Despite all their lofty promises about the
priority of "education, education,
education", and their pledge that there would be no top up fees, Blair and co
intend to pass the bill for higher education once again onto students and their
parents, making it yet more difficult for students from poorer backgrounds to
get to university.
As we put this article online, the Blair government has launched a new
offensive against the firefighters. Deputy Prime
Minister Prescott has announced his intention to change the law to take direct
control of the fire service and impose a settlement on the firefighters. This
would mean the imposition of the Bain proposals, the derisory pay offer of 4%
and thousands of job cuts, resulting in the closure of fire stations and the
undermining of the fire service. Such measures are a threat to the entire labour movement, and
must be answered by the movement as a whole.
In January Roy Jenkins, a Liberal Democrat Lord passed away. In the
1960s and 1970s he was right at the top of the British Labour Party. After his
recent death the
bourgeois press were full of praise for his achievements, the reason being that
as of 1979 he had worked strenuously to destroy the Labour Party! No longer able
to control the ranks, who were moving radically to the left,
especially after the defeat in the 1979 elections, he attempted together with
others to build the Social Democratic Party.
Two Motherwell (Scotland) train drivers refused to move a freight train
carrying ammunition believed to be destined for British forces being deployed in
the Gulf. This militant and courageous stand was reminiscent of the actions
against General Pinochet back in the 1970s and the Jolly George incident in
1920. Railway managers cancelled the Ministry of Defence (MoD) service after the
crewmen, described as "conscientious objectors" by a supporter, said
they opposed Tony Blair’s threat to attack Iraq.
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