On Tuesday, 15th August I attended a packed meeting organised by the
Stop the War Coalition, now an established annual event during the
Edinburgh Festival. The evening began with some anti- war poetry in
both Arabic and English, followed by a selection of anti–war protest
songs.
It came as no surprise when Lewis MacDonald, the Deputy Health Minister
at the Scottish Parliament, effectively rubber-stamped the "prefered
option" of Lanarkshire Health Board Trust and announced the closure of
the Casualty Unit at Monklands Hospital on August 22nd. The decision shows the "consultation exercise" over 6 weeks and costing
£50,000 of public money was, as we pointed out at the time, a complete
sham.
Yesterday, August 24, a meeting was held in Walthamstow, North London, by the Pakistan Trade Union Defence
Campaign to discuss the recent arrests in the area and the renewed attacks on
both democracy and Muslim workers. Some twenty people turned up to hear Zakir
lead off on the subject.
British airports were in a state of chaos yesterday
after it was revealed that a terrorist plot involving liquid explosives had
been foiled. However, it would be a great mistake to abandon our ability for
critical thinking in this period of hysteria and media frenzy.
A great deal of the money being pumped into the NHS is
coming straight out the other side into the pockets of private capitalists
without even touching the sides of the health service. We pay taxes for the
NHS, not to subsidise parasites!
The last week has seen a rising tide of anger in Britain at the Israeli
attacks on Lebanon. This is reflected in the mood and size of the two
marches and lobby, all organised at short notice.
Last Saturday, July 15,
more than 300 people, amongst them veteran members of the International Brigades,
their relatives, friends and general public, gathered in the heart of London to
remember and pay homage to all those who, seventy years ago and following the
dictates of their internationalist hearts and minds, left everything to fight
for socialism in a Spain devastated by the fascist troops of Franco, Hitler and
Mussolini.
The crisis in the
Scottish Socialist Party hit the news when judge Lady Smith jailed SSP policy
co-ordinator, Alan McCombes, for 12 days on May 26th, after he
continually refused to hand over the minutes of a meeting from November 2004.
This was the latest in a series of crises which has stretched the party almost
to breaking point.
The Editorial of the latest issue of Socialist Appeal (July/August
2006) calls for a socialist candidate to oppose Brown in a Labour
leadership election. "The idea of a handover – with no election – that Blair and Brown had
imagined is clearly now dead in the water. There is a rising tide of
opposition to Brown’s succession.
What an ideal opportunity to raise socialist policies throughout the
labour movement!"
Today, Tuesday 17th June, around 1,500 trade unionists gathered at
Westminster Central Hall, London, to launch a fight-back over the
privatisation of public services. This was an excellent turnout for a
weekday rally.
Peugeot is planning to move production from its Coventry plant in the UK
to Slovakia, where labour costs are one quarter of what they are in the UK. Capitalists
have no concern for their workers. They go where they can maximise profits. The
only answer is nationalisation under workers’ control.
The concluding section of British Perspectives 2006 looks at the state
of the British economy, which has been propped up by colossal debts for
some time, but is now grinding to a halt. The decline of manufacturing,
and the domination of banking and financial services is an expression
of the enfeeblement of British capitalism. This lies behind the attacks
on the welfare state, on jobs and conditions, and on democracy. All the
conditions are being prepared for a new outbreak of class struggle that
will have a profound impact on British society in the next period.