Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! No. 1, November/December 1979
The announcement of a joint Provisional Sinn Fein/Bristol RCG meeting on 16 October to mobilise support for Sinn Fein’s 20 October demonstration was greeted by a hysterical outburst in the local press, aimed to whip up the right wing. ‘Storm erupts in city over IRA show’ screamed a headline in The Bristol Journal of 12 October.
What has been the role of those staunch ‘anti-fascists’, the Anti-Nazi League? Having previously agreed to send stewards to the meeting, the ANL reversed its decision on the day of the meeting itself. And why? According to the ANL member who informed us of the decision by phone, they had heard from a reliable source that a gang of thugs from the Army — the Gloucester regiment — were planning to attack the meeting. The ANL were not, as a result, sending anybody to the meeting, as they were not prepared to be beaten up by the army. The RCG, it was pointed out, should expect this sort of thing if we hold such meetings.
