Solidarity 354, 18 February 2015

Greece: mass rallies support defiance

The decent stance of Syriza’s government indicated its intention not to betray the people, and the effect on the government of the mass rallies held in all major cities of Greece with the key slogan: “Not a step back!”. Germany’s intransigence is grounded in the fear among sections of the ruling elite that if they relent on austerity for Greece, then they will encourage anti-austerity movements in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble claimed that he “pities” the Greek people for the “irresponsible” government that they have elected. He demanded that the Greek...

Mainstream economists say: Syriza, stand firm!

A mainstream columnist in the Financial Times has advised the Greek government to stand firm, use imaginative financial techniques to get round blackmail from the eurozone and ECB leaders, and to stop payments on debt to bodies like the ECB and the European Financial Stabilisation Fund. On 16 February, Wolfgang Münchau wrote: “My advice to [Greek finance minister] Yanis Varoufakis,” he continued, “would be to ignore the exasperated looks and veiled threats and stand firm. He is a member of the first government in the eurozone with a democratic mandate to stand up to an utterly dysfunctional...

No safe place to go: the plight of Ugandan LGBT refugees

32 Ugandan gay men, refugees in Kenya, were arrested in Nairobi on 8 February, were held in a cell at Kabiria Satelite Police Station until being eventually releaed at 7pm on Monday 10 February, after negotiations with lawyers working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The men were arrested at a gathering they had organised to send-off one of their friends scheduled for resettlement to a safe country, free from anti-gay persecution. Neighbours of the residence where the party took place had called the police, asking them to investigate the “suspicious” gathering of “non...

Surprise win for Queensland Labor

Bob Carnegie comments after Labor's surprise win in the 31 January 2015 Queensland state election. On Saturday 31 January the state of Queensland (Australia) underwent another seismic political change. A first-term conservative government which held a record majority 66 seat majority in an 89 seat parliament was defeated by a not very confident Labor Party whose central program was opposing the sale of state-owned assets such as electrical distribution and supply and state-owned ports. It was truly a momentous defeat for the conservative parties, and has had a direct impact on the damaged...

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