Britain

New Labour’s record on housing policy is a
disgrace. Reports say
we face a ‘housing time bomb’. There
are 1.6 million on council house waiting lists. Their numbers are
growing by 7.6% a year. Repossessions were up by 65% last year to
17,000 losing their homes, and official homelessness went up by 14.4%
between 2000 and 2005. Last year we built less houses than any year since the
1920s. And because so few new homes are being built, prices go up so as
to be completely unaffordable for the poorer in our society.

Everyday our television screens are filled with
images of horrific bloodshed and carnage in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hundreds die,
men, women and children, in a single day. Some estimate that one million people
have perished since the invasion of 2003. This is the reality after more than
four years of foreign occupation.

Showing tonight on ITV1 is  The War on Democracy , John Pilger’s documentary that analyses the relationship between Latin America and the US, focusing on Washington’s attitude to
countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. Pilger pays special attention to the developing situation in Venezuela, including an interview with President Hugo Chavez.

A recently published
book by Francis Beckett, The Great City Academy Fraud, is a clear exposé
of the City Academies programme of the New
Labour government. Launched by David Blunkett in March 2000, the Academies
programme is both an attack on state education and, in educational terms, a
disaster. The programme is also an example of the spin and deceit methods that
are the hallmark of New Labour.

Brown has replaced Blair as leader of the Labour Party and Prime
Minister, but has anything fundamental changed? Absolutely not! And yet behind
this seemingly uneventful change lies the manoeuvre to stop John McDonnell to
stand for the leadership. All the indications were that John would have made a
good showing. Something is stirring in the British labour movement.

The first showing of the new film No Volveran attracted a large number
of people. Read the report on the Hands Off Venezuela website .

The collapse of Metronet , the consortium
entrusted with upgrading the tube, spells the collapse of the whole notion of
‘Public Private Partnership’, otherwise known as the Private Finance
Initiative.

From the makers of the Hands Off
Venezuela film ‘Solidarity‘, and the Sanitarios Maracay short film
series, comes ‘No Volverán – The Venezuelan Revolution Now’, an exciting
feature length documentary about the Venezuelan Revolution. The Film’s world’s premiere, London July 18th.

Last week, the Bank of England hiked its
interest rates, yet again, to 5.75%. This
was the fifth rise since August 2005.
And the head of the bank, Mervyn King, said that "further action" on
interest rates could be necessary. Most
observers reckon the interest rate that most borrowing and mortgages are based on
– the bank rate – will go to 6% or more by the end of this year.

As the Middle East descends deeper into a vicious cycle of
death and destruction, the Reverend Blair has stepped once again
onto the world stage as international envoy for the Middle East,
representing the "Quartet" of the European Union, Russia, United
Nations and United States. In this new role, Blair has the strong
backing of the US President George W. Bush, who is the key player. In
other words, Blair will bend the knee as always to US imperialism and
its interests.