banners of 'social justice and 'peace'. It was not his lost him the battle.
regions, had not forgotten that it was under the SPD sides of thustryith both This tradition is carried on in Labour's slogan of 'national reconciliation'. The defeat of Fraser undoubtedly represents a vic. Lookers and a blowto ta for ment will expect measures Interes Hawke.
Already one of the key unions, the Builder's Labourer's Federation, has refused to call off its campaign of indistrial action for increaswages shorter municipal elections on 6 March showed a strong swing to the right — not because of much increase in the right wing vote, but because of left wing abstentions.
But in the second round on March the Socialist and Communist Parties persuaded most 01 the abstainers to return to the fold, pushing up their vote up to nearly 50 per irom a first round total of just 45 percent.
Municipal elections in France are an Dollarl test of general political opinion, WILl many ministers standing as candidates for local councils or as town mayors.
As a result of the right win sure third and parties Chirac Giscard won a number of major cities away from the The Communist Party did particularly badly, some losses.
For example, the Socialists lost control of Grenoble, , a town which has had a socialist ministration for 18 years In Paris, Lione secretary of the Socialist of Mitterand staunch ally was heavily defeated in the 18th arrondissement right winger Alain Juppe Without doubt this defeat is a judgement on the policies pursued by the government since it came to power two years ago The hopes of the left that Mitterand would implement sweeping socialist change have been dashed.
The government imposed a wage freeze 1982: savagely attacked workers and in the car industry; abandoned promise to reduce military to 6 months and service ploughed building up French nuclear weapons.
In this atmosphere of austerity, the government has become progressively less popular Mitterand is beginnin to pay the price for ad ministering the capitalist crisis rather than responding. it with radical socialist measures In the 80 or so towns where they stood, the far 'Voice of the And a sate supported by and a slate supported the ultra-sectarian PCIreceived a total of around percent (although this is a much lower percentage of the total national vote).
Given the rather large number of towns in which the far left was standing this fairly result. 8000 people attend Left campaign in Paris, ad leading figures on the slate Alain Krivine Arlette Laguiller.
cent trip to Ireland was a major blow against the media gag on the truth about British occupation of the six PHIL HEARSE CAROL TURNER spoke to him about his impressions of Belfast and the politics of The main line of attack of the right wing press and the media was that you restrict your visit Republican community?
Every political grouping except Sinn Fein and the IRA can come to London and put their case. I've heard the views of Paisley's Unionists, the Official Unionists, the Democratic and Labour Party St ordinate length in the press and on television That kind of coverage is just no afforded to Sinn Fein. there just to resolve some of your own para-military organisations bably have arranged an event which would nave to gain publicity for themselves and smear the visit. We minimised the risk of that by letting only a few people know that we were coming.
wnat we want to do councillors, MPs, Inense ves. We're hoping that get that ban on Sinn Fein lifted, so we can hold an open conterence nere al the Greater London Council at which all five parties can put their view. What were your impressions of the nationalist areas?
The scale of poverty and unemployment is worse than anvwhere else in Added to that systematic discrimination Catholics practised for centuries, particularly during the period when Stormont parliament was run by the Unionists.
Manv of the utopian groups the British left make bland uniting Crevot Denie generally specious campaign. But no one can avold the tact that it you are a Catholic you are two and a half times more likely to be unemployed than if you're a Protestant.
Although unemployment overall is 20 percent, within the male Catholic population it is over S0 percent. Anc on some of the estates in West Belfast 60-70 percent is not Northern counties.
Why did to the Democratic Social You need to g Protestant known is to get we'll the against the the on calls for Ken Livingstone some tion and poverty. bad housing that Bermondsey the area has beer needs of the military play areas and the lawns uncommon. cars travelling over them areas Their forts generally next playgrounds So there is systematic discriminaThere are tracts of make places like Falls look like monuments to imaginative architecture. Nothing can prepare you for just how bad it all is.
The effect of the war has been that adapted to meet the Almost all the churned up by tanks and armoured Each of the estates stands as if its move in the middle of a battleground. The British army have not, as we are told, stationed themselves between the two communities, but within the Catholic there have been built to schools or hospitals Their observation posts are perched on top working developments leftward My South.
presence.
presence.
Cullie because wiltone After Protestant detached, but socialist party.
British establishment.
This do after British withdrawal. Can things be moved in a direction?
guess Is lal nlish witnaraw vould see a maior re-alignment in th North in a very short period of time, certain v within two • or Inree years That would also spill over into the The political balance in the South ence To certain that affected British the split between Fianna Fail and Fine : Gael, the monopoly that those two parties have on the bulk of the • vote is a retlection of our continuing If we'd been out of Ireland for 50 years those two parties would have coalesced around a genuine Tory par allowed the growth socialist alternative.
There are major elements withir the Labour Party, the Workers Party and Sinn Fein in the South which could form the basis of a new politica grouping on the left. But that'll onl about wher Britain is OUl now all those groups are divided among themselves on Britist Britain announced its deci sion to withdraw some working clas opinion would become not going into da rel perhaps forming paralle How can we break the political log