Solidarity 193, 16 February 2011

Young Labour Conference took place in Glasgow on the weekend 12-13 February. This article is longer than the version that appears in the printed paper. By any reasonable standard of labour-movement democracy, the event was appalling, locked-down by the leadership and skewed to favour the right wing within the Party. Despite this, and despite the fact that the left lost most of the elections at Conference, there were some small developments at this conference which should give leftwing Party activists reasons to be cheerful. Young Labour as an organisation is not trusted by the Labour Party...

Nadia Mahmood from the Worker-communist Party of Iraq spoke to Solidarity about the impact of the upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt on Iraq and the whole Middle East. This version of the interview is longer than the abridged version in the printed paper. These two great revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt are opening a new arena in the entire world. They have a huge impact and influence on the people in the Middle East in general and all over the world. The victory of the revolution in Tunisia and Egypt has forced all western governments to abandon one of their loyal allies, under the pressure of...

Last month 72 workers disappeared from Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals. They were part of the hospitals’ ancillary staff. They are migrants. Where did they disappear to? The economic crisis means their cheap labour is not as useful anymore – at least for the moment. So the UK Border Agency was called in to get rid of them. The NHS trust complied. The workers were either arrested or deported. The workers who clean the hospital and feed the patients earn around the minimum wage. And due to the UKBA the workers are not even always paid for their hard work. Isn’t this slavery? As hospital users, as...