Solidarity 224, 9 November 2011

The anti-fascist magazine Searchlight announces in its October issue that “Nick Lowles, the prime creator of the very successful Hope Not Hate [HnH] campaign, decided to stand down as editor.” Lowles has been replaced by former (and founding) editor Gerry Gable. All fair enough, you’d think. However, not only has Lowles stood down, he has completely disappeared from the pages of the magazine. Also notable by their absence are Matthew Collins and Graeme Atkinson, both prominent Searchlight associates. The only British contributors to October’s Searchlight are Gerry and Sonia Gable. Add to this...

We continue our debate on the future of nuclear power with this article by Les Hearn. Les argues that technological developments, such as using thorium instead of uranium, can create a vastly more ecologically-friendly nuclear industry acceptable to socialists. In our next issue we will print an opposing view. Why I support nuclear power as one of a range of alternatives to fossil fuels Back in the 70s, like many on the left, I was alarmed by what seemed to be the cover-up of the risks of nuclear power in the 50s and 60s. The indiscriminate power of nuclear weapons to kill in large numbers...

Italy’s billionaire “playboy” prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is coming under increasing pressure to step aside as his country slips ever-closer towards economic crisis. Berlusconi’s opinion rating dropped to a record low of 22% after a rally on 6 November. Italian left party Rifondazione called last week for immediate elections, to act as a referendum on the economic policy forced on the country by the EU and carried out by Berlusconi. Even Berlusconi’s Northern League coalition partner leader Umberto Bossi called on him to resign before a crucial budget debate as the interest rate on Italy...

A militant from the Greek revolutionary socialist group OKDE in Athens spoke to Ed Maltby from Solidarity . You call for the creation of “structures and organs of workers’ control in workplaces and neighbourhoods”. Are these things coming into being? At the industrial level this has not gone further than simple propaganda or agitation. At the level of neighbourhoods there are a lot of popular assemblies. The number of people participating is fluctuating a lot, both for people in general and people from the left. In general the Communist Party does not participate in any of this. These general...

A top Chinese government official has blamed Europe’s economic problems on welfare provision and labour laws. Jin Liqun, chair of China’s sovereign wealth fund (the body which manages the Chinese government’s overseas investment of its spare loot) told Al Jazeera: “If you look at the troubles which happened in European countries, this is purely because of the accumulated troubles of the worn-out welfare society. I think the labour laws are outdated. The labour laws induce sloth, indolence, rather than hard work. The incentive system is totally out of whack. “Why should, for instance, within...

In the run-up to the AWL’s conference “Is This As Good As It Gets?” on 26 November we organised a speaking tour, putting the case for socialist feminism. The six AWL women who have spoken at 10 meetings so far have reported, by and large, a very positive experience. Some of the meetings were at colleges, organised with student feminist societies. Others were organised in towns where we have AWL branch meetings. The discussions have been enormously wide-ranging. At Liverpool Hope University participants wanted to discuss the very basic ideas about why feminism remains a necessary political...

By Ross Bradshaw Radical bookselling in Britain has a long history. The second hand labour history book dealer Left on the Shelf has an incomplete listing of radical bookshops on its website, together with a listing of mentions of such shops in fiction and in non-fiction. Dave Cope — who runs Left on the Shelf — and I are trying now to make the listing as complete as possible. We would be grateful for any corrections and omissions. I’m currently working on a booklet about radical bookshops that is less list-based and will cover bookshops from Marxist, libertarian and other traditions, as well...

By Martyn Hudson Mark Osborn ( Solidarity 223) correctly raises issues about the intentions of the Bolsheviks, the struggle of Lenin and Trotsky against the bureaucracy, the decisive or not so decisive break between October and Stalinism and, I think, critically the question of what the Bolsheviks did as they were struggling for their existence. The usual take of Leninists on this is the following: Bolshevik intentions were good (agreed), Lenin and Trotsky did as much as they could in the struggle (well, this wasn’t what Adolph Joffe and Serge felt but there you go), that there was a decisive...

By Eric Lee In mid-November trade unionists from more than 30 countries will gather in Istanbul for the second annual Global Solidarity Conference organised by LabourStart. The theme of this year’s conference is “From social networks to social revolution” and the timing is exquisite. The 2011 LabourStart conference was due to be held in Australia. But we had organisational problems at that end, and urgently needed to come up with a venue, and comrades in Istanbul said “sure, why not here?” And all that happened only days before a workers’ general strike brought down the Mubarak regime and the...

The Palestinian bid for recognition of an independent state at the United Nations will hit the headlines again soon, when the UN Security Council publishes an initial report on the application. Already Israel and the US are punishing the Palestinians for their campaign. Following the overwhelming vote at Unesco, to admit Palestine as a full member, the US cut off all funding to the organisation, removing more than a fifth of its budget. If the Palestinians seek membership of other UN bodies – for instance the International Atomic Energy Agency – this issue could become even bigger. The US has...