Archive for October 2006

5 October 2006

Hamas clashes with striking workers

New crisis hits the Palestinian Authority: TWELVE PEOPLE have been killed and over 120 injured in gun battles between Hamas militias and striking government employees in the Gaza strip, writes Amnon Cohen.

5 October 2006

Tommy Sheridan - Murdoch's new offensive

THE NEWS of the World (NoW), which suffered a sensational defeat at the hands of Tommy Sheridan in his defamation case against them in August, has unleashed a massive new offensive against him, writes Philip Stott International Socialists, CWI Scotland.

5 October 2006

Joe Higgins' speech "tore Taoiseach [PM] apart"

Ireland: Ahern's financial scandal puts his political survival in balance: THE IRISH Taoiseach (prime minister), Bertie Ahern, is under huge pressure following revelations that he received "loans" and "gifts" from businessmen when he was a government minister in the 1990s...

5 October 2006

BIG OIL

Big profits, big power, big problems...: IN A follow-up article to his centre-page feature in the socialist 456 on the geopolitics of oil, LYNN WALSH looks at the problems caused by the power of the ruthless oil giants in the economy...

5 October 2006

MoD hypocrisy on Taliban

THE GROWTH of a 'resurgent' Taliban in Afghanistan is bloodily proving that the occupying forces can do nothing to solve the underlying social and economic problems that the poor masses of the country face, writes Greg Maughan.

5 October 2006

Bush's 'war on terror' fuels terrorism!

It's official! A US government report has admitted that the Bush administration-led war and occupation of Iraq has fuelled terrorism. The report was compiled from 16 government agencies back in April but has only now seen the light of day...

5 October 2006

Come to Socialism 2006!

LAST WEEK'S Labour Party conference was the last that Tony Blair will attend as party leader and prime minister. Since 1997, Blair's New Labour have overseen massive cuts in the NHS, further privatisation of council housing, writes Greg Maughan.

5 October 2006

Blair more hated than Thatcher

Labour conference cheers can't hide...: NEVER BEFORE has the gap between reality and the spinmasters' world of the party conference season been so big, writes Socialist Party deputy general secretary Hannah Sell...

5 October 2006

Age discrimination and the minimum wage

ON 1 OCTOBER, new EU legislation banned age discrimination in the workplace for workers under 65, in what some reports are calling: "The biggest shake-up of workplace laws for 30 years", writes Sean Figg.

5 October 2006

Students seek out socialist ideas

UCL and Brunel Socialist Students had a big problem with the student magazine this year - there weren't enough of them at the freshers' fairs, writes Ben Robinson.

5 October 2006

Fight for a socialist alternative to Blair's Britain

No fees, end student poverty: BLAIR'S 'LEGACY' and Brown's promises for more of the same were applauded at Labour Party conference. But new students across the country are now facing the bleak reality of trying to live and study in New Labour's Britain, writes Matt Dobson Socialist Students national co-ordinator.

5 October 2006

Socialist Party fights for:

No cuts! No closures! No to health privatisation and 'the market.' ...

5 October 2006

"Our campaign saved our maternity hospital"

"IF WE hadn't fought it, it would have gone through", MANDY ROBOTHAM, local midwife and head of the Stroud Maternity Matters campaign, told the socialist...

5 October 2006

Health workers told - no money for study

STAFF EMPLOYED by Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust were recently told that they will not be sponsored to attend training courses that would have given them registered nurse qualifications after three years' university study, writes John Malcolm, chair UNISON Tees and North East Yorkshire health branch, personal capacity.

5 October 2006

Fighting the privateers

ON 26 and 27 SEPTEMBER, UNISON members working for NHS Logistics (NHSL) were on strike again. We are fighting the government's hiving off of our vital, award-winning stores and distribution service to DHL/Novation, writes Brian Loader, UNISON NHSL Alfreton, personal capacity

5 October 2006

Action is the only answer to NHS cuts

ISSUE AFTER issue of the socialist has featured the crisis in the health service under New Labour. Dozens of hospital trusts have declared cuts as a result of their "going over budget". Newly trained nurses fresh from college are being told there are no jobs for them, as the trusts declare redundancies, closures and cutbacks.

5 October 2006

Marching to stop cuts and sell-offs

NHS SOS: "A MATTER of Life and Death", handwritten on a placard. That summed up the message of the 30 September march and rally against the panic cuts and eventual downgrading of hospital services in Epsom, Surrey, writes Nick Kirk Reading Socialist Party and Surrey County UNISON branch.

5 October 2006

Our NHS not for sale!

Build for the demo and lobby on 1 November: HEALTH CUTS are happening all over the country. According to NHS chief executive David Nicholson, they "will not hurt". But they are hurting, writes Lois Austin.

12 October 2006

Trade unions must organise casual workers

Gangmaster Licensing Act: THE GANGMASTER Licensing Act (GLA) came into force on 1 October. This regulation of the 'gangmasters' who supply workers to industries like agriculture, food and packing is long overdue, writes Teresa MacKay, RAAW- TGWU.

12 October 2006

Blood service faces cuts

AMICUS MEMBERS in the laboratories of the National Blood Service are considering strike action after management announced a far-reaching restructuring plan which would see at least 50% of the scientific staff made redundant over the next five years...

12 October 2006

"Bertiegate" scandal rocks Ahern coalition

A FINANCIAL scandal involving Ireland's Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern - "Bertiegate" - dominates Irish politics and threatens to bring down the rightwing coalition government, writes Niall Mulholland.

12 October 2006

Brazilian elections: Lula fails to win in first round

THE FIRST round of the Brazilian elections was an upset for the current president and candidate for re-election - Luis Inácio Lula da Silva - of the Workers' Party (PT), writes André Ferrari, Socialismo Revolucionário (CWI, Brazil).

12 October 2006

Kazakhstan - appeal for support

25,000 coal miners on strike: MINERS EMPLOYED by the 'Mittal Steel Temirtau' company in Kazakhstan (a branch of the international corporation 'Arcelor Mittal') went on strike on 25 September, Members of Socialist Resistance (CWI Kazakhstan) write.

12 October 2006

Dave Nellist's global warning

IN 1972, David Bowie sang: "News had just come over... Earth was really dying". He was wrong, we're still here. But for how long? NASA scientists now say the Earth is warmer than at any time for the last 10,000 years. Dave Nellist writes.

12 October 2006

A 'race to the bottom' for workers' rights and a disaster for the environment

BY THE year 2050 there will be another one billion cars in the world, on the on top of the one billion here today...

12 October 2006

Cable Street 1936: When workers drove back the fascists

THE SUCCESS of the British National Party (BNP) in winning seats in May's local council elections in Barking and Dagenham in East London and elsewhere poses the question of how the menace of the far-right can be defeated...

12 October 2006

Huge meeting greets socialist movement

Dundee: TOMMY SHERIDAN'S whirlwind tour of Dundee on 3 October was a good day for 'Solidarity - Scotland's Socialist Movement'. He spoke to 50 students at Dundee University, where 13 showed interest in joining Solidarity writes Harvey Duke, International Socialists (CWI Scotland).

12 October 2006

All views welcome at Socialism 2006

WE PRINT below a letter from a Russian living in Britain who isn't sure about what the Socialist Party says about the ex-Soviet Union but who still wants to come to Socialism 2006 to participate in the discussions there...

12 October 2006

Chile: solidarity appeal

More than 600,000 school students and students have been involved in a protest movement. Led by secondary school students (the "penguins" as they have become known for their school uniforms) they occupied more than...

12 October 2006

Campaigning in the schools and colleges

"Can I get other people I know involved too?" asked one of the college students who we met at Southwark college. At other colleges where International Socialist Resistance (ISR) and Socialist Students have been meeting, writes Ben Robinson ISR national co-ordimator...

12 October 2006

Student fees can be defeated

The media tend to depict students as lazy but, with the TUC reporting that 630,718 full-time students work in part-time jobs, the stereotype is a bit out of date, writes Sarah Sachs-Eldridge.

12 October 2006

Fees can damage your education

Demonstrate for free education on 29 October: THERE'S one issue that weighed heavily on every fresher's mind this year - not their course, not their social life, and not even whether or not to join Socialist Students! That issue is fees, writes Sarah Sachs-Eldridge.

12 October 2006

Angry marchers keep up the fight

ABOUT 250 angry protesters hit Huddersfield's streets on 7 October, dismayed by the sham consultation that has taken place over local NHS cuts, writes Iain Dalton.

12 October 2006

Protests at health cuts

Huntingdon: OVER 1,000 people marched in Huntingdon on 7 October to protest against the closure of Hinchinbrooke Hospital which provides a service for 150,000 in the area...

12 October 2006

NHS - not safe in their hands

DAVID CAMERON'S claim at the Tory Party conference to be 'the protector of the NHS' is a sign of how far politics in Britain has been 'Americanised' - where two capitalist parties compete to sell their particular brand of pro-market policies, but where there is no party that represents working-class interests...

12 October 2006

Get organised! Join the march on parliament!

THE ANGER at the cuts, privatisation and closures threatened in the National Health Service shows no sign of slowdown. Last weekend, there were huge demonstrations in Huddersfield, Worthing, Huntingdon and a number of other...

12 October 2006

Health workers beat the privateers

WORKERS AT Whipps Cross hospital in east London have won an important battle. They have scored a victory against the privatisers and the service-cutters and shown that organisation and struggle can win.

22 October 2006

The battle to defend the health service

NHSSOS: University of London Union (ULU), Malet Street, London WC1

22 October 2006

Whitewashing New Labour's NHS policies

Healthcare Commission report: THE RECENT Healthcare Commission's report on the performance of 570 NHS trusts up and down the country, deemed that half of trusts are 'weak' in providing quality of service and managing resources... By Dr Jackie Grunsell,councillor Huddersfield Save our NHS, Kirklees council

22 October 2006

Straw, the veil and racism

IN THE wake of the horrific 7/7 bombings last year, racist attacks increased by 600%, particularly against Muslims...

22 October 2006

socialism2006

rally for socialism: socialism2006 is a weekend of discussion and debate hosted by the Socialist Party, taking place on Saturday (3pm) /Sunday (10am-4.30pm)... By 25 & 26 November

22 October 2006

North Korea's nuclear test ratchets up regional tensions

Imperialist powers' hypocritical condemnation: NORTH KOREA'S claimed nuclear explosion and the announcement of a further underground test, has set the ossified Stalinist regime on a collision course with US imperialism and Japan, with George Bush warning of "serious rep...

22 October 2006

Iran and the nuclear bomb

A NUMBER of foreign ministers recently met in London to argue about Iran's nuclear enrichment programme... By Judy Beishon

22 October 2006

Journalist's murder reveals brutality of Putin regime

THE GUNNING down of Anna Politkovskaya, one of Russia's better-known journalists and human rights activist, has brought to the world's attention the volcano of instability in the republics which comprise the Caucasus region...

22 October 2006

Killing overshadows developing conflict between Russia and Georgia

RECENTLY, TENSIONS in the relations between Georgia and Russia have been rising dramatically...

22 October 2006

Troops out of Iraq

650,000 civilians killed since 2003: BRITISH ARMY chief, General Dannatt, has caused uproar in the media by warning that British troops must withdraw from Iraq 'soon' or risk serious consequences... By Roger Shrives

22 October 2006

Iraq workers strike

HEALTH WORKERS in Iraq have been on strike for higher wages over the past month across several areas of the country...

22 October 2006

The Communist Manifesto

"A SPECTRE is haunting Europe..." With these famous words Marx and Engels began what is probably the single most famous work of scientific socialism... By Ben Robinson

22 October 2006

Build Socialist Students!

Socialist Students now has a presence in over 70 universities and colleges across the country... By Matt Dobson

22 October 2006

London Socialist Students

A majority of the 21 people at the all-London Socialist Students meeting on 10 October were attending their first meeting, a reflection of the good work put in across London at the freshers' fairs... By Neil Cafferky

22 October 2006

Fighting for socialist ideas

National youth and student committee: The movement that's developing around the country against cuts and privatisation in the NHS is drawing young people into it...

22 October 2006

March to save the NHS

THERE WERE more protests last weekend as thousands took to the streets yet again to save our National Health Service... By Lois Austin

26 October 2006

The battle to defend the health service

NHSSOS: Dot Gibson, secretary of Keep Our NHS Public (personal capacity). ...

26 October 2006

How can we build an effective campaign to defend the NHS?

The NHS is under attack as never before. Hospitals and other trusts are finding themselves 'in deficit' and being forced to make cuts and declare redundancies....

26 October 2006

A socialist programme for the NHS

Bring the NHS into public ownership and rebuild it as a publicly funded service free at the point of use, with immediate cash to end the crisis of under-funding...

26 October 2006

Protests force partial retreat from cuts

Nottingham: NHS STAFF and service users in Nottingham's hospitals will welcome the news that £20 million funding will come from the two local primary care trusts (PCTs) to ensure hospitals break even by April 2007...

26 October 2006

Marching for the NHS in Torquay

OVER 200 people marched through Torquay in protest at proposed closures and privatisation of sections of the local NHS... By Sean Brogan, Plymouth Socialist Party

26 October 2006

"Action to defend our birthright"

Trowbridge: THE CAMPAIGN against the butchery of West Wiltshire's community hospitals continues... By Robin Clapp

26 October 2006

Sack the bosses not the nurses

PRIVATE MANAGEMENT Consultants are the corporate equivalent of ambulance-chasers. NHS trusts in deficit - they want to help. Help themselves, that is.... By Alistair Tice

26 October 2006

How can the trade unions regain their strength?

This weekend's RMT railworkers' union conference on rebuilding the shop stewards' movement needs to address these burning issues...

26 October 2006

Trade Union Freedom Bill

THE 1979-97 Tory government introduced many anti-trade union laws that severely restricted workers' right to fight for their jobs, wages and conditions...

26 October 2006

Bloody chaos in Iraq shatters US war strategy

IN A national television interview Bush was forced to draw some comparisons between the situation faced by his administration and that of Lyndon Johnson during the Vietnam War when the Tet offensive was launched...

26 October 2006

Sri Lanka: Is peace possible?

THE DESCRIPTION of Sri Lanka as 'tear-shaped' has never been more apt than it is today...

26 October 2006

Students join the fightback

Fees, debts, cuts, privatisation: THOUSANDS OF students will march on 29 October, angry at paying £3,000 this year for tuition... By Matt Dobson Socialist Students National Co-ordinator

26 October 2006

No to attacks on democratic rights

LAST WEEK the guardian reported on a leaked government draft document that "urged universities to spy on 'Asian-looking' students"...

26 October 2006

Chilean students fight Pinochet's legacy

ON 18 October, around 2,000 angry Chilean school students took to the streets in Santiago and around the country... By Ben Robinson

26 October 2006

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Rail privatisation: RAIL PRIVATISATION in the 1990s was an expensive and chaotic disaster. Railtrack has been replaced with Network Rail. Three private firms control all train... By An Aslef member

26 October 2006

'Single status' battle continues

Coventry council: WORKERS AT Coventry city council have entered their fifth week of strike action over the implementation of the 'single status' job evaluation and regrading deal... By A UNISON steward

26 October 2006

Furious parents turn on councillors

ON 17 October, over 400 parents, school students and teachers gave the leader of Wokingham District Council and its officers a grilling over the consultation to close Ryeish Green, our local secondary school... By Sara Gillman Reading Socialist Party

26 October 2006

Rally for socialism!

socialism2006: Speakers include: Mark Serwotka - general secretary of the civil servants' union PCS; Lucy Redler - member of the WASG regional executive committee and Socialist Alternative (CWI, Germany); Tommy Sheridan - member of the Sco...

26 October 2006

NHS SOS

Closing rally Sunday 26 November 3-4.30pm: Speakers: Said Fergani (Muslim Association of Britain) and a Socialist Party speaker....

26 October 2006

How to build a trade union in your workplace

Discussion forum Sunday 26 November 10am-12 noon: Speakers: Tracy Edwards (PCS Young Members national convenor); Sean Figg (Usdaw); Steve North (Unison); Tony Mulhearn (PCS); Roger Bannister (Unison)...

26 October 2006

Unite and fight to save the NHS

Healthworkers, patients and campaigners say...: TWENTY THOUSAND health workers have lost their jobs. Nurses and other health workers are being offered a pathetic 1.5% pay increase - which at half the... By Lois Austin