In response to the report in Workers Vanguard No. 706 (5 February 1999) of a violent assault on Spartacist League/Britain comrade Eibhlin McDonald at a January 30 demonstration in London – in which in front of many other demonstrators Ian Donovan of Revolution & Truth struck McDonald in the face, causing a gash over her eye which required medical attention – the  League for the Fourth International denounces this vile assault and all such use of violence against political opponents in the workers movement. 
Thuggery within the labor movement can only obscure and poison the debate of political differences on the left, which is essential for clarifying the program for emancipation of the proletariat and all the oppressed.

We condemn Ian Donovan’s gangsterist attack on Eibhlin McDonald at the march commemorating the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre; and we uphold the need for vigorous defense of workers democracy.

League for the Fourth International

To contact the Internationalist Group and the League for the Fourth International, send an e-mail to: internationalistgroup@msn.com