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By Maarten Vanheuverswyn
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Wednesday, 25 October 2006 |
Last night was the first of many events organised by Hands
Off Venezuela featuring Ronny Pante, general
coordinator of the Integrated Students' Movement in Bolivar,
Venezuela, who is touring
British universities to explain why students and activists in this country
should care about what is happening in Venezuela. Read a report of the meeting here.
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By Kenny McGuigan
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Tuesday, 24 October 2006 |
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Council
tenants in Stirling voted by a resounding 68%
against privatising the housing stock in a magnificent victory to keep council
housing out of the hands of profiteers. As this report is compiled,
Renfrewshire tenants have also voted "NO". Council tenants across the country are
sending a strong message to local authorities and the Scottish Executive - NO
TO THE PRIVATISATION OF COUNCIL HOUSING!
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Friday, 06 October 2006 |
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The Editorial of October's Socialist Appeal calls for meetings
to be organised to support John McDonnells' bid for the leadership of
the Labour Party as an important opportunity to raise socialist ideas
throughout the labour movement. In preparing for a struggle in the
Labour Party we must learn from the past. The most vital lesson is that
it is not sufficient to tinker with the
capitalist system. We will fight for any reform in the interests of the
working class. The central lesson of the whole of Labour history,
however, must be that not one of those reforms can endure if the
capitalist system remains intact.
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By Socialist Appeal
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Tuesday, 03 October 2006 |
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John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, has announced
his intention to stand for the leadership of the Labour Party. He is
Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, the Labour Representation Committee,
and the 'Public Services Not Private Profit' anti-privatisation
campaign. He is also the national chair of Hands Off Venezuela and has
been at the forefront of the campaign to defend the Venezuelan
revolution. Socialist Appeal supports John's campaign as a real
opportunity to raise socialist ideas throughout the labour movement. We
asked John to tell us about his campaign and about the need to fight
for socialist policies inside the Labour Party.
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By Pablo Roldan
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Friday, 29 September 2006 |
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On Thursday, September 14, around 80 people attended a meeting called
by Wandsworth Stop the War Coalition at the Baptist Church in Balham to
which Hands off Venezuela was invited to have a stall. The main
speaker of the evening was John McDonnell MP, who is standing for the
leadership of the Labour
Party once Blair quits. Next week we will be publishing an interview
with John McDonnnell, which features in the October edition of Socialist Appeal.
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Friday, 15 September 2006 |
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The Blair era is drawing to close not with a bang but with a great deal
of whimpering. The socialist candidate for the Labour leadership, John
McDonnell MP, compared the intrigues and back-stabbing campaigns of the
past week
to an episode of The Sopranos. Launching his leadership campaign the left-wing MP for Hayes and
Harlington is concentrating on politics, and on policies in the
interests of working class people. What is needed, he argues, is “a
national campaign for a radical break with the failed policies of new
Labour", adding that changing leaders would "not be enough to save
Labour at the next election".
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By Socialist Appeal
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Friday, 15 September 2006 |
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The July 2nd elections in Mexico witnessed massive electoral fraud against PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Since then millions of Mexicans have taken to the streets to protest. Come and show your solidarity with the Mexican people in the struggle against fraud and against repression. Download the PDF flyer here.
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By Ted Grant
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Tuesday, 05 September 2006 |
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In the light of recent developments in the Scottish
Socialist Party (SSP) we are publishing a document written by Ted Grant back in
1992 which already outlined the roots of the present crisis in the SSP. Ted
explained that the concessions the leaders of the then SML (later to become
SSP) were making to Scottish nationalism would lead to a disaster. Time has
proven him correct.
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Monday, 04 September 2006 |
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The editorial of the September 2006 issue of Socialist Appeal looks at the climate of fear and Blair's dwindling support. The latest ICM poll for The Guardian shows that after three terms
of Labour government the Tories are now nine points ahead in the polls.
What an indictment of failure. Labour's support now stands at a
nineteen year low. This is Blair's legacy.
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By Kenny McGuigan and Pablo Sanchez
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Tuesday, 29 August 2006 |
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There is more news emerging from the crisis within the Scottish
Socialist Party every day. This article was received a few days ago and
appears in the new issue of Socialist Appeal.
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By Kenny McGuigan
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Tuesday, 29 August 2006 |
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It came as no surprise when Lewis MacDonald, the Deputy Health Minister
at the Scottish Parliament, effectively rubber-stamped the "prefered
option" of Lanarkshire Health Board Trust and announced the closure of
the Casualty Unit at Monklands Hospital on August 22nd. The decision shows the "consultation exercise" over 6 weeks and costing
£50,000 of public money was, as we pointed out at the time, a complete
sham.
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By Heather Scott, South Edinburgh Labour Party (personal capacity)
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Tuesday, 29 August 2006 |
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On Tuesday, 15th August I attended a packed meeting organised by the
Stop the War Coalition, now an established annual event during the
Edinburgh Festival. The evening began with some anti- war poetry in
both Arabic and English, followed by a selection of anti–war protest
songs.
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By Maarten Vanheuverswyn
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Friday, 25 August 2006 |
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Yesterday, August 24, a meeting was held in Walthamstow, North London, by the Pakistan Trade Union Defence
Campaign to discuss the recent arrests in the area and the renewed attacks on
both democracy and Muslim workers. Some twenty people turned up to hear Zakir
lead off on the subject.
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By Mick Brooks
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Thursday, 17 August 2006 |
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Global warming and other environmental issues are always in the news. There is even
a party – the Green Party – that claims to put the environment at the
centre of its concerns. The Green Party claims to be neither right wing
nor left wing as, they say, environmental issues transcend the
traditional issues of class and the division between rich and poor that
define conventional political discussions and divisions. This is poppycock. Environmental issues are vitally important to
us inhabitants of the planet earth. But the environmental problems, and
the potential environmental catastrophe, we face are creations of the
capitalist system.
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