Archive for October 2002

4 October 2002

The Biggest Anti-War Demo In Britain - Ever

A SEA of up to 400,000 protesters flooded into the Embankment, London on 28 September to say 'No' to war against Iraq

4 October 2002

Tube Strike 'Solid'

A 24-HOUR strike by London Underground workers on 24 and 25 September saw only a handful of the 600 drivers crossing picket lines, writes By Manny Thain.

4 October 2002

Che Guevara - Revolutionary Fighter

THIRTY-FIVE years ago the Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara was murdered in the Bolivian jungle by his CIA interrogators

4 October 2002

Socialist Success In Sweden

THE SOCIALIST spoke to two of the CWI's (Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna, RS) new councillors, elected on 15 September in the Swedish town of Luleå

4 October 2002

Washington IMF protests

Fighting War, Poverty And Exploitation: THOUSANDS OF demonstrators staged a spirited march and rally as part of a week of events against the IMF and World Bank in Washington DC this past weekend - despite the arrest of 659 people by police, writes Alan Jones, New York City.

4 October 2002

Anti-War Protest - A Defining Moment

THE 28 September 'Don't attack Iraq' demonstration was an immense display of opposition to war

4 October 2002

Stoke-on-Trent: Fighting The BNP's Racist Lies

THE NEO-Nazi British National Party (BNP) are standing a candidate in the mayoral election in Stoke-on-Trent on 17 October. This has galvanised opposition to the BNP's vile racist propaganda, writes Andy Bentley.

11 October 2002

PFI Stinks

THE PRIVATE Finance Initiative (PFI) is handing billions of pounds of public money in profits to private companies, writes Cllr Dave Nellist, Socialist Group leader, Coventry city council.

11 October 2002

Debunking Bush's Lies

WAR ON Iraq - what team Bush doesn't want you to know by William Rivers Pitt, which includes a lengthy interview with former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, is a concise argument against a US-led war on Iraq

11 October 2002

The System Isn't Working

THE DEEP gloom in the economy is spreading to the finance sector. Until recently, says the Financial Times, banks shrugged off fears about bad debts and had big profits. No more

11 October 2002

Socialism 2002

Socialism, the weekend of discussion and debate hosted by the Socialist Party, is due to be bigger and better than ever before

11 October 2002

What Lies Behind Assembly's Collapse?

AS WE go to press, it seems almost certain that Northern Ireland's Executive and Assembly will collapse this week, writes Ciaran Mulholland, Belfast Socialist Party.

11 October 2002

Who Really Fought Stalin's Dictatorship?

A NEW book by the novelist Martin Amis entitled "Koba the Dread: Laughter and the twenty million" has created a stir in the world of politics as well as literature, writes Jim Hensman.

11 October 2002

Brazil: Striking Teachers Face Police Repression

STRIKING TEACHERS in Cotia, Brazil have been brutally attacked by military police, writes André Ferrari, Brazil.

11 October 2002

Workers Need Wages Not War

WHAT DO firefighters, tube workers, council workers, teachers, college lecturers, rail workers and health workers all have in common

11 October 2002

Unite To Strike Against Low Pay

ALTHOUGH THE union leaders were able to get council workers to accept a pay deal which was far less than they went out for, there is little sign of "industrial peace" breaking out for the government and the bosses, writes Bill Mullins.

11 October 2002

Brazil Elections: Lula Close To Winning Presidency

THE WORKERS Party (PT) candidate, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, got the highest vote in the first round of Brazil's presidential election

18 October 2002

No To War And Terror

OVER 200 killed and hundreds more maimed was the terrible result of the terrorist bomb attack on the island of Bali in Indonesia

18 October 2002

Only 'System Change' Can End Terror And War

THE HORRIFIC bomb attack on the Indonesian island of Bali has underscored the futility of George W. Bush's 'war on terrorism'

18 October 2002

Students Look For A Socialist Alternative

Sheffield: Socialist Party members have found an enthusiastic response on activity in the universities and colleges this term, writes Kieron Roberts.

18 October 2002

Indonesia: Terrorism And State Terrorism

THE BOMBING of a tourist area on the Indonesian island of Bali has been blamed by Western governments on the Jemaah Islamiah Islamic group with links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'ida terrorist network

18 October 2002

Letter to The Observer

If Militant (now the Socialist Party) had really been a "sect" and "loathed by voters and most people in the Labour Party" (Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer, 13 October 2002) we would not have generated as much interest from journalists like him nor would I have been interviewed in the 1980s on TV

18 October 2002

1962 Cuban missile crisis

On The Brink Of Nuclear War: EARLIER THIS year Pakistan and India came to the brink of war over their occupation of Kashmir. The possibility of nuclear weapons being used, killing millions, loomed large.

18 October 2002

Pay The Firefighters

"THERE ARE firefighters sleeping on fire station floors and commuting very long distances literally across the country as they cannot afford to live on their wages," says Dean Mills, regional secretary Southern Region FBU and operational firefighter for 19 years

25 October 2002

Fighting for a Living Wage

Don't Work In Unsafe Conditions: LONDON UNDERGROUND plans to close 19 stations when the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) takes strike action, writes Bill Johnson, London Underground worker.

25 October 2002

Millions Join Italian General Strike

SINGING THE Internationale (the anthem of revolutionary socialism) thousands of workers marched in over 100 cities and towns as a three million-strong general strike brought Italy to a halt

25 October 2002

Stoke: Racist BNP Pose A Warning To Workers

ON 17 October ex-Labour Party member Mike Woolfe was elected as 'independent' mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, pushing Stoke South's Labour MP George Stevenson into second place after second preference votes were counted

25 October 2002

Stand By The Firefighters

Stand firm for the full claim of £30,000 for firefighters and emergency fire control staff with no strings. Pay parity for retained firefighters.

25 October 2002

Protest on 31 October: Stop Bush And Blair's War Plans

George W. Bush has been forced to sound a more cautious note over war with Iraq in an attempt to win over the doubters in the United Nations and because of overwhelming opposition internationally, writes Ken Douglas.

25 October 2002

Editorial: Firefighters' Struggle Is All Workers' Struggle

FIREFIGHTERS ARE fully justified in their claim for £30,000 a year. There is a widespread recognition that a firefighters' job is more skilled than ever before and that they deserve better pay

25 October 2002

Student fees: "Top" Universities Plan Top-Up Fees

IMPERIAL COLLEGE, part of London university, is spearheading attempts by the elite universities to charge students top-up fees, writes Kieran Roberts.

25 October 2002

35 years after the Abortion Act: For A Real Right To Choose

THE 1967 Abortion Act, which legalised abortion on social grounds as well as purely health grounds, was a big step forward in women's struggle for reproductive rights - for the right to end an unwanted pregnancy, writes Eleanor Donne.

25 October 2002

Ireland's Referendum: How The Bosses Got Their Yes Vote

VOTERS IN southern Ireland have passed the Nice treaty by a significant majority - 63% to 37%. Just over a year ago Irish voters rejected the same treaty by 54% to 46%, writes Michael Murphy.