Workers' Liberty 39, April 1997

The moderniser as executioner

Chan Ying on the politics of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997). First published in 1997 in Workers' Liberty magazine. Deng Xiaoping, the second paramount leader of the People’s Republic of China, died on 19 February [1997] at the age of 92. He had reached an advanced stage of Parkinson’s Disease and eventually suffered respiratory and circulation failure. His last published photograph, in a wheelchair, was in October 1994. For at least the past two years he has been too ill to assert his political power as the regime’s final arbiter. All the various political factions and tendencies...

Europe

Download PDF Articles: Renault workers say Europe without frontiers yes, Europe without jobs no! (Colin Foster) The Left and Europe The revolt of the German miners There is only one socialist answer on Europe, workers unite! (Annie o' Keffe)

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The political vacuum in Albania (Colin Foster) Levers for the lovers of power (Joan Trevor) Blair wins a place in the Sun (Jim Denham) Glasgow councillors abandon election pledges (Stan Crooke) Tony Blair and the union laws. (Tom Rigby) Letter from prison (Dita Sari) Anti-abortion campaign, a winning scheme? (Helen Rate) Should holocaust denial be a crime? Iranian oil workers dare to fight Obituary: Coin Coyle The left and the election

The left and Europe

The British left is still infected by nationalism. There are a number of reasons for this. Britain did not join the European Community — despite two abortive attempts to do so — until 1972, 14 years after the Treaty of Rome came into operation. Initially there was strong ruling-class opposition, and that was reflected inside the labour movement. The USSR opposed Europe, and the Stalinist party in Britain — which had much influence in the trade unions — took this line ready-made, hypocritically purveying British nationalism, the better to serve Russian foreign policy, that is, Russian...

Blair wins a place in the Sun

By their friends shall ye know them : the decision of the Sun (or, rather, Mr Rupert Murdoch) to back New Labour at the General Election should come as no great surprise. The Sun and its proprietor fell out of love with the Tories when Thatcher was dumped (or "betrayed" as the Sun still says) and Black Wednesday confirmed their disappointment with John Major. They have been flirting with Blair ever since. And, of course, Murdoch likes to back winners - especially winners who will be making decisions that might affect, say, whose little decoding boxes are allowed onto our TV sets. In Australia...

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