Third Camp Marxism

Men and women

Letter: Not so much vipers

Emma Rickman’s column, Diary of an Engineer, gives us a window into the male dominated workplace. And in her latest entry, 'A Nest of Vipers' (Solidarity 585), she gives us a window into the minds of the men who work there.

Such a workplace as depicted here, and there are many of them, is a safe space for those men who are threatened by world events to air their prejudices. It is a place to exaggerate, moan, entertain their mates and laugh in the face of their own weakness.

Communist Party of Britain pro-Brexit banner

Letter: Anti-monopoly doesn't mean backing small capitalists

I am struggling to understand what points Jim Denham was trying to make in his article 'Return of the Anti Monopoly Alliance' (Solidarity 581).

I am not a spokesperson for the Communist Party of Britain but I am in favour of left and socialist unity and believe this can only happen if we are open and honest with each others’ respective political positions and not construct straw windmills.

Siyanda Mngaza

Siyanda Mngaza appeal opens

Siyanda Mngaza’s hearing in the Court of Appeal opens on 23 March. In May 2019 Siyanda, on a bank holiday outing in the Brecon Beacons, was attacked by three people. Defending herself with a glass in her hand, she cut one of the attackers. She was convicted of “Grievous Bodily Harm” in March 2020, and is now serving a jail sentence of four and a half years. The third and last online meeting of a “Free Siyanda tour” will be on Saturday 27 March, 4-6 pm here.

Lula

A setback for Bolsonaro

On 8 March, Brazilian Supreme Court judge Edson Fachin suspended four corruption charges against ex-president Lula.

The charges were related to a triplex apartment, a farm and donations to the Lula institute, all allegedly given to him as bribes. Lula had previously been found guilty on those charges. He went to prison for 580 days, and was barred from running for the presidency against Bolsonaro in 2019.

Solidarity front page

Back to tabloid 14 April

Solidarity 587 will be out on 7 April (we’re skipping a week on 31 March because of Easter difficulties with distribution, and to give our paper staff a bit of time to work on other projects). From 14 April on we plan to return to our usual tabloid format. Thanks to the reader who has noted that we’ve dated the last few issues, on the cover, as “2020”, and apologies for the lapse.

Fukushima plant

Lessons of Fukushima

On 12 March 2011, an earthquake near Tōhoku, about 200 miles north of Tōkyō, caused a tsunami which killed up to 20,000 people in eastern Japan.

One of its effects was to overtop the defensive walls and knock out the cooling systems of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP), resulting in three meltdowns, hydrogen explosions and releases of radioactivity. Those resulted in the death of… no one.

Flowers for Sarah Everard

Women's Fightback: The fight for equality and respect

The murder of Sarah Everard, and police action at subsequent vigils and demonstrations, has opened a public discussion on gendered violence. The circumstances of the tragedy fit perfectly with the public imagination and conversation of the threat faced by women.

A middle-class white woman, she was a model of female “respectability” and a “proper” victim. Many have commented that Sarah “did everything right” — wearing bright clothing, walking along the lit main road and calling her boyfriend. She didn’t know her attacker, and was snatched on a street at night.

Pro-asylum rights protest

No to offshoring asylum-seekers!

The Tories’ latest anti-migrant move — suggestions of removing asylum-seekers to camps in remote locations, hundreds or thousands of miles away, while their claims are processed — has now been condemned by numerous humanitarian and migrants’ rights organisations, by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and, though in fairly timid terms, by the Labour Party.

Trident

Morning Star goes quiet on 40% more nukes

On 16 March the government set out its plan for a post-Brexit “global Britain” in the so-called “Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy”. One aspect of the review caused consternation even in the Tory press: “Shock plans to increase the country’s nuclear warheads by 40 per cent were met with fury last night... the remarkable move comes more than 50 years after the signing of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty” noted the Daily Mail. Even the Sun asked “And why do we need 80 more nukes... aren’t 180 city-destroying bombs enough?”

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