Crisis has returned with a vengeance. Britain is now officially back in
recession following two quarters of economic contraction, something
which will come as no surprise to many workers on the breadline. The
Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the British economy contracted
by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012, which follows a 0.3% decline in
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the final three months of 2011.
The weekend of April 14th and 15th saw
the biggest gathering of the supporters of Socialist Appeal and the
Marxist Tendency in 20 years. This year’s conference discussed the World
situation and the ongoing global capitalist crisis, which is developing
into the deepest in the history of capitalism. The perspectives for
Britain were discussed, with special reference to the question of a
referendum on Scottish independence.
The government has been trying to take some quiet comfort from the new unemployment figures announced today. Yet they hide some damning facts.
On April 12th, around 70 people
gathered at a Hands Off Venezuela meeting at Bolivar Hall in London to
commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the defeat of the
counter-revolutionary coup against Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela.
The meeting served as the premiere of ‘Cuarto Poder’, a documentary
summarising the negative portrayal of the President Chavez in the
Spanish media and the reasons for this negative bias.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the launching of Socialist Appeal, over
100 delegates and visitors assembled in London at what was the largest
Socialist Appeal conference held to date. Detailed discussions were held on
the world situation and the latest perspectives for Britain. Reports
were presented on the Sparks dispute, the work in the universities, the
fight for public sector pensions and the way forward for the Labour
Party and the unions. The tremendous mood of the conference was
reflected in the magnificent collection for the Fighting Fund where
nearly £5,000 was raised – a record!.
As part of its austerity programme the
Tory-LibDem coalition is planning to cut police officers’ wages and
making it easier to sack them. There are to be wage cuts, job losses and
more stringent requirements to enter the police force.
Hands
Off Venezuela on April 12 is hosting at Bolivar Hall the London
premiere of "Cuarto Poder" (the Fourth Power) a new documentary
examining the role of media, media monopoly and ownership, media
manipulation and related issues with special reference to the media
coverage of events in Venezuela. John McDonnell MP and Alan Woods will
be speaking at the event
George
Galloway’s remarkable victory in the recent Bradford West by-election
has again thrown the spotlight on the Labour Party’s lamentable failure to
provide an opposition to the Tories and the Coalition government’s vicious
attacks on the working class.
The
remarkable victory of George Galloway in the Bradford West by-election has sent
a massive cannon ball flying across the boughs of the Labour leadership. At a time of huge
unpopularity of the Coalition government, Labour should have romped home in
this traditional heartland. To their astonishment, Labour was driven into
second place behind George Galloway, who scored a massive 36.59% swing from
Labour to Respect.
There are significant signs that the trades unions affiliated to the
Labour Party are growing increasingly impatient with the Blairite wing
of the party and its shadowy support organisation, known ironically as
Progress. Because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tuition fees, ID
cards, PFI and a whole raft of neo-liberal policies, Tony Blair is now
completely discredited among the majority of the rank and file of the
Labour Party. But the organisation set up to support him in 1995 is
still functioning and campaigning for quasi-Tory policies inside the
Labour Party.
While hundreds of thousands of civil servants,
teachers and health workers are fighting to defend their pensions, the Tory Lib
Dem Coalition are preparing further attacks on all sections of the working
class people. The March 21st budget was a budget by the rich, for the rich. Pensioners, those on benefits, the
unemployed – all will be hit hard, yet the rich are rewarded with tax handouts.
Four inches of snow had fallen
during the night and temperatures were well below freezing, but with breath
turning white in the icy air the socialists from Peterborough Labour Party were
out campaigning for Socialist Appeal supporter, Ron Graves, who is the
prospective candidate for Stanground Central in the May local government
elections.