a tai atts. igs =a

eae one SNR IT

‘black day

for Britain

“PTYHIS is a black day for Bri-

tain and for the labor

movement,” said John
Gollan speaking on Prime Min-
ister Wilson’s cutbacks in the
social welfare scheme.

Wilson announced increases
in National Health Service pay-
ments, intreases in medical pay-
ments in areas of dental and
prescriptions, cuts in free milk
to school children, cutbacks in
public housing, tax increases to
match family allowance increas-
es and a postponement for the
raising of the compulsory school
leaving age from 15 to 16.

On the question of cutbacks in
the arms budget and defense,
minimal cuts were made not to
really effect the budget until the
70’s, unlike the social welfare
cuts which will be effective im-
mediately.

e

Gallan stated these savage
cuts are totally irrelevant to the
cause of Britain’s, difficulties.

He said these benefits were

A letter from families of Greek
political prisoners and Exiles
to people of goodwill on Earth.
Permit us once again to ad-

dr@ss’ you and to tell you about

the torment which we are ex-
periencing these days. Before
whom else can we open our

hearts when everywhere around’

us we see the swords of our tor-
mentors; when the jackpots of
the black colonels, those crue]
foreign lackeys, are mercilessly
crushing freedom and any voice
_ Of protest? To whom else but to
people of goodwill can a mother
turn, with her heart-rending sto-
ry of banishment ‘to a lifeless
island, deprived of the sacred
right of nursing her baby; or a
young wife, whose husband has
been taken away from her? The
mother and wife of a champion
of the National Resistance Move-
ment, who waited 20 long years
for the return of their son and
husband, and whom the neo-
fascists once again took away
from them?

Who will hear the weeping of
the mother of a murdered young
fighter; the sobbing of a~20-
year-old girl, dishonored when
being subjected to violent tor-
ture; the tragic story of chil-
dren, aroused in their cots for

not the real cause of Britain’s
trouble. “It is,’ he said, “the
disastrous policies of successive
governments, including the labor
government, that have produced
crises,

“Every government since the
war has attacked the people’s
living standards in the name of
solving the crisis. Far from do-
ing so, this has only aggravated
it. It will be the same this time.

“The defense cuts that have
been announced will not be-
come really effective until 1970,
but our living standards are be-
ing slashed now.”

°

Strong reaction to Wilson’s
cuts have been filed throughout
the labor movement and within
the Labor Party itself.

Immediate criticism came
from George Woodcock, general
secretary of the Trades Union
Congress:

“It is socially undesirable to

- Make it more difficult for peo-

ple to get drugs when they need

the hundredth time at night by
junta sleuths searching their
homes?

All the doors to kindness are
shut tight in this wonderful
country. Fear and horror prevail
everywhere.

At a moment when the world
‘is solemnly marking the anni-
versary of the signing of the
Universal Declaration of Hu-
man Rights, and when Pope Paul
VI proposed that the first day
of the New Year be proclaimed
as International Peace Day, the
noose, which has been thrown
around the neck of the people
of our country by those who
stole our joys, who are tramp-
ling our human dignity, who are
encroaching on the happiness of
our children, erasing the smile
on their faces, clipping their
wings, and squashing their
dreams, is being tightened more
and more.

People of the earth! Don’t re-
main indifferent to our suffer-
ings! Relieve us of them! Pass
On Our tragic message to all
parts of the globe and rise, to-
gether with us, against our ex-

ecutions!

Our patience is exhausted.
Anger sears our hearts! Enough
of this bloodshed; May the

them. I think this is put in to
satisfy those who think that if

you punish the British people,
this is good for international
confidence.”

Miner’s general secretary Will
Paynter said that all cuts in

military spending were to be

welcomed, but the latest bur-
dens on the social service side

had to be added to those which

had been put on over recent
years,

“This is bound to result in a
lowering of living standards and
it is bound to intensify the strug-
gle in industry for increased
wages to counter the rising cost
of living.”

Mr. Frank Cousins, transport .

workers’ leader, said: “I shall
not be prepared to’ accept any
worsening of the standard of
living of my members—particu-
larly as these cuts are concen-
trated on the social services.”

@
In the Labor Party Wilson
faces resignations from some of

May the doors of the secret
police dungeons be closed for-
ever. There is plenty of land for
everyone on earth. Everyone is
entitled to joy and creative
effort.

Heed the voices of our -chil-
dren, whose sole request is to
return their dear father and mo-
ther to them, to bring back hap-
piness and caresses to them.
Heed the voice of our long-
suffering, unyielding people,
who have only one wish, to be
the masters in their own coun-
try. Help us today to block the
way to fascism. By doing this,
you will create prerequisites for
the peaceful and happy future of
your children; for the children
of the entire world. Side with us
in the fight for democracy and
freedom.

We pledge to carry high the
banner of anti-fascist, anti-
dictatorial struggle all the way
to ultimate victory, all the way
to the overthrow of the hated
junta and the restoration of de-
mocracy in our country.

We thank you.

The families of political
prisoners and exiles.

Salonikin, December, 1967.

hands of the butchers wither.

a

WELFARE.

“It’s over. .

+ and that's one consolation as they says ins Turkey, when

they cuts the wrong man's head off.”

his ministers and government
members.

Lord Langford, Labor Leader
in the Lords and Lord Privy
Seal, in his letter of resignation
to Mr. Wilson, said the school-
age decision was “sharply op-
posed to the long-term policy
and fundamental ideals of our
party and the pledge we gave as
recently as last September.”

In an obvious move to seize
the initiative, right-wing M.P.s
rushed in a motion for support
of the government policy and
the package of cuts.

Left M.P.’s were busy gather-
ing support for their alternative
policy which would make social

—Pickwick Papers

Service cuts unnecessary.
°

John Gollan concluded with
this: ;

“A Labor government has
done what the Tories never
dared to do. There is only one
way to answer them. The whole
working people must organize
the biggest possible fight back
to defeat these savage attacks—

-inside and outside parliament. -_

“Trade unionists, tenants and
pensioners, young people — all
must go into battle to save the
social services, halt the attack
on wages and defeat policies
that spell disaster for Britain.”

Bert Whyte

MOSCOW

Moscow newspapers promin-
ently featured a statement that
the CPSU has accepted an invi-
tation to attend the consultative
meeting in Budapest on February
26, where fraternal parties will

prepare for another world Com-

munist forum.

The CPSU has long advocated
this international meeting and in
recent months more than 70
Communist and Workers’ parties
have come out in favor of it, in-
cluding the powerful Communist
Party of Italy which in the past
Opposed the proposal on the
grounds that the time was not
ripe.

The Chinese and Albanian par-
ties are not expected to attend
and some capitalist newspapers,
including the Times, speculate
that the Yugoslav and Rumani-
an parties may absent themselv-
es. But it is certain that the
overwhelming majority of the
Communist and Workers’ parties
will take part in the conference,

U.S. atomic war ships sail to Japan

SQUADRON of American
atomic warships with the
Enterprise aircraft carrier at its
head—the core of the aggressive
U.S. 7th Fleet operating directly
at the Vietnam coast—is sailing
towards the shores of Japan. It
is far from being the first visit
of these atomic death bearers to
the ports of Japan. Each such
visit rouses a steadily growing
movement of protest among the
country’s public at large.
The present visit of atomic
vessels acquires a special mean-
ing. The point is that the ruling

_ Circles ..of.. Japan have lately

i

FEBRUARY:

made an obvious turn towards
rendering a more active support.
to the adventurist course of the
United States in Asia. In this
light, the visit of the American
Squadron to the Japanese port
serves as a demonstration, as it
were, of the growing “mutual
understanding” between the bel-
licose circles of Washington and
Tokyo in the sphere of military
policies in this area of the world.

But that is not all yet. The
more and more frequent visits
of American atomic vessels to
Japanese ports

dS ea id

_ re: arriving , from; all parts. cf,

the aim of making, whatever it
may cost it, the Japanese people
accustomed to the idea of the
“Gnevitability” of the steady
transformation of Japan into a
U.S. atomic base.

Realizing the danger of Wash-
ington’s schemes, mass working-
class organizations, the Commu-
nist and Socialist Parties and
many other democratic organiza-
tions have joined the movement
of protest against the American
atomic squadron dropping an-
chor at Japanese ports.

Representatives of the public

;Muclear weapons, |, ,, «;)..

Japan in Sasebo where the En-
terprise aircraft carrier is to
drop anchor. The general sec-
retaries of ‘the Communist, So-
cialist and Komeito Parties, the
latter uniting people on a reli-
gious basis, gathered to a special
conference. After it, they de-
clared that these three parties
were against the import of any
nuclear weapons into the country
and against the visit of the En-
terprise and other U.S. atomic
vessels to Japanese ports. They
came out against the equipment
of Japanese armed forces with

the first since 1960.

Thé attitude of the CPSU is.

that the international gathering
should concentrate on positive
tasks. “The meeting must not
be a disciplinary court or an
ecumenical council, authorized
to excommunicate someone from
the Communist movement,” says
an article in Communist, the
theoretical and political maga-
zine of the CPSU Central Com-
mittee. “Its purpose must be
cohesion for the sake of the
supreme interests of the work-
ing Class, for struggle against
imperialism and threat of war,
for défense of the interests of
the working people.” —

The magazine notes that since
1960 many new problems have
arisen that call for a solution
It points to the activization of
imperialist forces, escalation of
U.S. aggression in Vietnam, mili-
tary provocations against Laos
and Cambodia, dangerous situ-

ation in the Middle East, resurg-

ence of neo-fascist revenge-seek-
ing forces in the Federal Repub-
lic of Germany and provocations
around Cuba. .

“The present difficulties en-
countered by the Communist

movement will undoubtedly be |

overcome in the long run on the
tried and tested basis of Marx-
ism-Leninism and the principles
of proletarian internationalism,”
Communist stresses. :
The article concludes: “Marx-
ist-Leninists cannot — reconcile
themselves to departures from
the principles of proletarian in-
ternationalism and manifesta-.
tions of national narrowness and
exclusiveness. Equally needed is
a decisive rebuff to any attempts
to impose one’s opinion on oth-
ers, to any claims to hegemony
in the world revolutionary move-
ment, claims which, in turn,
lead only to division and weaken
the positions of Communists in

‘y,'eovthe face of the class enemy.” ,....

abe gs ne ged: a xO eres oa ne oe i ee

a. 4

Fo iil Aa

pp pies oe aoe ran

nro a

aQraae => a=>