In
response to coup plotting in both Bolivia and Venezuela, the Hands Off
Venezuela Campaign, together with several other Latin American
solidarity organisations, organised a picket outside the US Embassy in
London followed by a highly successful public meeting, where all
speakers and participants condemned the manoeuvres of US imperialism
and pledged themselves to keep up the solidarity activity.
The nearly £2 billion gap between Tube Lines’ £7.2 billion
costs estimate and the maximum £5.5 billion the PPP arbiter says it should get
raises fears for planned Tube upgrades.
The Tube Lines
estimate is a massive £3.1 billion higher – £2.5 billion taking inflation into
account – than that of London Underground, which called for the arbiter’s early
guidance.
Last week 500 bus workers protested in central London demanding better pay and conditions.
Jack London
is best known as the writer of what he called his ‘dog books,’ such as ‘Call of
the Wild’ and White Fang’. As this biographical sketch shows, he was a
convinced socialist till his death in 1916. Reader will find that he learned
his socialism from a very convincing school – the school of hard knocks. Here
he sums up the lessons of his life.
Hundreds of striking Unison and Unite members filled the
large hall of Friends’ Meeting House in Euston on Wednesday afternoon following
a march through west central London. The turnout in and of itself was
impressive considering most of the strikers had been on picket duty since early
morning. The mood was buoyant and electric, with foot-stomping, flag-waving and
chanting while we waited for the meeting to start. I have not been to a strike
rally where the mood was so militant and combative since the miners’ strike.
From the London Metro: Why your boss may be a ‘cold-blooded killer’. There are twice as many deaths at work as murders, the article explains. The writer of the report for the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Dr. David White, says, “In many ways these crimes are more premeditated. They have the opportunity to plan and prevent these deaths.” Naturally somebody from the HSE, charged with minimising workplace deaths, was wheeled out to whine how unfair the report was.
Even the bourgeois press has admitted that
the sudden shift in world economic fortunes has brought Marxism ‘back from the
dead’ – the Sunday Times ran an article last week under the title ‘The credit
crunch is bringing Marxism back into fashion’. From our perspective, Marxism is
not a fashion or a strange breed of animal, as the bourgeoisie like to kid
themselves, but the only answer to today’s problems. And as the deep crisis of
world capitalism comes more and more to the surface, more and more people will
seek our ideas. This was shown by the turnout of more than 30 at ULU Marxist
Society and Socialist Appeal’s Marxist
Day School on Saturday 12th
July.
Over seventy people
gathered on Wednesday, May 21, at London’s
Bolivar Hall for the opening of the film season Venezuela: a revolution in film, which is organised
by Hands off Venezuela in association
with the Venezuelan embassy in the UK. (Also in Spanish).
Boris Johnson, new Mayor of London, has started as he
intended to go on. He introduced an alcohol ban on London Underground without
any preparation and without putting staff in place to enforce the ban.
Inevitably the ban was challenged last Saturday night. Tube staff were left on
their own to deal with drunken revellers in addition to running a transport
system, as they had warned in advance. They were left at the sharp end of
Johnson’s self-publicising antics.
A few days ago London’s Tory mayor, Boris Johnson, scrapped
the discounted oil deal with the Venezuelan government which allowed half price
bus fares for Londoners on income support.
The election of Boris Johnson as London Mayor in May should be met with
foreboding. This is not good for train operators or working people in
and around London. Boris appears to be born not only with a silver
spoon in his mouth (having been educated in Eton), but also a foot. We
should not be taken in by the appearance of barmy Boris.
This resolution has been passed to go to Amicus UNITE Conference. It’s
an important issue and we hope for the widest sympathy and active
support for its sentiments.