The legal system of any country rests not on etornal principles but evolves over a long period into an instrument for preserving and protecting the existing property relations and their correspondiny social, economic and political institutions. Cxpitalist proporty reintions demuid a high degrce of 'sacurity', freedom of movement, personal protcction, vte., snd in the fight to achieve these and against feudal privilege, arbritarinoss, etc. the British lezal system acqui— red many 'democratic! features, We should use these fontures to their fullest and wage a struggle against any cneroachment on them, However, the highest prineiple of British legal systom, as of any other, is the preservation of the security of the state. This in turn is most undorstindabl.v, because the legal systom has no meaning at all other than tht which the power of the state standing behind it givesto it. Without the authority of the police, the armed forcos, the jails, etc. - in a phrase, the apparatus of the state - the loszal system would be merely a set of rules-on paper,
It is in this context we mst see the recent Old Bailey trial of members of the Committee of 100, Tho navnae, Soo hopens are not the quirk of the judge or of the 'sravity' of the offence but” SC bb vornmont policy, The Government cannot allow within its boundaries a challenge to the authovity of the state and has decided to smash the Committee of 100, maybe not at this stage as an organisation, but by hitting at individuals, That it why it used all its big guns, that is why prosecution was made under an ict which would involve a heavy sententc,
But the very viciousness of the sontences can in their turn lay the basis for a campaign for their revision. Some very surprising people signed the order paper of the House of Commons protest against them. Most British people have deep illusions about British justice, political freedom, cte. and we must use these illusions to build the widest campaign. By so doing we will not only be helping the actual campaign but also we will be helping to destroy these illusions. We can teach many people a very simple ksson - that despite the Govern— ment's assertion that nuclear weapons are necessary to preserve freedom, the real state of affairs is that freedom will havo to be destroyed to preserve nuclear weapons,
We cannot determine the form which the protest movement will take but we tust give maximum support and sesk to influence it in such a way that the class implications become apparent. We mst realise that this is only the start of a process — British capitalism declines the state will more and more be compelled to be more authoritarian. Concrotely, entry into the Common Tia1rket meets linking up with Germany, for instance, where unofficial strikers can be fined hundreds of pounds. We venture to suggest that British bosses will complain of ‘unfair comp etition' if they have not the same machinery to deal with their 'trouble—makcirs, §
By working hard on these lines we will, too, earn the respect of the members and supporters of the Committee of 100, We may have differences with these people, especially their attitude towards the Lebour Party, but of theix Sincority we can have no doubt. More important we must see the way they arc moving. It is of tf¥emendous political Significance that thousands of poople have broken with Parliamentary democracy in Britain This is the first that this has occurred since since tho days of the first world war shop stewards! movement or the pre 1914 war syndicalist movement. This important fact is not by any means ° always grasped by many on ths left,
P.J. Feb. 24th,