Paul Klee: the quiet revolutionary

This exhibition is expansive, comprehensive, chronological, and as well-ordered as the work on display. All that is good.

However, I felt less inspired than I thought I would be. Klee should be my thing. Early 20th century, modernist, hated by the Nazis — what’s not to like?

In truth nothing here is not to like. Klee’s vast collection of work, in slightly different styles at different points in his life, shows him to be an artist who was constantly experimenting and pushing at boundaries.

Synagogue in Hanover

Remembering Kristallnacht

Synagogue in Hanover, Germany, set ablaze during the Kristallnacht pogrom


On 9-10 November 1938, Germany and Austria were swept by vicious pogroms against Jews and Jewish property.

The day was called “Kristallnacht” (crystal night) for the way it covered the streets with broken glass. It signalled a shift in Nazi anti-semitism beyond legal and administrative discrimination, and towards mass, violent assaults on the Jewish population.

Targets or trade unions?

On 5 November, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reported that at Colchester General Hospital cancer waiting times had been misrecorded so that the hospital avoided financial penalties for not meeting targets. When staff tried to object, they were bullied by management.

Alarm is a sound response to cancer waiting times being too long. Some cancers can metastasise (have the cancer spread from one organ to another) quite fast, and delay can make the difference between the cancer being curable or not.

Reverse NHS cuts to stop A&E crisis

In September this year there were 43% more patients waiting more than four hours in A&E than two years ago.

There were 89% more 4-12 hour “trolley waits” - patients who have been processed through A&E only to be dumped in a corridor somewhere waiting for a bed in another part of the hospital.

Cliff Mann, of the College for Emergency Medicine, told the Guardian “This winter will probably be the worse than last year, which was the worst year we have ever had”.

The figures reflect both A&E cuts and cuts elsewhere.

Polemic was wrong on Lewisham

I am writing this letter in personal capacity since the consensus of Lewisham People Before Profit was against us replying to your attack on us as a group in Solidarity 301 (“Lewisham: Our plans to go on winning”, 29 October), largely since many of those present at our monthly meetings do not read your paper and believe that very few Lewisham voters do.

Facebook gives us access

Martin Thomas’ article on Facebook (“Facebook, CPA, and socialism”, Solidarity 302, 6 November 2013) makes some valid points about the ways in which people interact online, and the benefits of face-to-face interaction.

However, I don’t think it should be forgotten that for some people online interaction is the only or main kind they can have.

Nazis confronted

On Saturday 9 November, various fascists and neo-Nazis (including the newly-formed “New British Union”) called a demonstration at the Greek Embassy in London in solidarity with the jailed leadership of Greek fascist party Golden Dawn.

Decent homes for all! Fight to scrap the Bedroom Tax!

A report on the bedroom tax by Leeds Hands Off Our Homes shows the stress, poverty and intimidation being piled on the disabled and vulnerable.

Housing officers and social landlords often force tenants to prioritise rent above food and heating. The right to family life, equality for the disabled, and food and shelter are all assaulted by the bedroom tax.

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