News and analysis

In her usual style Naomi Klein provided many interesting facts, but
failed to reach any concrete conclusions of how we can or whether it is
actually necessary to abolish capitalism. In essence she would like
another kind of capitalism, a more humane capitalism, which of course
is utterly utopian.

The left wing Labour MP John McDonnell has tabled an Early Day Motion
condemning the murder of Danilo Anderson, the Venezuelan prosecutor
investigating the April 2002 military coup against president Chavez.

The Butler Report, the official inquiry into how intelligence sources were
used by the Blair government to justify the war in Iraq, has produced
nothing surprising. It is another whitewash, just like the Hutton report.
What is amazing however is that it provides enough evidence to show that the
government did indeed lie to the British people, that it went to war under
false pretences.

The 2004 elections to the European Parliament, London Assembly, and local
councils were a historic defeat for Blair and the Labour leaders. Phil
Mitchinson looks at the rise of the UK Independence Party, and the lessons of
Britain's Super Thursday elections.

Former Cabinet Minister Clare Short, who resigned over the war, has candidly
admitted that British Intelligence
had spied on UN officials including Secretary General Kofi Annan, in the run-up
to the Iraq war. This follows on the admission of a former translator at GCHQ
who revealed that the US intelligence services has asked the British to spy on
senior UN officials and representatives of other "allied" governments.

Imagine a game of football where the manager of one team made up the
rules to benefit his own side, where the goalposts were moved and where the
referee was on his side. The outcome of such a match would, of course be known
in advance by the winning side, who would then run around the stadium in a state
of ecstasy, yelling “Victory!” That is precisely what happened with the now
infamous Hutton report.

The Hutton inquiry produced few surprises. Naturally Tony Blair and Alastair
Campbell were exonerated. This inquiry was no different to any of its
predecessors, since no such inquiry ever found a government to be guilty. It was
a whitewash.

Teflon Tony, otherwise known as the ‘Houdini of British politics’ has
narrowly escaped a major political defeat yet again. It is however fair to say
that his protective layer of teflon may be wearing off, as the Labour majority
in parliament was reduced to just 5, down from the on-paper majority of 161. 
Thebill on tuition top-up fees passed its second reading by a vote of 316 to 311,
and the Labour Party’s parliamentary group is looking seriously beleaguered
after an intense few days of political haggling and backroom swindles.

Since last summer we have seen a widespread debate about the pros and
the cons of GM products. There are people for and against GM products from all
the different political shades. The bourgeois papers have been very keen on
giving voice to different people in the debate. What is missing, however, is a
class point of view. No one poses the question from the point of view of
ordinary working people.

The festive season in Britain got off to a grim start with the discovery of two
pensioners who died weeks after their gas supply was cut off because of an
unpaid bill of £140. These events happened, not in 1840 but in our own times.
The Office of National Statistics predicts that 2,500 people will die of cold
this week. The cause of these deaths is usually attributed to things like
influenza, heart attacks, pneumonia and the like. But the real cause in most
cases is poverty and neglect.