The latest news and analysis from The Communist, alongside reports of our activity. For Marxist theory and history, click here.
On
Monday the eighth of October the Edinburgh University Hands Off Venezuela
society showed Hands Off Venezuela’s new film No Volveran. The film was well generally well received by those that attended. After the film show
there was a brief discussion on issues such as the new constitution and workers
control.
On the 26th September Norwich comrades helped promote the University of East Anglia Socialist Society at the Freshers Fair. The day was a big success, a lot of hard work and preparation was put into the days efforts. For another year socialist ideas at UEA looks set to gain a wide audience among students and young people.
Britain, like all the other capitalist countries, is
dependent on burning fossil fuels as our basic energy source. It is obvious
that fossil fuels must run out one day. It is also well known that carbon
emissions from burning fossil fuels contribute to climate change. One
‘solution’ put forward to this is to grow your own biofuel.
Two years after the brutal shooting by police in London of Jean
Charles de Menezes, his family are no nearer
seeing anyone brought to justice. Jean was shot at least 8 times from
point blank range as he boarded a tube
train at Stockwell station in south London. We now know the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes
is considered by the British establishment as justified despite a
mountain of evidence to the contrary.
Speculation has reached fever pitch in the press over whether or not
Brown will call a snap General Election after only three months as
prime minister. With the Tories languishing in the polls, one giving
Labour an eleven percentage lead, and the government surviving the
different crises of foot and mouth, floods and the run on Northern
Rock, the young Turks of New Labour’s front bench are keen to launch an
election. However there is little enthusiasm amongst traditional Labour supporters and there are dangers of an economic crisis.
We republish this article from Socialist Appeal April 1995 on proportionality as part of the ongoing discussion in the labour movement about reserve places as a means of overcoming discrimination. Since its original publication it has become more evident that proportionality and reserved seats have been used to undermine democracy in the trade union movement, while not resolving the issues of discrimination.
A critical
comment by Moroccan Marxists on the line of thought developed in the article,
The
victory of Hamas in Gaza and the questions facing Israeli and Palestinian
workers by Yehuda Stern in Jerusalem, that we
published on Wednesday, 11 July 2007. It is the opinion of the Editorial Board
that the Moroccan Marxists are absolutely correct in their criticisms.
More
people have been killed in Myanmar (Burma) as the military try and hold back
the wave of protest. But pressure is building up on the regime. Whether it will
clamp down firmly or move in the direction of negotiations depends on the power
of the movement in the coming days.
The way
the computer industry functions today is a perfect illustration of all the
faults and massive inefficiencies of capitalism, where the primary goal is not
serving the interests of society. Developing, improving and distributing
software takes place only where big profits can be made. This stands in sharp
contrast to free software, where human knowledge and the produce of human
labour is used to the advantage all of society.
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.
On Thursday pickets were
organised outside Mexican embassies around the world, calling for the release
of Adan
Mejia (an APPO activist and supporter of the Marxist Tendency Militante) and of
all the other political prisoners presently being held in Mexican jails. The
campaign will continue until everyone is released and all charges are dropped.
Last year’s war in Lebanon ended in defeat for Israel, but it also
shook up Lebanese society. The general strike that took place shortly
afterwards is testimony to this fact. Luke Wilson interviewed a student
activist in Beirut on how he sees the situation now.