SHOUTS OF "HANDS OFF VIETNAM" DROWN OUT LABOUR SPEAKER
Representatives of the Labour government who appeared as speakers at May Day meetings in Britain did not fare well. The main reason was their brazen persistence in defending the U.S. imperialist attack on Vietnam,
Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart was drowned out, loudspeaker and all, by hecklers in Hyde Park, The reporter of the Guardian, who has very good ears indeed, got him down as saying, “South Vietnam with its frontiers guaranteed...relationship between West and China oe ePresident . Johnson. ..T. am not going to be deterred by that sort of argument. w
However, Stewart finally gave up and sat down ath a very white face." | .
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"tHands | off Vietnam,! said the reporter, "was the - chant which destroyéd him, varied with cries of 'Condemn the napalm bombing! and 'Pockets of the Yankees,'"
Bessie Braddock then made a try at it, but did little better. She wound up appealing for three rousing cheers to lift off the roof of the Hilton Hotel. "This was a tactical error. The Hilton Hotel may indeed have been shaken, but it was again with inmense chants of 'Hands off Vietnam, 1"
In Hull Prime Minister Harold Wilson likewise ran into trouble at a May Day rally.” Hecklers kept shouting slogans about Vietnam outside the hall before the meeting. Inside, Wilson tried to defend his belly-crawling at Johnson's feet by claiming that he was trying to get the conflicting forces in Vietnam "round the table to discuss ways and means,"
In the London May Day march, the best impression was made by the Young Socialists. They had the most colorful and picturesque banners and floats and displayed the most enthusiasm, Six of them carried a coffin with a pensioner inside. The legend read, "This pensioner couldn't wait six months for his 12s 6d,"
Among the banners carried by the Young Socialists on “Vietnam, prominent display was given to "All power to the Vietcong."
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JOHNSON'S WAR