Sheridan Wins But SSP Ends Up Splitting
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.
August 2006
Lanarkshire Health Trust – Monklands To Lose Its Accident and Emergency
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.
Tony Benn Slams the Warmongers
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.
London PTUDC meeting on recent terror arrests
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.
Lebanon: A Kind of Ceasefire
Immediately following the
ceasefire the government of Israel
attempted to convince the Israeli population, and its friends abroad, that Israel had ‘won
the war'. Now they are forced to beat a hasty retreat from such declarations,
as no-one in Israel
is stupid enough to swallow them. We reproduce here the latest article from www.marxist.com on the current situation in Lebanon
The Bankruptcy of Capitalism in Britain or How to Get Rich without Creating Wealth.
Within the space of two days the vast inequalities in the UK in
remuneration for “work” done have been exposed to public gaze. On the
one hand it was announced on August 18th that public sector workers are
to be limited to a 2% pay increase this year, whilst the day before the
press reported on the bonuses paid at the start of the year to those
who inhabit the boardrooms of big companies and the dealing rooms in
the City.
Capitalism and the Environment
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.
Beware the attack on democracy lurking behind terrorism scare
British airports were in a state of chaos yesterday
after it was revealed that a terrorist plot involving liquid explosives had
been foiled. However, it would be a great mistake to abandon our ability for
critical thinking in this period of hysteria and media frenzy.
Looting and plundering the National Health Service
A great deal of the money being pumped into the NHS is
coming straight out the other side into the pockets of private capitalists
without even touching the sides of the health service. We pay taxes for the
NHS, not to subsidise parasites!
War in Lebanon adds to instability in the Middle East
The latest war in Lebanon, apart from showing the
brutality and barbarism of the Israeli government and its main allies and
supporters, is also shedding light on the limits of US imperialism.
100,000 London demonstrators condemn aggression in the Middle East
The last week has seen a rising tide of anger in Britain at the Israeli
attacks on Lebanon. This is reflected in the mood and size of the two
marches and lobby, all organised at short notice.