Workers' Liberty

In the aftermath of the First World War, and the betrayal of those sections of the socialist movement who supported that war, revolutionaries formulated the idea of a different kind of policies for workers’ struggles.

On Wednesday 29 October, the Government confirmed to the Guardian that it plans to slash eligibility for student grants, and cut student numbers by up to 10,000.

On 15 November the Labour Representation Committee meets for its annual conference. The rail union RMT has called a cross-union conference on working-class political representation for 10 January 2009.

From the start this programme’s commentary promised “spiced up” footage and propaganda. And I was hoping to see a proper documentary. “We look at the dark and dangerous netherworld [of London’s sex industry]” the programme makers said. And, “We look at the work of the Clubs and Vice Squad... who have become a byword for integrity and honesty.”

In 1950 four young Scots stole a lump of rock from Westminster Abbey and took it to Scotland. It was the “Stone of Scone”, reputedly used in the coronation of kings of Scotland, but taken to London in 1296. The piece of rock was eventually abandoned in the grounds of Arbroath Abbey, and police took it back to Westminster Abbey.

Nick Holden and his partner Kate Ahrens, both of whom are Unison members in Leicestershire, have been expelled from the Labour Party. Nick explains how he feels about that.

Riot police fired tear gas on Tuesday 21 October to disperse demonstrators amid a nationwide general strike that brought air, rail and ferry traffic to a halt.

“They are pissing on us, but the government tells us it’s raining”. These words on a banner in Rome on 18 October say it all: the five-month post-electoral honeymoon between the right-wing racist government and large sections of the Italian masses is unravelling.

The strikes set to shut down most London bus companies on 22 October were suspended following an injunction gained by TfL against the union.

The PCS civil service union has called a strike for 10 November, and the teachers’ union NUT will announce the result of its strike ballot on 3 November.<--break-->

Unite, formed by the merger of the unions Amicus and TGWU, has put the merger on hold and called an Amicus general secretary election rather than, as planned, having Derek Simpson go straight through to 2010 as Amicus general secretary and Joint General Secretary of Unite. Jerry Hicks, who is contesting the general secretary election, spoke to David Kirk from Solidarity. We invite readers to contribute to a discussion on the issues raised by Jerry.

Is there anything to be learnt from the recent revelations that Peter — now Baron — Mandelson and Tory shadow Chancellor George Osborne have connections with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska?

On October 14 Education Secretary Ed Balls scrapped National Curriculum (NC) testing at Key Stage 3 and the League Tables it gives rise to. But only a few weeks earlier Jim Knight, the Schools Secretary, had asserted in the media that KS3 testing was here to stay.

Fifteen thousand students marched in Dublin on 22 October against education cuts made by the Irish government because the world crisis has sent its tax receipts slumping. Another big demonstration, initiated by the teachers’ union INTO, is due in Dublin on 6 December.

“Socialism is the answer” to the crises and crying injustices, the inequalities and absurdities, of capitalism. But what is it, this socialism?

Top people in the Iraqi government are saying that the deal which Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki has negotiated with the USA for US troops to remain in Iraq after their UN mandate runs out on 31 December now probably won’t be approved.

Long-running factional battles between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah, on one hand, and Hamas on the other are the context for the strikes that have recently taken place in the Gaza Strip, with solidarity action in the West Bank.

Morris was no dilettante on matters of organisation. Once he had decided to become a socialist he joined the Democratic Federation and became a leading activist and public spokesperson. This entailed speaking at open-air meetings, selling papers and other literature and giving educational lectures on a regular basis. Far from being a Sunday socialist, he became a dedicated semi-professional revolutionary.

On 27 October Luton Trades Union Council sponsored a meeting, “No Pay Cuts For Down Days!”, in support of the 1200 workers at the General Motors van factory in Luton.

The financial crisis which is rocking the capitalist system and destroying the ideas that have sustained the capitalists during the latest phase of globalisation is opening up new possibilities to explain unfalsified Marxism to a wider audience.

On Wednesday 29 October, the Government confirmed to the Guardian that it plans to slash eligibility for student grants, and cut student numbers by up to 10,000.

Kim Moody, an American socialist activist living in London who was formerly the director of the US rank-and-file labour movement publication Labor Notes (www.labornotes.org), spoke to Sacha Ismail

Inflation likely to rise again

Almost all the press says that price inflation will slow down. Prices for basic raw materials - oil, metals, wheat - have already fallen, and in the coming months that will work through to finished-goods prices.

The first version is the text printed in Solidarity as a poster to put up in your workplace etc; for copies email awl@workersliberty.org. The second is a shorter version designed to be short enough to use in motions to trade-union branches and so on. You can download them as pdfs (see "attachment").

In a poll published by the Financial Times on 19 October, 80% of people across the European Union blamed the banks for the current economic crisis.

Conway Hall, in London, was pretty full - over 200 people - for a meeting on 21 October on "Marx and the Credit Crunch". The content was, however, disappointing.

Written and published for Black History Month

William Davidson and the Cato Street conspiracy