It is not often that we get speakers from outside the city
to come to Coventry TUC, but on Thursday evening, November 15th,
delegates were enthused and enthralled by John Dunn, former Clay Cross
Councillor and Derbyshire NUM officer, and now of the SMSC.
Once again the Israeli military machine has carried out another
extra-judicial execution. This time, the IAF blew up Hamas military
leader Ahmed Jabari in a helicopter attack, along with a number of
civilians whose only “crime” was that of living in “the world’s largest
open-air prison”. Why is this happening now?
On Wednesday, November 14th, a number of Socialist Appeal supporters in Unite went along to give support to a picket at the
Oxford Circus CrossRail site, organised by the sparks’ rank and file committee.
We have received the following letter from an LP activist, written as a
personal contribution to the ongoing discussion now taking place in the
local Labour and trade union movement, on the issues being raised by the
Rotherham by-election due to take place on November 29th. In view of
its length we are unable to publish it in its full form in the December
issue of Socialist Appeal so we are making the complete text available
online now in advance of publication.The author welcomes any comments on his letter.
‘A company that only makes money is not good business’. This
phrase from Henry Ford does not appear to be an inspiration for Stephen
Odell, the current CEO of Ford Europe. Money seems to be the only
reason for its industrial policy, as shownby the announced plant
closures in Genk and Southampton (UK).The announcement on October 24 of
the plant closures and the layoffs of 4500 workers in Belgium and 500 in
the UK are another nail in the coffin of the European automotive
sector.
Join Spanish trade unionists in London at a protest as part of the European Day Of Action
November marks the 95th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. At a student day school held in London, Rob Sewell speaks on the lessons of 1917.
Hardly a day now seems to go by without some scandal or
resignation rocking the British Establishment. The BBC is presently engulfed in
a major scandal involving the Savile paedophile cover-up and the blunder over
the erroneous exposure of an alleged Chief Tory child abuser, apparently based
upon uncorroborated evidence now revealed to have been a case of mistaken
identity.
The
head of the BBC, Mr Entwistle, and others have resigned. But this is only the
tip of the iceberg. A whole series of scandals have emerged exposing the
rottenness of the British Establishment, its lies and its cover-ups.
This month is the 95th anniversary of the Russian Revolution of 1917. During this month we will be publishing a number of articles to mark this historic event. The article by Ted Grant posted here was first published in 1975 to mark the 58th anniversary. Extended extracts have been reproduced in this month’s edition of Socialist Appeal, mainly dealing with the events of 1917. However the full article is worthy of study and it is that version will be made available here.
As the Chinese Communist Party gathers for its 18th Congress, we look back at the 1925-27 revolution, which was a heroic attempt of the Chinese workers to follow in the footsteps of the October 1917 Russian Revolution. However, due to its unprepared and irresolute leadership, it went down to a tragic defeat. Failed revolutions are always the greatest of tragedies. However, the only way of really honouring the many victims of the counter-revolution that ensued is to study the revolution and learn from its mistakes.
$6 billion and over a year of
campaigning later, and it would appear that the status quo remains.
Obama is still the president; the Democrats control the Senate; and the
Republicans control the House of Representatives. On the surface,
"nothing has changed."
The Tories’ latest attack on welfare benefits threatens to place even
more of the burden of the bankers’ crisis onto the shoulders of the
unemployed, the disabled, children and pensioners.