Solidarity 106, 9 February 2007

Manchester strike 250 health workers in Manchester struck against cuts in community mental health teams on 31 January. This will be followed by another week's strike this month. The strikes follow a 91.6% ballot result in favour of action by community nurses, occupational therapists and team secretaries against cuts by Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust. These are: * cuts in community nursing, occupational therapy, team secretary and senior support worker posts which will mean higher caseloads, and a reduction in service; * downgradings for those staff who keep their job; * no...

by David Broder With France's presidential elections looming fast, the Trotskyist left looks hard-pressed to repeat its 2002 successes, when Lutte Ouvrière and the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire captured 2.84 million votes (10%) between them. As in 2002, the left has failed to reach any deals to run joint campaigns or unitary candidates. The LCR had made sustained efforts to mount a unity deal with the Parti Communiste Français (a huge party in the heyday of Stalinism, now reduced to a small social-democrat rump) as well as others on the left who fought successfully against the European...

by a civil servant The 31 January national strike action by the UK's largest civil service union, the PCS, brought widespread disruption to Government and saw an upbeat and determined mood amongst activists on the picket lines. The breadth of the action, and membership support, was revealed by: * The suspension of all Welsh Assembly business; * In Scotland over 90% of civil servants struck with picket lines at every government office; * Visitors to London learned of the dispute as the reading rooms at the British Library were closed as were most of the galleries; * Woolwich Crown Court was...

By Sacha Ismail The arrest last month of Labour Party fundraising chief Lord Levy and Downing Street director of government relations Ruth Turner over the loans for peerages scandal has created a crisis for New Labour. In July 2006 it was revealed that a number of loans had been made to Labour by businessmen who were later nominated for peerages. A police investigation ensued. The police have arrested and questioned (though not charged) Levy and Turner, as well as Sir Christopher Evans and Des Brown, two major business donors to the Labour Party. The police investigation has focused on whether...

What rights for vulnerable adults? The issue of Ashley X and of disability rights is an emotive and complicated issue (see Solidarity 3/104 and 3/105). I agree with Chris Leary when he that the issues are too big to be dealt with in one article and indeed in relation to one issue. When I first read about Ashley I couldn't help wondering as Chris does - would that happen here? I came to the conclusion that it probably wouldn't and I admit this sat comfortably with me. Our health system is far from perfect, and while we know cost considerations are increasingly important it is very different...