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News and analysis

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

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Multiculturalism – what is it and will it survive?

Multiculturalism is again under attack. And it’s not just from the BNP, but members of
New Labour. Following the bombings on London in 2005 Ruth
Kelly and David Blunkett called for a ‘British
identity’. Jack Straw asked women Muslims in his constituency
to remove their veils (the niqab), as he feels uncomfortable with
them. The  chair of the Commission for  Equalities and Human Rights has urged for
integration as a way forward, "to stop us from sleep walking into segregation".

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Hospital super-bugs – Privatisation kills

The Health Care Commission accused the Kent and Sussex NHS Trust of
"significant failings in infection control" after 90 patients were
known to have died of the super-bug "Clostridium difficile" in three of
its hospitals last year. Kent police and the Health and
Safety Executive are considering the unprecedented action of pressing
manslaughter charges against the Trust.

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Hands off Venezuela Conference 2007

This weekend supporters of the Venezuelan revolution will gather at the
University of London Union for the Hands off Venezuela National
conference. Speakers from Venezuela will include  Guadalupe Rodriguez from the Coordinadora Simon Bolivar and Nelson Rodriguez from the Factory Committee at Inveval. Show your
solidarity with the revolutionary events taking place in Venezuela and
throughout Latin America – book your place today!

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PFI – stop them killing off the NHS!

We have now had more than a decade of Private Finance Initiative
involvement in the health service. Despite Labour pouring money into
hospitals and health care, more and more health trusts are reporting
deficits. PFI is sucking the NHS dry!

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Join the Party! – Hundreds celebrate 90th anniversary of Russian Revolution in Vienna

On Saturday the "Der
Funke" Marxist tendency organised a big event with Trotsky’s grandson, Esteban
Volkov, as special guest, to commemorate and celebrate the 90th anniversary of
the 1917 Russian Revolution. Around 200 people came to listen to the speeches in
defence of "Red October" and between 400-500 celebrated all night long at the
party that was organised after the meeting.

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Edinburgh – schools under threat

As winter creeps, in students and staff at Edinburgh schools and nurseries have learned
of the chilling news that their places of learning and work places may be under
threat once again. The Edinburgh Evening News reported on the thirtieth of
October that Edinburgh Council intended to reopen a consultation process that
would look into the future of schools. It also listed seventeen schools and
nurseries that it expected to be earmarked for the process.

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Film Review: Sicko

When you watch a Michael Moore film, it doesn’t take long to realise just why the US bosses find him so irritating and why his films have never been shown on US mainstream TV.

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Big event in Copenhagen to commemorate The Russian Revolution and Trotsky’s speech

Today, 7th of November a big meeting organised by the Danish
Marxist tendency, Socialistisk Standpunkt, will take place in Copenhagen to
celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. However,
2007 marks another anniversary, and one with special importance for Denmark. It
is 75 years since Leon Trotsky held his last public speech in November 1932,
which was held at a huge meeting in Copenhagen, where Trotsky was invited by
the Social-Democratic Students Association.

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The ‘Spirit of Petrograd’? The 1918 and 1919 Police Strikes in Britain

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Marxists have always maintained that
at some stage the intensity of the class struggle affects even the "armed
bodies of men" of the bourgeois state. Such an example was the police strike in
Britain at the end of the First World War. In the late summer of 1918 the sight
of 12,000 furious Metropolitan constables marching on Whitehall sparked panic
among ruling circles in Britain. Under the leadership of the National Union of
Police and Prison Officers, militantly class-conscious policemen conspired to
overturn their role as the subservient body of the State.

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The 18th Brumaire of Pervez Musharraf

On Saturday November 3 President Pervez
Musharraf declared virtual martial law, imposing a state of emergency
throughout Pakistan,
suspending the Constitution and replacing superior courts. This amounts to his
second coup d’etat after he seized power in October 12, 1999. It is a desperate
move that underlines the extremely unstable nature of the regime, which is
losing support by the day.

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Fight BBC job cuts!

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BBC staff are set to ballot for strike over plans to axe up to 2500
jobs. The mood is angry and a big ‘yes’ vote is likely among the 23,000
workers. The three unions involved are Bectu, Unite and the National
Union of Journalists.

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PFI – Robbery in Coventry

In the Guardian on September 4th George Monbiot gave a classic
example of PFI madness. In Coventry officials wanted to refurbish its
two hospitals.This would have cost £30m. They didn’t have £30m, so they had to go for PFI.

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