Solidarity 468, 2 May 2018

Innovative methods not enough

In the Guardian on 27 April, Beth Foster-Ogg writes that Labour needs “radical local councillors” who are “building socialism from below.” To counter swingeing cuts of up to 50% since 2010, they need to come up with “innovative, radical measures to tackle the fractures in British society.” She cites the examples of Salford and Preston as models for councillors. Momentum’s work, she says, is “all about ensuring that Labour councillors aren’t waiting for change to come on high...” We do need more left-wing councillors, who are held accountable by their constituents. Labour councils should try to...

The Bolsheviks, Stalin and science

In the discussions prompted by centenary of the first workers’ government, little has been said about the Bolsheviks and their science policies. This series of articles about Marxism, the Bolsheviks, Stalin, and science draws, amongst other sources, on Simon Ings’ recent book Stalin and the Scientists,1 Douglas R Weiner’s book Models of Nature,2 and Loren R Graham’s Lysenko’s Ghost.3 “No previous government in history was so openly and energetically in favor of science. …[it] saw the natural sciences as the answer to both the spiritual and physical problems of Russia” (Graham quoted).1 “An...

“11 women a day travel from Ireland for an abortion”

Polly Barklem from the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign (personal capacity) spoke to Solidarity about the referendum in Ireland on 25 May, on repealing the 8th Amendment to the Irish constitution. That amendment effectively gives a foetus equal status in law with a woman, and often results in medical professionals refusing to carry out abortions even in situations where they are legal, i.e. when the woman’s life is in danger. You can find out more about the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign online at londonirisharc.com What is the current situation for women who need an abortion? The...

The lessons of Repeal the 8th

Elizabeth Butterworth reviews Repeal the 8th, edited by Una Mullally (2018, Unbound press) Viewing the Repeal movement from my little shared one bed in north London, it’s easy to romanticise the struggle of my Irish sisters. Many aspects of the Repeal movement deserve to be extolled and are genuinely moving. Whether Irish Repeal activists win or lose the referendum on 25 May – and it looks from the outside like they may win – the Repeal movement can provide useful lessons for activists around the world. Repeal has produced and inspired art, poetry, essays, stories and comedy and imbued scores...

Labour left at the crossroads

The left which has flooded into Labour since Corbyn’s leadership campaign in 2015 now holds the balance of power within the Party. But what kind of left is this, and where is it going? In the last issue we reported ( bit.ly/2FwqstG ) on the 23 April AGM of Lewisham (south London) Momentum. An amalgam of groups and individuals behind a slate headed by Aaron Bastani from Novara Media (although Bastani did not show up on the night) sought to oust the old steering committee, and eventually left the meeting hall to run their own “AGM” in a pub’s public bar. The coalition organised “behind the...

Get Labour ready to replace Tories

Since Amber Rudd was forced to resign as Home Secretary over immigration targets, Theresa May has come under pressure to resign. Good! As Home Secretary, Theresa May invented the term and the policies associated with “a hostile environment for migrants” — targets for deportations, lack of access to public services and legal advice, indefinite detention. These policies led to the gross mistreatment of the “Windrush generation”. The scandal, showed up Tory racism, demagogy and dishonesty. The sooner they go the better. The new Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, may be the son of Pakistani migrants but...

LETTERS: Two states? & What next for the left in Hungary

For a single democratic Palestinian state I would like to express some thoughts relating to the article ‘Gaza mobilising for an internationalist response’ by Martin Thomas and your editorial ‘For an independent Palestine alongside Israel’ (Solidarity 466) I find it hard to see how the 1947 partition could ever have successfully established two separate states within such a relative small and narrow geographical area, both dependent on the same scarce natural resources, and each by definition with their own armed state machines inherently hostile to each other. Even harder with all the history...

Korea: fragile peace moves

The Panmunjom declaration was signed by North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on 27 April. It commits North Korea to complete denuclearisation and an end to war on the Korean peninsula, creating a “new era of peace.” Similar words were said at summits in both 2000 and 2007. Symbolically, both countries agreed to stop propaganda broadcasts across the demilitarised zone and to end leaflet drops. This all comes just a few months from North Korean missile tests and Donald Trump saying he would use “fire and fury” in response. No previous North Korean leader...

Antisemitism in Germany

On 25 April thousands of atheists, Christians, and Muslims joined Jews on the streets of Berlin, Erfurt, Potsdam, Cologne and other German cities in “kippa day”. They demonstratively wore the skullcap (kippa) used by Orthodox Jewish men, in a protest against antisemitism. This was sparked by an incident on 18 April, when a young man was attacked on a posh Berlin street for wearing a kippa. He was an Israeli Arab who had put on the kippa to show a friend (so he thought) that antisemitism was slight and there would be no problem. The chief of Germany’s Jewish community followed up by advising...

Slump-prone economy

In the last year or so, world capitalism has had its nearest approach to a general economic revival since the crash of 2008. A clutch of figures at the end of April show that the revival is very weak. Britain’s first-quarter GDP growth was reported at just 0.1 per cent. Britain’s GDP growth figure is only 1.2% during the past year, the lowest figure since 2013. The “purchasing manager’s index” for Britain’s industry was at a 17 month low in April. Across the eurozone, assessments of order books and inventories and expectations have also declined for both industry and services. Even in the USA...

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