Every SWP member has to throw themselves whole-heartedly into opposing this war.
Repeatedly the point was made on BBC News 24 yesterday that there is much greater opposition to this war than was the case in the Gulf in 1990-91 or in Kosovo. That’s true both here & across the globe.
There will be seething anger across the Middle East & in Pakistan at this naked imperialist aggression and the complicity of the local regimes.
In Britain there is a much bigger base on which to build an anti-war movement at the beginning of this war than on previous such occasions.
The SWP has to throw itself into building this evening’s vigils, Saturday’s demonstrations in Glasgow & London & a mass Stop the War Coalition.
This morning we leafleted 7 tube stations across North London (11 SWs sold). In Waltham Forest we leafleted Leyton & Walthamstow tubes (6 SWs & 2 SRs & 13 SWs at Walthamstow). Across the country it was the same story.
We have to help drive the Stop the War Coalition down into the grass roots by building meetings in localities, in colleges & schools, workplaces etc.
Within that we must also build a revolutionary pole of attraction. The Stop the War Coalition has to unite wide forces around the simple slogan of Stop the War.
Demands that we should advocate a UN backed international court are divisive. Not only would we oppose it but across the Third World it would be meet with derision given the UN’s role in launching the Gulf War, imposing Iraqi sanctions, the US intervention in Somalia etc.
Get local groups to affiliate to the national Stop the War Coalition. Ring 07951 235915 or write to STWC, PO Box 3739, London, E5 8EJ.
Student Coalition Against The war National Meeting 26/27 October SOAS, London.

The Locomotive Must Pull The Carriages
In the mid-1970s the cutting edge of the organisation were the workplace branches but the majority of comrades could not be active in them. They were on local groups.
The point was that the workplace groups (& the student groups) were the engine pulling the rest of the train.
Comrades were enthused by the success of the factory branches to build locally where they lived.
Today the student, school student & workplace groups are very much at the cutting edge of what we are doing but we cannot afford to simply concentrate on them at the expense of the rest, the majority of members. They too need to be the engine pulling the rest of the train.
In addition to workplace based & college groups we need to give the green light to comrades to build Stop the War groups locally where they live, work or study.
There is a wealth of experience from building locally round the poll tax, the Gulf War etc. which we need to unleash.
Where we are building a Stop the War group there should be a SWP Group in the locality, the workplace, school or college organising SW sales. These need to meet weekly – on a Wednesday evening – to discuss our work locally & to organise distribution of SW.
We should be imaginative about where we organise SWP Groups. In London we have now got a Middle Eastern Group which is running a series of forums on Middle Eastern politics on Thursday evenings at ULU. In south London one suggestion was a group to work round the Spanish & Portuguese community in North Lambeth.
We need to set up SWP groups in areas like Green Street, Whitechapel & Brick Lane in East London, Sparkbrook & Handsworth in Birmingham, Manningham in Bradford etc. to help initiate broad based StW Coalitions locally.
Similarly we need SWP school student groups organised in every area to help build a mass movement in the high schools & 6th Forms.

Stop The War Coalition Spreads
450 people (& a Panorama film crew) attended the Birmingham Stop the War meeting. This was the biggest political meeting in Birmingham since the miner’s strike. 4 people were recruited. Groups are being set up over the city. Artists Against the War group have organised a brilliant fundraiser in Birmingham’s premier black arts centre. People want to get organised: one telephone call to Central Mosque resulted in them providing three free double decker coaches for Saturday's demo (in addition to CND's two coaches).
250 came to the first Stop the War meeting at SOAS on Wednesday & 90 at UCL.
46 BBC workers came to a Stop the War meeting at London TV Centre. 15 SWs were sold & 5 Socialist Reviews.
65 came to the Guildford StW Coalition meeting & 50 to the Walsall meeting. 100 came to the Stockport StW meeting & they are organising a coach for Saturday’s demo. 120 came to StW meeting in Leytonstone Library with Bruce Kent.
On Saturday 100 people held a vigil Dulwich & Peckham Stop the War Coalition. 20 people in Shrewsbury have bought tickets for the coach to Saturday’s demo.
17 people came to a meeting of Waltham Forest social service workers at the Russell Road building workers. 10 SWs were sold. 10 came to the StW meeting at Mile End Hospital.