I attended a mecting at the Queen's Commnity Centre on Saturday, 21st. July in Nottingham, which was addressed by a speaker from the legal division of the Jamaican Migration Department. Theo speakor started by saying that the Bill is now law, therefore one cannot argue against it but one should accept it. He then went on to say that the Bill was ‘humane! and that the British Government had nade legal history by accepting a concubine as a wife, i.e., the issue of a voucher to a 'common law' wife whose husband is a resident in Britain. After realising that the najority of people who were in attendance were not interested in his defence of imperialism and its legality, he decided that he would throw the nmecting open to discussion and questions.
The first question was about Carmen Bryan —- his answer was that he could not discuss it until aftor Monday, when pressed further. seid that the Bill was quite in order becouse Britain was a very small place 52 million people and there are over 500 million Commonwealth citizens. Did we think it fair to allow such a vast number of people free entry? A member of the audicnce related this to the number of people who would have free entry when Britain joined the Vonrion Market. The speaker's immediate reaction was that this was something for future discussion. From then on the marxist comrades who were in attendance knew thet the discussion mst tcke a political form if the non-political members of the audience were to achieve anything.
The marxist comrades started their argument by denouncing capitalism and the reactionary position that the speaker tock. The speaker replied that he was not prepared to accept the marxists' arguments and went on to defend the exp— loitation of the colonial people by foreign capitalism. One can view this meeting with deep concern because it outlines quite clearly that the strug,le for socialism is not just a question of replacing the white ruler in the colonies, but that it is a struggle which needs the unity of white and coloured workers to fight the united black anil white capitelists. Thirty odd copies of Carib were taken to the mesting and we sold out — we could have sold more.