Solidarity 455, 24 November 2017

Salmond, RT UK, and nationalist propaganda

Alex Salmond now has his own weekly show on RT UK, the British subsidiary of what used to be called Russia Today. This is good news, in the sense that it has further undermined Salmond’s credibility and has added to divisions within the SNP. RT is a propaganda channel for the Russian government. Not simply because it is funded by the Russian government, but first and foremost because that is what it understands its role to be. For Putin, a Russian-government-funded TV channel will promote the official government line on events and issues both inside and outside Russia. Thus, when Russia...

NHS needs cash to solve staffing crisis

In recent weeks NHS England and NHS Improvement (the body overseeing NHS Trusts) have joined calls for extra NHS funding. The claim of the Brexit Leave campaigners to provide £350 million a week on leaving the European Union have been exposed as nonsense. Yet the Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has been left in an impossible situation. Constrained by neoliberal Conservative politics, he is unwilling to put forward a budget that will enforce the necessary taxes on the rich and find sufficient funds to support our National Health Service. Yet as long as funding is lacking, recruitment...

Grenfell: the fight goes on

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed the final death toll of the Grenfell Tower fire is 71 people. Fatalities include one family of six, and at least three families of five, and ranged in ages from a stillborn baby to an 84 year-old woman. The pattern of deaths exposes inadequacies of social housing — housing the elderly high up in tower blocks with inadequate escape routes, and large families in small flats. Rumours that the real death toll is higher still persist. While this is extremely unlikely, it is understandable that many distrust the authorities. It is also true that many residents...

Religious right routed in Australian marriage equality “vote”

Australia’s “postal survey” on same-sex marriage saw a resounding victory for LGBT+ equality. 61.6% said yes to marriage equality, and over 12 million people (79.5%) participated in this voluntary, non-binding poll — a higher rate than the Brexit vote. All states had a yes majority, and 133/150 electorates voted yes, including almost all regional and rural ones. However, 12 electorates in Western Sydney voted no. These were mostly Labor-held, with working-class, largely immigrant populations. These areas were systematically targeted by right-wing religious organisations, and not so thoroughly...

Zimbabwe's power struggle: no choice for workers

The Central Committee of the Zimbabwe’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, has succeeded in removing Robert Mugabe as its leader. There were celebrations in the streets of the capital, Harare, on Tuesday 21 November, after Mugabe resigned, giving way to former Vice President Emmerson Mnagagwa to take up the post of President. The end of Mugabe’s 37-year rule follows a fortnight of events which started with Mugabe’s removal of Mnangagwa as Vice President and continued in the Zimbabwean Defence Forces taking over TV stations and government installations around the country. Mnangagwa has long been favourite...

Left candidate wins Scottish Labour leadership

On Saturday 18 November, Richard Leonard was announced as the new Scottish Labour leader. In the election contest triggered by the sudden resignation of Kezia Dugdale, he defeated Anas Sarwar by 57% to 43%. Among individual members Leonard had a narrow majority (52% to 48%). Among affiliated trade union supporters he had an overwhelming majority (77% to 23%). Among registered supporters Anas Sarwar secured a narrow majority (52% to 48%). A sizeable chunk of Sarwar’s votes from individual members would have come from new members who signed up under a special “join for £1 a month” scheme. It...

Free education now!

As many as 7,000 students marched through London on Wednesday 15 November to demand “Free Education now — tax the rich”. The protest was organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts and supported by Momentum, RMT, Unite, NUS Scotland and student unions across the country. Workers’ Liberty student activists were centrally involved in organising and leading the demonstration, along with other comrades in NCAFC. The demonstration was arguably the most energetic and loud free education march in recent years. The atmosphere was boosted by well timed flares and the presence of the...

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