Solidarity 415, 7 September 2016

“To choose Wembley Stadium, which is where the Champions League final takes place and where only rock stars perform, shows how special Narendra Modi is to all of us... MPs have just had a pay rise and because I am so excited about this event I will donate my pay rise for November for this great function.” Keith Vaz, 2015 It is obvious why suspended MP Simon Danzcuk, accused of sexual harassment against a teenage applicant to work in his office and of domestic violence, would defend Keith Vaz in the current media campaign against the Leicester MP. However, unlike Danzcuk, Vaz is accused of...

There is still a lot to play for in minimising the obstacles to working-class solidarity and to free movement across borders which may come from the 23 June Brexit vote. New Tory prime minister Theresa May says “Brexit means Brexit”, trying to appear resoundingly definite. But still no-one know what Brexit means or how it might happen. Even the pro-Brexit media give most space to claims that Brexit has not caused the expected economic damage, claims which may well soon fizzle. May’s more definite statements are: • Despite the Tory Leave campaigners’ shouting, there will be no £350 million...

Between 23 September and 7 October, American socialist writer Peter Frase will be touring the UK. Peter is on the editorial board of the magazine Jacobin, which has become one of the foremost anti-capitalist, socialist voices in the USA. Frase will be addressing the themes in his forthcoming book, Four Futures: Life After Capitalism and his chapter in the Jacobin-published book ABCs of socialism. • For more information on the tour dates and Peter’s work, see here

On 31 August,the South Korean container shipping company Hanjin, the world’s seventh-biggest, declared bankruptcy. The results are more dramatic than with most bankruptcies: vessels are trapped in ports, cargoes are being seized by creditors, South Korean exporters have their goods held up and are scrambling for new carriers (Hanjing carried 40% of Samsung exports and 20% of LG). This is the first large container line bankruptcy since United States Lines in 1986, which had built itself a new fleet on the basis of high fuel prices and was wrongfooted when oil prices sagged. The background is...

After a period of rebel advance, the Syrian military and its loyal militias have brought areas of eastern Aleppo back under government control. Rebel districts are again under siege. Meanwhile the US and Russia have failed to negotiate any meaningful ceasefire and both sides continue to back opposing forces in the civil war. Barack Obama has again stated that the US has “grave differences with the Russians in terms of both the parties we support but also the process that is required to bring about peace in Syria.” Whilst any deal is meant to coordinate military operations against both Dareh al...

On 30 August the French minister for foreign trade, Matthias Fekl, tweeted that he had called for the US-EU negotiations for TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, to stop. Germany’s economy minister Sigmar Gabriel had already said: “The negotiations with the United States have de facto failed, even though nobody is really admitting it”. Talks for TTIP were announced in February 2013, and were due to conclude by end 2014. Now it looks dead. In the USA, Donald Trump opposes TTIP outright, and Hillary Clinton now declares herself “critical” of it. Trade between the USA and the...

Millions of workers across India have struck against Prime Minister Modi′s plans for public sector privatisation and an inadequate minimum wage increase. The general strike on Friday 2 September reportedly involved 150 million workers. The main trade union organisations are fighting for 12 demands, which as well as higher wages also include universal social security, efforts to contain price rises, no increase in the maximum overtime hours, and an extension of labour protections to more workers in India. The strike was the fourth one-day general strike in India since 2009. Ahead of the strike...

On Saturday 27 August, Arek Jozwik, a Polish national living in Harlow, Essex, was attacked by a large group and beaten to death. Six teenagers aged 15-16 have been arrested in connection with the murder. On Friday 2 September, after a vigil organised by the Polish community and attended by thousands, two more Polish men were attacked. It seems likely that these attacks were racially motivated. Some have linked the attacks to the rise in anti-migrant sentiment after the Brexit vote — Harlow voted 3:1 to leave the EU. Clearly not all people with xenophobic and racist ideas go out and beat...

A meeting of a number of readers of Solidarity from across the country on 3 September discussed the ferment in the Labour Party set off by the right wing's attempted coup in June, and the leadership election for which the ballot closes on 21 September. Gerry Bates reports on some of the conclusions. There is a new surge of life. In general, Momentum groups are holding bigger meetings, finding new people. Despite the fact that the apparatus has tried to stop local Labour Parties meeting, many of these people want to be active in Labour. Before the Labour right launched their coup attempt...