Solidarity 3/23, 6 February 2003

Bush's war is for oil not freedom

Submitted on

No to Saddam Hussein!
No to war!

Julie Burchill, paid to be controversial by The Guardian, attacks those “who thought that a population living in terror under the Taliban was preferable to a bit of liberating foreign fire… On this principle, if we’d known about Hitler gassing the Jews all through the 1930s, we still shouldn’t have invaded Germany; the Jews were, after all, German citizens and not our business.”

Admitting you're wrong is possible

Submitted on

Rouge, the paper of the French Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire, has just published a special supplement to celebrate their 2000th issue. It is unashamedly a celebration, not a rigorous accounting. Even there, though, the LCR, influenced by a Trotskyist tradition, feels a need to acknowledge major errors. The biggest? “That on Afghanistan in 1980, when we rejected a campaign for the withdrawal of Soviet troops for fear of playing into the hands of imperialism... This errancy... revealed more profound failings, and the difficulty of taking account of the changes in the world situation”. They made a mistake: they say so and draw conclusions. That is the Marxist way of doing things.

War! What is it good for?

Submitted on

Pop music can be escapist — nothing wrong with that — but occasionally it transcends that to give voice to popular concerns and question jingoistic assumptions. Here is my “top ten” of anti-war songs, some well known and some hidden gems.

Matt Cooper


Edwin Star, War
There a good reason why an anti-war song can’t just say “war is wrong”. It has already been done perfectly. When Edwin Star sings “War- urgh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing” there might not be any deep understanding of why the Vietnam War was happening, but as a a guttural rant against the injustice and waste of it all, it can’t be beaten.

Renew the fight for democracy!

Submitted on

behind the news

Paddy Dollard

The attempt to reform the House of Lords has collapsed in chaos. A House of Commons vote-out resulted in the rejection of all five of the options on offer. The status quo will remain for the foreseeable future.


Tony Blair is said to find this not displeasing. For choice, Blair would have had a second chamber made up entirely of appointed members. An elected chamber? This prime minister does not trust the electorate!

Policing live music

Submitted on

Robb Johnson takes a look at what the new Licensing Bill will mean for live music "at the margins"

The Licensing Bill will make live music illegal. Okay, that's probably just the sort of alarmist assertion the government are accusing the Musicians' Union of propagating in their opposition to the current proposed Licensing Bill.
But just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you!

Socialist Alliance amendments by 21 February

Submitted on

The motions booklet for the Socialist Alliance conference on 15 March has just been mailed out. It looks like the main issues for the conference will be the “new party” question; modes of election for the Alliance Executive; and Iraq.

On the “new party”, there are submissions for the Alliance to initiate a broad campaign for a new workers’ party, or alternatively to make itself “a new socialist party”, as well as more cautious proposals.

On Executive elections, the conference will chose between the existing slate system (with or without added minority guarantees), STV, First Past The Post, and election-by-regions.

On Iraq, there is agreement to campaign against the US war drive, but disagreement on whether also to oppose Saddam and Islamic fundamentalism.

The deadline for amendments – from individual Socialist Alliance members, or from local Alliance branches – is 21 February.

For the motions, go to http://www.socialistalliance.net;
for an analysis of them .

Debate: My car is a necessity!

Submitted on

Mick Duncan's anti-car article, (Solidarity 3/22) says that car journeys under five miles are made by lazy people - people driving to the corner shop or going off to the gym.

I drive my toddler two miles to nursery. If I didn't, the journey would take me an hour. A very aggravating hour, as well - on a chock-full single-decker bus with no space for pushchairs and nobody willing to stand up so you don't fall over due to the antics of a bored-witless small person.