28.03.2002

Crow injects controversy

Over a thousand people packed into the Camden Centre on March 26 to hear an array of speakers, including Tony Benn and Bob Crow, address a pre-demonstration rally organised by the Stop the War Coalition (STWC). With the March 30 rally and demo now aimed at opposing US plans to bomb Saddam Hussein into submission, the stage was draped with a banner inscribed with the slogan, 'Don't attack Iraq'. Bruce Kent from CND began the evening by declaring that any attack on Iraq would be illegal and called on the US to abide by UN conventions. He was followed by Shaheedah Vawda, who was speaking on behalf of the muslim grouping, Just Peace. She said that her faith had been ijacked by fundamentalists and called for the joint CND/STWC petition against the imminent war against Iraq to be distributed and used by all opponents of the imperialists. Mark Steele attacked the hypocrisy of Bush's international policy. He was also critical of those leftwingers in the Labour Party who said they were pacifists but had refused to come out against the war on Afghanistan. But, while he made some important and acerbic criticisms, it was all too one-sided. It is all very well to criticise the main imperialist enemy, but, unless this is matched by a condemnation of regimes like the Taliban or that currently existing under Saddam Hussein, the result will be less than effective in that it will seen as an attempt to alibi those regimes. Jeremy Corbyn and Louise Christian called for an end to attacks on civil liberties. Comrade Corbyn reported that 124 MPs had now signed an early day motion against the bombing of Iraq. He talked of the need to put pressure on parliament for peace and justice. Comrade Christian called for the Geneva Convention to be upheld and condemned the regime at Camp X-Ray, where ordinary soldiers, not commanders, were being made to pay. She described the inhumane conditions in which these young men are being held without any rights to see their lawyer. The highlight of the evening came when Bob Crow, newly elected general secretary of the RMT, came to the microphone. He declared that his union had come out against the war and demanded that John Monks and the TUC do the same. The same call should go out at all the forthcoming trade union conferences. He condemned a system that can find billions for war , while no money can be found for safety measures on the railway. He said that he had been brought up on "peace and socialism" and that our task was to convince the working class that it was no advantage to them to fight for Bush and Blair. He announced that he was going to be controversial and said he believed that if the Soviet Union had still been around today none of this would be happening. Bush would never be able to move his military machine around the world as he can today. This brought a muted round of applause, with a number of Socialist Workers Party members looking distinctly embarrassed. It is true that the Soviet Union acted as a counterbalance to US imperialism. But whether, as Bob certainly appeared to think, it played a progressive role in the interests of the working class is a very different matter. However, at least he put his cards on the table and stated his political beliefs before an audience most of whom would describe the Soviet Union as state-capitalist. Tony Benn finished off the evening with an exhortation on all those involved in the campaign to make it as broad as possible. He spoke about the differences of opinion within the coalition, but argued that we need to reach out to those people who are currently under the influence of the pro-war media. He repeated his call, first made in Trafalgar Square on March 2, for a one-hour stoppage on the day that the war begins. Comrade Crow had earlier made the same call. Anne Mc Shane