In the light of recent developments in the Scottish
Socialist Party (SSP) we are publishing a document written by Ted Grant back in
1992 which already outlined the roots of the present crisis in the SSP. Ted
explained that the concessions the leaders of the then SML (later to become
SSP) were making to Scottish nationalism would lead to a disaster. Time has
proven him correct.
The editorial of the September 2006 issue of Socialist Appeal looks at the climate of fear and Blair's dwindling support. The latest ICM poll for The Guardian shows that after three terms
of Labour government the Tories are now nine points ahead in the polls.
What an indictment of failure. Labour's support now stands at a
nineteen year low. This is Blair's legacy.
There is more news emerging from the crisis within the Scottish
Socialist Party every day. This article was received a few days ago and
appears in the new issue of Socialist Appeal.
It came as no surprise when Lewis MacDonald, the Deputy Health Minister
at the Scottish Parliament, effectively rubber-stamped the "prefered
option" of Lanarkshire Health Board Trust and announced the closure of
the Casualty Unit at Monklands Hospital on August 22nd. The decision shows the "consultation exercise" over 6 weeks and costing
£50,000 of public money was, as we pointed out at the time, a complete
sham.
On Tuesday, 15th August I attended a packed meeting organised by the
Stop the War Coalition, now an established annual event during the
Edinburgh Festival. The evening began with some anti- war poetry in
both Arabic and English, followed by a selection of anti–war protest
songs.
Yesterday, August 24, a meeting was held in Walthamstow, North London, by the Pakistan Trade Union Defence
Campaign to discuss the recent arrests in the area and the renewed attacks on
both democracy and Muslim workers. Some twenty people turned up to hear Zakir
lead off on the subject.
Immediately following the
ceasefire the government of Israel
attempted to convince the Israeli population, and its friends abroad, that Israel had ‘won
the war'. Now they are forced to beat a hasty retreat from such declarations,
as no-one in Israel
is stupid enough to swallow them. We reproduce here the latest article from www.marxist.com on the current situation in Lebanon
Within the space of two days the vast inequalities in the UK in
remuneration for “work” done have been exposed to public gaze. On the
one hand it was announced on August 18th that public sector workers are
to be limited to a 2% pay increase this year, whilst the day before the
press reported on the bonuses paid at the start of the year to those
who inhabit the boardrooms of big companies and the dealing rooms in
the City.
Global warming and other environmental issues are always in the news. There is even
a party – the Green Party – that claims to put the environment at the
centre of its concerns. The Green Party claims to be neither right wing
nor left wing as, they say, environmental issues transcend the
traditional issues of class and the division between rich and poor that
define conventional political discussions and divisions. This is poppycock. Environmental issues are vitally important to
us inhabitants of the planet earth. But the environmental problems, and
the potential environmental catastrophe, we face are creations of the
capitalist system.
British airports were in a state of chaos yesterday
after it was revealed that a terrorist plot involving liquid explosives had
been foiled. However, it would be a great mistake to abandon our ability for
critical thinking in this period of hysteria and media frenzy.
A great deal of the money being pumped into the NHS is
coming straight out the other side into the pockets of private capitalists
without even touching the sides of the health service. We pay taxes for the
NHS, not to subsidise parasites!
The latest war in Lebanon, apart from showing the
brutality and barbarism of the Israeli government and its main allies and
supporters, is also shedding light on the limits of US imperialism.