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January 2010

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Stormont deadlock reveals the contradictions in the North

Long
discussions into the small hours, shuttle diplomacy and the combined
weight of Gordon Brown and Brian Cowen and still the deadlock continues
over the devolution of policing and justice in the North. The process
is meant to have been agreed years ago, but the deep contradictions in
the North mean that every issue and every syllable has to be fought
over. The “peace process”, far from solving the problems of the working
class has enshrined sectarian division and entombed the leadership of
Sinn Féin and the DUP in Stormont, presiding over the minutiae of what
is more or less an overblown County Council.

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The revolving doors of business and government

Marxists have
long since been conscious of the nature of the state, its industrious defence
of the capitalist class, and its prejudice against working people. But much of
the public are unaware of just how incestuous the capitalists and governments
really are. Read part two of Will Roche’s study of monopoly capitalism.

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The Northern Region LRC gets behind two socialist candidates in SE Northumberland.

On Saturday 23rd Jan, the Northern Region LRC (Labour Representation Committee) met in Gateshead to hear a speech from Ronnie Campbell MP for Blyth Valley in Northumberland.  Ronnie, who is a well known life long
socialist and former NUM activist, addressed the 17 strong gathering of LP and
TU activists and laid out his view of the Labour Movement, a view of its
history and the perspectives for the coming election.

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Venezuela: Expropriations of banks, PSUV congress and revival of the workers’ movement

Recently we have seen many important events
happening in Venezuela, such as the devaluation of the bolívar and the
nationalisations in the banking sector, which needs to be analysed
carefully. The movement of occupied factories made important steps
forward last year, but still faces sabotage by counter-revolutionary
managers and workers are still struggling for nationalisation under
workers’ control. In order to defend the conquests already made, the
revolution must put the nationalisation of the commanding heights of
the economy on the agenda. Only this can destroy capitalism and provide
the necessary prerequisites for a socialist planned economy.

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And here’s to you Mrs Robinson

The scandal involving the wife of the First Minister has
revealed the utter hypocrisy of the politicians who run Stormont. While
they are perfectly prepared to impose draconian spending cuts on
welfare, they line their own pockets. The workers of the North require
a fighting working class political representation and not the present
bunch of parasites.

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Haiti: A Profound Human Tragedy Inspires the Same Old Song and Dance from the U.S. Ruling Class

The nation of Haiti was hit with a
devastating earthquake. The governments of Cuba and Venezuela responded
within hours with medical brigades, firefighters, fuel and supplies,
and there has been massive sympathy, generosity and volunteerism from
workers around the world. What a difference compared to the response
from the United States. The U.S. government has pledged assistance
in the way of one hundred million dollars – less than is spent on the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in just two days.

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Horror in Haiti – Imperialism to blame

There is a manmade element to the
catastrophe now confronting the Haitians. The country doesn’t just happen to be
poor; it has been made poor and kept poor. Haiti is the poorest country
in the Western hemisphere, with the worst infrastructure and a people
most vulnerable to disaster and disease, because of the machinations of
imperialism. Although the earthquake could not be avoided, the scale of
death and destruction clearly could have been.

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UNISON: Local Government Pay Freeze demonstrates the need for a democratic fighting union

It
won’t come as a big surprise to most thinking workers that a bunch of
Tory councillors sat around and made the decision to institute a pay
freeze in local government. No surprise that is because the memory of
Thatcherism is still etched on many workers minds and secondly because
with New Labour  already advocating a 1% pay
ceiling on public sector pay, how were the Tories going to out do them?
Why, by offering less of course!

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Where is Wales going?

In the Labour Party and among Trade Union leaders here in Wales, it is
thought defeatist and almost traitorous, to express the belief that
Labour may lose the General Election this year. We look at how things are panning out in Wales and what Labour really needs to do to avoid defeat in the coming elections.

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