The Socialist 15 October 2008

Sack the bankers not the workers

"Give us what the bankers got"

News in brief

Government bailouts: major measures to prop up capitalism

Recession in Britain: Anger and bitterness towards the financiers

Repossessions grow as banking crisis hits

Capitalism in crisis: Why you should come to Socialism 2008

Political protest in Liverpool will not be silenced!

Mandelson - New minister for the rich

Planning Bill: Local views sidelined for big business

Defend and extend abortion rights

Opposition grows to Kirklees schools plans

Bangor: Organising to fight university tuition fees

Nottingham Trent University attempts to de-recognise the lecturers' union

Staff and students unite over pensions

Austria: Far right makes big gains - left vote squeezed

Afghanistan - war without end?

75th anniversary of Walter Greenwood's Love on the Dole

London bus workers strike for a living wage

Local government Scotland: Reject the pay offer!

Unity in Unite unravelling

Unison right-wing insecurity begins to show

Successful outcome for Suzanne Muna

Standing for president of Usdaw

Previous issues, etc

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Mandelson - New minister for the rich

PETER MANDELSON, Baron of Foy and Hartlepool is now secretary of state for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and president of the Board of Trade. He obviously thinks he merits a salary as big and impressive-sounding as his new job and his new title.

On top of his £100,000-plus cabinet salary, he will get a 'parachute payment' of £6,500 each month for three years to compensate for his old job as EU commissioner in Brussels. He will also get a £31,000 a year pension from his 65th birthday, rising with inflation. To get that privately, Mandelson would need a pension fund of £750,000. All together his 'golden goodbye' adds up to £1 million.

This year, Mandelson was a summer holiday guest on multi-billionaire Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska's yacht. Purely coincidentally of course, Oleg got £50 million worth of EU trade concessions on aluminium import duties.

Clearly Mandelson will be every inch a minister for the rich, and he will be part of a government that is looking at job cuts, wage freezes and attacks on pension rights for the rest of us.

In this issue

Sack the bankers not the workers