Britain

Following on Blair’s attack on the trade unions, in which he accused them of being "wreckers" for daring to oppose his privatisation plans, the British journal Socialist Appeal has published this special supplement entitled The Wreckers’ Bulletin.

Ten years ago this April, the Socialist Appeal was launched as the journal of the Marxists in the British Labour movement. We are on the eve of celebrating the hundredth edition of the Appeal, and ten years of tireless work in defending the ideas and principles of Marxism on a world scale.

A report of the Socialist Alliance Conference on December 1st which started with words of unity and ended up with the Socialist Party splitting off.

In the aftermath of September 11, governments around the world have been attempting to rush through legislation which undermines democratic rights, in the name of fighting terrorism. In the UK, Blair is trying to introduce a new law which will allow among other things indefinite imprisonment without trial of foreign nationals.

The Editorial of next month's Socialist Appeal deals with the economic
effects of the current crisis and the build up to a war against
Afghanistan. It also explains how the right wing leaders of the labour
movement are using the pretext of the "war against terrorism" to
prevent any criticism of their policies regarding privatisation with
the curtailing of the TUC and Labour Party Conferences. This is also
the pretext for the introduction of ID cards and other measures against
civil liberties.

The events in Oldham have hit the national headlines. Similar explosions of racial conflict have taken place in other towns in Britain. This has brought the BNP and the danger from far-right groups back into the spotlight. Bryan Beckingham, Secretary of Oldham National Union of Teachers, and Alan Creear in Oldham describe the background to these developments.

This statement by the Editorial Board of the
Socialist Appeal
analyses the situation in Britain today. It looks at Britain within the
context
of world economic and political developments and
analyses how these affect the British trade union movement, the
Labour Party, the youth and outlines the
perspectives for the coming period and poses the tasks of Marxists
today.

Over the past weeks the news has been dominated by the story of
yet another crisis in farming. The rapid
spreading of the food and mouth epidemic in Britain is a direct
consequence of capitalist farming
methods.