The Socialist issue 348
22 May 2004
Sanctioning Torture From The Top
"THE RULES were, ‘Grab who you must. Do what you want’." That was a former US intelligence officer, explaining the official army attitude towards the torture and maltreatment of Iraqi prisoners. It shot an enormous hole in the official…
Iraq: Desperately Seeking An ‘Exit Strategy’
THE DAILY images and reports of violence, death and destruction in Iraq are turning people in their millions against the occupation. …
Iraq: what we say
THE SOCIALIST Party calls for the withdrawal of all the occupying forces and for the Iraqi people to democratically decide their own future. …
Socialist Party news and analysis
What Is The Alternative To Blair?
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WILL TONY Blair become a casualty of the war in Iraq?…
Workers’ Unity Can Win
20th anniversary of the miners’ strike: THE NATIONAL Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is organising marches and rallies all over the country this summer to mark the 20th anniversary of the miners’ strike. One of these will be on 22 May in Pontypridd…
FBU conference: Preparing For More Battles
THE ANNUAL conference of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) will reconvene in Southport on 15 June to discuss calling a national strike ballot. This is after its conference was adjourned on 11 May after the union voted to withdraw from implementation…
Save our Special Schools
LEICESTER CITY Council plans to close six special schools, despite the overwhelming opposition of most parents and teachers in the city. A group called Save Our Special Schools is lobbying council meetings, petitioning councillors and rallying…
Say no to the tyre burners!
Rugby: CAMPAIGNERS AGAINST plans for Rugby’s cement works to be turned into a tyre-burning and hazardous waste incinerator have organised a protest march on 23 May…
A socialist weekend in Sheffield
IT STARTED on Friday morning with our paper sale outside Moorfoot civil services offices. Bobbie Cranney and me sold ten copies of the socialist. It was Bobbie’s first Moorfoot sale and her enthusiasm for approaching workers certainly helped!
Buses: Put Privatisation Into Reverse!
A DISASTER – that’s how most people see privatisation of public transport. This has not prevented Thatcher’s “counter-revolution” spreading to most parts of the world. Indeed, Blair’s government is still implementing the part-privatisation…
International socialist news and analysis
New shocks cast cloud over world economy recovery
THE RECOVERY in the world economy continues to assume an anaemic character. While most attention is currently fixed on the debacle in Iraq, serious commentators fret that accumulated economic imbalances could yet derail the fragile and contradictory…
Ruling BJP is Swept Aside in India
A POLITICAL earthquake has rocked south Asia following India’s general election. Millions of workers, the dispossessed and rural poor decisively rejected the ‘neo-liberal’ policies of the ruling Hindu nationalist coalition government led by…
Founding Meeting Of The Socialist Movement in Pakistan
OVER 60 people attended the very successful founding meeting of the Socialist Movement on 17 April, 2004 in Lahore. The aim of this meeting was to set up a new independent, socialist and revolutionary organisation to fight against capitalism,…
A Working-Class Alternative Is Needed in Israel/Palestine
ON 15 May, after a week of bloodshed in the Gaza strip, around 200,000 demonstrators filled the main Tel Aviv square and the nearby streets. …
