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Saturday, 31 January 2004 |
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Imagine a game of football where the manager of one team made up the
rules to benefit his own side, where the goalposts were moved and where the
referee was on his side. The outcome of such a match would, of course be known
in advance by the winning side, who would then run around the stadium in a state
of ecstasy, yelling “Victory!” That is precisely what happened with the now
infamous Hutton report. |
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Friday, 30 January 2004 |
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The Hutton inquiry produced few surprises. Naturally Tony Blair and Alastair
Campbell were exonerated. This inquiry was no different to any of its
predecessors, since no such inquiry ever found a government to be guilty. It was
a whitewash.
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Wednesday, 28 January 2004 |
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Teflon Tony, otherwise known as the 'Houdini of British politics' has
narrowly escaped a major political defeat yet again. It is however fair to say
that his protective layer of teflon may be wearing off, as the Labour majority
in parliament was reduced to just 5, down from the on-paper majority of 161.
Thebill on tuition top-up fees passed its second reading by a vote of 316 to 311,
and the Labour Party's parliamentary group is looking seriously beleaguered
after an intense few days of political haggling and backroom swindles. |
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Monday, 26 January 2004 |
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On Saturday 24 January, the British TV channel, Channel Four, broadcast a
documentary about the miners’ strike. Anyone who tuned in looking for an
objective account of the strike was doomed to be disappointed. The purpose of
this documentary was not to clarify what happened but to blacken the memory of
the striking miners and mislead the present generation by a combination of lies,
falsifications and trivialisation. Against all the lies, distortion and venom,
the Marxists will defend the memory of this epic struggle and pass on the great
lessons to the new generation that is destined to carry on the fight to a
victorious conclusion. |
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By Pablo Sanchez
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Monday, 19 January 2004 |
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Since last summer we have seen a widespread debate about the pros and the cons of GM products. There are people for and against GM products from all the different political shades. The bourgeois papers have been very keen on giving voice to different people in the debate. What is missing, however, is a class point of view. No one poses the question from the point of view of ordinary working people.
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Monday, 19 January 2004 |
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Since last summer we have seen a widespread debate about the pros and
the cons of GM products. There are people for and against GM products from all
the different political shades. The bourgeois papers have been very keen on
giving voice to different people in the debate. What is missing, however, is a
class point of view. No one poses the question from the point of view of
ordinary working people. |
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By Rob Lyon
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Monday, 19 January 2004 |
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On December 23, 2003 the US government officially acknowledged the outbreak of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in a herd of cattle in the state of Washington.This is officially the first case of mad cow in the US, but is in reality the second case of an outbreak in the integrated Canadian and US cattle industry. The farming and cattle crisis is at root a reflection of the crisis of capitalism worldwide and a result of "globalization".
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Thursday, 15 January 2004 |
Once again Tony Blair
and the Labour Cabinet are prepared to take on the wider labour movement and its
own natural supporters in imposing the unpopular policy of top-up university
fees. Will they get away with it this time?
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Tuesday, 23 December 2003 |
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The festive season in Britain got off to a grim start with the discovery of two
pensioners who died weeks after their gas supply was cut off because of an
unpaid bill of £140. These events happened, not in 1840 but in our own times.
The Office of National Statistics predicts that 2,500 people will die of cold
this week. The cause of these deaths is usually attributed to things like
influenza, heart attacks, pneumonia and the like. But the real cause in most
cases is poverty and neglect. |
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Tuesday, 23 December 2003 |
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In Gordon Brown's recent Budget Report for 2003 we are told that "social
justice" is the aim of the Blair government. A closer look at official
statistics shows that the opposite is being achieved. |
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Monday, 15 December 2003 |
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Amicus
Executive Committee Election Results |
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Thursday, 04 December 2003 |
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Voters in the north of Ireland have delivered their verdict on the
Stormont Assembly. As we have consistently explained the Good Friday
Agreement, and the institutions of devolution associated with it, could
never begin to solve the problems facing ordinary working people no
matter what their background. Indeed the divide between Catholics and
Protestants has never been wider. The election result itself
demonstrates a further polarisation in the shape of Paisley's DUP
becoming the main Unionist Party, while Sinn Fein overtook the SDLP as
the main Nationalist party. |
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Monday, 01 December 2003 |
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Following last months unofficial strike action by postal workers
management seem to have been put temporarily onto the back foot. This
is in marked contrast to the period following the recent narrow
rejection of a national strike over pay and conditions. At that time,
Royal Mail management could not conceal their pleasure. Cockey
jumped-up managers all over the country engaged in a new offensive
against the workforce. Top managers were bragging that they had the
full support of the government, the DTI and Patricia Hewitt in
particular. |
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By Phil Mitchinson
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Monday, 01 December 2003 |
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This is how history is made. Hundreds of thousands of protestors flood
the capital demonstrating their opposition to a President who holds office
thanks to a rigged election. They demand democracy, they demand their voices
be heard, they demand that the President go. The biggest weekday demo in
British history greeted the visit of George W. Bush. Meanwhile in Georgia, a
President and not just an effigy was overthrown.
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