Workers' Liberty

By Camila Bassi

Three phases mark the history of multiculturalism in Britain. The first starts after the period of immigration from the Commonwealth in the 1950s and 1960s.

Sofie Buckland reviews Notes on a Scandal

From the moment the film opens with Judi Dench’s acerbic commentary on school life, you know there’s something not quite right about her character, Barbara Covett.

by Amina Saddiq

Desperate to overcome the impression of being mired in financial corruption and political bankruptcy, the government is pressing ahead with reform of the House of Lords. House of Commons leader Jack Straw is pushing for a 50/50 elected/appointed second chamber, but the various possible ratios seem to be exciting a bizarre amount of controversy and enthusiasm among Labour MPs.

By Paul Hampton

Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has announced that his government’s planned takeover of the Orinoco belt oil fields and the nationalisation of the electricity sector will begin in May, though on terms favourable to capital.

"Ireland occupies a position among the nations of the earth unique - in the possession of what is known as a 'physical force party' - a party, that is to say, whose members are united upon no one point, and agree upon no single principle, except upon the use of physical force - [A party that] exalts into a principle that which the revolutionists of other countries have looked upon as a weapon - men as the only means of attaining it." — James Connolly, 1899

Chris Leary reviews Skins

Anticipating the televisual delights promised by all the promos of the new teen drama from E4 (the yoof digital channel from Channel 4), I sat down in front of the telly with my tin of cider. By the half way point I was curled up in a ball, knawing away at my fist in terror and fright, and at some point near the end, I just couldn't take it anymore and switched over to a repeat of Most Haunted.

Sofie Buckland reviews Notes on a Scandal

From the moment the film opens with Judi Dench's acerbic commentary on school life, you know there's something not quite right about her character, Barbara Covett.

By Rhodri Evans

The recent survey by Policy Exchange showed a rise of Islamic fervour

By Amina Saddiq

Desperate to overcome the impression of being mired in financial corruption and political bankruptcy, the government is pressing ahead with reform of the House of Lords. House of Commons leader Jack Straw is pushing for a 50/50 elected/appointed second chamber, but the various possible ratios seem to be exciting a bizarre amount of controversy and enthusiasm among Labour MPs.

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.

David Broder reviews The Last King of Scotland

Kevin MacDonald's film charts the progress of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scottish doctor who, by chance, becomes a close aide to 1970s Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker).

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:

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.

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.

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 December twenty human rights lawyers, journalists, authors, students and activists from the United States and Canada went to Oaxaca to investigate violations of civil and human rights since 14 June 2006. Here are extracts from their report (prepared by Robin Alexander). An activist from the Oaxaca struggle will be touring England from 12 February. The full report can be found at www.nosweat.org.uk

By Bruce Robinson

Casino capitalism is coming to Manchester! The government plan to use the licensing of large scale gambling as a means of urban regeneration. Manchester, the surprise location for the first "super-casino", is frankly referred to by the chair of the independent Casino Advisory Panel as "a good place to test the social impact" of large casinos or, as the Manchester Evening News put it, "a better guinea pig" than the alternatives of Blackpool or the Dome.

By Heather Shaw

February 14 is synonymous with slushy cards and expensive gifts but this year it has been declared as an International Day Against Burberry.

The prestigious clothing and accessories company have come under fire because of their plan to move their South Wales factory to China, axing 310 jobs. The film awards people BAFTA severed ties with its high profile sponsor under the threat of a black-tie protest outside its annual reception event. Mervyn Burnett, GMB Officer dealing with Burberry in South Wales said;

By Martin Thomas

The official US National Intelligence Estimate now concedes that Iraq has lapsed into sectarian civil war, complicated by straight gangsterism and increasing conflict between different militias.

By Colin Foster

The Sun put this on its front page the day after the arrest of nine people in Birmingham: "A vile terrorist plot to kidnap and behead a Muslim soldier in Britain was smashed yesterday.