Archive for May 2002

3 May 2002

A Shift To The Far Right In Europe?

WHAT ARE the prospects for a resurgence of far right parties in Europe following the electoral gains of Le Pen in France

3 May 2002

Mass Action And Socialism To Fight The Fascist Threat

ABSTENTIONS IN the local elections on 2 May are expected to reach a new record

3 May 2002

Israel/Palestine: The War Of Occupation Continues

ISRAELI PRIME Minister Ariel Sharon has continued his brutal military offensive against Palestinian towns in the West Bank with an onslaught on Hebron, in which nine Palestinians were killed on the first day alone, writes Judy Beishon.

3 May 2002

Socialist Challenge in Irish Election

THE SOCIALIST Party (SP), Ireland, is contesting five seats in the forthcoming general election to be held on 17 May

3 May 2002

Health, education, transport: Five years of failure

GORDON BROWN'S much heralded budget hasn't done much to boost New Labour. A GMTV/Daily Mirror poll found 43% of people trust Blair less than than they did five years ago, writes Ken Douglas.

3 May 2002

Support The Postal Workers

POST OFFICE bosses have reneged on the pay agreement reached in early April with the Communication Workers' Union (CWU), Dave, a Brighton postal worker, told The Socialist.

3 May 2002

Mass protests in France: Neither the 'Fascist' nor the 'Crook'

ON 1 MAY demonstrations and protests in France against Le Pen reached a high point with hundreds of thousands of young people and workers taking to the streets in opposition to a demonstration by Le Pen's supporters

3 May 2002

Falklands/Malvinas 1982: Thatcher's War Of Saving Face

TWENTY YEARS ago in 1982, British imperialism's war with Argentina over the Falklands/Malvinas islands burst out like a sudden storm, writes Roger Shrives.

3 May 2002

Argentine crisis: Taking To The Streets Against The IMF

WHEN IT seemed to most Argentinians that conditions in their bankrupt country couldn't get any worse, then they did

10 May 2002

Kick Out the BNP

THE GAIN of three Burnley council seats by the neo-Nazi British National Party (BNP) has sent shock-waves through Britain. The BNP is an anti-working class fascist party, writes A Youth Against Racism in Europe (YRE) member.

10 May 2002

France - the Tasks Facing the Left

LE PEN'S crushing defeat in the second round of France's presidential election has shown the real balance of forces in France today, writes Robert Bechert.

10 May 2002

Massive Anti-Fascist Protests in France

ACCORDING TO the police about 1.3 million French people demonstrated on May Day against Le Pen and the Front National, writes Geert Cool, LSP/MAS Belgium..

10 May 2002

Organise Against the Nazis

SOCIALIST PARTY members should move resolutions against the BNP through their trade union organisations

10 May 2002

Step Up the Fight for Socialism

THE SOCIALIST Party scored two brilliant victories in the local elections in England. Dave Nellist and Ian Page were both re-elected as councillors, Dave in Coventry and Ian in Lewisham, London

10 May 2002

Local Elections 2002: Highest Ever Socialist Party Votes

SOCIALIST PARTY candidates Ian Page and Sam Dias scored their highest ever votes in Telegraph Hill ward, writes Mick Suter, election agent. Reports on elections in Lewisham, Coventry and Burnley

17 May 2002

Privatisation Has Ruined Rail Safety

A RAILWAY engineer told The Socialist how the safety of passengers and staff has been compromised under privatisation and explained rail workers' attitude towards disaster such as that at Potters Bar

17 May 2002

Action To Kick Out The BNP Fascists!

Youth Against Racism in Europe (YRE): THE NEWS that the Nazi BNP had gained three councillors in Burnley has provoked disgust at both national and local level, writes Robin DasGupta, YRE, Manchester.

17 May 2002

Review: Stupid White Men

'SENSATIONAL' CAN be an overworked cliche deployed by publishers to maximise sales. But Michael Moore's book really is sensational. The US capitalists and their hirelings in the media certainly think

17 May 2002

How Can A Palestinian State Be Achieved?

ON SATURDAY, 18 March thousands will march through the streets of London to protest at Sharon's and the Israeli state's murderous assaults on the Palestinians, writes Hannah Sell.

17 May 2002

A Breath Of Fresh Air Amidst The Stench Of Corruption

THE SOCIALIST Party in Ireland is the only party putting politics into an election where the main parties are doing their best to avoid it, writes Ken Smith.

17 May 2002

Rail safety: Profit Kills, Renationalise rail now

SEVEN PEOPLE died and more than 70 were injured in the rail crash at Potters Bar on 10 May

17 May 2002

Israel/Palestine: Stop Sharon's Bloody War

THE ISRAELI army may have withdrawn from towns in the West Bank following its series of brutal invasions but Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stranglehold on the occupied territories is far from over, writes Judy Beishon.

24 May 2002

Bush And Blair's War Plans Increase World Tensions

AS THE Socialist predicted, Bush and Blair's 'war against terrorism' has not gone according to plan

24 May 2002

The Truth About PFI

ALLYSON POLLOCK of University of London's School of Public Policy has produced many articles and reports criticising the government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI), writes Mick Griffiths (Wakefield and Pontefract Hospitals UNISON, personal capacity).

24 May 2002

Step Up The Struggle For Free Education

MARGARET HODGE, Minister for universities, says the government may do a U-turn and let universities charge their own top-up fees, writes Jono Owen.

24 May 2002

Irish election: Socialist Party Scores Spectacular Successes

IRISH SOCIALIST Party TD (MP) Joe Higgins was resoundingly re-elected to the Dail (Parliament) from his Dublin West constituency on 17 May

24 May 2002

New War Threat Looms Over Kashmir Conflict

AN ATTACK on an Indian army camp in Kashmir by Kashmiri separatists has increased tensions between India and Pakistan threatening a potentially horrific escalation in the region's long-running conflict, writes Kieran Roberts.

24 May 2002

Firefighters Prepare For Pay Battle

DELEGATIONS OF fire fighters from around the country packed out the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) conference to deliver, in the words of one delegate: "a clear message to the employers - if you're not prepared to pay us, get your green goddesses ready, you're going to need them!", writes Alistair Tice.

24 May 2002

Take Back Rail

OVER A week after the fatal rail crash at Potters Bar, government ministers are still trying to limit the damage to their pro-privatisation policies

24 May 2002

Rail privatisation exposed

"If It Costs Money It Just Gets Ignored": THE DIRE effects of privatisation aren't just felt in the maintenance of the railway track. An engineer explained to The Socialist what it's like working on train maintenance for the privatised railways.

31 May 2002

Right-wing attempt coup in PCS

Reclaim The Union: THE RIGHT-WING of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), the biggest civil service union, are attempting to overturn the result of the general secretary election of 18 months ago and the decisions of the union's recent national conference

31 May 2002

War Clouds Hang Over India And Pakistan

Only the workers and poor can stop this conflict: GC JAGADISH of New Socialist Alternative (CWI, India), in this edited version, examines the prospects for regional war and puts forward a socialist programme for the Left to stop the conflict

31 May 2002

Imperialism Restructures Famine

NEWSPAPER PICTURES show emaciated children who have lost their parents and probably do not have long to live themselves, writes Chris Newby.

31 May 2002

Stop This Trade In Death

FOR THE people of Kashmir, India and Pakistan, the prospect of a war which may escalate into a nuclear conflict is terrifying

31 May 2002

Asylum - Why We Oppose Blair's Plans

TONY BLAIR'S 'action plan' to 'crack down' on asylum seekers might have been taken directly from Le Pen's election manifesto