The Unbroken Thread: Report of London Meeting, May 21, 2002
This is a shorter report of the same event.
News and analysis
The latest news and analysis from The Communist, alongside reports of our activity. For Marxist theory and history, click here.
Britain: Is the new-found Royalist optimism justified?
The Queen has started her Golden Jubilee tour of Britain, and particularly with the events (and non-events) following the death over Easter of the Queen Mother, the media are trying to create a revivial of the monarchy’s public standing. Steve Jones looks at this, and at the real role of the British monarchy.
Equal Value in the NHS: Fight for equal pay!
Peter Doyle, an organiser for the public sector union Unison in Cumbria, Northern England, reports on the Equal Value claims that his union region is submitting to the government to get women workers in traditional "women’s jobs" in the health service the same levels of pay as workers in traditional "men’s jobs". They are on the verge of an important victory.
The Falklands War – 20 years later
On March 30, 1982, in response to Argentina's deepening economic
crisis, and the repression of General Galtieri's military-police
dictatorship, the workers had taken to the streets of Buenos Aires. The
regime was staring overthrow in the face. It responded by starting a
war, one of the principal aims of which was to distract the attention
of the masses. In all wars the policy and analysis of every
organisation is put to the test. The analysis made by the Marxists, on
the other hand, remains as valid as when it was written. Unlike other
tendencies we can reproduce everything we wrote twenty years ago
without changing a single word.
The Falklands Crisis – A Socialist Answer
This is the complete text of a pamphlet written by Ted Grant in May 1982.
Female immigration – Maximum Surplus Value
We are publishing a letter about the conditions of female immigrants to
Europe written by Marina Kosara, a member of the Young Socialists in
Vienna who works with immigrants.
The Abortion Referendum in Ireland
The Irish population in a referendum has just rejected a government
move to further restrict women’s limited access to abortions. This is a
blow for the reactionaries but the right to abortion is still out of
reach for most Irish women, being available only to those who can
afford to travel to Britain.
A Global Steel War?
On Wednesday March 6, President Bush imposed tariffs as high as 30% on most steel imports coming to the US from Asia and Europe. This will hit European steel makers hard, especially in Britain where there is a slump already in the steel industry. In periods of capitalist economic downturn, national interests predominate over international. Bush is supposedly a supporter of the "free market". But the Wall Street Journal called the tariff "perhaps the most dramatically protectionist step of any president in decades." By Michael Roberts. (March 7, 2002)
We are also publishing two articles from the British Marxist magazine Socialist Appeal about the desperate plight of the steel industry in Britain and its workers. Steel industry correspondent Miles Todd explains that industrial action is the only way to prevent massive job losses.
Britain: Who are the Real Wreckers?
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.
Understanding a sister’s struggle: “In The Name Of Tradition”
This is a short article about the terrible conditions women face in Nigeria.
Socialist Appeal: On the Eve of Our Tenth Anniversary
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.
Britain: sects in a mess – Split in the Socialist Alliance conference
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.