Solidarity 101, 2 November 2006

Stop global warming, take industry out of the profiteers’ hands

By Martin Thomas The Blair government has latched on to a big report about global warming published by Nicholas Stern, former chief economist at the World Bank and now an adviser to Gordon Brown. It says it will push for a new global agreement on controlling greenhouse gas emissions, from 2008, to replace the ineffective Kyoto deal. This is better than the approach of the US and Australian governments, who have refused even the Kyoto deal. They plead that global warming isn’t as bad as is made out, and that it is better to focus on coping with its effects than trying to stop it. But is the...

Daily Star journalists strike a blow against racism

Workers at the Daily Star forced their bosses to scrap a planned anti-Muslim tirade when the National Union of Journalists chapel passed a resolution that the page should be pulled and threatened strike action to back it up. Late in the evening, with the paper ready to go to the presses, 15 workers held an emergency meeting where they expressed their outrage at the racism of the spoof Daily Fatwah page, which displayed how “Britain's fave newspaper would look under Muslim rule”. This included a “Burqa babes” section, as well as the headline “Death to all infidels”. By making clear their...

Marie Antoinette and the foolish young things

Louise Gold reviews Marie Antoinette The true story of Marie Antoinette is one made up of malicious rumour, compelling plot and a tragic end — for her. The Sofia Coppola film version of her story, starring Kirsten Dunst, neglects historical context; it is less tragic and more fun. Dunst is Marie Antoinette as queen, as woman, as mother, as wife, as foreigner, as family member, as teenager, as symbol of monarchy...but not as the representative of an entire social system — as the French revolutionaries of 1789 identified her. The film is nostalgic, but not for the ancien regime: for youth and...

The Feminist Fightback begins

There were 220 people at Feminist Fightback on 21 October in London. This was an activist conference organised by the socialist feminist student group Education Not for Sale Women. ENS Women wanted Feminist Fightback to be a forum in which feminist voices of all perspectives could be heard, where everyone felt comfortable in joining in the debate. The lively discussions which took place in many of the sessions were, we hope, proof that we achieved this. The role of religious fundamentalism in contributing to the oppression of women world-wide came up time and again. Alejandra Rios, from the...

Solidarity can save the NHS

By Mike Fenwick A flurry of numbers and initials litter most articles about the crisis in the NHS. Knowing what PBR, PFI etc means, or being able to quote the latest waiting list statistics for your local hospital can be helpful to activists. But are these facts and figures enough to explain why thousands of people are coming out in defence of the health service on demonstrations every week up and down the country. The motivation comes from somewhere else. That is a basic commitment to a NHS, free and accessible to all. It’s more difficult to articulate the passion that people feel about the...

Revolt in Oaxaca ends

The five-month popular occupation of Oaxaca, Mexico, was crushed on the 27-29 October when thousands of federal riot police invaded the city, killing at least three protesters and an American journalist working for Indymedia. Hundreds were reported to be injured. The city had been under the control of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO), a coalition of indigenous, trade union and student activists created in response to the state governor Ulises Ruiz’s failed attempt to evict striking teachers in June. Protestors used barricades made of corrugated iron, buses and lorries to...

Debate: Georgia and the Bolsheviks, Labour Party

Georgia: echoes of 21? IN recent weeks, tensions between Russia and Georgia have escalated enormously – a fact largely ignored by the British left. Most of us would be hard-pressed to remember the most basic details about this tiny independent republic now under possible threat of Russian aggression. Ironically, Georgia used to command an inordinate amount of attention from the British Left. This was due to the circumstances of its separation from the Russian empire in 1917 and the Red Army invasion of 1921 which brought that brief period of independence to an end. Trotskyists in particular...

Student Fees: you reap what you sow

By Sofie Buckland ON 29 October, the National Union of Students held a national demonstration in London, under the branding “Admission:Impossible”. The demo called for “fair access” and for the government not to raise tuition fees in 2010. Before I start with the usual pessimism and relentless negativity, I’d like to emphasise that I’m very very pleased the NUS National Demonstration took place this year. Education Not for Sale have long agitated for getting students out on the streets to demand free education; it’s good that the demo was organised, and we hope the campaign doesn’t stop here...

Far right revives in Hungary

The anniversary of the 1956 revolution has been overshadowed by a political crisis in Hungary with violent clashes between anti-government protesters and the police. The government of the Hungarian Socialist Party is headed by Ferenc Gyurcsany a former Stalinist turned ‘successful businessman’. Tamás Krausz is an editor of Eszmélet, a left-wing journal opposed to the “pro-capitalist left and national conservative right”. He explains what’s happening. Over the last 18 years neo-liberal economic projects have produced a deep social decline and impoverishment of millions of people across the...

Freedom of movement for all workers

By Stan Crooke The EU principle of freedom of movement of labour (i.e. that the citizens of any state which is a member of the EU have an automatic right to work in another EU state) will not be extended in the UK, to cover Bulgarian and Romanian nationals, when their countries become members of the EU on 1 January 2007. The ban is to remain in force for seven years, and workers and employers who breach the ban will be liable to on-the-spot fines of up to £1,000. The ban will not be a total one. Bulgarians and Romanians will be able to work in the UK if they are self-employed or highly skilled...

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