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The latest news and analysis from The Communist, alongside reports of our activity. For Marxist theory and history, click here.

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Crisis – is Britain immune?

There’s an old saying that, ‘When the USA sneezes, we all catch
cold.’ Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown know that the USA is already
in recession. They know that the financial crisis is causing the
hatches to be battened down all over the world. But, they say, Britain
is immune. They’ve even commissioned a Treasury report to try to prove
it. Don’t believe them. The chill winds of economic crisis are
coming our way. The parallels between the US, which is already in the
mire, and the UK are stark.

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Jacqui the Child Catcher

The latest attempt
to criminalise young people by "framing and shaming" them and
"filming and repeatedly stopping identified persistent offenders on
problem estates" owes more to the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
than it does to evidence based practice. But what are the real reasons that "Youth Disorder" takes
place and what works?

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Referendum on independence for Scotland – where do we stand?

Wendy Alexander, leader of the Labour Party in Scotland has
declared that the SNP Government should “bring on” a referendum on independence
and has gone as far as to not rule out a bill calling for a poll earlier than
the Nationalist administration’s proposed date of 2010. This has resulted in
the issue of Scottish independence making a large impact on the national media
for the first time since the SNP’s victory in the Scottish Parliament elections
in May of last year. It has also unleashed a potential Pandora’s Box that is
threatening to divide the Labour leadership in Scotland from the national
leadership.

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Riots all over world as food prices soar

Food prices have gone up worldwide by 75% since 2005. Since Gordon
Brown became prime minister (not that long ago) milk prices have gone
up by 17%, eggs by 28% and bread by 34% in this country. Other items
have shown even sharper increases. There’s no sign of any letup. In the same way as we seem to have seen
the end of cheap oil, this could be the last of cheap food.

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Defend a woman’s right to choose

The 27th
April marked the 40th anniversary of the coming into force of the
1967 Abortion Act that led to the saving of thousands of women’s lives. The Act
allowed women in England, Wales and Scotland access to safe abortion on the NHS
in a government approved hospital when 2 doctors agreed to the procedure within
the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. We must not turn the clock back by
criminalising women who find themselves in the position of needing an abortion.
We must join the lobby of parliament today to protect the
right to choose and not allow religious bigotry to put women back to the unsafe
abortions of the pre 1967 Abortion Act where thousands of women put their
health and even their lives in danger.

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Latin American Contingent at May Day 2008

A
thousand people gathered in London on Thursday’s 2008 May Day to march through
the streets of the capital in celebration of International Workers’ Day. In
light of recent and threatening developments in Bolivia, different campaigns came together
to organise a joint meeting after the demonstration. The
energy and enthusiasm of the meeting boldly reflected the impact that Latin
American revolutions are having on people here in Britain demonstrating that the May Day spirit
is very much alive and kicking.

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“Hot Spring” in Europe?

Present-day economic
conditions demand that the working class fight back. The interests of the
ruling class and the working class are irreconcilable. The bourgeois are
screaming, "more cuts, more cuts" and the workers shout back
"Enough is enough". The stage has been set for a "Hot
Spring" in Europe.

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Capitalism means starvation

“While many are worrying about filling their gas tanks, many
others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs,” says Robert Zoellick, head of the World Bank. We are
confronted with actual starvation. He warns that the present food crisis will
give us “seven lost years.” It means “lost learning potential for
children…stunted intellectual and physical growth.” His colleague at the IMF,
Dominique Strauss Kahn, concurs. He foresees that “hundreds of thousands of
people will be starving.”

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British Perspectives 2008

This is the final draft of the British Perspectives document worked out and voted on by the comrades of the British section of the International Marxist Tendency at their National Conference in April of this year.

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Britain hit by biggest wave of strikes in decade

On Thursday April 24th teachers, lecturers and
public sector workers staged a one-day strike. Teachers were out on official strike
for the first time for 21 years. They were joined by Further Education (FE)
lecturers organised in UCU and public sector workers from the PCS union who are
faced with a government imposed 2% pay rise limit. At last workers in the
public sector were taking organised, coordinated and united strike action
against pay offers that represent a cut in their standard of living.

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Which way out of the Zimbabwean nightmare?

The present impasse in Zimbabwe is a direct result of the
so-called Structural Adjustment Plans so dear to imperialism, imposed on the
Zimbabwean people in collaboration with Mugabe after he came to power. Now they
have turned against him, but he is a creature of their own making.

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