Solidarity 496, 20 February 2019

A discussion of Jean-Jacques Marie's book La guerre civile russe, 1917-22 Notice the dates: 1917-22. Jean-Jacques Marie, in his history, establishes that the conventional account, according to which the civil war was over by the start of 1921, and all the “emergency” measures by the Bolsheviks after that stemmed only from the Bolsheviks’ supposed lack of democratic understanding, is false. In spring and summer 1921, the Bolsheviks faced huge peasant uprisings in Tambov and other areas, as well as the Kronstadt revolt. And that in a country exhausted by years of war, with a total of maybe 14...

The Yellow Vests (Gilets Jaunes) movement, now fourteen weeks old, drew thousands of protestors onto the streets of France on 16 February. Although the latest demonstrations fell short of the estimated 50,000 who came out the week before, the movement shows little sign of stopping. The general strike that some in the Yellow Vests movement called for 5 February failed to materialise, but France’s biggest trade union confederation, the CGT, did call a well-followed day of action among public sector workers. Alongside the Yellow Vest actions, ferment continues in colleges, with several...

After a still unexplained period of silence on Brexit following the 29 January parliamentary votes on the subject, the Morning Star has found its pro-Brexit voice again. Mind you, there’s been no repetition of its editorial support for no deal and the attractions of trading on WTO terms. Presumably that policy is just a little embarrassing for a publication that prides itself upon its unwavering support for Jeremy Corbyn, whose only consistent policy on Brexit is opposition to no deal. No, rather than tell us what it’s for (i.e. no deal), the Star prefers to tell us what it’s against. And it’s...

In the US, the use of opioids has now overtaken road traffic accidents as a leading cause of death. In the 1980s, the rise of the hospice movement in the UK highlighted the fact that many cancer patients were dying in pain. To manage pain caused by advanced cancer at the end of life, strong painkillers — opioids — are often required. With careful titration many side effects can be avoided, and pain well controlled. That led to a more humane approach to end-of-life care. Further studies suggested that opioids were also beneficial in the management of chronic pain. At the same times, the idea...

On 19 February, 16 US states announced that they were combining to sue the administration of President Donald Trump over Trump’s decision to declare a “national emergency”. Trump declared the “emergency” on 15 February. Previous presidents have declared “emergencies”, to gain powers to bypass Congress, but mostly on foreign policy issues. Trump himself has declared three previous emergencies. This one is different. Its only purpose is to enable Trump to pursue a longstanding domestic policy, building a wall along the US-Mexico border, by diverting money voted by Congress for other purposes...

On 9 February, over fifty activists from across the country attended the official launch of Neurodivergent Labour at a meeting in London. The term “neurodivergent” refers to the condition of being cognitively atypical, e.g. autistic, dyslexic, dyspraxic, or Tourette’s. The organisation has been born out of the groundwork laid through the drafting of Labour’s Autism and Neurodiversity manifesto, and is now looking forward to hosting its founding AGM later this year. At the meeting, the organisation agreed its aims as: “to develop socialist policy on neurological diversity; • to win support for...

At a special SDLP conference in Newry on 9 February, delegates voted 121 to 53 to endorse a proposal from the party’s leadership to establish formal cross-border “policy partnership” with the Republic of Ireland’s main opposition party, Fianna Fáil. A rival motion, to affirm the SDLP’s “long established relationships with Fine Gael and Labour as well as Fianna Fáil” and to explore less exclusive arrangements with these parties, was defeated. The internal debate was highly divisive, with party activists taking to the national press and social media to air disagreements. In the wake of the...

Mass protests in Sudan have been ongoing since December 2018. The rising cost of bread and fuel has sparked calls for “Just fall – that’s all” against President Omar al-Bashir and his ruling National Congress Party. Leaders of nine opposition parties have been arrested. The individuals reportedly include Siddiq Youssef, a senior leader of Sudan’s Communist Party, and leaders from the pan-Arabist Ba’ath and Nasserist parties. Sudan’s opposition is weak, split on ethnic and religious lines. There seems almost no chance that any of the existing political parties could topple the regime, which has...

Seven right-wing Labour MPs quit on Monday 18 February. They did not join another party or form a new one. They did not call on their rank-and-file supporters within Labour to quit. Two Tory MPs sceptical about Brexit, Nick Boles and Sarah Wollaston, face deselection by their local Tory parties in coming weeks, and a Government minister has openly said that the hard-right Tory MPs “are not Conservatives” and should join the new “Brexit party” being launched by former Ukip leader Nigel Farage. The seven have chosen the bland name “Independent Group” for themselves, surely to maximise their...