The thrill of victory — Patrice Donnelly, Mariel Hemingway and Jodi Anderson in 'Personal Best'. WE FELT we had to write to Socialist Action to protest strongly at the absence of coverage of the week-long blockade at Greenham in the issue of the paper coinciding with the action.
The national press were clearly determined to only give the events at reemen coverage, always emphasising the success of the police tactics.
It was a pity that Socialist Action, which has had a high reputation for consistent reporting on Greenham, could only manage one short article on page five we tell tnal tne event. at Greenham merited the front page, but if not, they at least deserved a high level of coverage inside the paper While we do not think that blockades are the answer to stopping the missiles this does not justify ignoring them wiel wey occur:
Particularly when no other forces in CND or the labour movement are organising any other kind of action against the Indeed, the week of better by deployed for without actually advancing the cause tor which the committee was originally established.
proposed to create will be a purely British organisation, and obviously this cannot aspire to direct a European movement. • Many of the members of the British committee do not seek any such European role, but there is sufficient ambiguity about the proposals to cause unnecessary confusion The strength of END in Britain lies in the many groupings to which it has given birth. These now have an independent life as the europear perspective within the overal disarmament movement and as the British input to a growing range of European latera committees It was always envisaged that lateral committees (of Churches, trade unions, women's groups, protessional bodies) i would grow to torm links on a curopean scale, but it is not at all evident that such work of international liaison derives any practical support from a purely national framework.
there is a danger that such a framework may lead its supporters into a decame l 'style of work, submitting 'expronouncements for real Calcula exchange and dialogue.
For these reasons, we the blockades was just the time for Socialist Action to carry a serious article explaining its strategy for stopping cruise, in dialogue with the forces örganised around the blockades.
We hope that this absence of coverage is not the beginning of a trend in Socialist Action and that future events at Greenham will get the coverage they deserve Jude Woodward, Kay Bastin, Martine Bonadona It doesn't. See SA no 18 END leader EP Thompson do not wish to continue our formal association with the British END committee now that its character has been changed.
However, we remain al all limes reaay le exchange ideas with others interested in the original aims of the END Appeal, and will maintain all our contacts with the regional, local and lateral groupings with whom we have been privileged to carry on joint work up to The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation THE general election confirmed the fact that the Labour Party made a colossal mistake in using mass unemployment as the main issue. It ought to have made racism the main issue and the result would have been very enlightening ALBERT ELDER, Eastbourne
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Racism issue