Solidarity 087, 26 January 2006

Iraq slides further towards civil war

by Martin Thomas According to one American journalist in Baghdad, writing to US academic Juan Cole, “The current security situation here has gotten much worse since the elections... Shiite death squads roam the city at night (in police and army uniform no less) dragging all the male members of a Sunni family out into the street and executing them in front of their women folk. Sunni insurgents (not in uniform) do the same to Shiite families in areas claimed as theirs”. Official results from the 15 December election were announced on 20 January. As in the 30 January 2005 elections, the great...

Bachelet and the Latin American left

The election of leftish governments in Latin America continues with the recent Presidential victories of Morales in Bolivia and Bachelet in Chile. Other left candidates are likely to win in Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela this year. The trend is largely a reaction to the neo-liberal polices pursued by Latin American governments for over two decades, which has led to huge increases in poverty and unemployment, and disillusionment with the formally democratic regimes that replaced military governments. Not all these governments have the same political complexion or roots. Most still implement neo...

Time to reconsider nuclear?

Les Hearn contributes to our debate about nuclear power Earth’s climate has changed many times throughout its four billion year history and it seems beyond doubt that it is changing once again. But this is the first time that a single species has been responsible for the change. Through our technological expertise, we have discovered and exploited vast resources of hydrocarbons (coal, oil and gas), fossil remains of plants and animals that died half a billion years ago. Some we have turned into novel substances, such as plastics and artificial fibres. These characterise our modern societies to...

Boring old romantics

Ruben Lomas reviews Peter Ackroyd’s The Romantics, BBC2 The French Revolution — although it was a bourgeois revolution — also saw ordinary working people organising collectively, producing their own propaganda, literature, publications and staking their claim for a society in which those who produce wealth also have some control over it. The events in France in the late 18th century are still a central point of departure for anyone serious about studying our tradition. You might think, then, that Peter Ackroyd’s new series — the first episode of which examined the poetry that was inspired by...

The myths of Jesus

Gerry Bates reviews The Pauline Conspiracy by Peter Burton The history of Christianity is irretrievably myth-ridden. Little is known about Jesus as a historical figure. The early Christians had as little scruples as later Stalinists about inventing things they thought would serve their cause. Surmises, more or less plausible, can be made, but only surmises. Karl Kautsky and others surmised that the myth-cocooned biblical Jesus might in reality have been a Jewish nationalist rebel against the Romans. One aspect of the myth-making out of which early Christianity emerged was a savage demonisation...

Gay, Muslim and proud?

FV reviews Gay Muslims, a Channel 4 documentary This insightful document began with the producers telling us that, of the 200 gay Muslims they approached to participate, only five were willing to go before the camera. The experiences of those brave individuals make it clear why the others stayed away. A common thread of mental and physical abuse, family pressure and personal anguish ran through their stories. The documentary also charted how each of them had struggled to reconcile their sexuality with the expectations of their Islamic faith and culture. “Razeen”, a young man from Northern...

Presidential 2007: it’ll be anyone but Le Pen

Recent political developments in France have mainly concerned the presidential election that will take place in May 2007. That seems a long time off, especially when, already in power, there is a right-wing government hell-bent on making the French economy more competitive by making it more flexible — undermining workers’ rights and cutting wages, looking for ways to boost private business at the expense of public services. President Chirac and many of his government’s measures are unpopular. But what is the alternative? Debating the options for the presidential election, and the legislative...

A “market” in health

by Stan Crooke According to the Guardian (23 January), Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt is to call for an end to the so-called “hand out culture” in the NHS, and to demand that financial management be given a greater importance than clinical objectives. Hewitt claims that the heavy debts which many NHS trusts have built up are the result of inefficiency, backed up by the belief that the NHS would “bail out” any trusts whose debts had reached a critical mass. Denying that the NHS is in crisis, Hewitt wants to “prioritise financial management” as the supposed key to eliminating the trusts’...

A “market” in schooling

By Pat Murphy, Leeds NUT The Government is facing its biggest and most powerful revolt yet over the Education White Paper “Higher Standards, Better Schools For All”. Around 100 Labour MPs have signed up to an alternative White Paper which dispenses with key sections of the original. Many of the rebels are anything but “the usual suspects”. Ex-Blairite Education Secretary Estelle Morris and former Labour leader Neil Kinnock spoke to a packed Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) meeting which was also attended by Blair’s one-time political adviser Alistair Campbell. John Prescott has made his...

Two corrections

In Solidarity 3/86 (12 January) we printed an article about the forthcoming elections for the General Executive Council of the TGWU. The article was wrongly attributed to Tom Cashman, who is standing in that election. In fact, the article was written by a member of the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty. The article in no way represents the opinions of Tom Cashman who has no political association with the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty. Below the article about the TGWU election we printed an article about events following the Gate Gourmet dispute. Although this had no byline, the juxtapositioning of...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.