Workers' Liberty

Media

A Campaign for Justice in the Media is being organised by London Central Branch of the National Union of Journalists, c/o NUJ, 308 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8DP.
Their position is: "Full support to the firefighters! Reject the lies of the press barons! We demand that the newspapers and media allow the FBU equal space to put its side of the case and answer any attack made against it." More details by writing to the above or email vickim57@hotmail.com

Gerry Byrne reviews The Great Reality TV Swindle, Channel Four, 2 December

It had to happen. It's like when you're a child and you have this boy-mouse and a girl-mouse. Oh dear. Big Brother mates with Survivor, with some additional genetic material from Enron and the Cook Report…

Take a bunch of young hopeful TV-presenter wannabes, blag a classy audition suite, a private island in the Thames on the basis of free advertising, take on some eager camera crew who'll work for the kudos, tell your hopefuls to divest themselves of all ties - flats, lovers, commitments - for a year, ask them to turn up penniless but passports at the ready. What do you get?

By Maria Exall

The "Self Motivated Teams" proposals for productivity bonus scheme for 17,000 BT Customer Service Engineers will be recommended by the Telecoms Executive of the CWU to branches at a Special Conference in January. After this there will be a ballot of members affected.

The title of WH Auden's not greatly political, but effective poem is the date Hitler invaded Poland. Two days later the whole of Europe was at war. This poem - we print five of the stanzas here - was much quoted in the wake of September 11th. English born, Auden became an American citizen in 1946. Auden was Communist Party sympathiser and some of his political language often seems Stalinoid. Auden's description of the shocking unreality of war remains very powerful.

In the last issue of Solidarity (3/19) we reported on how Solidarity supporter, Faz Velmi, was verbally attacked by George Galloway MP, at a meeting organised by the University College London's Stop the War Group. Faz, an invited speaker, along with Galloway, argued that the Kurds, and Israeli Jews, also had the right to self-determination and was accused of 'Zionism'. Lindsey German told the meeting that people "like Faz" who advocated a two states programme for Israel/Palestine were not welcome in the Stop the War Coalition. Does that mean German doesn't want the PLO and most of the Israeli left in 'her' campaign?

The UCL Stop the War Group have written a letter of complaint to Lindsey German about her "not welcome" remark. Watch this space...

Solidarity is key
Jill Mountford asked three firefighters what they think of the ACAS talks and what they think should be the next step for the dispute

Billy Carruthers, Euston FBU

By Annie O'Keefe

Do bears shit in Canadian woods?
Do lawyers lie, deceive, dissemble, mislead?
Is it their basic trade, something they do just to keep in practice?
Is the top layer of New Labour a cartel of lawyers and spin liars?
Is Cherie Blair a lawyer?
The question is: is Cherie Blair lying now about her connection with low-life conman Peter Foster?

More for some, the same for most
By Kate Ahrens

The new pay deal offered to NHS staff at the end of last month has been used to bolster the government's argument in the firefighters' pay dispute that only through modernisation can better pay be achieved in the public sector.

However, the deal, which has been under negotiation for almost four years, has very little to do with modernisation of working practices or cuts in staffing numbers.

Twenty thousand people marched through London on a bitterly cold day on Saturday 7 December to show their support for the firefighters. Many were firefighters. Banners and contingents were there from all areas of the labour movement.

Debate: Peter Burton responds to Matthew Caygill on the SSP and Socialist Worker Platform.

By Oona Swann

Venezuela is still in the grip of a general strike/lockout - a strike organised by the bosses. The oil industry is most affected, whose management are the promoters of the "strike", along with CTV (union federation). It was the President, Chavez' attempts to replace these managers which led to a first coup attempt against him in April this year. Then, the shooting at an anti-Chavez demonstration led to bosses' leader Carmona seizing power, at the head of a section of the armed forces. Within hours pro-Chavez supporters had taken to the streets and forced Carmona to step down.

By Martin Thomas

the juggernaut is speeding towards war. There is no reason to doubt that the Bush administration is absolutely determined on war in the New Year. But we can still stop them. Public opinion in the US is turning against the war-mongers.

Crushed by Saddam Hussein while the West looked on
Almost immediately with an agreement of a ceasefire at the end of the last Gulf War, early in March 1991, the Shi'a people of the south of Iraq rose up in rebellion. In the north the Kurds also launched a rebellion. These movements were not welcomed by the US and its allies. Clive Bradley looks at events which may be repeated in a war on Iraq in 2003.

Israel's general election will take place in January. It follows the collapse of Ariel Sharon's Likud-led government in October. Sharon will lead his party in the election and, on current polls, will gain the largest share of votes.
The other main party, the Labour Party - traditionally the party of Israel's elite - has a new leader in Amran Mitzna. Mitzna has said he will not, - unlike his predecessor, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer - help Likud form another coalition government. He has also promised to try to get a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinians.
The mainstream peace movement in Israel has welcomed Mitzna's dovish stance. The left has been, rightly, more cautious.
Here Uri Averny, leading member of the left peace group, Gush Shalom, argues that Mitzna will come under pressure to take a tough stance against "terror". Indeed Mitzna was an IDF commander in the West Bank during the first intifada, and showed no inhibitions in taking action against Palestinian militants.
Averny refers to recent Israeli polls which shows a big majority of both Israelis and Palestinians in favour of a mutual cessation of violence and reconciliation. However, a big majority of Israelis continue to be in favour of military security measures in the Occupied Territories.
C Nugent

• Tough on suicide, tough on…

• Crime does pay for some
• Well done, that man
• "Taking our jobs"
• Get in there

Andy Gilchrist's message to Tony Blair
"Stay out of our dispute"

By Andy Gilchrist, General Secretary FBU*

The government and press have demonised firefighters in a way I never thought was possible. We've waited for a generation to get a Labour Government and now we've got one, what do we get? They say we should stay out of politics and that's fine. But when politicians say they're going to get rid of 10,000 firefighters jobs then we've every right to ge involved in politics.