(Cont'd.)
The important achievement was this break-through in attitude by the anti-war movement. The next protest cannot move backwards; a solid position has been reached, and it is from this point that future activities must advance. It is not an exaggeration to say that last Sunday saw a leap forward in the consciousness of the anti-war movement, No future Vietnam demonstrations can be effective on anything less than a solidarity platform, and no future march into Grosvenor Square will be satisfied with standing in the streets around the Square. Once the march had broken into the gardens, it took on a momentum of its own. That is why it is, perhaps, a little irrelevant at this stage for us to talk of tactics; the talk, the on-going movement, must be concerned with the strategy of the struggle. Tactics in demonstrations such as these will develop with a large degree of spontaneity once people learn to go prepared; the impotence of hurling lumps of turf at the Embassy is unlikely to be repeated. The way in which the police line was broken, and the manner in which individuals were time and again seized back from the police to prevent arrests, are evidence of how pointless were the discussions on tactics that took place before the demonstration. The vital tactics were improvised. The real task for the anti-war movement now is to bring more people out on marches, for advances in tactics will only really follow with advances in numbers. 20,000 people in solidarity demonstration will produce militant tactics of their own. It is the number of people and the strength of their beliefs which will determine the nature of future activities. We must concern ourselves with the strategy which will bring more people out on solidarity demonstrations. In addition to spreading the solidarity case, which has been V.S.C's principal activity, an advance must be made into the trade union field by extending the arguments about the totality of the struggle against imperialism. It is not sufficient just to shout 'Vietnam- Bolivia~Mytons: One struggle'; the anti-imperialist movement must concern itself far more with the rising industrial militancy in this country, must give it its active support, and must try to show how that militancy must be seen in a fuller context. As I said earlier, it is to be hoped that the V.S.C. trade union conference in December will be one step in this direction. Sunday 22nd October was a day of great importance for the anti-war movement in this country. As David Robinson said, it is not the end of a struggle but the start of one. Solidarity has been established as the position of that movement. The need now is for aysbroad front of support behind that radical slogan.