Solidarity 335, 10 September 2014

Reduce borders, don't raise them!

Borders divide the working class more than they divide capital. That is the core socialist argument for voting no to separation in Scotland’s referendum on 18 September. The core argument can be overruled where one nation is conquered and ruled to ruin by another. Then, the national oppression creates divisions as evil as any border. Separation lifts the oppression. Workers are better united by a common struggle in which the workers of the oppressor nation side against their own ruling class’s sway over others. But Scotland has been an equal partner in British capitalism for centuries...

The man who would be leader

The Labour MP for Streatham and Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna was interviewed in the September issue of GQ: “Gordon Brown dealt a blow to Labour’s economic credibility by wrongly giving the impression in his final year as prime minister that the party failed to understand the importance of tackling Britain’s unprecedented peacetime budget deficit, the shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, has suggested.” What he is quoted as saying amounts to: “My view is that the seeds were sown under the last government and Gordon [Brown] – for whom I have a lot of respect. His refusal to use the...

Raising aspirations, confronting vested interests

I am missing Tom, both as a friend and as a comrade. As a comrade, what I miss most is the chance to engage with his perceptive insights into the class struggle now, and his analysis of the history of the class. He had a deep understanding of the British (and Irish) labour movements. Tom was a highly intelligent man who used his great abilities to promote the interests of the working class, this purpose being at the centre of his life all the time I knew him. Tom was extremely confident in his political analysis, which meant he took no prisoners in an argument. But this was combined with a...

Support the Scottish socialist republican campaign!

The arguments on Scottish independence are simple and clear for me. There is just one question on the ballot paper “Should Scotland be an independent country?” The answer is, yes or no. Salmond wanted a third way/more devolution (devo max) option but Cameron refused this. Now the Tories are panicking and offering all sorts of goodies if Scotland votes “no”. We don’t believe they will deliver. So most of the left here is for yes and there has been a shift in the political landscape for the last few years. Everyone is involved in this, young people especially as they have a vote. Whichever way...

Putin keeps his options open

Battered by superior Russian firepower, the Ukrainian government signed a ceasefire with the pro-Russian separatists on 5 September. Only a fortnight before the Ukrainian military hemmed separatists into three small enclaves, albeit at the cost of thousands of fatalities. But then Russia jacked up the military backing it had given to the separatists from day one. Three offensives were launched from Russian territory, Russian troops took part in those offensives, and yet more Russian military hardware was handed over to the separatists. Ukraine’s military was no match for what was effectively a...

US casts round for Syrian allies

Six and a half million Syrians are now internally displaced. Two and a half million have fled to Turkey, Jordan and the Lebanon. After up to 200,000 deaths since mass protests against the regime began in 2011, the use of chemical weapons against his own people, and the attempted starvation of civilians in opposition controlled areas, Assad still remains relatively firmly in control of a rump Syrian state. Some politicians in the USA and Europe are even starting to recommend an alliance with Assad to stop ISIS (the “Islamic State” movement). However, direct links are unlikely to begin anytime...

Solidarity with Calais migrants

Migrants and solidarity activists demonstrated in Calais, France, on Sunday 7 September, in opposition to fascist and other anti-migrant racists who mobilised in the town to protest the presence of migrants in Calais. The racist demonstration was organised by “Save Calais”, a local right-wing coalition. Prominent fascists addressed the demonstration, including Yvan Benedetti, whose banned L’Oeuvre Française group was implicated in the 2013 murder of anti-fascist activist Clément Méric. Many demonstrators displayed white supremacist symbols and slogans, and gave Nazi salutes. Fascists began a...

Violence against children

One girl in 10 from around the world has been raped or sexually assaulted by the time she is 20. This amounts to 120 million girls worldwide. These horrifying facts come from a new UN report on violence against children, Hidden in plain sight. It also reported that 95,000 children and teenagers were murdered in 2012 alone and six out of 10 children aged between 2-14 are physically punished by their parents or carers. In many countries violence against children and young women is socially accepted or tacitly condoned. In the countries surveyed nearly half of all girls aged 15-19 believed that a...

Land grab in West Bank

The Israeli government has declared over a thousand acres of territory in the occupied West Bank to be “state land”, making the construction of Israeli settlements legally possible. The declaration, coming soon after the recent war on Gaza, has been condemned by Palestinian and Israeli peace groups as a land grab and a provocation. US and British government ministers have also urged the Israeli government to reverse its decision. The seized land is in Gush Etzion, a cluster of Jewish settlements south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The area is a significant one, both historically and in terms of...

Defend Iraqi and Kurdish socialists!

On 5 September US president Barack Obama announced a “game plan” to wear down the “Islamic State” movement (ISIS), which has seized a large swathe of Syria and Iraq and imposed Sunni-sectarian ultra-Islamist rule. On 8 September US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the formation of a new Iraqi government in Baghdad. The US will bomb more. (Obama ruled out ground troops). There is much less “breakthrough” than claimed. Although every government in the region fears and dislikes ISIS, so far the USA has only been able to sign up Turkey to its “core coalition”. US bombing may help the armed...

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