions of members of the working class who have been victimised on the job. Only by clearing our minds of liber~ tarian cant will we achieve clarity on this question as a prelude to necessary organised action.