Nuclear weapons

Nuclear arms and the replacement of Trident

Trump, Iran and the nuclear options

Morad Shirin of the Iranian Revolutionary Marxist Tendency spoke to Solidarity . Under the Iran Nuclear Review Act, the White House has to certify the agreement every 90 days. He’s done it twice so far but he is saying he may not do it this time. As far as anybody else is concerned — because it’s not a bilateral agreement — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, between five permanent members of the Security Council, plus Germany, plus the EU, has been voted on by the Security Council, and is part of international law. The IAA says that Iran is complying with the technical side of the deal...

Against Trump, against Kim — solidarity with North Korean workers!

Tensions on the Korean peninsula are increasing, confronting millions of innocent people with the threat of nuclear war. The tensions spring from a combination of the ramping up of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, and US President Donald Trump’s “Wall Street” approach to international diplomacy. Andrew Gamble sums up Trump’s diplomatic style: “Trump’s experience was as a reality TV host… He approaches relations with other leaders with an eye on how it’s going to play with his base and how he can make himself look good. He uses bluff and does outrageous things partly in the belief that...

Yes, Labour should scrap Trident!

Comments Corbyn has made to Glastonbury festival founder Michael Eavis have caused some controversy. Following Corybn’s appearance at the festival a Q&A with Michael Eavis was published in a local paper. Corbyn told Eavis he believed he would Prime Minister in six months and that he would scrap Trident “as soon as possible”. Denials were issued shortly afterward and Corbyn said that Eavis was just paraphrasing. The Labour Party again reiterated their support for Trident renewal. Corbyn is well known for personally opposing nuclear weapons and has accepted that the refusal of the Labour Party...

The limits of Labour’s multilateralism

There has been some recent media attention on Jeremy Corbyn’s alleged past links to the IRA and the claim that he is a “pacifist” — meaning, he is opposed to any and every kind of military intervention, even around “humanitarian” issues. Corbyn does have a record of support for the Republican movement in Ireland (that is, not the IRA as such, but the nationalists fighting for a united Ireland), and he was long involved with the Stop the War Coalition, which did indeed oppose — sometimes, in Workers’ Liberty’s view, with terrible arguments — the major military interventions involving Britain...

Trump targets North Korea

On 4 April, the Syrian government used chemical weapons on civilians in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in northern Syria. On the morning of 7 April, Donald Trump’s government responded with a cruise missile attack on the Syrian airbase which the US military believes was used to launch the chemical attack. Trump has also sent a navy battle group to the waters off the Korean coast. Trump’s actions carry a number of advantages for the US government beyond destroying the targets and intimidating Assad. By showing a willingness to use military force Trump ramps up pressure on North Korea and...

McCluskey moves ahead, but not left

In the election campaigning for the post of Unite the Union’s General Secretary, the McCluskey election machine continues to deliver the goods. With a while still to go before nominations close on 17 February, over 300 branches have nominated Len McCluskey, who has been general secretary since 2011 but has stood down early so he could run for a third term. A statement supporting McCluskey has been signed by 60 out of 64 Executive Council members and a similarly overwhelming majority on other top levels of the union. McCluskey’s election platform is a series of uncontroversial promises: better...

Copeland, Corbyn and the future of nuclear

The by-election in Copeland in Cumbria focused attention on the Labour Party’s attitude to nuclear energy. The Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant is the largest employer in the constituency and the previous Labour MP Jamie Reed is leaving politics to work in the nuclear industry. Over the last 30 years the default position of the left has been to oppose nuclear energy. However recently Corbyn visited the constituency and told Labour members that nuclear power would be part of Britain’s “energy mix” under a Labour government. This statement has caused some controversy on the left. Socialists...

Letters

I really enjoyed reading Laura Rogers’ presentation on Trident ( Solidarity 412) which powerfully and evocatively set out the class based case against nuclear weapons. Despite or perhaps because growing up in the Cold War, I was never an instinctive unilateralist or a moral disarmer. Probably I was naïve, but I never felt I was living in constant fear of a nuclear holocaust. I never believed the Russians ever had any intention of invading Western Europe. My argument against nuclear weapons was and is more objective. The most common scenario was the initial limited use of nuclear by NATO in...

Trident renewal and the future of the Labour Party

At Workers’ Liberty’s Ideas for Freedom event (7-10 July) Luke Akehurst of Labour First debated Labour left activist Laura Rogers on whether the Labour Party should be in favour of renewing Trident. Luke Akehurst: I’m in favour of the renewal of the Trident system, of buying a new set of submarines to enable the UK’s nuclear deterrent. What is the nature of the British deterrent? It’s a minimum, independent, strategic deterrent. The most important concept here is deterrent. The whole point of having this system is not because you want nuclear war. Anyone who wants that is insane; humanity...

Unite backs Corbyn and mandatory reselection

Unite the union held its bi-annual policy conference from 11th to 16th July. Does the largest working-class organisation in Britain have the policies and perspectives needed for the next two years of struggle? The answer has to be, on the whole, no. Good policy was passed on the casualisation of work, Kurdish solidarity work, the union's relationship with the Labour Party, and many other areas. However on the key current issue of defending freedom of movement after the referendum Unite failed to take a position. The executive promised only an ongoing debate. The working class needs to fight to...

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