Socialist Appeal 175 now out
The July edition of Socialist Appeal (Number 175) is now on sale.
Click here to order your copy.
Euro MEPs do very well – for themselves!
This Thursday will see elections for the European Parliament taking place. For many of those who can be bothered to vote, the election will be seen as a chance to send a message about the UK MPs Expenses scandal.But are the MEPs immune from this scandal?
Ireland: Euro election disaster looms for Cowen
If you hadn’t noticed, there is an election or rather a number of elections this week, what with the Euro Elections and the Council ones. Every lamp post, telegraph pole or slow moving animal has been festooned with posters for weeks. All of the hopefuls smile at you as you walk past, each photo carefully doctored so you can’t see the vampire fangs.
‘Will there be a slump?’ – Still relevant today
Nearly fifty years ago, Ted Grant wrote a major article called ‘Will there be a slump?’ in which he outlined the underlying reasons for capitalist crisis and why it would keep happening – a controversial statement during the period of the post-war boom. This article from 1960 remains as relevant today as ever, given the world recession which has thrown the economies of the world into chaos.
Sweeping Our Emissions Under the Carpet: Is Carbon Capture a Silver Bullet?
Earlier this year, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband ended years of silence
from the Government as to how they are going to address the issue of
climate change, and how they plan to replace Britain’s aging power
plants, many of which are nearing the end of their lifetime,
threatening to plunge the country into darkness due to a lack of
electricity. The Government’s answer lies in a technology called
"Carbon Capture and Storage", or CCS, which they claim will be the
silver bullet that simultaneously kills the problems of global warming
and national energy supply.
This article raises some concerns about CCS as part of the ongoing discussion inside the Labour movement about socialism and our natural resources.We welcome any comments on this contribution and the issues it raises.
Watch Out! BNP riff-raff about!
With the European elections looming, visit any main town across the
length and breadth of the country during the day and you will be sure
to find BNP activists in smart suits handing out glossy leaflets in the
High Street and their message of "Yes to Putting British People First"
– a message of course earlier put out by Gordon Brown, a message that
has done much to hinder the campaign against the racist BNP.
Venezuela: Five iron and steel plants and the Carabobo Ceramics nationalised
At a recent gathering in the State of Guayana President Chavez
announced a series of new nationalisations, but he also stressed the
need for workers’ control, planning and socialism. What now needs to be
done is to act on these words and the only force that can do that is
the working class. Otherwise all the good proposals can be buried by
the myriad of reformists and bureaucrats who infest the movement.
Education and the working class
As the economic crisis deepens across the world the ruling class throughout Europe is launching a fresh offensive against education as it tries to squeeze working class students for as much as they’ve got. In April, education ministers from all over Europe met in Prague to announce the success the of the Bologna process: a Europe wide plan to further open up public education to the pillaging forces of the market.
More support for Mitie cleaners
We republish an article from the Morning Star that shows MP John McDonnell’s backing for the Mitie and other cleaners fighting for their rights. We have been covering the cleaners’ battles for months now (https://communist.red/mitie-cleaners-fight.htm) and welcome John’s intervention. We urge that support for and solidarity with them be taken up in every section of the labour and trade union movement.
Commemoration of the Limerick Soviet
The Limerick Soviet was established on 6th April 1919, a few months after the Dail (the newly elected Irish national assembly) proclaimed independence from Britain in January. In fact Ireland was occupied by British soldiers. In an incident, nationalist Robert Byrne was shot dead by occupying troops. His death was heavily mourned throughout the city as 20,000 people attended his funeral in protest. The British Government reacted angrily by imposing martial law on the city with the use of troops and tanks. The townsfolk responded by setting up the Limerick Soviet.
Danger! Police at work
London Met Police have been accused of using plain clothed officers to
infiltrate the G20 protests held in london this April in order to provoke violence.The accusation has come after several weeks
of shock after news of the death of Ian Tomlinson at police hands and the
injuring of many others.
Editorial:What to do about MPs’ expenses?
The furore about MPs
claiming outrageous expenses and resorting to outright fiddling gets
worse by the day. Labour, as the Party in
power for the past twelve years presiding over this scandal, is
facing electoral meltdown. Naturally the Labour ranks are panicking.
Labour appears doomed at the local and European elections on June
4th,
and in the general election over the next year. The situation could
still be turned around but the unions and rank and file will have
to take decisive action and take the Parliamentary Labour Party by
the scruff of the neck.