The Socialist issue 374
11 December 2004
Bring the troops home
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ANOTHER £520 million for war in Iraq. That’s how much Gordon Brown announced in his pre-budget report on 2 December…
US plans crumble in Iraq
"IT IS a mess in Iraq". The UN special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, was certainly to the point. Elections, he said, would not be possible on the 30 January "if the circumstances stay as they are"…
Socialist Party campaigns
THE DAY before the picket we’d organised at Debenham’s, the news came through. Millionaire Jasper Conran, designer of fashions, homeware, jewellery and fragrances could now no longer add McEntee Secondary School in east London…
Private contractors rip off public services
GORDON BROWN’S pre-budget speech ignored many important problems, not least about the funding of vital public services such as the NHS…
Saving pensions: united action needed
WHEN CHANCELLOR Gordon Brown announced 104,000 civil service job cuts in his last budget, Socialist Party trade unionists called for a one-day public-sector strike in response to New Labour’s public-sector onslaught…
Britain’s Guantanamo
EIGHT MEN, imprisoned on suspicion of being ‘linked to’ terrorism, are suffering from: "Major depressive anxiety disorder and some are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder"…
Christmas 2004 Appeal Letter
The Socialist Party is appealing for donations to our funds this Christmas. …
International socialist news and analysis
USA: Poverty in the world’s richest country
“LIFE, LIBERTY, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” This is supposedly what the dream of America offers, but does this hold true for the 35.9 million Americans living in poverty today, according to the 2004 U.S. Census Bureau report?…
Concrete steps towards formation of new party
AGAINST THE background of increased attacks on living standards and working conditions, important sections of the working class in Germany have drawn the conclusion that an organisational and political alternative to the neo-liberal policies of Chancellor Gerhard Schroder and Co…
Italy stops in fifth general strike against Berlusconi
ON 30 November in Italy there was the fifth general strike against the Berlusconi government. It stopped the country…
Belgium: Fighting the fascists in Gent
Fifteen hundred students and young people marched through the streets of Gent on the night of 3 December to counter the demonstration organised by NSV, the fascist student wing of Vlaams Belang, (the renamed Vlaams Blok)…
Socialist Party workplace news
Challenge to UNISON’S Labour links by UNISON general secretary candidate
UNISON’s forthcoming General Secretary election will see a clear challenge to the union’s links with the Labour Party given the announcement that North West NEC member Roger Bannister has secured sufficient branch nominations to contest the election.
BBC jobs under threat
NEW BBC director general, Mark Thompson, has announced cuts of £320 million a year, which will result in thousands of job cuts. About 3,000 jobs are expected to go, over 2,000 people will be expected to move to Manchester by 2008…
Fighting the fire service cuts
FIREFIGHTERS IN Coventry have started to fight back against plans to reduce night time fire cover in the city…
