The public clash between Obama and his
top general in Afghanistan
highlight the difficulties US imperialism is facing in what is clearly
an unwinnable war. What the general has done is to express in public
what is normally reserved for private conversation, but it does bring
out clearly the impasse the US is facing in Afghanistan.
The mood leading up to this weekend’s G20
summit and the protest
against it became increasingly tense throughout the week. The police
and the state spent plenty of time informing the public of its vast
arsenal, troop numbers, facilities, and readiness to defend the
fence—itself a graphic symbol of the growing class divide not only here
in Canada, but around the world. Rob Lyon reports on the action on the streets.
Some 38 years after the horrific events in Derry
on Sunday 30th January 1972 the publication of the Saville Report has
been welcomed by the bereaved families whose 14 relatives were killed by
British Paratroops at a Civil Rights March on what became known as
Bloody Sunday.
Over the past few days the labour and trade union movement
in Coventry has begun to move into action to mobilise working people against
the cuts announced by the Lib-Con government. The mass Unite rally last Saturday,
June 19th, already reported on the Socialist Appeal website, was the
first step.
The long awaited UNISON General Secretary Ballot Result has
been announced, resulting in a victory for the incumbent, Dave Prentis,
with
Roger Bannister in second place and Paul Holmes, the candidate favoured
by the
Unison United Left and Unison Socialist Appeal Supporters, in third
place.
“Open for business.” These were the words spoken by
chancellor George Osborne as he delivered the most vicious anti-working class
budget for generations – a budget for big business indeed!
The economic downturn has placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the
working class who have paid the price for the mistakes of the bosses and
bankers through cuts and redundancies. The youth in particular have been hit
hard with many unable to find work or being forced into education.
The new Higher Education minister David Willetts has come
out with a clear indication about the Con-Dem coalition’s attitude to young
people, anticipating their announcement to raise tuition fees for university
students
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico highlights the
real state of US capitalism today. While making a lot of noise, Obama
is not prepared to take on the oil companies in any serious meaningful
way. What he is doing is passing the buck to the US working class.
The huge spillage of oil in the Gulf of Mexico was an accident
waiting to happen, as this brief comment from an ex-oil worker points
out. It shows quite clearly that our environment cannot be left in the
hands of a greedy, money-grabbing coterie of capitalists who own and
control the means of production.
Throughout the four hours of the indoor rally at the Methodist Central
Hall in Coventry on Saturday June 19th, some 140 trade unionists and
members of
Coventry communities came together and participated. The rally had been
convened
by the Unite union to highlight the ongoing dispute between youth
workers
organised in the CYWU section of Unite and Coventry City Council.
With the results of the Unison General Secretary election due on
Tuesday 22nd June, we reproduce here an article by Left candidate Paul
Holmes which was published on the front page of the United Left paper, issued during last week’s Unison conference: