Solidarity 3/143, 4 December 2008

Sack the bank bosses! Bring finance under democratic social control

Author: 
Gerry Bates

Bank of England and government support for the banks so far totals something like the equivalent of £18,000 for every child, woman, and man in the UK.

The Bank of England's Financial Stability Report of 27 October 2008 gives the figures: a total of £1107 billion.

BNP growth: how should we respond?

Author: 
Editorial

The publication of the BNP membership list online shows an enormous growth in the strength of the BNP. There is serious cause for alarm here.

According to Nick Lowles of the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, the party had 600 members in 1997 and 3000, 1500 of them active, in 2000. Even if we assumed that the new figure of 13,500 is a two-to-one over-estimate, that would represent a ten-fold growth in a decade.

Don’t pay for the bosses’ crisis!

Author: 
Daniel Randall

The sharp increase in oil prices, and now the credit crunch, has led to sales of large cars and people-carriers falling by 30% in Europe. SUV sales have fallen by 45%.

The industry giants have responded to the crisis with massive layoffs. Volkswagen, for example, has announced 25,000 job losses; Rolls Royce, Peugeot and Chrysler are also making swingeing cuts. The first instinct of most socialists will be to defend workers' jobs; that instinct is correct,

US auto workers seek their own plan

Author: 
Dan La Botz

The crisis in the auto industry is about many things: the possible collapse of General Motors, Detroit gas guzzlers, auto emission standards, the environment, and the need for mass transportation, among others. At the centre of it all, however, is the struggle between management and the workers, that is, between capital and labour....